Interview with Chef Art Smith

As the creator and driving force behind Southern Art and Bourbon Bar, located inside InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta, Art Smith gives guests from around the world a curated taste of classic southern cuisine and cocktails. A widely respected celebrity chef from Florida, Smith has won multiple James Beard Foundation awards, appeared on popular television shows from Top Chef Masters to The Today Show, and served as Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef for 10 years. We sat down with Smith to hear his thoughts on Atlanta’s position as a global center of southern cuisine.

Q: Why makes Atlanta a great destination for foodies?

Atlanta has great diversity. With diversity comes great things, including foods, liquors, restaurants, and a lot of great chefs who are not necessarily from the south. I think Atlanta has an international reputation as a friendly city. We do hospitality better than anybody.

Q: Are there common misperceptions about southern cuisine?

For a while, some people turned away from southern food, maybe because of the contention that it’s unhealthy. Some of it can be, but that’s not who we are. We focus a lot on fresh and local, and our attitude toward food is different.

Q: Is there a dish from the Southern Art menu you’re particularly proud of?

Our Artisan Ham Bar. What I love about it is all the work is done -- all we have to do is slice it. Now, we slice it on a $5,000 slicer, because these hams have been babied, and all the months that went into curing them need to be honored, because they’re fantastic. And my mother’s chicken and dumplings soup is delicious. Every spoonful tastes like love, because we do it very elegantly, like fine pasta with a very good broth. Not to mention, we have one of the best and busiest bourbon bars in the city. And I’ll tell you something amazing: people come back here because they love our biscuits.

Q: Do you have recommendations for dishes Atlanta visitors should try?

Buford Highway has all kinds of different and amazing restaurants to try. You can get a fantastic arepa at Arepa Mia in Decatur, and Bantam & Biddy makes superb gluten-free fried chicken. St. Cecilia is really excellent. Or you can come here and get a bowl of Addie Mae's Chicken and Dumplings.

Q: What is currently the culinary landscape of Atlanta and the southeast, and what do you think is on the horizon?

We’ve come into a time when people don’t really want chains. People want unique, delicious, somewhat-artisan food. They want to say, “I love that, because they made that special.”

Q: What elements of the South inspire your ideas when creating food?

Southern stories. We know how to tell a good story, write a good story, and we also know how to sing a good story. People love the way we go about it. We even know how to sing it sad and make everybody cry with us, but people still enjoy that. [laughs]

Ready to experience chef Art Smith’s creations at Southern Art and Bourbon Bar? Plan your trip to Atlanta now. Or, explore other culinary destinations.