July 2022
Features
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“Poetry now is as necessary as ever.” Ilya Kaminsky on dissent, war, and resistance
A few days after Russia invaded Ukraine at the end of February, a poem about complacency called “We Lived Happily During the War” went viral. Its opening lines read, “And when they bombed other people’s houses, we protested but not enough, we opposed them but not enough.” It’s the first poem from Deaf Republic, which tells the story of people living in an occupied town who begin communicating in sign language to protest the killing of a deaf child. Deaf Republic is the second collection of poetry by Jewish Ukrainian American poet Ilya Kaminsky, who is hard of hearing.
Atlanta’s Top Docs share their stories of unexpected, inspiring, and memorable cases
If we’ve learned anything over the last few years, it’s that working in a hospital is never routine. We asked the metro’s most respected physicians to share stories of unexpected, inspiring, and memorable cases.
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The Connector
Violence related to Atlanta’s nightlife scene exploded during the pandemic. Can Mayor Dickens rein it in?
Between the start of the pandemic and Mayor Andre Dickens’s inauguration in January, Atlanta experienced about 70 homicides above its prepandemic baseline; almost a third of those occurred within yards of sketchy clubs and restaurants, a product of spontaneous rage, gang warfare, drunken idiocy, and Georgia’s gun culture. At the same time, as violence linked to the city’s nightlife exploded, Atlanta’s nightlife enforcement fell apart.
Where can I go swimming in metro Atlanta? A quick guide to pools, lakes, and more
Whether you want to cool off with the kids or host a party, there’s a pool for you. What you need to know about Atlanta’s public pools, hotel pools, rentable pools, and lakes.
Mr. Midnight: Lieu Nguyen, a refugee from Vietnam, spent three decades welcoming others to Atlanta
Today, I am a senior refugee referral specialist. Until 2006, I was a case manager, and case managers do everything: come to the rent appointment, help them buy food, help them apply for food stamps, social security card, take them to the health center, to their appointment for the doctor, looking for a job. I cannot tell you how many times I was there at the airport [meeting refugees]. From 1990 to 2000, I only had Saturdays and Sundays not at the airport. Every Friday night, I was in the airport. They called me Mr. Midnight.
Tripti Yoganathan’s teapots combine beauty and utility
Tripti Yoganathan has exhibited her work at shows dedicated exclusively to teapots, as well as at national events like the American Craft Council series and, this past spring, the Smithsonian Craft Show.
The Bite
The verdict on 3 new Atlanta restaurants: Boho115, Fishmonger, and Adele’s
Find tinned treasures at Boho115, an incredible blackened grouper sandwich at Fishmonger, and meaty entrees at Adele’s
Review: El Valle is a casually elegant restaurant where it’s easy to enjoy yourself
Restaurant critics often seek out extreme culinary experiences at the expense of focusing on where most people want to spend their time and money when they go out to dinner. My first visit to El Valle—a modern Mexican restaurant in the old Escorpión space—had nothing to do with reaching for a deeper understanding of cuisine. I just wanted to have a good time.
Dr. Julia Skinner explores how fermented foods connect us to people and places
As Dr. Julia Skinner writes in her new book, Our Fermented Lives: A History of How Fermented Foods Have Shaped Cultures & Communities, few food-preparation techniques are as rich in meaning and as ripe for metaphor as fermentation. I visited Skinner at her house on the Southside—yard wild and overgrown, chickens somewhere out back—to ask what she found so alluring about the subject.
Employee burnout in the restaurant industry has reached a tipping point. Here’s how some Atlantans are creating a better workplace.
From hostile customers to grueling hours to low wages, restaurant work has always been challenging. Those in the industry face high rates of anxiety and depression, as well as higher reported rates of substance use disorder than workers in other professions. In an industry beset with burnout, restaurant workers are paying more attention to their mental health. Their bosses are, too.
Our (frequently updating) guide to Atlanta’s very best pop-ups, food trucks, and more
Some of the most exciting food in Atlanta today is served out of borrowed kitchens, at farmers markets, and from food trucks. Here’s some of our recent faves, and where to find them.
The Goods
Odd McLean is a curiosities shop for the 21st-century shopper
Located in Ansley Mall, the shop reflects owner Kwynn Everest’s obsession with hospitality. A Four Seasons marketing and sales veteran who lives nearby and entertains often, she felt the neighborhood was missing a high-quality gifting destination. “There was a need for something funky, different, and unique here in Midtown,” she says.
How Eric Mack transformed his East Lake yard into one of Atlanta’s best pop-up plant shops
The Kai Garden doesn’t have a retail storefront, an ecommerce site, or even regular business hours. Yet the grounds of Eric Mack’s East Lake residence are home to a sprawling one-man nursery and pop-up shop with one of the city’s best selections of rare and unusual plants.
My Style: Fashion designer Miguel Wilson
Growing up in Washington, D.C., Miguel Wilson learned from his stylish father and grandfather how to appreciate a well-made suit. But the Clark Atlanta University alum focused on a corporate career until investing in a North Carolina boutique got him professionally involved in fashion.
Room Envy: A Scandinavian-inspired outdoor space in Virginia-Highland
Working within the footprint of a former bungalow in Virginia-Highland, architectural designer Eric Rothman created a new house with this outdoor-oriented rear exterior, going for a Scandinavian-inspired look with an oversize wood gable.
