Review: Livingston (1)

It’s 6:30 on an early summer evening, and Livingston's patio is throbbing with activity. Women dressed in spangles and silk sip cocktails under canvas umbrellas while seated in luxurious cushioned chairs. The newly renovated Georgian Terrace Hotel's blond brick façade exudes moneyed charm. Across the street, the fabulous Fox Theatre’s marquee twinkles. There’s something about this scene that's apt to fill your heart with Atlanta pride. It’s like the fantasy of what this city could be: a bustling Midtown nightlife; a future that dips into our storied past; a brand of glamour that feels just right.

The revamping of the Georgian Terrace and the opening of Livingston represents something important for our city. For the past year, many of Atlanta’s exciting new restaurants have sprung up in hotels, specifically in big-name chains such as W. Helmed by out of town celebrity chefs such as Tom Colicchio and Laurent Tourondel, these restaurants gave us reason to feel that we're becoming a nationally recognized dining city, but the homegrown element was obviously missing.

The Georgian Terrace couldn’t be more homegrown, from its location at the corner of Peachtree and Ponce de Leon, to its history as the place where Gone With the Wind stars partied after the movie’s premier at the Loew's Grand Theatre. When a city starts to revive the treasures it already holds rather than simply building on top of them, it’s an exciting prospect.

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(Photo by James Camp)