National Seafood Month Hooks Atlantans on Coastal Favorites

Grab your appetite and dive into National Seafood Month. October serves up coastal favorites for Atlantans in many of the city's treasured eateries. Get caught up in a well-balanced diet of seafood, as it hauls in plenty of health benefits. 

Executive chef David Bradley, of Lure, catches guests' attention with his saltwater classics prepared fresh daily. Whether one is feeling Blue Hill Bay mussels ($14) or grilled Block Island Swordfish ($32), make sure to taste the Southern flavors of Vidalia onion hushpuppies, coleslaw and corn on the cob, which comes with fried North Carolina catfish ($19). 

How about make your dish the fish? Ray's Restaurants promises always fresh seafood, flown in daily from Atlantic and Pacific fishing fleets. Delicious Georges Bank scallops, grouper and Georgia mountain trout will have one reminiscing on beach eats by the water. Visit Ray's in the City in downtown Atlanta, Ray's on the River in Sandy Springs and Ray's on the Creek in Alpharetta for all of your guilt-less sea pleasures. 

The Optimist brings sustainable seafood to west Midtown. Executive chef Andrew Evans shells out fresh entrées like East and West coast oysters and crispy whole black fish with fried shallots for guests to indulge in.  

Kick it dockside with oysters on the half shell, lump crab cake and calamari fries at The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill. Open for lunch and dinner, take a taste of the shrimp and grits for $12.95 or the "dry pack" sea scallops for $20.95. 

Appetizing Aperture: Dulce de Leche French Toast at Lure

Weekends in Midtown just got even tastier now that Lure is serving brunch from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Chef David Bradley's delicious creations will help shake those weekend sleepies off, including the Hangtown fry, Carolina gold rice porridge with buttered shrimp and grilled pork belly, dulce de leche French toast (pictured), lobster Benedict, French horn mushrooms a la plancha (soft polenta) plus the Riverview Farms burger, the fried oyster slider trio and a fried North Carolina catfish biscuit. Toast to the weekend with prosecco or share a punch bowl with friends!

Lure Opens Tomorrow...And You'll Be Hooked

Trust me, it's a shore thing. Lure, Fifth Group Restaurant's newest eatery, opens to the public tomorrow, and I can assure you it's quite the catch. The restaurant is located in a 1920s bungalow at 1106 Crescent Avenue in Midtown and serves a menu of amazingly fresh seafood and seasonal produce from Chef David Bradley. The restaurant achieves a perfect balance between sophisticated and casual, making guests feel as though they are in both a fine-dining restaurant and a seaside fish house all at once with eye catching accents like reclaimed nautical spotlights and an old anchor from the Boston Harbor. Lure's three-part menu is broken down into “Raw, Marinated, Chilled” ($2-$20),“For You Or For Sharing”($4-$14), and “Sizeable Servings” ($19-28). My personal favorite is the grilled whole Georgia rainbow trout served with pickled ramp butter and new potatoes. And if you're nervous about getting a whole fish, don't be, you can order it at Lure without feeling like a novice because the restaurant is smart enough to bring out these handy dandy "de-boning with confidence" diagrams to help you out. The spicy Veracruz-style seafood cocktail is a fun appetizer to share, and the grilled North Carolina mahi mahi with summer salad and fresh goat cheese is another outstanding entree choice. Check out the menu for yourself and go fishing for favorites. Lure is also sure to become a favorite watering hole among Atlantans with a variety of punch bowls, bottled cocktails and shochu blends. Try the Blue-Eyed Boy (pictured above) with gin, mint, elderflower and peach bitters - nice and refreshing for summer! Lure will serve dinner nightly to start out, with lunch and weekend brunch service beginning in September. Call 404.817.3650 to make your reservation.