Atlanta’s lofty position in the national culinary hierarchy is due, in parts, to chef Ford Fry. Though a Houston native who’s cooked everywhere from Aspen to Santa Barbara, Fry is a five-time James Beard semifinalist because of an impressive roster of Atlanta eateries that includes ever-buzzy spots like The Optimist, St. Cecilia and Beetlecat. Fry’s French brasserie Little Sparrow opened in October 2023, and its bolognese and fennel-speckled poisson (fish) are already causing a stir around town.
But not all has gone Fry’s way lately. A West Atlanta location of his popular Tex-Mex concept Superica opened and closed all within a 17-month stretch (“You ever light a firecracker and you’re just waiting for it to pop, and then it just dies out?” he asked) while another restaurant, Marcel, found itself in the middle of a fiery 2024 controversy after a former employee’s manifesto alleged racial discrimination and other misconduct.
When Forbes Travel Guide spoke to Fry recently, no topic was off the table. Disputes and restaurant closures were discussed, but so too were Ford’s plans for 2025, his thoughts on Southern restaurants today and his favorite hobbies to do on days when he isn’t feeding the city.
Where is the Deep South on the national culinary scene right now?
I think the national media gives it great attention, honestly. All the years that I’ve had my own restaurant, I feel like it’s been great. I think John T. Edge did a good job [leading] the Southern Foodways Alliance. Nationally, it just keeps popping up. I think we definitely go in cycles. Sometimes we’re better, sometimes we’re not as good.
I feel like we’re in a little bit of a slump. I wish we were better. I wish we had more. But I’m starting to see stuff branch out, like Adam Evans in Birmingham with Automatic Seafood. He’s doing a great job. There’s other guys around there. I like seeing these smaller towns pop with some serious talent and serious good experiences. I’d say some of that’s left Atlanta and moved out into these other towns, and I think that’s awesome.
You recently collaborated with The Laurel Hotel and Spa in Auburn, Alabama. How did that come about?
Hans [van der Reijden, Ithaka Hospitality Partners’ founder and CEO] was an early Ritz-Carlton guy. He went to work with [Ritz-Carlton co-founder] Horst Schulze’s hotel management company. He ended up breaking off on his own. And [Hans has] been at Auburn running their conference center hotel as well as building his own hotel management company. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s tapped us for a lot of charity events and things like that. So, he told me about this whole culinary center and hospitality program, and I really didn’t believe he was going to get it done. But he did.
He had one guy do the first culinary residency and he said, “Hey, I want you to do the next one.” I knew we weren’t going to personally get a lot of return out of it. A lot of the students are staying in Alabama. They’re more into events and business; they’re not necessarily culinary driven. But I felt like it was the right thing to do to. I think we have to have certain angles of giving back. I said “yes”, and we did it. It was actually a good experience.
If you had to take a snapshot of Atlanta dining landscape right now, what would it look like?
Atlanta’s got a good mix of the classic Southern, like with K & K and The Busy Bee. You got The Colonnade going through a little transition. And then, when it comes to more neighborhood and chef-driven, you’ve got restaurants getting on the more creative side. I think it’s changing. I feel like we had a surge back, say, seven years ago. Remember when Holeman and Finch opened? And Anne [Quatrano, Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Bacchanalia’s owner] has been doing her thing. We had some serious talent in that era.
There’s a little bit of a changing of the guard. And maybe, I’m even on the old-dog side. But there’s a lot of young chefs who are really fantastic. We’re starting to see more smaller, less high-design stuff due to finances. But that’s okay. No. 246 is one of our restaurants, and it’s really small. The [range] hoods don’t work that great, so you go in there and it smells like grandma’s cooking.
And then there’s [the Atlanta neighborhood] Buford Highway. That’s a home run. It’s a whole ‘nother delicious world over there.
You’ve run restaurants in Atlanta since 2007. What’s next for you in the city?
I’ve been having a lot of fun with Little Rey. It has been really successful on Piedmont Avenue and even more successful at North Creek. In some neighborhoods, we may be able to do something more. We do have more [locations] outside of Atlanta with Little Rey.
And then, Superica is going through, in my mind, a little bit of a refresh. We’re at the 10-year mark. The world has changed. Coming out of COVID, labor and food cost were a problem. We were at a point where it was really hard to run these restaurants. So, I sat down and said, “Okay, we got to adjust what we’re doing here that makes sense.” Our employees have to have a better work environment, so everybody wins, and our guests start seeing more consistency.
Where my mind normally was focused on Superica about 20% [of the time], now my mind is more focused about 80% on Superica and Little Rey. I’m just empowering the others [in the company] to be better every day.
Every once in a while, I have to get my little itch for some sort of creativity. And that’s what Little Sparrow and Bar Blanc did for me for a while. I think we grew pretty fast at one point. And so [now], I’m kind of like, “Let’s just slow down, but let’s just make sure we are really polishing everything.” But I had to get Little Sparrow and Bar Blanc in there. That’s tiding me over for a bit.
You have another restaurant, Marcel, that made some unfortunate headlines last year. What’s your side of the story?
When this whole thing came out, it was like, “Dang.” It was a kick to my stomach a little bit. The reason I grow all these restaurants is for the staff. I want to create opportunity for our staff. And it’s like, “Gosh, [the manifesto] just really hurts.”
So, I dig in all the allegations — line by line. And what we recognized was about 70% of it were standard restaurant issues, like something anybody in the restaurant world would [deal with]. It’s just normal, you know what I mean? Not pretty but is just kinda normal. All these things were reported and handled well, actually. And then, the remaining was some stuff that wasn’t reported. So, we had the opportunity to handle it at that point. And then, there was some stuff that was not even true whatsoever. All I can say is, if you knew the details, I think that you would be like, “Okay, I get it.”
Where are some of your favorite Atlanta restaurants? Have you tried Southern National?
Oh man, it’s been tough because I’ve been traveling so much. But Duane [Nutter, Southern National’s co-owner] is a friend of mine. I want to go to Southern National because I’ve been a big fan of his ever since I got going. I haven’t gone to other people’s restaurants in a while, other than Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q or B’s Cracklin’ Barbecue. I like the casual stuff, so I’m hitting up most of the barbecue places. But I like the guys at Ticonderoga Club. They just meet some of the things that, from a hospitality standpoint, [I like]. The chef [David Bies] is pretty quiet, but I think he does a great job. I definitely want to go to Spring out in Marietta. But for the most part, I’ve been hitting up ours because we’re in the process of trying to make everybody better.
If you have a day to yourself, what are you doing?
I do anything that I can get hurt at. I ride dirt bikes. I ride with these guys, and we just pack up and we go to North Georgia. We go up to Dahlonega and we hit the woods. I get hurt every time. But it’s fun.
You don’t get hurt too badly, right?
No, not bad enough to keep me off. I play guitar and pickleball a little bit. We hike. We had a little accidental dog pregnancy in our house. So, now I got these puppies, and we’re waking up every two hours to feed ’em. That’s fun.
Outside of Dahlonega, where do you go and relax?
More than any other place, we go to Aspen. We still have friends there. My wife loves the mountains — skiing and hiking, mountain biking, hanging out with friends. But as far as a really relaxing trip, Tulum, Mexico. That was one of my favorites. Great food. Yeah, it’s pretty cool.
Stay tuned for our 2025 Star Awards announcement on February 12.
