Inspired by California & Yucatan Shores & Founder Tal Baum’s Seaside Upbringing, Carmel Offers Bold, Seasonal Dishes & Drinks for Lunch, Dinner & Sunday Brunch
Relaxed, Coastal Atmosphere Designed with Smith Hanes Studio
ATLANTA, MAY 16, 2023 – Tal Baum, Founder of Atlanta’s Oliva Restaurant Group, announces her sixth restaurant concept, Carmel, is now open at Buckhead Village in Atlanta. Inspired by the shores of California and the Yucatan Peninsula as well as Tal’s upbringing on the Mediterranean coast, the full-service restaurant and bar’s easy, coastal atmosphere welcomes guests to gather over lunch, dinner, Sunday brunch, drinks, and pastries and coffee. The group is also behind the city’s beloved restaurants Bellina Alimentari and Atrium at Ponce City Market, Aziza and Falafel Nation at Westside Provisions District and Rina on the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail.
The restaurant, named in honor of Tal’s daughter Carmel and her family home in Mount Carmel, Israel, serves dishes that are bold, seasonal and ingredient-focused from Executive Chef Luis Guevara Salgado, who previously helmed the kitchen at Aziza and also grew up on the coast, in Acapulco, Mexico. Reflecting both Baum’s and Salgado’s takes on coastal cuisine, the lunch, dinner and brunch menus celebrate the water with fresh fish and seafood as well as the land with unique cuts of meat and produce.
At lunch, guests can expect bowls, salads, coffee, dessert and more. Come dinner, the menu features small bites that are exciting and unique, shareable, produce-focused seconds, main dishes from the kitchen’s wood-burning hearth and a variety of sides that celebrate the season’s bounty and complement main dishes. For Sunday brunch, guests can enjoy jewels from the coast, like ceviche and tartare, and the likes of salads, toast, crab fritters, tostadas and a pastry basket made daily in house. Mains include vegetable dishes with egg, a Grouper Torta, Shrimp with chorizo, pickled tomatillos & creamy polenta and more. Pastries and coffee are also available throughout each day.
On the beverage side, the bar reflects drinks and unique ingredients from coasts around the world. With a backbone of Latin American spirits, including sipping rums, organic mezcals and pisco, the cocktail menu is from Oliva Restaurant Group’s Beverage Director Demario Wallace and Carmel’s Bar Manager Baylee Hopings, who was recently named a 2023 Rising Star by StarChefs. The cocktail selection also offers guests a zero-proof option for each drink utilizing non-alcoholic spirits.
The wine list, curated by Carmel’s Assistant General Manager & Wine Manager David Chapman, spotlights the Pacific Coast, with selects from Walla Walla, Washington down through the Bio Bio region in Chile. Guests can find many wines from producers prioritizing organic and sustainable farming, and be able to sip Old World wine from France and Italy.
Come 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays, a DJ plays in the bar until midnight. Guests can nibble on bar snacks while enjoying drinks.
Leaning on her degree in architecture, Tal designed the dining room and bar in collaboration with Atlanta’s Smith Hanes Studio. With every restaurant, Tal seeks to create a space that transports guests to another place, where every element is intentionally planned to contribute to the overall culinary experience. Carmel evokes a feeling of easy, coastal living, featuring earthy, hand-textured plaster walls, woven rattan accents and warm-toned natural woods.
Located on Buckhead Village’s cobblestone street Bolling Way NE, the restaurant welcomes guests into an intimate bar room. The rattan-wrapped bar, amber-tiled barback, glowing drink rail and sculptural lighting evoke a world of cabanas and parts of the Mediterranean where handwoven basketry is commonplace. A massive wood-framed window opens the bar to patio tables on the sidewalk, blurring indoor and outdoor living and making way for the outdoor breeze, much like at the beach.
Beyond the bar, guests walk through deep rounded thresholds to enter an expansive, 1,600-square-foot dining room wrapped in warm light, as if the sun is setting low on the ocean’s horizon. Three sculptural niches inspired by Mediterranean architecture provide romantic nooks for imbibing. Mossy green velvet banquettes, soft booths and leather armchairs complete the vibe.
The design is a celebration of local Atlanta artisans, with custom fiber installations by Sonya Yong James, hand-applied plaster by Super Delicious Walls and exquisite upholstery and millwork items crafted by local fabricators Hancock Surface Studio, Onemost Studio and Bjork Studio.
3009 Bolling Way NE
Atlanta, GA 30305
470-355-7245
…
HOURS
Lunch
Monday through Saturday
11am-4pm
Dinner
Nightly
From 5pm
Sunday Brunch
11am-3pm
Bar Snacks
Mid-afternoon daily
Late Night Friday & Saturday
About Oliva Restaurant Group – Founded in 2015 with the opening of Bellina Alimentari at Ponce City Market, Oliva Restaurant Group is a collection of restaurants in Atlanta, Georgia exploring Founder Tal Baum’s cross-cultural upbringing. The group also now encompasses some of Atlanta’s most beloved restaurants, including modern Israeli spots Aziza and Falafel Nation in the city’s West Midtown neighborhood, Rina, an Israeli, diner-style eatery on the Atlanta BeltLine’s Eastside Trail, Atrium, a restaurant offering a Modern American menu with European influence at Ponce City Market, and Carmel, a new restaurant at Buckhead Village inspired by the shores of California and the Yucatan Peninsula as well as Tal’s upbringing on the Mediterranean coast. The group’s mission is to share flavorful moments that celebrate worldly cuisine, honor local ingredients and deepen connections to each other.
About Buckhead Village – Serving up modern, chic fashion and food in the heart of Atlanta’s iconic Buckhead neighborhood, Buckhead Village is a shopping and dining destination featuring retail from the world’s top fashion houses and emerging artisans, decadent global culinary adventures, as well as wellness classes and experiences. Owned by real estate investment and management firm Jamestown, the property offers guests a stylish and welcoming haven with cobblestone streets and outdoor communal spaces with lush greenery and bold, European-inspired design. For more information, please visit www.buckheadvillagedistrict.com.
