Grazing: Cafe Lapin

Decades ago, in my early 20s, I lived around the corner from Peachtree Battle Shopping Center. I was married, paid $85 a month to rent a house and drove a VW bug, whose upkeep I could not afford. I remember regularly rolling the battery in a grocery cart to a nearby service station for recharge.

Peachtree Hills was in the early stages of “gentrification” at the time. In the years since, it’s become basically a suburb of Buckhead and the shopping center, home to a lot of restaurants, now seems quaint in its design, compared to the mixed-use brick developments that are popping up everywhere.

And “quaint” is a word I’d use to describe Café Lapin (2341 Peachtree Rd., 404-812-9171), which could be a cross between the Magnolia Tea Room at Rich’s and the original Violette. Walls are peach, cakes and other desserts are displayed in the center of the restaurant with flowers, and most of the crowd during my two visits has been very old-style Buckhead. I’m talking pearls, mellifluous Southern accents and gales of compliments whenever anyone from the kitchen visits a table.

They have the fake cut-glass plates, too. The only thing missing is a baby grand piano.

Café Lapin has been opened by Mattie Hines who also owns Le Lapin Café in the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center. The restaurant serves all three meals every day of the week, except Sunday when only breakfast and lunch are served.

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(Photo by James Camp)