Atlanta’s NEO Gets Not So Favorable Review – Is Fine Dining Dead or Casual Fine Dining Not Yet Defined?

An excellent article in Creative Loafing got me to really thinking about Atlanta’s fine dining and if the tradition of true fine dining is really dead? Is there still a market for tuxedos during dinner? Besha Rodell creatively breaks down fine dining experiences; she starts off with holding a eulogy for the old way of luxury and fine dining.

Rodell offers a loving and sincere eulogy to luxury and fine dining citing, “In it I would expound upon grand traditions and grand dining rooms, the old ways, and these pesky young upstarts who think hip-hop is as appropriate for an upscale restaurant as Mozart once was. I'd cite the economy and the generation gap. I'd shed a tear for all those tuxedos left behind in favor of head-to-toe black worn by aspiring models rather than old guys with French accents.”

Continuing, Rodell exposes NEO, an upscale Italian restaurant as being a hushed-room tradition of fine dining. Stressing that there's nothing casual about NEO, from the lush room facing a manicured English garden, to the strange formal service that seems like it was modeled on an "SNL" parody of fancy waiters ("Would you prefer still or sparkling water this evening madames?" "Uh, do you have tap water?" "Certainly madames, allow me to fetch that for you."), to the prices, which hover around $15 for an appetizer and just under $40 for an entrée.

I would like to know do you think that people in Atlanta prefer traditional fine dining over casual fine dining. Keep in mind that there will always remain a market for a Buckhead Betty. However, with the competition of luxury hotels it will be necessary for restaurants to find the right niche to attract the right audiences.

I myself shall forever remain a traditional classic over the top luxury lover. I have been exposed, yes! I am a Buckhead Betty that loves to crossover to casual luxury from time to time. However, I do feel it is not necessary to pitch me causal luxury and present me upscale luxury. That can be confusing!

NEO is located in the Mansion on Peachtree, a new luxury hotel that will also soon be home (in a freestanding building out front) to the Atlanta outpost of Craft, Tom Colicchio's temple of casual fine dining.