Table Talk: The Early Word on Midtown Rooftop Lounge Celestia
Nov. 11 — Happy Tuesday, and welcome to the table.
🍲 🥢This little cold snap we’re experiencing has me thinking about heading out for hot pot. Not that eating hot pot should be relegated to specific weather conditions, but there may be no better time to squeeze around a table with friends and family to share in the comforts of hot pot than when it’s chilly outside.
I love this mini guide to hot pot restaurants Rough Draft Dining Reporter Sarra Sedghi wrote last year. The guide includes a brief history of hot pot and the many styles you’ll find on menus at metro Atlanta restaurants.
🚆 Speaking of restaurant guides, keep an eye out for our new MARTA dining guide to Dunwoody and North Springs stations dropping later this week. It joins our previous MARTA dining guides to Chamblee, Doraville, Lindbergh, Brookhaven, and Buckhead and completes the rail stations north of Midtown.
Now, on to today’s “Family Meal,” where I share my first impressions on rooftop bar and lounge Celestia at Spring Quarter in Midtown, along with recommendations on a cocktail and a couple of dishes to try.
➕ Plus, Sarra offers a recipe for Freedom Cake, a celebratory cake typically seen on tables during Juneteenth, but served year-round as part of the dinner service at Bread & Butterfly in Inman Park.
Cheers!
🍸 Beth
🥂 On Friday, Nov. 14, Community Farmers Markets’ Red Clay Soirée returns to Summerour Studio for a mission-driven evening uniting some of the finest farmers, chefs, and bartenders of the local food movement. This feast of flavor and fellowship promises to be every locavore’s dream! SPONSOR MESSAGE
The Early Word on Celestia in Midtown
✨ Celestia ($$$-$$$$)
Spring Quarter, 1020 Spring Street, Midtown
Former Umi chef Fuyuhiko Ito opened two of his three planned restaurants at Spring Quarter last month: Celestia and ISHIN.
For those of you keeping tabs on the ever-changing Midtown skyline, that’s the development flanking the Connector home to the historic H.M. Patterson & Son Spring Hill Chapel on Spring Street. Post-renovation plans call for the old Midtown mortuary to become a restaurant sandwiched between the Sora high rise apartment building and Ten Twenty Spring office tower at the complex.
Located on the 8th floor of Ten Twenty Spring, ISHIN offers seating for 16 people to indulge in a hidden-away omakase experience led by Ito just steps from Celestia. At Celestia, a sprawling indoor-outdoor cocktail bar and lounge, the experience comes with spectacular views of Midtown, and beyond.
📸 Since its opening in early October, Celestia has seen a parade of social media influencers pass through its doors. So, when I decided to dine at Celestia last week, I expected to enter another vibe-driven spot, and one that was maybe a little over-hyped on social media. In fact, while I was there, two groups of influencers walked in with phones out and flashlights on documenting their arrivals.
But curiosity got the better of me, as did the short walk from my home on a warm fall evening. Photos of Celestia’s outdoor lounge with its skyline vistas admittedly made the decision easier. Consider me influenced, especially after witnessing the up-close-and personal view of the Midtown skyline and a breathtaking sunset for myself.
While this was my first visit, I was relieved to find that Celestia didn’t come with a heavily curated ambience. Instead, it was much more laidback, with a sophisticated atmosphere and equal attention being paid to the food and cocktails. Service was a touch uneven at times, but nothing egregious for a month-old restaurant. There is a DJ booth, and I suspect it’s activated later in the evenings and on weekends. The vibe probably shifts accordingly.
🌇 The bar inside filled up quickly in the six o’clock hour, as did the serpentine, modular sofa equipped with cocktail rounds beside it. We sat on the terrace, an opportunity to enjoy one last pleasant evening before cooler temperatures set in and patio season draws to a close for the year.
💚 Sip on the Jade Dusk – a verdant green cocktail made with Coconut Bounty rum, pineapple, and pandan. Lime juice mellows out the sweetness, allowing the nutty floral notes of pandan (herbaceous tropical plant) to come forward and balance the cocktail.
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 dollops of jalapeño granita crown the hamachi crudo, which is then finished table side with ponzu (think Japanese citrus vinaigrette).
We also enjoyed the karaage (Japanese fried chicken bites) and Celestia salad, with bitter greens and radicchio tossed in yuzu agave dressing, pomegranate seeds, and grapefruit. The menu does feature heavier entrees, including a Tomahawk steak, fish and chips, and lamb chops.
🎩 There is a dress code at Celestia; although it didn’t seem strictly enforced that night. But you’ll need a reservation, even for cocktails. When you arrive, head to the front desk in the lobby of Ten Twenty Spring to access the elevator, similar to how Polaris operates at the Hyatt Regency Downtown.
Once the elevator doors open, you walk into a space sporting multiple seating arrangements, including on Celestia’s terrace lush with plants and rooftop trees, and, of course, those views.
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Recipe: Freedom Cake From Bread & Butterfly
🍰 This week, we’re sharing the recipe for Bread & Butterfly’s Freedom Cake. Although Freedom Cake is usually prepared for holiday gatherings, but you’ll find the celebratory dessert available Thursday through Saturday during Bread & Butterfly’s dinner service.
Chef-owner Demetrius Brown (The New South) launched Heritage Supper Club in 2021, which explores his family’s Afro-Caribbean ancestry as well as Black and Brown cuisines within the African diaspora.
🌍 In 2023, Chef Billy Allin sold his French restaurant, Bread & Butterfly, to Brown and Brandon Blanchard. Two years later, the French fare and techniques have remained key components of Bread & Butterfly’s ethos, emboldened by a dinner menu flush with influences from West African and Haitian cuisines. Freedom Cake, which is traditionally eaten on Juneteenth, is a perfect example of that influence.
Brown’s Freedom Cake will also be available at his upcoming Summerhill restaurant, Heritage, opening next spring on Georgia Avenue.
This recipe requires a kitchen scale to measure ingredients.
📋 Ingredients
- 500g sugar
- 420g flour
- 3g salt
- 17g baking soda
- 13g baking powder
- 240g canola oil
- 240g buttermilk
- 10g lemon juice
- 6 large eggs
- 12g vanilla extract
- 400g beet puree
🥣 Directions
Garnish with toasted pecans and whipped cream cheese.
Mix canola oil and sugar in a stand mixer at medium speed using the whisk attachment.
Slowly add buttermilk, lemon juice, and eggs until well incorporated. Add remaining wet ingredients.
Add all remaining ingredients. Mix until smooth.
Transfer batter to a buttered baking dish and bake at 325 Fahrenheit for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Remove and let cool.
Food Banks, Local Restaurants Continue Stepping Up for SNAP Beneficiaries
🙏 Despite hope on the horizon that the government shutdown could end as early as this week, the uncertainty around funding SNAP and the speed at which monetary benefits can be loaded onto recipients’ cards are still of great concern.
Some states have already begun issuing SNAP benefits for November, in accordance with federal directives. Georgia’s Department of Human Services announced Sunday that it would issue partial SNAP benefits to 1.4 million Georgians on the food assistance program, including close to 900,000 children. But even a few days lapse in these benefits has forced many Georgians to seek help from local churches, charities, and food banks to fill in the gaps.
🆘 We continue to update our running list of local restaurants, food banks, churches, and nonprofits offering food assistance, or accepting donations and volunteers.
🥂 On Friday, Nov. 14, Community Farmers Markets’ Red Clay Soirée returns to Summerour Studio for a mission-driven evening uniting some of the finest farmers, chefs, and bartenders of the local food movement. This feast of flavor and fellowship promises to be every locavore’s dream! SPONSOR MESSAGE
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