I don’t hear a lot of chatter about King & Duke amongst the food cognoscenti, but I’m three for three on my visits. Another in the trendy Ford Fry collection, the carefully designed restaurant has a long list of dishes I find desirable, most touched by smoke and fire from the open hearth, which elicits stares by everyone (myself included) who passes it on the walk towards the lower or upper level of crowded tables.
On my first visit a buddy and I tackled “The King” – the 1kilo (2.2#, to the Yanks) bone-in ribeye served with salad, bone marrow, and the tasty popovers each table receives. It was great. I believe the price was $75 at first, $87 at the moment.
My second visit I solely sampled the charred octopus salad, and once again I was pleased – the tender octopus, heavy with char and co-mingling well with the cured olives and potatoes and orange.
Then last week I met up with another friend for lunch there, and am pleased to say there were so many dishes that sounded good, I actually had a tough time deciding what I wanted, vacillating between an enticing array of salads and soups and sandwiches. We sampled some smoky, sticky wings which with their hint of citrus were quite nice, though the unseparated flat/drum is unwieldy. Perhaps because this is Buckhead, we should have been in fork-and-knife wing territory anyways.
My grilled chicken (a hefty piece, charred and not overcooked) little gem salad with asparagus and large chunks of white cheddar, further dressed by me with a spritz of the accompanying lemon and the flaky table salt was spot-on and just what I wanted. The portion is so large I couldn’t finish it, which I guess is what you want out of a $14 salad. Dude seemed quite pleased with his smoked salmon salad. Just couple of dudes getting salads on a Friday.
The wine and cocktail list may not be to my liking (why are the drinks so sweet!?) but King & Duke may be finding it’s way into my rotation, especially for lunch or a quick appetizer at the bar, should I be able to find a seat. I’m not the only person who appears to enjoy this spot.