Living Savannah

Atlanta Magazine on new Italian restaurant in Savannah, opening next year

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It’s probably a little early to get too excited about this since the projected opening isn’t until March 2014, but Atlanta Magazine has an interesting piece: Hugh Acheson On His Upcoming Savannah Restaurant – Covered Dish Blog.

Acheson owns Five and Ten and The National in Athens and Empire State South in Atlanta. He also has won the James Beard Foundation Award.

From the interview:

Let’s talk about your new restaurant in Savannah. How did you decide on Italian?

Savannah has had iconic restaurants throughout the years but can use some new blood, and I wanted to stay in Georgia. Kyle Jacovino (the executive chef to-be) [whose currently at Five and Ten] is Italian by heritage and recently spent time in Italy. I believe in the Italian style of cooking and in the beauty of food. I’ve been cooking French for so long that it’s nice to break away and do something different. There’s a definite kinship between beautifully sourced Southern food and the way Italians have cooked for years. There’s a reverence for simplicity on both sides.
Think about restaurants like City House in Nashville and Il Buco Alimentari in New York …

What type of menu items will you serve?

A lot of local seafood because Tybee Island and Brunswick, Ga., are right there, and we can get some awesome product. Wood-fired oven cooking. Beautiful octopus. Local shrimp. Anson Mill southern grains like farro. Double Zero flour for pizzas. It’ll be a restaurant that appeals to you for a number of reasons. We’ll have 12-inch pizzas, pastas, and vegetable courses.

When I have double-confirmed the proposed location (assuming that anyone will go on the record), I’ll post an update here. Hint: Acheson notes that the building was an ice house at one point in its history.

UPDATE: Jesse Blanco has a post here. And Hugh Acheson has tweeted confirmation that the restaurant will be part of the One West Victory development, on Victory Drive near the intersections of Bull and Whitaker:

Click here for more on the One West Victory development.