The Deer and The Dove — Restaurant in Decatur

Came here for our anniversary and we had a more than pleasant experience here - more than enough to warrant a review and definitely already looking forward to our return visit.

Ambiance: less fancy restaurant and more cafe or home office vibes, but still walking in understanding that you are there to eat. Seats and tables fit in with the vibe and are well maintained. Bathrooms clean. No complaints.

Food: choice based on many previously reviewed items, each delicious although overall balance could have erred more on light rather than all out richness, kind of in your face vibe. Next time will likely consider what to order now knowing this info. Overall 8.5/10, with the feedback of either new additions to the menu to be balanced within the dish or having the staff inform the diner of what they’re about to experience. By dish:

Cocktail: harvest cup of rice spirits, peach, ginger, basil, soda, among other things. Refreshing but still strong, 9/10 if only for reasons of personal preference.

Yeast rolls: pleasantly crunchy on the outside without cutting the roof of our mouths, yet fluffy on the inside. Garlic and herb butter is a good pairing, although as stated very in your face about the fact that it’s a garlic and herb (like people who do CrossFit). Sea salt balances out, although it was a pinch too much and we did find ourselves having to scrape about half to 3/4 of the salt off by the second roll (comes as 4). Still tasty - 8/10.

Coffee crusted venison - piece of venison crusted with their coffee blend and seared rare. Meat is not gamey until you get to the rarer inner part of the meat, good for sharing between two people who have opposite preferences from game meat. Purées and carrot chips offer great dichotomy of flavor and texture when combined with other elements on the plate. The jus volume could be dialed back a bit on the butter front, but still a great addition to the dish overall. 9/10.

The escargot and marrow is an interesting pairing - this comes with capers, focaccia bread, and another generous helping of the garlic and herb butter. The escargot was good, not overcooked while remaining sweet and savory (4 pc on top of the bread). While marrow is always delicious, all the elements combined make for a very heavy, borderline knockout dish just in terms of flavor. By the end of the dish I was almost happy that it was only about 2-3 bites per person because it was too much of a good thing, and the capers were logistically difficult to get in with a bite of everything. They also weren’t enough to counterbalance the triple threat combo of butter, marrow, and sauce provided which just immediately put the consumer into a food coma. Definitely would have preferred the acidic counterbalance in a different vehicle. 7/10.

Whole trout: the star of the meal and the most balanced in terms of flavor and texture. Fish is perfectly cooked with ski side down for a nice crispy upper layer. Most of the bones are removed for ease of consumption, and the flesh side is juice both from the meat as well as the vegetable broth it sits in. Flavor is nice and light, with sweetness from the trout counterbalanced by the mild acidity of the remaining elements. Texture is equally wonderful with the crunchy skin balanced against the tender, almost fluffy fish meat. After finishing and licking the plate clean, I fully understand the recommendations of this as a must-order dish. Worth every penny, 10/10.

Dessert - GA peach sundae. The baked peach sits next to a toasted oat ice cream - loved the sweet and sour notes side by side with the hot and cold concept, although the ice cream did melt a lot faster than expected and became soup halfway through. The result is that you are forced to choose between the warm peach or a melted ice cream soup, which presents yet another logistical challenge. Still good as soup, though, so I guess it’s part of the design. 8.5/10 unless you’re averse to sweet or potentially sour peaches.

Bonus service - got a complement for our anniversary...

I really wanted to like this restaurant based on its Wrecking Bar chops. I didn’t.

The Organization and the Room: A nice, limited renovation from the Cakes and Ale space. Thirty-five minutes late to be seated for an 8:00 reservation for four. My “Meller Yeller” rhum/orgeat/turmeric cocktail was interesting enough. Host staff was generally apologetic (the leader came by to bring us some bagels to take home later on, but in a bizarre way — four in one bag for us to what, split up and carry loose on the way home? Also, they were labeled “EOD bagels,” which I can only assume means “end of day,” and is not particularly enticing).

Meeting the Server: Took 10 minutes to get water and be greeted. Ordered a bottle of wine, repeating the name twice and pointing to it on the menu. Still received the wrong bottle. I guess I can understand mistaking the Kerner I wanted for the Grüner I got, but I’m not sure the server even knew the menu well enough to know the Kerner was there. Instead of expediting the right bottle, our server took another table’s order and bussed yet another table before producing our wine. Then, when taking our order, didn’t manage to tell us that the chicken had been 86’d until someone tried to order it.

The Food and Wine: True to form, the shared “Family Platter” of well sourced cheeses, homemade charcuterie, pickles and veg were reasonably strong — an elevated version of Wrecking Bar classics. It was mostly downhill from there. The clams/pork belly/bonito was inspired but super heavy. The octopus and shrimp terrine was flavorful and left me optimistic. The entrees dashed those hopes. My duck roulade (server’s recommendation) was a fatty, gristly mess. And I’m not one to complain about a rich and fatty meat dish. But the execution on the duck was shockingly poor. The meat portion of the NY strip (another recommendation) was edible; the fat portion was not — unrendered and gelatinous. Again, I’m not one to shy away from fatty meats, but this was quite poor at the $39 price point. The trout and “Market” tilefish ordered by my tablemates (but not tried by me) were reported as “fine,” but not something that they’d order again. Sides of potatoes with sour cream, Sea Island peas, sunchokes and carrots with tahini and za’atar were good, as were the chanterelles that they graciously provided since they were a strong draw for the steak-eater who was hoping for the chicken dish. The Cruse Valdiguié was an awesome bottle of wine, though the gentleman who served it somehow managed to pour nearly two-thirds of the bottle into three glasses before forgetting to pour any more than the initial taste for me, the one who ordered the wine. That said, it was cool to see the passion of the bar manager (?) who later came by and was excited that we had ordered that wine.

The Service (Part 2): Presumptuous and not terribly helpful. An order of dinner rolls became two without us asking. A second order of potatoes was brought despite the fact that the steak dish came with the same side (and our server knew we were sharing all the sides). A second bottle of red wine was mistakenly brought when we had asked for another “bottle” (carafe) of water to be brought to the table after one that was left for us to serve ourselves from was never brought back full after we had emptied it. The served seemed a little miffed, as she had already opened the (unordered) bottle of wine before she got to the table (which she never should have done in the first place).

Conclusion: Wanted to like it, but can’t say that we did. We’ll go back — but not for six months. Both the food and the service need a ton of work for a restaurant of this price point. Hope it’s still there by the time we’re ready to give it...

Along my tasting tour of top Atlanta restraunts, Deer and Dove was one of my stops. And I am truly glad it was.

This place delivers top quality meals at an affordable price. You will leave with a full belly and a smile on your face. The chef/owner focuses on using fresh, seasonal, local, and sustainably sourced ingredients. When I learned that they even source some of their meats from White Oak Pastures (which I actually stayed at for a whole week just a few days before my visit to Deer and Dove, what a coincidence) that was enough for me to understand that these people know what they are doing.

This isn't some flashy, snobby place that wants to take advantage of their Michelin recognition, but rather give you honest top quality ingredients in a friendly and casual setting at REASONABLE prices.

But what's most important obviously, is the quality of the food. During my visit on 6/23/24, I focused on trying out multiple dishes that were highly recommended and they did not disappoint!

First up was the Coffee Dusted Seared Venison. This dish features an array of sauces and purees - beets and carrots, which paired absolutely wonderfully with the tender, melt in your mouth venison - which when cooked properly will match any cut of filet mignon you can find. The coffee flavor was very muted, and the fried carrot chips on top added an extra dimension of texture. 10/10 - (This dish was so good I actually ended up ordering two servings of it!)

Second, I had to try the Hudson Valley Foie Gras Torchon. They do not skimp on the amount of Foie Gras they give you and it truly is very high quality at that. Paired with fresh, in-house grilled sourdough slices, foraged serviceberry paté de fruit (kind of like a blackberry jelly) and peach jam - this dish was also very delicious and filling for a simple small plate. 10/10 would recommend.

And for my main - I had to try the Whole Trout which many other reviewers rave about. As somebody who cooks and eats a lot of fish, this one was prepared perfectly. You are given a completely deboned, pan-seared whole trout, except a couple small collar bones of course, and it is swimming in a wonderful rich sauce consisting of clam escabeche, shishitos, coconut milk, trout roe, and dry aged smoked fish bone fumet. The fish was cooked perfectly and melts in your mouth, and the skin could have used perhaps an additional 30 seconds to the sear to render out some of the belly fat as well as giving the skin a slightly crispier texture. After having such a standout small plate experience, this one just did not wow me as much as the venison and foie gras. I think next time I visit I will try another main, perhaps the duck or pheasant. 9/10 - recommend for a rich, saucy, fresh fish experience.

This spot deserves more recognition than it gets in the Atlanta fine dining conversation. The staff was accommodating to any allergies or dietary restrictions, and there are very many vegetarian options if that is your choice.

P.S. the desserts are wonderful - I tried the chocolate chip cookie and seasonal scone, which are both baked fresh in their sister restraunt - b side bagels. Definitely try the scone!

Parking is also decent at $25...