HOLEMAN AND FINCH TIME!

HOLEMAN & FINCH

2277 Peachtree Rd., NE

Atlanta, GA  30309

404/948-1175

I have been wanting to try Linton Hopkins' Holeman and Finch for ages, and finally committed to making a reservation (weeks in advance) and going with friends recently.

Holeman and Finch describes itself as a "Gastropub" which is a fancy way of saying that it's a pub/bar atmosphere dedicated to serving quality food.  So the idea here is small plates to share - not that you HAVE to share, but that's how the menu is designed.

But let me back up a bit - when you drive into the front of the restaurant, you see Restaurant Eugene on your left, and Holeman and Finch is on the right.  It's valet parking only, and they were prompt and whisked the car away quickly.

Upon entering the "pub" we were greeted immediately and briskly seated by the hostess.  It's loud and bustling with patrons in the bar as well as in the main restaurant.  We were seated in a booth, and it needs to be noted that seating is a bit cramped in the place.  I'm only 5'5" but my husband is almost 6'5" and was pretty miserable feeling throughout the meal.  Not sure there was another spot in the place that would have worked for him though - it definitely wasn't designed with tall people in mind.

Anyway, our waiter arrived, and we eventually were asked our drink orders, and we begin our dining experience.

The menu changes often, and it's stamped with the date at the top. The food is most definitely fresh and all farm to table. Having never been here before, our waiter was helpful is describing the menu and offering up some of his favorites.

 We decided to "start" with one cold dish and one hot - we chose 2 orders of their deviled eggs and 1 order of their shrimp toast.  Both were outstanding.

 So, it's not THE greatest photograph here, but the 3 deviled eggs were (from left to right) a dill pickle, a cayenne and a country ham one.  We all favored the country ham one - I could've eaten a dozen I think!

 My Moscow Mule - very good.

 A couple of pics of the Shrimp Toast - we all plowed into the dish before I remembered to snap a pic!  But this dish was perfectly prepared - the toast was delicious to sop up all the "sauce" and the shrimp cooked to perfection. Loved!

 Another oops!  My "main" dish choice was the Pate Melt.  I went with our server's recommendation. It's pate that's served on toast with melted cheese and a smoked onion jam.  It was rich but outstanding.

 The creme de la creme at Holeman and Finch - the cheeseburger.  And it lived up to the hype!  It's juicy and greasy and decadent - everything a great burger should be. This burger used to only be served to the lucky few that happened to be there at 10PM each night, but they changed their policy and now all patrons can order this delicacy any time.  Really stupendous burger!

 My friend Lori got the short ribs with fingerling sweet potatoes. It doesn't photograph well of course, but it was a great short rib dish.

 And my husband ordered the "Crunchy Lady." Not sure why they call it that?  But, it was great!  It's their version of a Croque Madame and was so so good.  We were all vying for a bite!

And even though we were totally stuffed, I had heard great things about their Sticky Toffee Bread Pudding.  It was good, but not great. 4th and Swift has one that is "moan worthy," and King + Duke's is to die for, alas, this one was not. But it was a fine dessert to share between the 4 of us to end our meal, and it was tasty, just not memorable.

catebogue

Had a fabulous time with our friends at Holeman and Finch!  A few things do need to be noted however.  The place (as I mentioned above) is very LOUD.  At the end of the evening I felt my throat straining to talk across the small booth.

Also, the service was extremely slow.  Drinks didn't come out together, so that was awkward for 1-2 of us to have our beverages to enjoy while the others didn't.  And we ordered 2 orders of deviled eggs, and they brought out only 1 order.  When we brought it to our server's attention, he immediately said that he knew that and the other one was coming out.  But very odd to serve them 5 minutes apart!  And I watched other patrons being served and having issues - it wasn't just our table.  They do not seem to be dedicated to seeing to their customers' every need - it's sort of an attitude of "we've got a great thing going here and you're lucky to be here." Not rude per se, and he WAS knowledgeable, but he was not welcoming or warm either.

But, the food is the star here. Everything we had was wonderful.  It's not for those on a diet, but that's not why we chose to go there.  I'm still talking about that burger...