Food stuff That Transports: Restaurateur Tal Baum opens Atrium

Oliva Cafe Team opened its newest cafe at the stop of January. Situated on the 1st ground of Ponce Town Market’s Central Food stuff Hall, Atrium functions a contemporary American menu with European affect and shiny, whimsical decor.

The crew driving Atrium incorporates Tal Baum, Founder & Proprietor of Oliva Cafe Team, Govt Culinary Director Brandon Hughes and Director of Functions Josh Riddle.

Baum is developing on Oliva Group’s stream of accomplishment with other Atlanta restaurants – Aziza, Falafel Nation, Bellina Alimentari and Rina. Oliva’s forthcoming restaurant, Carmel, is slated to open up late 2022 in Buckhead Village and will give diners a style of coastal existence.

The emphasis at Atrium, Baum mentioned, is “cooking what we appreciate. We also desired to produce dishes that would enchant our visitors, just as the ambiance does.”

That ambiance is boosted by Smith Hanes Studio’s styles inside components consist of bold florals and performs by regional artisans and craftsmen. The spacious cocktail lounge, The Parlor, includes a hand-painted tile bar and mural, and the 4,000 square foot key eating place, The Bistro, attributes large manufacturing unit home windows and significant pink banquettes.

Enchantment is the idea powering all the Oliva dining establishments, Baum spelled out. “We’re attempting to transport our attendees into a diverse environment and actuality, and for a pair of hours, consider them on a journey to one more area. With Atrium, we want to give visitors a respite from the hustle and bustle of Ponce Metropolis Market place,” she mentioned.

Baum defined that all of Oliva’s restaurants signifies chapters of her daily life.

Born and elevated in Haifa, Israel, she moved to Florence, Italy, at the age of 21. In the course of her 7 several years in Italy, she analyzed architecture and created an intimate expertise of Italian delicacies.

“Rina, Aziza and Falafel Country symbolize my early everyday living and rising up in Israel,” Baum said. “Bellina Alimentari is an ode to my yrs dwelling in Italy, and Atrium is a manifestation of a current chapter enduring the evolution of dining in The united states.”

She proposed that Atrium people commence with drinks in The Parlor, then go to The Bistro for a food. She reported that while it is hard to advocate just one particular dish, diners should check out Chef Cole Pate’s rooster entree.

“Chicken is just one of individuals dishes that is so tricky to be artistic and ground breaking with, but Cole was genuinely attempting to elevate the chicken practical experience and change it into a thing unique,” Baum mentioned. 

“We make rooster sausage in-household, then we wrap the sausage in the rooster, sous vide it and crisp it up in advance of serving so the pores and skin is tremendous crispy and browned. It will come out in the excellent texture, and there are so several distinctive levels — from the crispy skin to the sausage to the sauce.” All those factors get the hen into a entirely distinctive degree, just one that is restaurant worthy, she extra.

Although the pandemic and current lockdowns afflicted all the dining places in the city, Baum reported they stayed hectic with to-go orders, catered foods to-go, virtual cooking classes and additional. “I’m psyched to appear to the long run,” she explained. “That’s where our focus is now – generating sure people have a fantastic working experience, where they have a great time and ignore about their day-to-working day for a number of hrs.”

For extra on Atrium and the Oliva Restaurant Group, pay a visit to atriumatl.com and olivarestaurants.com.