Brezza Cucina: Italian eats at Ponce City Market
Brezza Cucina is easily one of my favorite restaurants inside Ponce City Market. It has delicious, good-quality food in a casual setting with fantastic service (just a few of my favorite things).
The brainchild of James Beard award-winning chef Jonathan Waxman, Brezza Cucina mixes new Italian flavors with local Southern ingredients to bring Atlanta one outstanding menu. It has something for everyone: Wood-fired pizzas, delicious salads, perfectly roasted meats, and the “oh, there’s room for that” desserts.
The family-style menu is meant to be shared, so bring your friends and family and linger for a meal the way Italians do, sharing good food with loved ones and enjoying being in the moment.
WHY GO:
Because you’re craving some delicious Italian food.
THE VIBE:
Bright, airy, open. Exposed brick walls, giant windows that let in lots of natural light, pretty string lights for extra charm.
DRINK THIS:
Definitely, definitely, definitely try one of their cocktails! They’re all good, but my two favorites are the rosso reviver & the rosemary mule. They’re both light and delicious and very satisfying.
EAT THIS:
If you truly want to eat like an Italian, course your meal for more authenticity. Plus, it will give you a chance to try more stuff on the menu, which is a good thing, because it is so hard to pick favorites! But I’ll try.
For the antipasti course, go for the JW potatoes, P.E.I. mussels, and the JW kale salad. Yes, I said kale salad. I know, kale is so 2016, right? Hear me out: This is the best kale salad – nay, the best salad I’ve ever had.
JW kale salad, with pecorino, bread crumbs and anchovy dressing (c) Anna Lanfreschi
Brezza’s kale salad is a kind of take on the kale Caesar you may have seen at other restaurants, except a thousand times better. It has tasty pecorino cheese on it (very authentic Italian, btw), breadcrumbs, and anchovy dressing. It’s not slathered in creamy Caesar dressing, but has just enough of the savory stuff to make you addicted to this dish.
JW potatoes (c) Anna Lanfreschi
P.E.I. mussels (c) Anna Lanfreschi
The JW potatoes are better than your favorite French fries – they’re also topped with pecorino cheese (hmm, did we just figure out the secret to making any food delicious?) and served with herb aioli for dipping. They’ll be the table favorite, hands down.
For your primi course, try one of the pizzas. If you’re like me and love prosciutto on your pizza, Brezza has two options for you: Bianca (with garlic, ricotta and arugula) and prosciutto cotto (béchamel, cheddar, breadcrumbs). The wild mushroom and soppressata pizzas are also a good choice for the table to share.
All pizzas are cooked inside a wood-fire oven, which you can see from the dining room (c) Anna Lanfreschi
For your secondi course – the main course – I would highly recommend the JW chicken. It sounds simple, but therein lies its beauty. This chicken is roasted perfectly and served the most delicious green sauce, which is slightly reminiscent of chimichurri.
JW chicken: Whole roasted chicken topped with chimichurri-style sauce (c) Anna Lanfreschi
And if you still have room, I absolutely love Brezza’s budino for dessert. It is a bittersweet chocolate pudding topped with whipped cream and biscotti crumbles. You guys, it is insane. If you come here just for this dessert, I wouldn’t judge you.
Budino: Bittersweet chocolate pudding with whipped cream and brioche (c) Anna Lanfreschi
LOGISTICS:
Brezza Cucina is located inside Ponce City Market, next to Williams Sonoma and Spiller Park Coffee. There is plenty of parking in the PCM deck, which is paid. And you can walk off your dinner – like a true Italian – by walking around PCM and doing a little shopping.