ATLRetro

Many couples celebrated last weekend, but in case you’re still at a loss on where to take that special person or you’re single and just want to get out, rather than stay home crying into the telephone, here’s ATLRetro’s last-minute top three things to do for Valentine’s Day. The full version of This Week in RetroAtlanta will be up later this afternoon.

1.  SWING THE NIGHT AWAY during Fox Ballroom Night at the Fox Theatre’s Egyptian Ballroom to the big band sounds of Joe Gransden and his 17-piece orchestra, with special guest Nashville jazz chanteuse Annie Sellick. Come early for free dance lessons from 8 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 and include a glass of champagne. Desserts and a full bar are also available for purchase.

2.   TREAT YOUR SWEETIE in the art deco elegance at Livingston across the street at the Georgian Terrace Hotel, built in 1911. Millionaire Mondays deals are on hold for Valentine’s Day, but Chef Zeb Stephenson has dreamed up a decadent three-course prix fixe menu which also includes a complimentary glass of bubbly. The regular dinner menu is also available, and for those who want to dine and dance at the Fox afterwards, find out about package deals at www.foxtheatre.org or call 404-881-2103.

3.  DATELESS? DON’T BE SORRY, GET SPLATTERED at VD EXTRAVAGANZA, DIRTY VS. DARLIN EDITION at the Graveyard Tavern in East Atlanta, which has won Creative Loafing’s award for Atlanta’s best bar to hook up for two years running. Festivities include whipped cream vodka, cupcakes, treats from PinUpGirl! Cosmetics and So Ba, giveaways and basket raffles hosted by www.SorryDARLIN.com, or delight your darker side with Labor of Love Smile Booth photos by Splatter Cinema, and kaiju dancin’ courtesy of deejays Dead Parris & Taradactyl.

Welcome to the first Wednesday Happy Hour and Supper Club. Starting in March, check back for the latest news, reviews and features on Atlanta restaurants, bars, lounges and nightclubs with a Retro location, menu or attitude. ATLRetro also will search the city for the most authentic and delicious retro or retro-inspired cocktails and recipes, or teach you how to make it at home.

Soon I’ll be posting our first major restaurant feature in which Dante Stephensen provides a tour of some of his favorite artifacts decorating the walls at Dante’s Down the Hatch. I remember when I first visited Dante’s at Underground Atlanta as a child and the sense of anticipation and mystery when I descended down the stairs into a giant coffin to find myself on the deck of a magnificent sailing ship. Combine that with live jazz music and fondue and you have the perfect example of a mid-century theme restaurant, conceived with care and creativity rather than the artificiality of many of today’s chains. In the 1980s when the old Underground closed (look for an upcoming Lost Atlanta feature revisiting its uniqueness, too), Dante moved the restaurant to Buckhead and rebuilt it even bigger and better. If you haven’t eaten there lately or you’ve never been, it’s a true Retro treasure.

Photo credit: Philip Nutman, 2010

Also in the works is a feature on Livingston. While Livingston has only been around for a few years, it’s located in the opulent art-deco Georgian Terrace Hotel. I’ll be asking Chef Zeb Stephenson about how its Retro location influences his recipes, giving a sneak preview of its current seasonal menu and sipping a few cocktails, too.

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