Quick Bites: Spice to Table, Cupcake Mafia & Boutique now open, changes at Parish, and more

• Photo by Chris Hornaday Photography
• Spice to Table is now open at Studioplex.

Celebrated chef Asha Gomez’s latest venture, Spice to Table, is now open at Studioplex (659 Auburn Ave.). The innovative Indian patisserie offers breakfast (crostatas, quiches, samosa pockets) and lunch (soups, salads, and hoagie sandwiches) six days a week. Patrons are also free to pick up the various spices, jams, pickles, coffees, and teas Gomez has for sale. Her Spice Road chicken stall will open at Krog Street Market later this year. Details as they arise.

The Cake Hag Studio has moved to Grant Park and is now ensconced in Bennett’s Market & Deli at 568 Blvd. SE. Previously, Cake Hag resided at 501 Grant St. The bakery is known for serving cakes and cupcakes in flavors ranging from orange cream and Carolina carrot to bourbon dark chocolate and extreme lemon. Gluten-free, low-carb, and alcohol-spiked options are also available and perfect for last-minute birthday cakes or “cake for dinner.” Because cake for dinner. As one more perk of the move, Cake Hag is aiming to bring end-of-the-week breakfasts back on Thursdays and Fridays, offering kolaches, coffee cakes, and croissants.

Speaking of sweets, the flagship location of Cleveland, Ohio-based Cupcake Mafia & Boutique has opened at 2115 Piedmont Road in Buckhead. Owner Mary Seats created the concept with women in mind; everything is doused in pink, and reportedly 20 percent of proceeds from sales are donated toward breast cancer research.

Last Word, the forthcoming contemporary American restaurant by former Woodfire Grill owner Bernard Moussa, is slated to open in late August, an August 4 press release revealed. Set to occupy the former home of P’cheen at 701-5 Highland Ave., the trattoria-like establishment will employ Parish alum Eddie Russell as executive chef. Details as they arise.

Speaking of Parish, it’s received quite a revamp since Livingston alum Zeb Stevenson replaced Eddie Russell at the Inman Park restaurant. Now dubbed The Brasserie & Neighborhood Café at Parish, the Beltline-adjacent destination at 240 N. Highland Ave. now offers simplified, familiar flavors in the form of dishes including goat cheese and beet jam on toast; sourdough gnocchi with porcini, crimini, kale pesto, and candied lemon; and pressed pork shoulder with butter-braised vegetables, peaches, and mustard. Downstairs, the former Parish Market (branded anew as the Neighborhood Café at Parish) continues to serve coffee, breakfast pastries, sandwiches, wine, and other items.

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Ladybird Grove & Mess Hall is now little more than a week from opening at 684 John Wesley Dobbs Ave., Eater reports. The “modern campfire cuisine” concept from owner Michael Lennox and executive chef Robert Lupo boasts an interior featuring ample references to wilderness (see the mural of a bear by local artist Sam Parker) and the land (see the intricate topographic map-like wallpaper behind the bar), with reclaimed materials in abundance. Details and a menu as they arise.

Bravo’s Top Chef franchise continues to thrive with spinoff programs featuring Atlanta’s hometown culinary talents. The latest in this succession of shows is Top Chef Duels, which kicked off on August 6. The cooking battles on the itinerary will feature such all-star contestants as Gunshow’s Kevin Gillespie, Flip Burger’s Richard Blais, Southern Art & Bourbon Bar’s Art Smith, and Empire State South’s Hugh Acheson. In related small-screen news, Villains’ chef Jason McClure was recently featured on an episode of Food Network’s Cutthroat Kitchen (H/T to Eater), which is hosted by Marietta resident Alton Brown.

Fresh details are available on Bocado Burger Bar, the concept from Brian Lewis slated to open mid-October at Alpharetta’s luxury Avalon development (2200 Avalon Blvd.). Along with the cult-favorite burger stack, the eatery will also offer a turkey burger, fried chicken sandwich, dry-aged burger (with beef aged in house), and some specialty sandwiches, Atlanta magazine reports. Dinner will be served seven days a week, and breakfast will be served on weekends. Expect lots of tasty sides and cocktails, and a bocce court, as well. Click here to read the article.

Decaturish reports that a new Latin-Mexican restaurant, Dos Madres, is coming to the former Native space at 340 West Ponce de Leon Ave. Named for two mothers, the restaurant is founded on the philosophy of homey comfort foods, which will be served seven days a week. Expect dishes like bacon-wrapped brick oven shrimp, plus battered-and-fried fish served with roasted poblano and goat cheese-creamed corn. Drinks will be served. Details as they arise.

Murphy’s owner Tom Murphy has purchased, along with business partners Dave Green and (Murphy’s executive chef) Ian Winslade, the location of the former Garrison’s restaurant in Vinings (4300 Paces Ferry Road), the Northside Neighbor reports (H/T to Tomorrow’s News Today). Construction has already begun on the as-yet-unnamed dining establishment that will soon infiltrate it, and the trio has plans to open its doors by mid-September. Details as they arise.