No. 246 Chef Drew Belline Peps Up Weeknight Family Suppers

 

Knowing family dinners are so important, time is precious and dollars are dear, No. 246 Chef Drew Belline has drawn up a special family style supper menu for early diners. On Monday through Thursday evenings, diners seated between 5 - 6:30 p.m. can order a four-course meal served family style (with the exception of the entrée) for $18 for adults and $6 for children 12 and under. 

The Italian-inspired menu begins with toast with local roasted sweet peppers, local basil, shaved heirloom garlic, EVOO and sea salt, and a salad of local greens with house-dried oregano vinaigrette, pepperoncinis, small tomatoes, shaved local red onions and feta. Choose one pasta entrée per person: tagliatelle carbonara with bacon, local herbs and Parmesan; spaghetti and meatball with Parmesan, San Marzano and basil; squid ink tagliatini with Bemis and James bottarga, bread crumbs, chilies and mint; or spaghetti with arugula, basil and almond pesto. Tiny, doughnut-like zeppole with anise sugar is a classic dessert. The children's menu includes spaghetti with meatball, spaghetti with butter and cheese pizza.

Come Enjoy the Cooler Weather in No. 246’s Backyard

No. 246 has opened the restaurant’s backyard just in time for you to drink and dine as you enjoy the fall weather. With a deck built around a tree, guest seating and an herb garden, this is not the standard restaurant backyard. Diners should also make plans to come back once the new ping pong table arrives. The Italian-inspired eatery does not accept reservations for outdoor dining, but guests are welcome to make a reservation for the main dining room.

2, 4, 6, 8, No. 246 Has Been Worth The Wait!

Ford Fry, owner/executive chef of JCT. Kitchen & Bar, and Chef Drew Belline, previously the chef de cuisine at Floataway Café, are opening No. 246 -- their new Italian-inspired, locally driven restaurant in easy-going Decatur next week! Stay tuned to their Facebook page to get the scoop! No. 246 (twofoursix) takes its name from the original number of the plot of land where the restaurant sits. Through their joint venture, Fry and Belline share their passions for using seasonal, local ingredients, simple preparations and wood-fired cooking -- key strengths of both Californian and Italian kitchens.

The No. 246 menu veers off the Southeast's meat-centric path, setting forth more vegetables and dishes driven by local farm produce. Dinner dish examples include "start" of wood oven-roasted razor clams with salsa verde and lemon. Among the "flour & water" selections are garganelli with soffritto-braised rabbit, sultanas, broccoli rabe and pecorino and a cherrystone clam pizza with grana padano, parsley butter, garlic and chilies. "From the hearth" items include wood oven-roasted Springer Mountain chicken with hen-of-the-woods, roasted young carrots and a sherry-bacon vinaigrette or a whole wood-roasted fish of the moment. As a "finish," dessert options include lemon balm buttermilk panna cotta with lemon marmalade and brown butter blueberry croustade with crème fraîche. Lunch features entrée salads and sandwiches including the No. 246 burger with Teleme and house pickles and a BLT featuring Belline Farm's tomato, fior di latte, backyard basil and prosciutto.

Lara Creasy directs the beverage program, pouring wines from Italy and California and providing a revolving list of "house wine" values by the glass or half-carafe. Cocktails contain numerous traditional Italian ingredients -- vermouths, amaros, aperitivos, digestivos, seasonal fruits and produce, Italian sodas and house-made mixers. Coffee also will be a priority at No. 246 -- perfect to enjoy in a place where the front doors spill out onto the sidewalk while the backdoor opens into a yard green with an herb garden, shuffleboard court, and a deck built around a tree where live music will be played on Saturdays and Sundays. The restaurant will serve lunch and dinner daily and will not accept reservations. So, what comes after No. 246? Ate, of course.

No. 246: 129 E. Ponce de Leon Avenue in Decatur; 678-399-8246.