Miller Union — Restaurant in Atlanta

To me Miller Union is all about the chef. Located on the westside of Atlanta, seemingly a growing hub of great restaurants is the OG, Miller Union. Success here is nothing new and been a routine for them since 2009 but was propelled in 2017 with a James Beard award win by Chef Steven Satterfield. Their goals have filtered through Atlanta and helped the food scene here create and become proud of the southern cuisine it should be. The man has many interest with most of them far away from the kitchen. A member of a band, education in architecture and cancer survivor are some of the things I could have wished for a table visit to learn more about but a Saturday date night with friends conversation ended up revolving around the food before us. Still, I appreciate the renaissance spirit and interest in multiple disciplines gain my respect and help showcase inspiration and goals of dishes flying from the kitchen. The warehouse space of Miller Union is cozy-fied by segmenting it into smaller intimate dining rooms that were much quieter than I anticipated but appreciated not having to use sign language to converse with our neighbors. This and the decor create a relaxed atmosphere but still makes you feel worthy of a special occasion and more importantly accompanying the plates of upscale southern. This is no easy task as traditionally our heritage is rooted in working or lower class fare with a foundation in cheap proteins and many vegetables. However much like what Sean Brock has done we can see an example of how proper preparation, delicate techniques and quality ingredients can propel common dishes of childhood. These personally for me in reminisince have been over cooked or over seasoned from years of family custom, which has its place in nostalgia but may not fully represent the nuances of flavors or full potential of the ingredient. Im reminded of the vegetable plate. This is a can't miss item. It's incredible the emergence of flavors in the greens and root varieties that are typically cooked away or bathed in fat that I self admittedly execute at home. Again, rare for me to shy away from any protein on a menu but that was a fun plate and one that has a great story behind it. The restaurant as a whole is worthy of all the praise as all other aspects of service round out to an enjoyable evening or lunch with quality wines and cocktails. Miller Union has and will continue to do great things as evidence in their tenure here in Atlanta and that is one we all...

Although I'm always skeptical of "best restaurants" lists, we picked this one after some online research for a trip in ATL and in my opinion this one lived up to the hype!

TLDR: If you go, make sure you order the lamb, roasted oysters, and bok choy.

We went without a reservation and was able to find a spot at the bar easily, which I was thrilled about! Seems like they were busy, but if you didn't plan ahead, you would be ok as long as you're flexible.

For drinks, we ordered the Miller Thyme and In Bloom cocktails. Both good, but not doing anything out of the box or unique from a girly drink perspective.

For food, we split the roasted oysters. If that's ever on the menu, I have to order and honestly, I've never had a 'bad' roasted oyster, but this dish was definitely delightful and we were slurping every last bit of sauce out.

We also ordered the braised lamb, which was hands down the favorite of the evening. The flavor was amazing, it was cooked to perfection, and even though it was an app, I think it should be added to the entrees selection in a larger format.

We had the beet salad which was great, but definitely felt like a dish I've had other places before.

Finally, we split the vegetable plate, which is apparently what this place is known for from their cookbooks. It was excellent, but not necessarily mind blowing. The bok choy was to die for, the red peas we poked around to avoid, and everything else was mediocre.

For dessert, we had the chocolate ganache cake. It was underwhelming, I felt like the room-temp cake would have been better served chilled and the flavor profile with what I think was the passion fruit just didn't quite hit perfectly. On the other hand, we had the banana caramel ice cream, which felt like the right amount of sweet vs salty.

Overall, the food here was great, not quite mind blowing, but ultimately this is an ATL restaurant cornerstone that everyone should make a stop into. What I liked most about this restaurant was how clear it was that the staff enjoyed working there, which makes a dining experience significantly better. We ended up eating next to the GM, Vince, for quite some time, who shared that he had worked there for over a decade (or at least that's what I remember him saying) and loved what he did...

We've been wanting to dine here for so long and finally got a reservation for my husband's birthday brunch last weekend, on the first weekend after Chef Steven Satterfield took home the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southeast (after 5 nominations, finally!). What great timing!

For starters, we got hush puppies. They were fried to crispy perfection! As my husband was working his way on his second piece, he had to spit out a piece of small plastic. We immediately notified our server Seth about the boo-boo and he immediately apologized and asked if we wanted him to replace it. We had about two more pieces left and declined his offer hoping none of those things were in the rest of our order and gladly, there were not.

Not long after, Seth came back with the rest of our orders and told us that since we declined the offer to replace the hushpuppies, it'll be on them. Sweet! We really appreciated the gesture and happily moved on with the rest of our meal. I got a burger, which is one of the things they are best known for. To be honest, I wasn't blown away with my first bite, but after I got into "the heart of the burger" where the cheese, accoutrements, sauce and burger was all in one bite, I thought I was transported to burger heaven! It came with a side of fries and the most delicious ketchup I've ever had in my life! I wonder what brand it was or what special ingredient they put in there?

My husband, the original fried chicken nut, of course had to try theirs! While he usually prefers bone-in pieces, he thoroughly devoured his! Thankfully, he gave me a few bites and was greatly impressed! This is what elevated fried chicken should be! Loved the johnnycakes and veggies that came with it too, so tasty!

We were stuffed after we finished both our orders and declined Seth's offer for dessert. But when he came with the bill he brought homemade malted vanilla ice cream sandwich with him and said even if we didn't ask for it, it was their way of saying they were truly sorry for the earlier mishap which we had already forgotten bec the food was so good! I am a fan of anything malted so I gave in. IT WAS SO GOOD! Especially with the chocolate cookies! Save room for this when dining here! Now that's exemplary service! James Beard Award...