Social Resto Cafe and Bar Atlanta, Ga

I had done some homework prior to a brief overnight stay in Atlanta and definitely wanted to give this place a try. It was within walking distance of the hotel (The Ellis on Peachtree downtown) but I wound up driving the six blocks to W. Peachtree Pl. There is a parking lot just down from Social that was pretty deserted on this Friday, July 3rd, so I took my chances after a fellow who was cleaning a car there seemed to know the score. He told me my car would be safe for the duration of our lunch. And safe it was. Luckily I saw the man a couple of blocks down the street and tipped him for the tip!
The room is a soaring two level, lofty space with natural wood and white painted brick walls. It was deserted at 12:30 on a Friday, but since it was July 3rd the business crowd may have been enjoying a long holiday weekend. There were only two other occupied tables, so we had plenty of choices. We decided to go upstairs to a nice table by the window, looking out onto the tree-lined street.
The menu at Social has an international feel since one of the owners is from France and the other is from Tunisia. Most of the wines and beers are from Europe and are priced very reasonably. My companion ordered a bottle of Printhie Chardonnay from Southeast Australia and was a bargain at $31 (the wine, not my friend). In fact, we ordered another bottle to share with desserts and since the Georgia law now allows you to recork the leftovers, we took it back to the hotel.
I ordered the Pasta of the Day, which was Papardelle with chunks of Mortadella sausage and fresh summer squashes, tied together in a cream sauced laced with fresh basil, thyme, and sage. I could have licked the bowl! Seriously, this may have been the best pasta dish The FB has ever tasted. It was quite humorous when I asked our server if they would share the recipe. He said in a lighthearted way that it was simply pasta with yellow squash and zucchini. In my own inimitable style, I pressed him harder and he went off to the kitchen. When he returned he was able to share the particulars about the cream sauce. Now that's better....
My dining companion ordered the "ham and cheese sandwich with fries". This was no ordinary ham and cheese. First of all, the fries were hand cut Pommes Frites and the sandwich was served on a homemade roll spread with roasted garlic and fresh tomato sauce. The filling was Soppressata with Fontina cheese. When he wasn't eating my pasta, "R" managed to finish most of his sandwich because as he said, "For some reason I keep wanting to go back for one more bite".
Exactly! And isn't this what makes food so interesting?
For dessert, we wanted to go back and try the cold strawberry gazpacho that was the Soup Du Jour. The Spanish Flan with caramel seemed to be calling our names, too. Keep in mind that we were still sipping that Chardonnay, so we were curious as to how these finales would pair with the wine. The wine won. The cold, pureed soup needed possibly a Viognier and the flan was far too sweet. In fact, we left half of both desserts.
I hope this restaurant makes it because it has the wonderful feel of a neighborhood restaurant that one would visit at least once or twice a week. Great food, nice wine list, friendly owners is a nice combination for this town with a penchant for glitz and visibility. Unfortunately, just the characteristics that make Social appealing could possibly be its undoing in this fickle place called Atlanta.

FB