New Spice Chef Rolls Out Premiere Menu

Chef Drew Van Leuvan Presents First Offerings at Spice

Five years after opening, Midtown Atlanta's trend-setting restaurant, SPICE, welcomes Chef Drew Van Leuvan to the kitchen. Van Leuvan, hot off his run as partner and visionary behind Toast (Toast and Van Leuvan were featured in "The Hot 50" by Bon Appetit magazine in March 2005) hasn't left the midtown neighborhood which put his name on the tongues of critics. Although not a household name - yet, Van Leuvan does have a kind of underground following in the Atlanta culinary scene. After an entrepreneurial stint selling fresh pasta to the likes of Gerry Klaskala (Aria), Richard Blais (while at Blais), Ian Winslad (BluePointe), and Peter Kaiser (Twist) and his most recent position at Toast, Chef Van Leuvan is well-positioned to take over the burners at one of the city's most successful restaurants. With a staff of 15, a retooled kitchen complete with the requisite modernized pasta and pastry stations, and a seasoned staff eager to serve what Atlantans will be eating next, this chef has brought over a few signature items as well as some surprises. The new menu includes:
Dinner starters: Pastrami cured tuna
pickled onions, sauerkraut, rye wafer, and fried "1000" island dressing

Dinner entrees: Crispy flounder
cauliflower "cous cous", mirepoix, curried hazelnuts

Barded loin of pork
Serrano ham, spinach & pecorino spaetzle, fig gel
Duck & dumplings"
duck confit, brussels sprouts, cippolini onions, bread dumplings

Brunch: Vanilla & buttermilk pancakes
fresh fruit, banana butter, maple syrup

Dessert: Bowl o' cereal
milk panna cotta, rice crispies, tang jellies, coconut sherbet

Banana & white chocolate financier
cream cheese sorbet



A graduate of the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York, Chef Van Leuvan boasts an impressive resume, having served under the tutelage of Guenter Seeger, Timothy Dean, Mark Dommen, Thomas Catherall, and, Van Leuvan's late mentor, Jean-Louis Palladin. As with Toast, Van Leuvan makes all of his own pasta, pastries and bread - and still finds time to braise his spare ribs, make ice cream, and smoke meats and fish. Van Leuvan orchestrates Sunday brunch and dinner seven nights a week at Spice, teaches cooking classes, has appeared on local television programs, and his recipes are featured on starchefs.com. Van Leuvan cites the late Chef Jean-Louis Palladin as his greatest teacher and inspiration for "all things that work in my kitchen."

Owned by local entrepreneurs Bruce Patterson and partner / General Manager Chris Martha, SPICE radiates a sensual, energetic glow and combines the burgeoning Midtown Atlanta lifestyle with simple, yet luxurious, trend-setting food and wine. Martha runs the day-to-day operations of Spice with all of the passion that his 18 years of experience brings: "We are looking forward to reintroducing SPICE to a whole new crowd of foodies while still pleasing the people who have made us successful over the past five years. Drew is one of the hardest working chefs in the kitchen. The staff and I could not be happier to have him on board. We will see some changes in the coming year. Our plan was to refresh our brand after five years, and with Drew as the cornerstone of our plan, we are excited to see what the future brings."

Spice is located at 793 Juniper Street in Midtown Atlanta, GA 30308. The restaurant is two blocks from the historic Fox Theatre. Dinner service is from 5:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and until midnight Friday and Saturday. Sunday brunch is served from
11:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. and dinner service from 5:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
For reservations or additional information call the restaurant at 404.875.4242.


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