As we were planning our Atlanta vacation online, we ran across Canoe and had an immediate attraction to the place. There's an evocative photograph on their website of the restaurant glowing like a warm fire in the fading light of sundown on the Chattahoochee River. It drew us in like a magnet.



We were so enticed by Canoe in fact, that we rearranged our dinner plans as soon as we got to town. We canceled our reservations at Bacchanalia, and called up Canoe to see if we could get in that night instead of the next. They had room for us early, so we asked for directions and caught a cab. When we pulled up at the restaurant some twenty minutes later, we were shocked. Instead of seeing a quaint restaurant on the river, all we could see in front of us was an aging strip mall. This was not what we were expecting. We found the front door, and once inside, all of our fears were allayed. Canoe was warm, welcoming and instantly comfortable. Our intuitions about the restaurant had been right.


The cozy feeling of this space comes from the rustic materials; natural woods, rough bricks, and exposed steel beams. The dining room is large, but feels even bigger because of the open kitchen. There’s also a warm golden glow to the light in the room that comes from the extensive use of copper and the cherry wood ceiling. The custom wrought iron kudzu vines by Atlanta blacksmith Ivan Bailey complete this comfortable but sophisticated design.


There’s a similar warm country feeling to the menu. There are game and fish dishes here that you would expect to find at a great restaurant in the country; like rabbit, quail, venison and Georgia Mountain Trout. Chef Carvel Grant Gould prepares these classic rural American dishes in a modern manner; avoiding the stereotypes of country cooking. She balances contemporary urbane cuisine and rural country dishes in her own unique way.


Reading over the menu, we were presented with the most outrageous bread basket, the size of a window box, piled high with a wide variety of freshly baked artisan breads. There were slices of herbed focaccia that was the best we’ve ever had, crusty sour dough and huge crispy flatbreads. These set a wonderful tone for the meal.


Beginning our meal, for appetizers, we had oysters and squash soup. The Iced Market Oyster Selection @ $16.95, served with a colorful pink peppercorn and cucumber mignonette, was both beautiful and tasty. The African Squash Soup @ $8.75, served with toasted pumpkin seeds and lime cream, was complex. The lime cream had a tartness that was a nice contrast to the sweetness of the squash.


Next, for our entrees, we had short ribs and pheasant. The Beef Short Ribs Osso Bucco @ 28.50, served with braised red cabbage, golden raisins, caraway and chocolate vinegar, was the least successful dish of the night. The chocolate vinegar was so subtle, it was imperceptible. The short rib was gamey and gristly. Chef Gould called this dish Osso Bucco for some reason that is still a mystery to us.* The Sage Roasted Pheasant @ $26.50, served with brown butter sweet potatoes, two crispy pheasant croquettes and a huckleberry sauce, was the highlight of our meal. It was absolutely spectacular in every way. It could not have been better. The dish consisted of sliced pheasant breast, cooked to just the point where a slight pink color remained at the center of the cut. It was moist, tender and had a wonderfully subtle herbal taste. The dark meat was made into croquettes that were moist but slightly crispy on the outside. The buttery sweet potatoes and huckleberry sauce enriched the dish without complicating it. There was a beautiful clean sophistication to this dish.


Finally, for dessert we had baklava and a chocolate bombe. The Toasted Pecan Baklava or Southern Baklava as we like to call it was an intriguing Georgian interpretation of this Middle Eastern classic. Instead of the customary walnuts or pistachios Pastry Chef Mayo filled the phyllo dough with toasted pecans. It was topped off with a candied orange peel and served with Earl Grey whipped cream. It was a magnificent dessert. The Chocolate Hazelnut Mousse Bombe, topped with a praline tuile cookie and served with a Tahitian vanilla cream, was delightfully rich. The desserts were the perfect ending to an incredible dining experience.


Canoe provides a counterpoint to the cold modernity and concrete congestion of downtown Atlanta. It was one of the highlights of our vacation, and we can’t wait to go back.


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Canoe's Fast Facts:

BYOB: No
Child Friendly
Valet Parking
Alfresco Dining
Credit Cards OK
Appetizers: $10.75 to $16.95
Soups: $8.75
Salads: $6.50 to $10.50
Entrees: $19.95 to $32.95
Serving lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30 till 2:30
Serving Sunday brunch: 10:30 till 2:30
Serving dinner: Nightly 5:30 till 9:30 or later (call for details)
Our extravagant 3 course meal for 2: $144.00 (with 2 cocktails and one glass of wine)

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Frenchtowner.com Editor's Rating: 4 Stars

Bottom line: Our Best Meal in Atlanta, One of Atlanta's Best Contemporary Restaurants, Best Bread in Atlanta, 2008 Atlanta's Best Entree: Sage Roasted Pheasant, Atlanta's Best Rustic Restaurant, One of Our Favorite Restaurants of All Time


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Notes and related items of interest
* Osso Bucco literally means pierced bone. There is no way that anyone could get to the marrow of a regular short rib bone to eat it, as you would in your typical Osso Bucco. Was Chef Gould referring to the procedure she uses to make the short rib osso bucco being similar to that of preparing a veal osso bucco? We will never know I guess. We did find these intriguing articles online about short rib osso bucco:


Beef short ribs (boned, wrapped around a single bone and tied)

Short Rib Ossobucco: Photo and a recipe on The Kitchen Optimist