When I first started reading John Kessler’s report from Billy Allin’s Cakes and Ale backyard garden, it sounded like he was being one those nosy Decatur neighbors, just wandering into people’s backyards unannounced…

Billy and Kristin Allin’s home seems like any other on its Decatur street — quaint and well-tended, with a mini patch of green lawn and neighboring houses crowding either side.

The backyard is another story. A patio, a sloping yard, a wooded backdrop and — hello — a path.

The path leads through a thicket of tall trees, meanders past a jungle gym and arrives at a sudden, sunny clearing. At the entrance, a hand-painted sign hanging from a trellis announces the “Cakes & Ale Garden.”

Umm, John?  I think that’s called trespassing.

Happily it turns out my fears of food-writers-gone-wild were unfounded.  Kessler does eventually relay some quotes from the Cakes and Ale chef himself (assumedly not given under duress).

Regardless of how the story was obtained, it’s a good piece and worth a glance by backyard gardeners, neighbors and Cakes and Ale fans alike.

Andisheh points out that Besha Rodell over at his old employer has ranked Cakes and Ale as her #5 pick of top Atlanta-area restaurants of 2008.

The much baleyhooed Holeman and Fitch gastropub in Buckhead was #1.

Kristin Allin in Her Living Room (photo courtesy AJC)

After doing a feature on their garden a few weeks back, the AJC now has a photo feature and article about the Allin’s recent home renovation.

Looks great from the inside! (I covet that upstairs bath…)

However, I wish the AJC would have provided an external shot of the house.  Craftsman additions can be tricky since they weren’t really originally designed to be expanded (unlike late 1930s-early 1950s homes with large, unfinished attics) and I’m always interested in seeing individual solutions.

In other recent house renovation news, I noticed that Decatur Living’s newest issue features the redo of the house at the corner of Oakland and Northern.

h/t: InDecatur

The misses and I took a stroll downtown with the dog this evening before the rain came and we noticed that Cakes and Ale now has their menu and a sign proclaiming that they will be opening next month in their window.  Well the same also true online.

See Cakes and Ale’s menu here, along with a note from the owners.

It’s easy to see the connection that Chef Billy Allin has with Watershed when you look at the menu.  Lots of dressed up, organic southern eats.

Can’t wait to try it!

Also found this posting about Chef Allin and Cakes and Ale in case you wanted to know every little piece of info out there on the place.