Bacchanalia

Restaurant

Oct 13

We’ve been incredibly fortunate to work with Atlanta’s most storied restaurant from day one of Treebird—and not just because we get to dine there regularly, though that’s quite a privilege. Now that Bacchanalia, winner of a Michelin Star and a James Beard Foundation Award, celebrates its 30th anniversary, we can hardly believe we’ve been part of the ride for a third of its history. Most anyone with taste buds can affirm that Chef Anne Quatrano is a true visionary and culinary legend, but we’ve had the opportunity to get to know her beyond the kitchen, and it’s been a pure pleasure. The trust we’ve earned and rapport we’ve built over countless projects has led to groundbreaking collaborations, whimsical ideas, and sometimes just hilarious conversations, and we always appreciate Chef’s flair for creativity, attention to detail, and willingness to try something new.

ANNE QUATRANO

Chef/Owner: Bacchanalia, Star Provisions, Floataway Café, and W.H. Stiles Fish Camp

Anne Quatrano has helped steer the trajectory of Atlanta’s dining scene for more than two decades by pioneering a simple principle—she was one of the city’s first chefs to showcase local ingredients prepared with precision and presented artfully. And while she continues to honor and augment the sustainable practices she learned under the tutelage of Alice Waters and Judy Rodgers, she’s remained irreplaceably relevant by constantly evolving along the way. Perhaps nowhere is this dichotomy between timeless and timely more apparent than at her flagship restaurant, Bacchanalia, which as of 2017 is in its third iteration, each more attuned to changing tastes than the last.

At the core of all her restaurants lies a commitment to the land and the inherent flavors locally and lovingly cultivated produce and products bestow. Much of what she serves at her restaurants comes directly from her own Summerland Farm in Cartersville, which has been in her family since the mid-1800s, and where she lives with her husband and longtime business partner Clifford Harrison along with an ever-growing menagerie of animals, including horses, cows, chickens, ducks, turkeys, many dogs, and a pig named Hamlet.

It has been a circuitous journey back to her family’s ancestral land in Georgia for Quatrano, who was born in Connecticut and is a graduate of San Francisco’s California Culinary Academy. Her career has taken her through fine dining establishments from the Bay Area to New York City before alighting in Atlanta to make her lasting mark. She (along with Harrison) has won numerous James Beard nominations and awards, including “Best Chef Southeast” in 2003. In 2013 and 2014, Quatrano was nominated for the James Beard “Outstanding Chef Award,” and in 2013 Bacchanalia was nominated for “Outstanding Service Award.”

Quatrano attributes the long-term success of her many-varied ventures to the fact that she maintains a daily role in their operations. Even after decades, she insists upon being more than just a name on the door and involves herself with everything from menus to staff to aesthetics, design, and experience. A hallmark of every one of her restaurants is a commitment to the whole picture—to honoring all five senses—ensuring that every element, from food and service to lighting, cutlery, and stemware, all complement one another and create an experience altogether greater than the sum of its parts.

Outside of her restaurants and farm, Quatrano is very involved in culinary nonprofits, especially those focused on women chefs. She has served on the board of directors for the James Beard Foundation, Women Chefs and Restaurateurs, and Georgia Organics, as well as on various committees for the James Beard Foundation and Southern Foodways Alliance.

Quatrano’s cookbook, Summerland: Recipes for Celebrating with Southern Hospitality, was published by Rizzoli in October 2013, and showcases the inspiration and philosophy behind Quatrano and Harrison’s creative processes and their true passion for the kitchen.