🦃 Thanksgiving hot takes

Table Talk: Edgewood Avenue bar demonstrates love thy neighbor in real time

Nov. 25 — Happy Tuesday, and welcome to the table.

The New York Times published 61 Thanksgiving hot takes last week, asking staffers like Kim Severson, along with recipe developers and restaurant folks, their opinions on everything from the optimal time to serve the holiday meal (2 p.m.) to the best side dish (cranberry apple sage stuffing) to whether lasagna is an acceptable main (yes). All hail the comments section on this story.

As for my Thanksgiving hot take: If the cranberry sauce doesn’t include ridges from a can, get it out of my sight and off my table.

Now, on to today’s “Family Meal”, which includes dining reporter Sarra Sedghi’s story on Edgewood Avenue bar Our Bar ATL’s annual Thanksgiving Eve charity event in Sweet Auburn.

Plus, I tell you why you should absolutely order the North Georgia mountain trout cru the next time you dine at Avize in Atlanta. Finally, per a Rough Draft reader request, Kyma shared its recipe for the restaurant’s eggplant stew with onions and Greek tomato sauce.

Cheers!

Beth

Our Bar ATL’s Hug the Block:
More Than Just a Thanksgiving Charity Event

Hug the Block – a meal, celebration, and act of service rolled into one – returns on Nov. 26 for its sixth year in Sweet Auburn. In what’s become a yearly tradition for Our Bar ATL, the Edgewood Avenue bar closes to the public the night before Thanksgiving and throws an event specifically meant to assist the area’s homeless population.

Since opening in 2020, Our Bar has had an intimate relationship with the Sweet Auburn and Old Fourth Ward unhoused communities. The bar opened right before the COVID-19 pandemic. Faced with a desire to serve amidst a lockdown, the staff at Our Bar pivoted to making brown bag lunches for people in need.

“We’d go to Mr. John’s store down the street and just pass out sandwiches to whoever,” said Sarah Oak Kim, Our Bar ATL co-founder and co-owner. “Then it turned into this social distancing assembly line of workers where we would just make 100 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a day.”

Word spread, Oak Kim said, and it wasn’t long before people began approaching Our Bar staff about acquiring a brown bag lunch.

The demand was consistent, and Our Bar’s staff grew familiar with the nearby homeless population — some of the hardest hit people by the pandemic shutdowns. As time passed, and Atlanta’s restrictions lifted in 2020, the bar’s charitable endeavors within the community evolved.

Dez Luecke, part of the opening staff at Our Bar and founder of Misfit Love Mafia, took bagged lunches out into the community. As the weather cooled, Our Bar stocked an outdoor table with a self-serve noodle, coffee, and tea bar. People donated socks, mittens, and hand warmers. Again, word spread amongst the unhoused community in and around Sweet Auburn that Our Bar offered a place for them to warm up.

“That Thanksgiving [in 2020] we wanted to do something special. I was like, ‘man, it’d be nice to throw them a party,’” Oak Kim said. “That’s the human part of hospitality, right? That’s the whole point. You want that service, you want that bonding, you want that entertainment, you want that companionship.”

Luecke’s wife, an actress, reached out to production companies for shower trailers to place in the back lot of Our Bar. From there, more volunteers donated items, including clothing and wigs, and grooming services such as hair cuts, makeup, and manicures. Chefs offered to donate food or even cook at the bar. (Luecke now works at Leftie Lee’s in Avondale Estates, which donated its kitchen space to help prepare meals for Hug the Block this year.)

“Now we let them come inside. We’re dancing, we’re singing, we’re partying, we’re playing bingo, we’re giving out prizes. We have essential stuff and blankets, whatever they need, and then they can have a really good night,” Oak Kim said of providing not only services but dignity for the unhoused people who attend Hug the Block each year.

In 2025, the need is great. The current economy is straining Atlantans, which has contributed to an uptick in people who are newly or recently experiencing homelessness. And while the dining and hospitality industries are changing things up on menus to include budget-friendly options, many customers may not have as much capacity to give back as in previous years.

Last month, for example, Oak Kim noticed more children attending the bar’s trick-or-treating event, which provides free candy, snacks, pizza, and slushies to local kids.

“We were so worried because even with donations like school supplies and the candy drive, we could tell this year was going to be rough,” she said. “So little donations came in, which was a good indicator of how bad people were struggling this year.”

Instead of cutting their biggest community service project, Our Bar prioritized Hug the Block over the end-of-year awards event they usually host.

“It costs us a lot of money, so we agreed to not do [the awards] this year and use that money towards buying whatever was missing for Hug the Block,” Oak Kim said.

Our Bar and Misfit Love Mafia have already paid for everything provided at this year’s event. Oak Kim stressed, however, that Hug the Block will continue accepting donations from the public through Wednesday, and that Misfit Love Mafia, who sponsored the majority of the event, is seeking donations year-round.

People can bring supplies to Our Bar tonight, starting at 8 p.m. Both Oak Kim and Luecke said the greatest need right now are for blankets and outerwear. Large outerwear (winter coats and rain gear) is the greatest need. Other clothing can be used for layering. Our Bar needs volunteer sorters to organize donations ahead of Wednesday’s event. Misfit Love Mafia also accepts donations via Venmo.

Hug the Block begins setting up Nov. 26 at 10 a.m. That afternoon, from 1-5 p.m., Hug the Block will provide a light breakfast, showers, makeup and nail services, haircuts, and a clothing drive. Then, from 4 p.m. until the last guest leaves, Our Bar ATL will host a dinner party, games, and live music indoors.

Our Bar ATL, 339 Edgewood Ave., Sweet Auburn.

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The Move:
North Georgia Mountain Trout Cru at Avize

Zip, zing, zest all in one bite. That’s how I’d describe the North Georgia mountain trout cru ($24) at Avize on Brady Avenue.

Though dainty in appearance, Chef Karl Gorline layers in just enough texture and combination of flavors as to not overwhelm this petitely portioned dish.

Tender slices of North Georgia trout come marinated in yuzu (semi-sweet Asian citrus) topped with teeny dollops of diced celery (the zip). A thin celery ribbon provides soft crunch, followed by pops of salinity from trout roe and hints of savoriness from blistered shishito (the zing). The cru is finished table side with fermented apple cider ponzu (the zest and zing).

In one little raw dish, Gorline harnesses the seasonality of fall in the South and packages it beautifully. Yuzu, celery, and fermented apple cider ponzu: the trinity I didn’t know I needed.

Recipe: Kyma’s Eggplant Stew

*Photo by Madelynne Grace / Bites and Bevs*

This week, per a Rough Draft reader request, we’re sharing Kyma’s recipe for eggplant stew with onions and Greek tomato sauce.

Kyma Chef Pano Karatassos said that eggplant stew has thousands of years of history — the vegetable originated in East and South Asia and traveled westward over time. Karatassos added that Greeks consider this stew a main dish.

“Greeks don’t eat protein every night,” he said. “Traditionally, the diet centers on vegetarian dishes most days, with fish a couple of times a week, chicken once a week, and red meat only about once a month.”

The Greek island Ikaria is one of the world’s five blue zones, where people live longer-than-average lives, so clearly the traditional Mediterranean diet is doing something right.

At Kyma, however, eggplant stew is served as a meze or a side. Karatassos recommends pairing the stew with bread and cheese, or cheese saganaki (flaming Greek cheese). If you’d rather have the stew as a side, Karatossos suggests pairing it with grilled steaks, lamb chops, salmon, or snapper.

This recipe calls for Greek tomato sauce, which can either be purchased at a specialty market or online. Karatassos’ cookbook, “Modern Greek Cooking,” also includes his recipe for the eggplant stew.

“When cooking eggplant, remember that it will absorb as much oil as you give it,” Karatassos said. “For first-timers, the key is to add the oil gradually as you cook. Feed the oil to the pan, not directly to the eggplant, until you achieve the color and texture you want.”

While the Kyma recipe is written as part of a main course, it can be adjusted for a meze. Karatassos recommends splitting the ingredients between two 4 1⁄2-inch (10.5 cm) round shallow baking pans to make the stew feel more like a meze.

Serves 4

Ingredients

1⁄2 cup (125 ml) canola oil
1 1⁄2 pounds (750 g) small Japanese eggplants, sliced crosswise on the diagonal 3⁄4 inch (2 cm) thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground white pepper to taste
4 thyme sprigs
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 medium Vidalia (sweet) onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 cup (250 ml) Greek tomato sauce
Chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Directions

Make the eggplant: Heat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Line a baking sheet with paper towels.
In a large skillet, warm 3 tablespoons of the oil. Add half of the eggplant slices, season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, until browned and tender, 12 to 15 minutes.
Add 2 thyme sprigs and 2 garlic cloves, toss with the eggplant to mix, and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Transfer the eggplant to the prepared baking sheet; discard the thyme and garlic. Repeat with 3 tablespoons of the oil and the remaining eggplant, thyme, and garlic.
Add the onion: In the same skillet, warm the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat.
Layer and bake: In a medium baking pan, spread 1⁄4 cup (60 ml) of the tomato sauce. Layer one-third of the onions, one-third of the eggplant, and 1⁄4 cup (60 ml) of the tomato sauce on top and repeat two more times, finishing with the tomato sauce.
Cover with a lid or foil and bake until very hot, about 20 minutes.
Let stand for 5 minutes, then garnish with parsley, if desired, and serve hot, warm, or at room temperature.

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The post 🦃 Thanksgiving hot takes appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta.

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