Omnivore - Restaurant Review: The Spence

• James Camp
• USE YOUR NOODLE: The Spence's beet pappardelle, duck, and cocoa gremolata entrée

There may be no restaurant that reflects the cultural cadence of this city right now more than the Spence. Chef/TV star Richard Blais' latest Atlanta project harnesses the excitement surrounding both the local dining scene and the city's role as the Hollywood of the South. At the top of the menu, a list of the kitchen's current influences and inspirations nods to the creative process behind the dishes of the day - root vegetables, the Falcons, candied quince. The staff barely seems able to contain its enthusiasm, eager to funnel the same in-the-moment excitement into the food you're about to order.

Blais' name may not be emblazoned above the restaurant's door, but the Spence still owns the fact that it's a celebrity chef restaurant. In a town teeming with reality show crews and zombies and A-list actors on shoot, it seems fitting to have a representative on Bravo's "Life After Top Chef," the network's latest addition to the franchise that shows Blais building out this very restaurant, hiring cooks, airing doubts, sharing dreams. And if you're not one of the hundreds of thousands of people who tune in on Wednesdays, maybe you're one of the 200,000 who follow Blais on Twitter, where he keeps everyone updated on his dizzying daily duties. If you want to know if Blais will be in the house when you visit the Spence, look no further than his Twitter feed.

Read the full review by Brad Kaplan here.