Omnivore - This is everything on the menu at Gato Arigato
A Japanese pop-up is now open in Inman Park
- http://clatl.com/atlanta/ImageArchives?by=1223504
- Gato Arigato's menu
A couple of friends and I dropped into Gato Arigato last night, took one look at the menu, and decided to order everything. Gato Arigato is a pop-up restaurant serving up Japanese food on Mondays and Tuesdays inside of Gato Bizco, the Inman Park breakfast diner. Allen Suh and Nicholas Stinson, the team that put together the much talked about BATON supper series at Bizco, have dreamed up Gato Arigato as a more permanent restaurant within a restaurant.
The dishes are playful and non-traditional: duck egg chawanmushi, pickled lotus root and arugula salad, pork belly mochi, and so on. We devoured everything they put in front of us. You'll notice in the photos below that I couldn't even get a picture of the hamachi and fresh wasabi root before my dining companions tore into it. The pork belly mochi is decadent comfort food. The vegetarian ramen is satisfyingly rich, even in comparison to the pork-laden tonkotsu. I wish I could get a jar of the pickled lotus root, I'd put it on everything. This was all rather affordable, too. We ordered one of everything (and two or three of the smallest plates) and the total bill was about $70 before tip. I expect you'll be hearing more about this place.
Tonight is your last chance to eat there in 2012. Arigato will be open from 7 to 11 p.m. tonight, closed for two weeks for the holidays, and returning in 2013 on every Monday and Tuesday. Check out the photos after the jump.