The Atlanta Lawyer December/January 2020 | Page 26

D
ue
to
my
personal
relationship with and love
for Endive Publik House
(“Endive”), I will let you
know at the outset that this “restaurant
review” will be more of a love story. I
know that is a strong sentiment for a
restaurant, but once you visit Endive, I
believe you will come to understand my
feelings.
Restaurant
Review: Endive
Discovering A Delicious Hide Out in the ATL
The Back Story
Endive is a restaurant located at 1468
Mecaslin Street, NW, Atlanta, GA 30309.
It is essentially located at the bottom
of Buckhead and the top of Midtown,
and it started as a catering business and
morphed into a part time restaurant. It
is only open on Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday for dinner beginning at 5:00 p.m.
In my experience, unless you come right
at 5:00 p.m. or after 8:00 p.m., you will
need reservations. To make reservations,
call 404-504-9044, or visit their website
www.edivepublik.com.
Our First Meet
I would say I fell in love with Endive
approximately four years ago. I was
younger, more optimistic, and excited to
be moving to Atlanta after law school. A
friend from church invited me to Endive.
I heard about the restaurant from multiple
people before I actually went, and to be
honest, I had no real expectations for the
place. I had no idea what was about to
happen to me.
While it was not exactly love with Endive
at first sight, it was pretty close. On my first
visit to Endive, I only ordered their duck
pizza small plate. It is smoked duck on a
thin flatbread pizza, fig jam, caramelized
onion, and dark blue cheese. (I get mine
without onions.) It is the perfect balance
between sweet and savory. To this day, I
maintain that the duck pizza at Endive is
the best thing that I have eaten in Atlanta.
From then on, I was hooked.
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December/January 2020
Infatuation Trials and Tribulation
After my first visit, I came to learn all of
the exciting things that Endive had to
offer. I honestly have not tasted anything
at Endive that I would not eat again. Quite
simply, it is great food. You cannot be truly in love until you
have experienced trials and tribulations
in your relationship. Endive and I have
experienced those too. The sign of a
mature and lasting relationship is that the
trials end up bringing you closer together.
Trials and tribulations are sometimes able
to show you how committed the other
person is to your relationship. Endive has
shown me that.
The menu is broken down into small
plates, salads, sushi, large plates, sides, and
sweets. The best value in the restaurant is
the chicken tender small plate. It includes
cornflake-crusted fried chicken tenders,
shoestring fries, and grained cider honey
mustard.
The best side on the menu is the grits. I am
truly from the south (outside of Atlanta),
and I must say these grits are amazing.
If you have never had grits before, these
should be your first and only.
There are, of course, endive favorites,
including the duck pizza, salmon with
grits, sweet tea, and the dessert trio. The
dessert trio is different every week, and
all the desserts are made in house. It is
everything from crème brûlée, to pop
tarts, to oatmeal ice cream.
It was not hard for me to become a
devoted Endive follower. I know that I
am not the first to love this restaurant nor
will I be the last. Every time I visit this
restaurant, I know that there is a good
chance that I will see a familiar face from
the community.

Our major trials and tribulations
occurred when Endive changed its menu
a few years ago. As I mentioned above,
I always order the salmon when I visit
the restaurant. When the menu changed,
the salmon entre was replaced with the