Wow, what a mouthful! But this Sunday at 5Church Atlanta is too huge to miss. Two James Beard Award-winning chefs, 5Church executive chef RJ Cooper and “Big Bad Breakfast” cookbook author John Currence, are coming together for "Breakfast with the Beards" on Sunday, September 25 at 1:30 p.m. For $50 per person (cocktails included), guests will partake in a three-course family style brunch featuring recipes from “Big Bad Breakfast” such as banana-pecan coffee cake, shrimp and pickled onion crepes with Mornay, chorizo migas, apple cobblers and more. Amid all the brunching, buddies Cooper and Currence will discuss life as award-winning chefs and Currence’s sure-to-be-a-crowd-pleaser cookbook, which released on Friday, September 16. Books will be available for purchase ($30) and can be signed at the event. Seats are limited; call 404-400-3669 for reservations.
5Church fans opting to brunch in the main dining room, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., can still go the “Big Bad Breakfast” route by ordering the $18 three-course prix fix menu featuring a selection of dishes from the cookbook. Dubbed “The Hangover Helper,” this hefty breakfast is sure to tame I-was-out-too-late-last-night headaches and tummy grumbles. Menu highlights include creamed “chipped” mushrooms on toast ($8); crawfish cakes with Creole mustard aioli ($8); Hillbilly Eggs Hussarde with mushrooms, smoked ham, hollandaise and red-eye gravy ($12); oyster “potpie” ($12); duck fat beignets with rye whiskey caramel sauce ($7); sausage-cinnamon rolls with caramelized Vidalia onion ice cream ($8); and Decatur Street Gutter Punk with espresso, gin, cream, absinthe, brown sugar simple syrup, egg yolk, lemon juice and a lime twist ($8). Book sale and signing available at noon for brunch guests (prior to "Breakfast with the Beards" event). As always, 5Church guests enjoy validated parking in the Colony Square parking deck.
There’s no need to wait until dinner to dine at 5Church. The swanky new Midtown restaurant now serves lunch from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. While exciting Atlanta palates with a progressive American dinner menu, chef RJ Cooper and 5Church partner/chef Jamie Lynch have been keeping their fingers on the city’s midday meal pulse. Their fresh takes on appetizers, sandwiches, salads and entrées will appeal to appetites large and small, adventurous and tame. Our crew is already hankering for the 5Church lamb burger sporting red onion marmalade, Gorgonzola fondue and arugula served on a house-made sesame bun along with hand-cut fries; Peach & Lord’s country ham flatbread with peach-heirloom tomato coulis, arugula and ricotta salata; oyster po’ boy with hand-cut fries; and Peruvian roasted chicken salad sandwich with hand-cut fries. For Midtown professionals and residents, High Museum and Woodruff Arts Center visitors, come noon, the coolest spot to lunch is 5Church. And baby, you can drive your car because 5Church validates parking for guests using the Colony Square deck.
James Beard award-winning chef RJ Cooper is stepping out from newly opened 5Church Atlanta at 14th and Peachtree streets to lead the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) Simple Abundance class on Monday, August 8 from 7-9 p.m. at The Cook’s Warehouse Midtown. Hailing from its original Charlotte, North Carolina location and Charleston, South Carolina, 5Church made a wise choice selecting chef Cooper to lead its new Midtown Atlanta location. Over his years working with chefs Eric Ripert, Guenter Seeger and Gilbert LeCoze and growing through his own executive chef experiences, Cooper developed his unique progressive style, grounded in French cooking fundamentals and showcasing local ingredients. Class includes demonstration, wine tastings and a chance to win door prizes. Register online; $55 per person.
5Church, a modern American restaurant, opens its doors Friday, June 24, at the corner of 14th and Peachtree streets. 5Church will welcome guests daily with genuine hospitality, a technique-driven dinner menu and cutting-edge design. What to do with the car at one of Atlanta’s busiest intersections? No worries, thanks to complimentary valet parking and an expansive self-parking deck. This is the third location for restaurateurs Patrick Whalen, Ayman Kamel, Alejandro Torio and chef Jamie Lynch, whose other 5Church restaurants include the flagship location at the corner of 5th and Church Street in Charlotte, North Carolina, and another in Charleston, South Carolina.
Lynch, also a partner in 5Church, and James Beard Award-winning executive chef RJ Cooper have collaborated to craft a menu inclusive of 5Church favorites along with locally sourced items Atlantans are sure to love. Dishes exclusive to the Atlanta menu include:
- Slow-cooked white sea bass, grilled asparagus, marinated cucumber, preserved lemon, asparagus water, cold pressed olive oil
- Pan-seared scallops, crispy confit potato, melted leeks, cipollini onion, lemongrass-tomato coulis
- Confit duck breast, potato latke, marinated heirloom tomato, black olive tapenade, charred romaine, soft-boiled duck egg, Dijon-sherry duck jus
- Pan-roasted grouper, summer bean fricassee, American caviar, garlic anchovy “milk”
- Braised rabbit agnolotti, roasted baby carrots, English pea purée, braising jus
A 200-bottle wine list, specialty cocktails and craft beers complement the dinner menu and encourage guests to linger at impressive white concrete bars or enjoy a drink on the sidewalk and rooftop patios.
Managing partner Ayman Kamel says 5Church in Atlanta and its Carolina siblings share traits of delivering personal attention and a great dining experience. Even so, guests dining at the new Midtown location will see Atlanta’s unique personality the moment they enter, evident in large-scale artwork inspired by Atlanta and created by local artists, a hand-painted ceiling, eye-catching neo-Victorian décor and exquisite culinary presentations from Lynch and Cooper. 5Church is located at Colony Square, 1197 Peachtree Street NE. Enjoy dinner now; lunch and weekend brunch service will follow at a later date. Make reservations via OpenTable. For updates, follow the restaurant on Instagram, Facebook andTwitter. For additional information, call 404-400-3669.
Award-winning chef RJ Cooper has stirred fine dining scenes in Atlanta, NYC, Miami, Anchorage and Washington, D.C. He’s choosing to hang his toque back in the South at 5Church Atlanta, opening late spring/early summer at the corner of 14th and Peachtree streets in Midtown. Cooper will drive a modern American menu tailor-made for Atlanta while collaborating with 5Church partner and chef Jamie Lynch, who oversees the menus at locations in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Charleston, South Carolina. A Detroit native, Cooper began his culinary career working under Guenter Seeger at The Dining Room at The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead and Gilbert Le Coze at Brasserie Le Coze in Atlanta. NYC’s Le Bernardin, Brasserie Le Coze in Miami and The Crow’s Nest Restaurant at Hotel Captain Cook in Anchorage further stocked his pot of experiences. In Washington, D.C., Cooper won accolades as executive chef at New Heights Restaurant as well as the 2006 Chefs Rising Star Award and 2007 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic for his work at Vidalia. He moved on to open two of his own restaurants in the D.C. area -- Rogue 24 and Gypsy Soul. This chef knows his way around culinary landscapes, in Atlanta and beyond, and he is thrilled to further his Southern-inspired fare in our city. Follow 5Church Atlanta on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
