Room at Twelve Centennial Park 400 W. Peachtree St., Atlanta
By MERIDITH FORD The Atlanta Journal-ConstituionPublished on: 11/20/2007
Overall rating: ***
It's a simple thing, really — steak. Cut and aged well, a properly cooked steak is one of the kitchen's most glorious achievements.
But like most glorious achievements (especially those of the kitchen sort), a steak is only as good as the hands grilling it. Eighteenth-century English actor/playwright David Garrick said, "Heaven sends us good meat, but the devil sends cooks."
This particular predicament is not a problem at Room at Twelve Centennial Park, the new restaurant located inside the lobby of the freshly minted Twelve Hotel downtown. Chef Nick Oltarsh et al knows how to cook the heck out of a steak.
Room is one of the latest ventures from Concentrics Hospitality, the group with restaurateur Bob Amick as director and casting director that encompasses One Midtown Kitchen, Two Urban Licks and the highly acclaimed Trois. With it, Amick has provided downtown with the triple threat of Atlanta dining: drinks, steaks and sushi.
Oltarsh's Atlanta resume includes Murphy's and Lobby at Twelve in Atlantic Station — another hotel lobby restaurant that is to Room what Nicole Ritchie is to Paris Hilton: second. Lobby has smarts and looks, and Oltarsh's grown-up bistro menu placed it at the top of everyone's to do list when it opened early last year.
But Room is prettier and smarter, with a gorgeous food bar facing the open kitchen and lots of modern, open space accentuated with bold strokes of red and muted grays. It's touted as Amick's first steak house, but there is much more to it once the charred-and-grilled surface has been sliced into.
For one thing, sushi chef Tomohiro Naito of Tomo near Vinings provides the hands behind a lengthy sushi menu that is a highlight, especially at lunch, and especially in a sashimi salad with sliced avocado, buttery tuna, hamachi and salmon in a light-but-sassy ginger vinaigrette.
And there's a darned good offering of dishes that have no relation to the usual steak house brood brought in from central casting. Sure, there are onion rings the size of your head (forgettable), and sauces like staid béarnaise and a mad-mod chimichurri verde for dousing your meat. But honestly, when a steak is this good — a cowboy-cut ribeye and the Kansas City strip are best bets — I'm not one for dressing it with anything but fork to mouth. (A medley of colorful roasted peppers and garlic provide enough of a thoughtful garnish.)
But there are also playful, not-so-type-cast starters, too. Braised pork is rich and meaty skewered with fresh, juicy pineapple. Gougères (think savory cream puffs avec cheese) are served slider style three to a plate, with a delicate pâte à choux for a bun layered with melted Swiss cheese, bacon, and a smattering of pickled onions for bite with leaves of earthy arugula. Fun, atypical and tasty.
Sides of elbow macaroni served in a big bowl with a goo fest of cheese and bacon and crowned with a raw duck egg in the shell are almost scarily rich, and acorn squash is a bit undercooked and sweetened too heavily with maple syrup and brown butter. Large plates of short rib pot roast and house steak grilled and sliced with rosemary potatoes would be pleasant on another menu that doesn't offer such perfectly grilled steaks, but here they are like a red-headed stepchild in comparison.
It's almost a shame to mention dessert last with Room, because there are truly some goodies that are worth saving room for. Designed by pastry chef Jonathan St. Hilaire, they play the role of jester to the rest of the menu — lightening things up a bit — but with lots of streetwise high jinx. A chocolate fondue is total indulgence (enough for a table of four), with slices of warm, buttery brioche, pineapple and strawberries as well as luscious house-made marshmallows, all for dipping in rich ganache. Bananas Foster isn't very pretty, but it packs flavor with the warmth of sauteed, caramelized bananas and melting vanilla ice cream.
Service varies from pleasantly aloof to patronizing, but there is no one here who hasn't been schooled on how to work the front of a restaurant. At varying times over several visits it was obvious to me that the staff knew my purpose there.
Pretty, confident and wiser for wear, Room is all dressed up with everywhere to go.
Food: Steak and sushi
Service: Pleasant and confident
Address, telephone: 400 W. Peachtree St. (inside Twelve Centennial Park), 404-418-1250
Price range: $$$ - $$$$
Credit cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover
Hours of operation: Open for lunch Monday through Friday 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday brunch 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Open for dinner Sunday through Thursday 5:30 to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 5:30 to 11 p.m. Breakfast every day.
Best dishes: Ribeye and Kansas City strip, braised pork and pineapple skewer, gougères "sliders," sushi selections, chocolate fondue
Vegetarian selections: It's a steak house, y'all. But there are sides of potatoes and salads that could serve as veggie plates
Children: Appropriate for lunch or early evenings
Parking: Three-hour validated valet
Reservations: Yes
Wheelchair access: Yes
Smoking: Patio only
Noise level: Medium
Patio: Yes
Takeout: Yes
Web site: KEY TO RATINGS*****Outstanding: Sets the standard for fine dining in the region.
****Excellent: One of the best in the Atlanta area.
*** Very good: Merits a drive if you're looking for this kind of dining.
**Good: A worthy addition to its neighborhood, but food may be hit or miss.
*Fair: The food is more miss than hit.Restaurants that do not meet these criteria may be rated Poor.
Pricing code: $$$$$ means more than $75; $$$$ means $75 and less; $$$ means $50 and less; $$ means $25 and less; $ means $15 and less. (The price code represents a meal for one that includes appetizer, entree and dessert without including tax, tip and cocktails.)
THE STEAKHOUSE: Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Centenniel Park 
