Close to the Hearth
King + Duke is heating up Peachtree Road’s culinary landscape
Atlanta restaurateur Ford Fry’s latest addition to his culinary empire, King + Duke, now holds court in the former Nava space on Peachtree Road. Named after cunning characters in Mark Twain’s American classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, the King + Duke concept revolves around the restaurant’s central workhorse: a 24-foot wood-burning hearth.
While Fry and King + Duke Executive Chef Joseph Schafer return to the primordial instincts of wood and fire with the cuisine, the interiors—designed by New York design firm Meyer Davis Studio, Inc., of Southhampton’s Nobu and Miami’s The Dutch fame and architect Tim Nichols—are far from basic. Think clean and contemporary, with a bank of floor-to-ceiling windows shedding light on whitewashed oak floors, a butternut wood-topped marble bar (a nod to the restaurant’s main source of flavor) and a hostess stand of the same material playing off a black built-in bookcase.
A series of curved banquettes help foster a sense of intimacy in the 7,900-square-foot restaurant, as do details like leather-panel screens delineating spaces and wood-paneled walls peppered with artwork displayed salon style. Leather barstools, vintage-inspired fixtures and embossed leather drink menus and bill cases complete the classic American feel. 3060 Peachtree Rd. NW, Atlanta 30305. (404) 477-3500; kinganddukeatl.com