Holeman & Finch Public House
Spikey #1 – Old Tom Gin, Bonal, Combier Pamplemousse, Lime, Swedish Herb Bitters, Sea Salt
Bread Box with Salted Butter – Crostini, Gruyere Ciabatta, Bacon Baguette, Multigrain, Dinner Roll, Pumpernickel Walnut
Poached Farm Egg and Duck Liver – Griddled bacon, Johnny Cake, Sorghum Syrup
Glazed Sweetbreads – Baby Squash, Hen of the Wood, Honey Jus
Crunchy Madame – Riverview Smoked Ham, Gruyere, Egg
Mondongo Tripe with Crispy Plantains
Bacon Caramel Popcorn with Pork Fat Infused Caramel
Sticky Toffee Pudding with Whipped Cream
Raved for its Burger, now available at Turner Field where I would be only a few hours later watching The Braves, and amongst a handful of Public Houses and “Gastropubs” that started the trend instead of following it, my visit to Holeman & Finch was somewhat spur of the moment as spotty weather had kept me in Buckhead after my family had turned north for the day but arriving just as the restaurant opened its doors what I found was far better than I’d hoped – a largely empty restaurant with educated service and a menu that, although pricey for a ‘public house,’ featured some of my very favorite things prepared in very unique ways. A really beautiful space with wood floors and exposed cement walls playing point/counterpoint with floor to ceiling windows and various seating options including a large bar with a copious collection of wine and spirits and a cocktail menu to match it seemed only rational to begin with a drink and the house made ‘bread box,’ the former very refreshing and the later amongst the best bread services I’ve had in recent memory, particularly the savroy ciabatta. Moving onward to plates proper with the kitchen happy to send them out one at a time the progression was admittedly compromised by selecting exceedingly heavy dishes but opting to go sweet to savory and small to large the delivery could not have been better – the breakfasty eggs, foie, and pancake like something straight out of APdC while the sweetbreads proved clean, creamy, and vegetal leading into a toasty and traditional croque and spicy-gives-way-to-sweet bowl of tripe with an amazing degree of depth and textural nuance. Sated but not stuffed despite the richness of that which had already occurred desserts would prove every bit as good as the savories, the nontraditional Sticky Toffee Pudding described as a “fig brownie meets bread pudding meets a lot of butter and toffee” amongst the sweetest interpretations of the dish I’ve experienced and the signature popcorn, a gift from the kitchen, exactly as decadent as it sounds – the savory notes coming through on the finish with a great mouthfeel akin to creamy caramel meets good Tonkotsu ramen broth.
http://www.holeman-finch.com/