Atlanta, Georgia

Atlanta had to be next. Not because it's obvious — it isn't, and that's the point. This is the city where I grew up, where Piedmont and Peachtree were still tree-lined with homes that made you slow down and look. Much of that has given way to development, as it does everywhere. But Atlanta's history doesn't disappear — it relocates. It lives in the estate sales, the antique warehouses, the neighborhoods that still feel collected rather than constructed. If you know where to look, this city is one of the great sourcing grounds in the country. I've been looking my whole life. 

Where to Stay

Southern hospitality still exists.

FORTH Hotel 800 Rankin Street NE — Old Fourth Ward

Atlanta's most exciting new hotel, right on the Beltline and overlooking Historic Fourth Ward Park. The architecture alone is worth the visit — a striking exposed concrete diagrid by Morris Adjmi that somehow feels both modern and grounded. Inside, the rooms are warm and considered: eclectic furnishings, rich linens, Le Labo products. There's a rooftop bar, a serious fitness club, and a members-only social club that gives the whole place an energy beyond a typical hotel stay. This is Atlanta announcing that it belongs in the conversation.

Hotel Clermont 789 Ponce de Leon Avenue NE — Poncey-Highland

Edgy, hip, and cool — and it knows it. The Clermont sits in a beautifully restored mid-century building with a history that's equal parts glamorous and gritty. The rooftop bar has skyline views that earn the price of a drink, and the ground-floor restaurant, Tiny Lou's, serves French-American brasserie food in a room that feels like a Parisian supper club transplanted to Ponce. This is the hotel for the friend who doesn't want to stay somewhere predictable. I always love to recommend this Atlanta gem!

Stonehurst Place

Stonehurst Place 923 Piedmont Avenue NE — Midtown

A Gilded Age mansion built in 1896, now Atlanta's most refined bed and breakfast. The original layout, hardware, and bones are still intact — this is a house with genuine provenance, not a renovation pretending to have history. Gallery-quality art, a library, a garden, and the kind of Southern hospitality that feels personal rather than performative. Steps from Piedmont Park and the Fox Theatre. Southern Living named it one of the South's best inns, and they were right. If the Marlton is where we send people in New York, Stonehurst is where we send them in Atlanta.

WHERE TO EAT & DRINK

The places that earn the return.Fried Chicken & Gravy at Mary Mac's Team Room 

Mary Mac's Tea Room 224 Ponce de Leon Avenue NE — Midtown

Open since 1945 and the last of the great Atlanta tea rooms. This is Southern food without irony — fried chicken, pot likker, cinnamon rolls, and the kind of waitresses who call you "honey" without thinking about it. My grandmother used to play bridge here, which means I've been coming since before I had opinions about restaurants. That history is part of the experience. So is everything on the menu. A piece of Atlanta that hasn't lost itself, which is rarer than it should be. If you don’t get the fried chicken, you will have missed the point.

The Chastain 4320 Powers Ferry Road NW — Buckhead

I grew up around the corner from this address, and I've eaten within these four walls across several of its lives — from its days as a converted horse barn to when it was a favorite of President Carter and Coretta Scott King. Each version has been worth knowing, but the current iteration, run by Executive Chef Christopher Grossman, is the best yet. Relaxed, warm, and beautifully executed. Sophisticated without trying to impress you. Lunch and dinner both work, but it's also one of the better spots in the city for an unhurried morning coffee if you want to start your day somewhere with real character and real history. If you are up for a walk rather than sitting, grab a coffee and walk around the Chastain Golf Course – you will see why this is one of Atlanta’s most beloved neighborhoods.

Staplehouse 541 Edgewood Avenue SE — Old Fourth Ward

Small, ambitious, intentional. The room holds maybe forty people, the menu changes constantly, and the cooking has the kind of precision that comes from a kitchen that cares deeply. This is the spot you bring someone who notices details. Reservations matter. So does going hungry.

Miller Union 999 Brady Avenue NW — Westside

Steven Satterfield's restaurant. Farm-to-table when that phrase still meant something, and one of the few places that's stayed true to it. The cooking is restrained and seasonal, anchored in Georgia ingredients, never overworked. The room is quiet and warm. A restaurant for people who understand that the best meals are the ones that don't need to announce themselves.

MORNING

Coffee, the way it should be. 

Spiller Park Coffee Ponce City Market or Toco Hills

Founded by a Food & Wine editor and Anne Quatrano of the famed Atlanta restaurant, Bacchanalia, which tells you everything about the standards. They roast their own beans, source with real traceability, and the design language is warm and restrained rather than industrial-trendy. The Toco Hills location is the quieter pick if you want a morning to yourself. Ponce City Market is the more central one, but the food hall hum comes with it. Either way, this is some of the best coffee in the city — and the kind of place that's grown without losing what made it good in the first place.

Chrome Yellow Trading Co. Edgewood Avenue — Old Fourth Ward

Part coffee shop, part curated retail. Vintage workwear, ceramics, candles, small lifestyle objects displayed alongside the espresso program. Exposed brick, warm wood, the kind of light that makes you stay longer than you intended. Chrome Yellow has anchored the Edgewood corridor for over a decade and shaped the look of every Atlanta café that came after it. If you've ever wished a coffee shop and a beautifully curated home goods store could live in the same room, this is what that looks like. I love this pocket of the city – it’s uniquely Atlanta.

Octane Coffee Howell Mill — Westside

The one that started it all. Octane opened in 2003 and is widely credited with bringing third-wave coffee to Atlanta — pulling proper espresso and sourcing single-origin beans when the rest of the city was still on autopilot. The Westside location has the most character: high ceilings, big windows, a creative crowd that rotates through all day. The Westside is considered Atlanta’s “design district” and worthy of your time! Get a coffee and go explore!

WHERE TO SOURCE

For the eye that collects.

Scott Antique Market 3650 Jonesboro Road SE — Atlanta Expo Center

The world's largest monthly indoor antique show, and it's been running for over thirty years. Second weekend of every month, over 3,500 vendor booths across two massive buildings. The range is staggering — paintings, silver, military items, glassware, furniture from every era and every corner of the world. Not everything here is a gem, which is exactly the point. This is a sourcing ground, not a showroom. Arrive Friday morning when the serious dealers do. Bring cash. Trust your eye. Plan to lose the entire day.

Miami Circle Miami Circle NE — Buckhead

Atlanta's design and antiques district, and the closest thing the city has to a Rua de São Bento. An entire loop of showrooms, galleries, and dealers — William Word Fine Antiques has one of the largest inventories of European antiques in the Southeast, and the Ahlers & Ogletree Auction Gallery is a serious resource for estate pieces and fine art. Walk the full circle slowly. Every door is worth opening. This is where Atlanta's interior designers have been sourcing for decades, and the quality reflects it.

The Turnage Place 711 Trabert Avenue NW — Westside

A multi-estate warehouse run by Helen Deasy since 1970 — over fifty years of knowing every piece of furniture in Atlanta. The selection rotates constantly, from English antiques to mid-century modern to contemporary art. I have bought from Helen for years - she herself is a force — she knows the provenance, the history, and the value of everything in the building. The kind of place where the person behind the counter is the best resource in the room. Check their schedule for multi-estate sales, which draw serious collectors.

Antiques & Beyond 1835 Piedmont Road NE — Buckhead

Every single time I get to Atlanta, I make sure to step foot in this door within 24 hours of touching down at Hartsfield Jackson! Over seventy dealers under one roof, each with their own eye and their own era. This isn't a junk shop — the quality is curated, the selection is diverse, and the prices reflect it. French and English antiques sit alongside designer furniture and fine decorative objects. If you're furnishing a home or looking for that one piece that pulls a room together, start here. Worth the browse even when you're not looking to buy. The staff is friendly, patient and never pushy.

Peachtree Battle Estate Sales 700 Miami Circle NE — Buckhead

For sourcing off the beaten path, Peachtree Battle Estate Sales runs both in-home estate sales across Atlanta's best neighborhoods and on-site gallery sales at their Miami Circle location. Founded by Robert and Christy Ahlers, the same family behind Peachtree Battle Antiques and the Ahlers & Ogletree auction house. Sign up for their mailing list — the best finds move fast, and knowing before everyone else is half the game. On opening day of any estate sale, just like everywhere, arrive early!

WORTH KNOWING

The things that aren't for sale.

Piedmont Park & Midtown on Foot Midtown Explore Midtown on foot and let Piedmont Park anchor the walk. The park was designed by the Olmsted Brothers — the same firm behind Central Park — and it carries that same sense of considered beauty at every turn. Wide meadows, old-growth canopy, and views of the Midtown skyline that remind you Atlanta is a city built in a forest. The neighborhood around it rewards wandering too — the architecture, the scale, the pace of it. This is the part of Atlanta that surprises people who think they already know the city.

Oakland Cemetery, the Cyclorama & Grant Park Grant Park

Oakland Cemetery opened in 1850 and is one of the most beautiful places in Atlanta — a Victorian garden cemetery with rolling hills, ornate mausoleums, and centuries-old oaks draped in quiet grandeur. It's part history lesson, part sculpture garden, part meditation. From there, walk into the Grant Park neighborhood and visit the Cyclorama — the massive 1886 painting of the Battle of Atlanta, recently restored and now housed in its permanent home. It's one of those things you can't believe exists until you're standing in front of it. The neighborhood itself is charming, walkable, and increasingly one of the most interesting pockets of the city.