April 2017
Features
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9 things to know about SunTrust Park
For the first time in a half-century, Braves’ opening day will take place not in Atlanta, but in the ‘burbs. While the team’s decision to leave the city for Cobb County still chafes some fans, one thing is indisputable: The complex around the brand-new SunTrust Park will be hopping. Here are nine things to know before you go.
The Best New Cheap Eats in Atlanta
The most buzzed-about restaurants that have opened recently in Atlanta aren’t exactly cheap—Staplehouse, Atlas, Marcel—but you can still enjoy the city’s food scene without going broke.
Morris Brown College used to enroll 2,500 students. Today, there are 40.
After losing accreditation and selling buildings, officials at the school—the first institution of higher learning in Georgia founded by black people, for black people—say it’s rebuilding. Faith abounds, but is it enough?
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The Connector
Downtown Atlanta show Bipartisan focuses on how art is made
In mid-February Amanda Platner and Hasani Sahlehe walked into a white room with some prepped meals and 15 buckets of paint. Over the next five days for 16 hours a day, the duo worked in silence, painting the south downtown space (and themselves).
The MARTA Army wants you!
MARTA Army’s core team is comprised of Georgia Tech students and alumni, lawyers, accountants, designers, developers, and even teenagers who lend their skills to serve the overall objective: making MARTA a more efficient and appealing option in a city angling to become a pro-transit powerhouse.
Why did Georgia execute more prisoners in 2016 than any other state?
Last year, at a time when the use of death penalty had dropped to historic lows nationwide, Georgia executed nine people convicted of murder, more than any other state. Don’t expect that pace to continue.
A new development will boast downtown Decatur’s first new office building since 1991
Atlanta-based Cousins Properties has teamed with apartment developer AMLI to transform an entire city block just south of the Decatur Square.
Pinewood Atlanta’s president wants to make Y’allywood a new media magnet
Frank Patterson envisions the Pinewood campus becoming something of a mini Silicon Valley for new media companies. Think firms devoted to emerging virtual reality or motion capture technology, or a start-up focused on next-generation sound design or video game software.
The Agenda
Terminal illness: A new memoir examines the unintended consequences of Atlanta’s airport
When Hannah Palmer moved back to her hometown of Forest Park in the mid-2000s, she found that every place she’d ever lived in had been obliterated. The destructive force at play: the Atlanta airport.
Flight Path author Hannah Palmer on how the airport changed Atlanta’s south side
In her new hybrid memoir-urban history, Hannah Palmer explores the airport’s impact on Atlanta’s south side. We recently spoke with her about the book’s inspiration and her vision for the communities surrounding Hartsfield-Jackson.
For five decades, Ashley Bryan’s works have shown children that black lives matter
Inspired by the black oral tradition, many of Bryan’s books are reworkings of traditional spirituals, folk stories, and poems. “His works are a celebration of African American experience and offer black children an important opportunity to see themselves represented in the pages of books,” says exhibition cocurator Virginia Shearer.
Georgia’s own Sutton Foster performs with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra this weekend
On April 21 and 22, the Georgia-born actress brings her big voice and screwball charm to Symphony Hall, where she’ll perform some of her favorite Broadway songs backed by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.
A new Atlanta theater sets the stage for more LGBTQ shows
Out Front Theatre Company arrived last fall with an ambitious production of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. This month the company closes its three-show season with Paul Rudnick’s Old Testament re-do: The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (April 27-May 14), in which Adam partners with Steve, not Eve.
The Atlanta Opera’s best kept secret? Its chorus.
The Atlanta Opera’s full sound is part of what makes it a world-renowned company. For that, you can thank not the full-throated stars, but the typically overlooked chorus.
The Bite
Fresh on the Scene: The Halal Guys, Makimono, Yumbii, and Revolution Doughnuts
New to Atlanta: Manhattan’s most famous food cart, sushi rolls at Krog Street Market, a food truck-turned brick-and-mortar restaurant, and a new place to grab an old favorite.
An ode to Eats
The Atlanta I love has space for both $6 lattes and $7 dinner platters. Without places like Eats, though, I don’t know that I would recognize—or afford—this city. How long will this institution still be here?
Review: The Federal is chef Shaun Doty’s best venture yet
Shaun Doty is back in the kitchen again, and the only question you might have after dining at the Federal is, “What took so long?” Opening the Federal last November has been his greatest gift yet—to Atlanta and, perhaps, to himself.
Why you should use every part of the carrot, according to Watershed chef Zeb Stevenson
“Whenever we get [carrots],” says Watershed on Peachtree executive chef Zeb Stevenson, “we milk them for everything they’re worth.”
How Georgia Tech grads are fighting food waste (and how you can, too)
Georgia Tech is churning out some impressive grads: One duo is using fly larvae to feed chickens. Another is creating nanofarms, or what they call “the food production of the future.”
The Christiane Chronicles: Thin-crust pizza makers, you’re doing it wrong
The kind of pizza I like—one with a fully baked, thin but supportive crust—hardly gets any respect anymore. Why is this? Also, the kouign amann is a crunchy and buttery pastry that’s maddeningly delicious. Just don’t ask me to pronounce it.
The Goods
3 peaceful pathways to hit when the BeltLine is way too crowded
Tired of shoehorning your way down the Atlanta BeltLine? Escape the crowds at three more peaceful pathways.
Get succulent savvy with these expert tricks
Gardener and artist Kurt Straudt, who founded Southeast Succulents in Decatur in 2009, shares his tricks for growing a trendy mini garden of desert-loving plants this spring.
Five reasons to love the Upper Westside
The swath of north Atlanta west of I-75 inside I-285 was developed in the 19th century as an industrial hub around the CSX line. The area is home to quiet neighborhoods. But lately development, from warehouse conversions to a much-needed grocery store, has been booming in the area.
My Style: Maya Penn, owner of Maya’s Ideas
When she was just eight years old, Penn began designing bright floral headbands using hand-dyed, organic materials. Now 17, the Canton entrepreneur has expanded her brand, Maya’s Ideas, from an ecofriendly clothing line to a creative nonprofit focused on humanitarian and environmental issues.
Room Envy: At Serenbe, a master bath with a modern farmhouse aesthetic
In the master bathroom, a modern farmhouse aesthetic took an industrial bent with brick walls, a concrete shower floor, and metal windows—the latter providing a view of horses.
Clay Time: 9 Georgia-made ceramics we love
Colorful and contemporary dishes and jewelry from Masa Sasaki Ceramics, Gold Seed Craft and Design, Charlotte Smith Studios, and more.
4 hats that are perfect for your Derby Day party
From Goorin Brothers, Nicholas Kniel, and more.
Miscellaneous
Editor’s Note: Counterpoints
The stories behind SunTrust Park and Morris Brown College embody the odd dichotomy that is Atlanta—the fascination with the shiny and new, which often diverts our attention from the institutions that make us who we are. When we’re at our best at Atlanta magazine, we’re shining a light on both ends of that spectrum.
Commemorative Air Force Dixie Wing brings warbirds back to life
An airplane fanatic since he was six, Willard Womack climbs onto the wing of a Bell P-63 Kingcobra and beholds it like some immense phoenix brought back to life. In four days, after a 25-year restoration, the P-63 will fly again or for the first time since 1974.
