*This is part of a series of restaurant reviews we are doing in anticipation of Michelin coming to Atlanta. We have been to several Michelin restaurants around the world, so we consider ourselves somewhat of a Michelin snob. Michelin publishes their official criteria of earning a star (or stars), which are the 5 tenets. Here, we will try to talk about each tenet and see how the restaurant we predicted MIGHT be Michelin worthy, fared with these 5 tenets.
The Restaurant
Kyma is a contemporary seafood restaurant with Greek influences. It is part of a restaurant group that has several other upscale, local eateries. Kyma has an extensive menu with tasting menus, a-la-carte options, as well as extensive wine and cocktail lists. The executive chef of Kyma is Pano Karatassos, who’s no stranger to the Michelin atmosphere. Chef Karatassos has worked with several Michelin chefs, including Thomas Keller from French Laundry (3 Michelin star) and Eric Ripert from Le Bernardin (3 Michelin Star). I’m sure Kyma is on Michelin inspectors radar.
Chef’s Tasting Menu
The Chef’s Tasting Menu is available Tuesday through Saturday, but they made an exception for us and provided it to us on a Sunday. The tasting menu is $150 a person, designed for two people to enjoy together. The wine pairing is $65 per person. The Tasting Menu has 7 courses with an optional course that is $10 per person supplement. We didn’t ask for this course but it was provided to us free of charge.
Course 1: Scallop & Truffle
Wow we are starting with a bang! The first course comes with gently poached and chilled scallop tartare, piemonte truffle, and kataifi crunch. This tasted amazing. The scallops were soft, the crunch was crispy. The presentation was cute – it was on a bed of shaved ice and on top of a scallop shell.
Course 2: Salmon & Caviar
Second course was ouzo cured Faroe Islands salmon, kaluga reserve caviar, yogurt creme fraiche, preserved lemon and pink peppercorns. It’s served with homemade chips. The salmon was cured in house for 3 days. Amazing.
Course 3: Grilled Octopus
If you thought the earlier courses were good, you’ve seen nothing yet. This was the best course so far. Similar to the grilled octopus on their standard menu, but this one comes with a tomato garlic emulsion and braised salsify. I don’t eat octopus very often, not because I don’t like it, but because it’s so tricky to make. There’s a fine line between undercooked octopus and overcooked, rubbery octopus. This was absolutely PERFECT. The octopus was extremely tender and the sauce was just so flavorful.
Course 4: Lobster, Foie Gras, Truffle
Maine lobster, lemony Cretan wedding rice, ouzo poached foie gras, Piemonte summer truffle. I loved the lobster in this, and the taste of foie gras permeating through the rice. However, the summer truffle had very little taste. I don’t know if we just got a “bad” truffle or if this truffle was cheaper than the other truffles I’ve had recently. I asked the server where they get their truffles from, they told me it’s from Italy. Of course I still enjoyed it very much. I’m just more used to the almost overpowering taste of truffle.
Course 5: Veal Sweetbreads ($10 supplement)
This was the optional course I mentioned earlier. There was some sauteed potato garlic agnolotti, crushed walnuts, bites of veal and some scallions. The veal was SO JUICY.
Course 6: Watermelon, Feta
This one is really cool. This was a palate cleanser for our next entree. It comes with organic watermelon, Vidalia onion, feta imported from Lesvos and herbs straight from Kyma’s own garden. The balls of watermelon sorbet is homemade and serves as the salad dressing – if you let it melt first (which we failed at). The whole thing was so delicious.
Course 7: Royale Dorade, Truffle
The Royale Dorade is a sea bream that is soft, flaky and delicious. The Royale Dorade was imported from Greece and salt crusted. After the fish was cooked, we were presented with the salt crusted fish (as pictured above) before taken away and fileted in the back. Then, the fish came back with olive oil and lemon sauce, with the bones removed. There was a miscommunication so the shaved truffles didn’t arrive with it until we were half finished with the fish. They apologized to us profusely for their error.
This course also came with braised kale which was delicious as well. This was a lot of food and due to the capers, it was a little salty but to be expected with capers. The truffles were the same ones as the fourth course so there wasn’t much truffle flavor, but I liked it nonetheless.
Course 8: Dessert Trio
The last course of the night, the Dessert Trio. We were each presented with 3 small desserts, a Greek donut with wild thyme honey and cinnamon, a rolled up baklava with pistachio ice cream (made in house), and blueberry custard pie with blueberry sorbet (made in house). All of the desserts were AMAZING.
Wine Pairing
The wine pairing here was noticeably cheaper ($65/person) and the accompanied pours were actually quite large. Each wine was briefly explained and introduced to us and the taste was pleasant, however, I was surprised all of the wines were white except for the dessert wine. I think replace half of the white wines with red would have been a better experience.
Michelin Star Worthy?
So how does Kyma score against the 5 tenets of Michelin Star criteria? Let’s see.
1. Using Quality Products
Kyma consistently told us where their products came from, from places as close as their own garden, to places far on the other side of the earth. I think it’s fair to assume Kyma uses quality ingredients.
2. Mastery of Flavor and Cooking Techniques
There were many techniques used in this restaurant which I liked. The chef has had extensively knowledge and seemed to love his craft. When we were there, he actually brought out a whole lamb that he had been roasting all day – part of the annual “Lamb on a Spit” Party!
3. Personality of the Chef in the Cuisine
Chef Karatassos’s love for cooking and love for entertaining is clear in this restaurant. The variety of menus, the accommodation of our requests were all positive things I noted. The chef walked around the restaurant a couple of times and even took a seat at one of the tables. I LOVED the idea of making watermelon sorbet as dressing for their watermelon salad. The staff told me they also make a beet sorbet for their beet salad dressing.
4. Value for Money
At $150 a person, this is one of the cheapest chef’s tastings in town, similar to Alden and Aria. There is definitely less showmanship compare to the more expensive tastings like Atlas and Georgia Boy, but for the price, and amount of food that is served, the value for money is very high.
5. Consistency of Food
We ran into the issue for our fish course, where there was a misunderstanding of who was supposed to bring the truffles. They did apologize profusely and wanted to do whatever they could to correct their mistake. I thought all of the courses tasted very good and each course was brought out quite quickly, which tells me the chefs are very familiar with each course.
Conclusion
I think Kyma will definitely be recognized as a Michelin restaurant, but I’m unsure if they will get a star. The food was amazing, but there was a few courses where they simply put down the food and left – I’m sure the Michelin inspector would want a whole explanation of everything for every course. As far as the price and flavor, it was all there. It was so good that we ate every last drop of every food, scrap and sauce. The interior of the restaurant is beautiful and different types of fish were on display. The valet service was quick and effortless. This is a restaurant I plan to visit again.