Southern Star Chefs | Atlanta

 In the eyes of many gourmet connoisseurs, traditional Southern food has never been held in the same high regard as, say, classic French cuisine.For much of the 20th century, the haute cuisine (which literally translates as “high foods”) style popularized by Georges Auguste Escoffier was massively influential, and the nouvelle cuisine that eventually emerged in rebellion against Escoffier’s ideals emphasized creativity and presentation. Meanwhile, simple, soulful Southern food was largely derided as “comfort food”—what people cooked at their homes on a Sunday afternoon rather than what they wanted to eat when they went out to nice restaurants.To quote Georgia-born celebrity chef Paula Deen from an interview with Green Global Travel, “Trends come and go, but mama’s cooking will never go out of style.” And, as the economic downturn forced upscale Atlanta eateries—such as Craft, Repast and Joel—to close up shop left and right, a new class of chefs has emerged, seemingly dead-set on putting gourmet Southern cuisine on the international foodie map.Now, even the illustrious James Beard Foundation is taking notice. In May, at a ceremony at the Lincoln Center for Performing Art’s Avery Fisher Hall in New York, local chefs Linton Hopkins (of Buckhead’s critically acclaimed Restaurant Eugene) and Hugh Acheson (of Athens favorite Five & Ten) were named Best Chef Southeast at the annual James Beard Awards.For Hopkins, who had been nominated by the Beard Foundation five years in a row before winning, the award was a welcome affirmation of what local foodies have been saying for years. For Acheson, a world-renowned judge on TV’s “Top Chef” who had been nominated six times in a row, it was another award to go with the one he previously won for his cookbook “A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented for Your Kitchen.”But while Acheson and Hopkins may currently be the most celebrated among Atlanta’s chefs, theirs are hardly the only restaurants making a major splash by updating traditional Southern cuisine for more sophisticated 21st century palates. Here’s a look at some of the city’s best places to find a swanky take on the homestyle, comfort foods that mama used to make.

JCT. Kitchen & Bar

If Ford Fry, chef and owner of JCT. Kitchen and Bar, had a nickname it should be “Mr. Right,” because it seems the inspired restaurateur can do no wrong. This year he opened two new restaurants, serving upscale sustainable seafood at The Optimist and offering a more casual fish camp atmosphere at Oyster Bar. Last year he earned rave reviews for Decatur’s No. 246, a hip Italian joint. But JCT. Kitchen and Bar, which opened in 2007, remains his flagship restaurant, beloved throughout the city for its gourmet comfort food. Perhaps the best way to sample Fry’s savory Southern fare is with his weekly “Sunday Suppers: A Fancy Meat and Three,” in which five meats and nine fresh veggies are served up family style with black skillet cornbread, biscuits and salad. In his announcement of the event, Fry says, “Some of my best family memories are from our Sunday gatherings filled with great food and great fellowship, and I hope that’s what they become for our guests.” Regardless of which night you visit, get there early if you want a taste of his unbelievably tender JCT. fried chicken, which is the stuff of local legend. (1198 Howell Mill Rd., Suite 18; 404-355-2252; jctkitchen.com)