The best dishes we ate in November 2025

Beth’s Best Dishes

Dinner and drinks with a view at Celestia ($$$)
Midtown
Published in the Nov. 11 Family Meal newsletter

Former Umi chef Fuyuhiko Ito opened two of three planned restaurants at Spring Quarter in October: ISHIN and Celestia. Located on the 8th floor of Ten Twenty Spring, the elevator opens to Celestia, sporting multiple seating arrangements, including a terrace lush with plants and rooftop trees.

The bar filled up quickly in the six o’clock hour, as did Celestia’s serpentine sofa beyond it. We sat on the terrace to enjoy a pleasant fall evening with a spectacular view of the Midtown skyline.

Sip on the Jade Dusk – a verdant green cocktail made with Coconut Bounty rum, pineapple, and pandan. Given Ito’s background as a master sushi chef, opt for the akami tuna crudo dressed with soy vinaigrette and topped with a light salad of avocado and onions. Serrano pepper slivers and jalapeño granita crown the hamachi crudo, which is finished table side with ponzu (think Japanese citrus vinaigrette).

Try the karaage (Japanese fried chicken bites), too, and Celestia salad with bitter greens, radicchio, pomegranate seeds, and grapefruit tossed in yuzu agave dressing.

There is a dress code here. Although, it didn’t seem strictly enforced. But you’ll need a reservation, even for cocktails. 

Squash pancakes at Pure Quill Superette
Edgewood
Published in the Nov. 18 Family Meal newsletter

When Chef Hudson Rouse’s kids were younger, getting them to eat their daily allowance of fruits and vegetables was always a challenge. Like so many parents of small children, he often resorted to hiding vegetables within the meals he served to his kids by baking these ingredients into casseroles or desserts, even folding them into pancake batter at breakfast. In fact, that’s the impetus behind the squash pancakes offered during breakfast at Pure Quill Superette. 

For Pure Quill’s squash pancakes, Rouse cooks shredded butternut squash in French butter on a flat top until a wafer-thin patty forms (similar to hash browns). He then pours the pancake batter over the squash patty. 

Rouse is known for using farm-fresh, seasonal produce and foraged ingredients in his cooking, and for letting those ingredients do most of the talking. As a mild-tasting fall squash carrying hints of warm spices, the butternut squash lends a touch of nutty earthiness, while not over-amplifying the sweetness of the pancake batter.  

A stack of two sizable squash pancakes ($12) arrive at the table topped with two pats of butter and just enough cane syrup to drizzle on before eating. 

Mountain trout cru at Avize
Westside Atlanta
Published in the Nov. 25 Family Meal newsletter

Though dainty in appearance, Chef Karl Gorline layers in just enough texture and combination of flavors as to not overwhelm this petitely portioned starter.

Tender slices of North Georgia trout come marinated in yuzu (semi-sweet Asian citrus) topped with teeny dollops of diced celery. A thin celery ribbon provides soft crunch, followed by pops of salinity from trout roe and hints of savoriness from blistered shishito. The cru is finished table side with fermented apple cider ponzu. 

In one little raw dish ($24), Gorline harnesses the seasonality of fall in the South and packages it beautifully. Yuzu, celery, and fermented apple cider ponzu: the trinity I didn’t know I needed. 

Sarra’s Best Dishes

Shakshouka at Diyar Al Yemen
Marietta

I grew up eating Persian food, and I’m always excited to try other Middle Eastern cuisines because I’m curious about how similar ingredients translate across regions. I used family bonding time (a Sunday lunch) as an opportunity to sample Diyar Al Yemen’s menu. The $9 Uber Eats delivery fee seems hefty, but compared to the quality and amount of food you get, it’s a small price to pay.

The Diyar for Two platter ($53), for example, can easily serve twice as many people and still yield leftovers. I selected the Yemeni shakshouka, spelled shak-shookah on the menu, out of sheer curiosity, but ended up liking it best. This style is light on tomatoes, which I appreciate as an acid reflux sufferer, and incorporates diced jalapeños and onions.

Other hits with my family included the chicken shawarma sandwich, ful (mashed fava beans, sautéed onions, and tomatoes topped with tahini and olive oil), fahsah (shredded lamb over mashed potatoes), and fasiola (sautéed kidney beans, onions, and tomatoes topped with tahini).

Gwinn and Tonic from Garrett Tansel of Falling Rabbit
Duluth

In November, I was given the opportunity to help judge Explore Gwinnett’s Gwinn & Tonic cocktail contest. While the lineup included some strong contenders, Falling Rabbit bartender Garrett Tansel’s take was heavily inspired by Gwinnett County’s Korean population, which represents about 2.7 percent of Koreans in the country.

The cocktail mixes two ounces of Minhwa Spirits’ collaborative gin with The Chai Box, Queen Huh Gin, which is lush with chai spices like cardamom (my favorite). This gin may or may not make an appearance as a white elephant gift in December.

Tansel then combined the gin with Korean Milkis cream soda and Ghia chili-sumac soda to create a blend that pretty much tastes like a melted creamsicle with added complexity from the spices. He garnished the drink with a kimchi chip. (There’s something so special about a drink that comes with a snack.) The fermented flavors made a fantastic contrast to the sweet, aromatic cocktail.

Ceviche at Cuzco Peruvian Cuisine
Brookhaven

I drive by Cuzco on Buford Highway multiple times a week and finally decided to try it one day when my body felt desperate for iron. Cuzco is yet another example of a metro Atlanta strip mall spot that shouldn’t be underestimated.

With upholstered booths and decorated walls, Cuzco has an atmosphere that’s easily enhanced with drinks and live music — I can absolutely see myself visiting on a Friday night. But back to the ceviche.

I took the opportunity to order the special ceviche topped with calamari ($23). The portion was gigantic, and the sinew indicated freshness. I could tell that the fish hadn’t been dead long — the meat’s consistency took me back to eating snapper sashimi with ponzu sauce after a deep-sea fishing trip. Both my stomach and my iron reserves left extremely satisfied.