The AJC’s John Kessler tweets…
Ford Fry (JCT Kitchen) signs the Eurasia Bistro space in Decatur. “High profile chef” to sign on for Mediterranean menu.
Very interesting. Here’s a little background on Chef Fry in case you’re interested.
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Oh, poor Eurasia! I liked it there.
I’m sorry to lose Eurasia, but it sure is nice to get another high profile chef in the zip code.
If Wendy Chang had made it onto Top Chef a couple of years ago, perhaps this wouldn’t have happened!
Anybody know how long Cosecha lasted in that space? Pretty sure it switched to Eurasia Bistro around 2002 or so.
Cosecha? I don’t remember that at all. Wasn’t it also called Cosi for a while?
I only remember Cosecha being open about a year and a half. Im pretty sure renovating the building caused them to go broke Before that I remember it being The Square Table. That was some good greasy food!!
The last time we went to the Square Table, and mind you I didn’t say ate at; I’ll never get the image out of my mind, we left after seeing Speros standing in the kitchen, cooking, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth an the ash about to…
Ah, Speros. I used to drop my rent check off at the restaurant when I rented a house from him in the mid-90’s. I’d always have to act like I was in a big hurry so he wouldn’t try to make me eat something. I’m not sure he was really cut out for being either a restauranteur or a landlord (The heat no work downstairs? What’s the problem? Go upstairs, heat works good there!)
He was quite a character, though, and a good guy. His “background check” when I first met him about renting the house consisted of the following conversation:
Speros: You love your mother?
Me: Of course.
Speros: Then why you move so far away from her?
Me: Well, um, I moved down here to go to grad school at Emory.
Speros: Yeah, that’s a good school. But your mother’s gonna miss you. You seem OK, so you can rent the house, but you call your mother. You don’t call her, I kick you out.
Whenever I saw him after that, he’d always ask, “You call your mother today?” I hadn’t seen Speros in several years when I heard last summer that he had died. Of course, the first thing I did was call my mother.
I love all the new restaurants and pubs, but I hope Decatur never loses it’s old character (and it’s characters)!
You need to record this story for NPR’s Story Corps or get it into the Decatur or DeKalb historical record somehow. It’s precious.
Agreed!
I hate to see them go too – but i have to say while the food was always very good they never really felt part of the community (in my experience).
I’m just glad its not another pub.
Did Eurasia go under, or did Chef Chang just decide to turn her apron in? I never heard anything indicating that they were in trouble, so I’m genuinely curious…
Bummer, I was a fan.
Boo– liked Eurasia. But yay, also like Ford Fry.
They have a sister restaurant, North Lake Thai, so you can still support them. I believe it’s the same or very similar menu.
This is so sad because I just had dinner there tonight. My wife and I were just saying that we need to put them back in the rotation because it’s ALWAYS sooooo good. Arghhhh!!!!!
Ford Fry rules and JCT is consistently underrated. Just hope he can find a way to wedge his chicken liver mousse on to a Mediterranean menu.
what will this mean for the Decatur Diner? THAT’S what I want to know…
Like Decatur needs more fried okra.
I’m not sure Eurasia is closing. That is not what I heard when I asked one of their staff today. New chef – yes. Closing -no. Truth? can’t confirm.
Jo, saw a Face Book post from JTC kitchens GM saying ” we just signed new lease in Decatur…..”. Also, Cosi was forced to change it’s name- changed to Cosechea(sp?).
I have a group dinner there Dec 8 and don’t know what to think. Thanks for more confirmation that I should probably move it.
As a Decatur resident I always try to support local places. I tried Eurasia twice and did not enjoy the experience either time. The service was ok but the food was just ok too and over priced. I don;t mind pricey (Cafe Lily, Watershed, Cakes and Ale) I just like to get my money’s worth. I always wondered how Eurasia was making it? It actually hung in there pretty well considering.
We had that experience too at Eurasia a couple of times too so stopped going. Plus it just had such a low profile in town that I never remembered it. However, it HAS been here a long time.