Miller Union
999 Brady Avenue NW at 10th Street NW
Atlanta, GA 30318
678-733-8550
So when I decided to go to Miller Union for my birthday dinner after much Yelping and checking OpenTable, I didn’t yet know that Miller Union had gained TV fame and James Beard accolades. I’m totally off my game and need to brush up on my star celeb chefs. Apparently it’s been on some food TV shows like Unique Eats and The Layover. Chef Steven Satterfield was a finalist for the James Beard Best Chef: Southeast in 2013 but lost to Joseph Lann of The Barn at Blackberry Farm in Walland, TN.
Miller Union is located in West Midtown, in kind of a dead area. There’s valet parking but we just parked on the street right in front. Ugh, valet.
The layout of the restaurant is so that there are several rooms, and then a bigger room with larger tables, and there’s also a patio for mild weather. We were seated in sort of an antechamber room. Our waiter had a hipsterish vibe but was very polite and professional and knowledgeable.
Usually I’m cheap so I don’t get a cocktail, but since it was my birthday, I selected the Angel’s Kiss as my potent liquid.
Angel’s Kiss
sparkling wine, gin, aperol, cranberry shrub, grapefruit….9
I’ve been obsessed with shrub lately, so I was stoked to finally try it. Aside from being beautiful, this drink was very delightful. If you love vinegar and fruit, you’ll really dig shrub. Recently I obtained a bottle of shrub from Shrub & Co, and it was fantastic. The drink was a gorgeous hue of red as well. Dave’s Le Tigre (“vodka, cocchi americano, kumquat, ginger, lemon”) is on the left. He liked it but said there was too much ice.
For our appetizers, we decided to get two of them.
(left) brandade: it’s not on the online menu, so I can’t paste in the info. Our waiter told us that brandade is a creamy potato salty cod dish that’s served with bread. Sounds like of strange, but it was quickly gobbled down by us.
(right) chicken liver mousse, apple cider jelly, grilled bread….10
The chicken liver mousse was smooth and rich. Mmmmmm, was perfect on the toasted bread. The apple cider jelly gave it a brick-colored glossy topping and added sweetness to the liver.
For the mains, Dave decided on the gumbo while I wanted to try the quail.
(left) roast duck & andouille sausage gumbo, carolina gold rice….26
(right) sauteed quail, pecan-cornbread dressing, poached quince, dandelion greens….26
I sampled the gumbo and while it was fine, the sauteed quail was the real star. Crispy skin, tender meat, mmm mmm goodness. The pecan-cornbread dressing had me dreaming of Thanksgiving. A bit of a mess to eat, with the small bones, but it was worth it.
I probably wouldn’t have gotten dessert if it weren’t a special occasion. Not because the desserts didn’t sound appealing (they certainly sounded super), but I was getting full. Dave and I decided to split the chocolate ganache cake.
chocolate ganache cake, peanuts, fig-balsamic ice cream….8
It wasn’t the best chocolate cake ever, but it was still great, and I loved the crunch of the peanuts. The ice cream wasn’t too shabby either. While waiting for our treat to arrive, the waiter asked if it was a special occasion, and I replied that it was my birthday. Hence, the candle on the plate. That was very nice of them.
On the way out, a bearded man with a thin face wished us a good night. Dave speculated that it might have been the chef, so after Google Imaging later, indeed, it was Steven Satterfield. A lovely meal and a brush with a celebrity chef? Kickass birthday, I’ll say.
Even though it was nearly an hour after close, there were still diners eating. I will add that I was super thirsty later that evening. Stealth salt perhaps?
le gourmet pipette 