Gunshow - Finally!!

924 Garrett Street Atlanta, GA 30316 https://gunshowatl.com

Reservations through Resy https://gunshowatl.com/https://gunshowatl.com/

Kitchen is completely visible from the dining area

I am kind of a cooking show junkie.  I confess I have been seeking professional help, but so far my treatment has not helped. I remain a closet cooking show guy.

I was a huge fan of Kevin Gillespie on top chef – his food always seemed approachable and less theoretical than some of the other contestants.  I made several trips to Revival while it was open.  I have been following Gunshow for about 2 years – it has always been full when I started looking for reservations.  Last night, I was drooling with anticipation.

First complaint, parking sucks.   Sorry.  Crowded area with a plethora of eateries, condos and apartments – parking can be hard to come by.  Consider it foreshadowing – if that is my worst gripe, then things are going to be pretty good.

They were running a few minutes late for our 8pm reservation, so made a quick jaunt to Vesper next door.  By the way – I will be coming back to Vesper.  Cool metro tappa bar vibe.   

It’s kind of a smaller restaurant than I expected, but the kitchen is fully integrated into the dining room.  It’s part of the entertainment experience.  For those that love to watch food preparation like me, it is like dinner theater.   The downside was that I was probably not much of a dinner conversationalist.

A drink with a side of popcorn?

Gunshow is kind of like a dim sum restaurant.  The menu consisted of about a dozen savory dishes that rotate out periodically – I’ll have to take one for the team and verify that personally.  Dishes are prepared by individual chefs and presented table side.  This had its pros and cons.  For those of us that have a hard time envisioning how something will look, smell, or taste; it’s a huge win.  The chef will explain the ingredients and the concept behind the small plate.  For those like me that have a hard time saying NO to a beautiful plate of food, it can get expensive.  Take out a small loan and be prepared.  The plates are around $20 each.  

I tried 9 out of the 12 plates last night.  All the plates were good – some were great.  

My personal favorite was a tilefish, Sapelo Island clam dish with turnips.   I am a soup guy.  I love a good soup and it always makes me think of mom cooking at home.  Clam chowder happens to be one of my favorites.  The dish was a take on clam chowder.  The turnips gave it a little crunch and I have to be honest, I loved the texture over this chowder play over the mealy potatoes in normal clam chowder.   Thumbs up.

My second favorite dish was a cabbage, pastrami dish with hot Chinese mustard.  The chef claimed that there wasn’t any pastrami on the plate – a play on pastrami.   I don’t know – tasted like pastrami to me.  Someone was channeling a little New York delicatestant soul into the food.

For dessert, we tried the macadamia, white chocolate, with coffee shavings.  I wish I could describe how good the dish looked – mere photos will not do it justice.  I was weaned on southern cooking.  I have banana pudding pumping through my veins, yet I said no to banana pudding when faced with banana pudding over the macadamia nut ice cream.  Sorry Grandma.

This is such a fun place to eat.  I love the table side presentation of the food by the chefs.  For small groups of close friends, the people you don’t mind sharing food with, this is the perfect place to visit.   It’s more than eating, it transcends into a bonding experience as you negotiate into that shared dining experience.  Gunshow is the type of restaurant where you walk out debating the highlights of the meal for the next hour – its that good.

My apologies do go out to our server last night.  I was a little assertive with the french press last night and made a small mess of coffee grounds.   Sorry, that was me :(