Well, THIS sounds pretty great.

On Monday, March 21, at 7PM, [Roy] Blount [Jr.] speaks in conversation with Chef Kevin Gillespie and signs copies of his book at his alma mater, Decatur High School, in the performing arts center. A sampling of homemade pies from Chef Gillespie’s Decatur restaurant, Revival, will be provided.

Roy Blount Jr. is one of America’s most cherished comic writers. He’s been compared to Mark Twain and James Thurber, and his books have been called everything from “a work of art” (Robert W. Creamer, The New York Times Book Review) to “a book to read till it falls apart” (Newsweek). Now, in Save Room for Pie: Food Songs and Chewy Ruminations, Blount applies his much-praised wit and charm to a rich and fundamental topic: food. In poems and songs, limericks and fake (or sometimes true) news stories, Blount talks about food in surprising and innovative ways, with all the wit and verve that prompted Garrison Keillor, in The Paris Review, to say: “Blount is the best. He can be literate, uncouth, and soulful all in one sentence.”

This is a ticketed event. Individual tickets, $28, admit one and include one book. “Plus one” tickets, $38, admit two and include one book.Tickets may be purchased at A Cappella Books in Inman Park or at acappellabooks.com. If they remain, tickets will also be on sale at Decatur High School the night of the event.

In his recent interview with Atlanta Magazine, Kevin Gillespie reminded everyone about something he briefly mentioned a while back in a Decaturish interview…

…I’m about to open a beer garden [in Revival’s backyard] because I really love European-style beers. And as a self-professed redneck by birth, I do love moonshine.

So I followed up with Gillespie’s PR team, and they provided this additional detail in a recent release…

Guests will soon have another reason to flock to Revival—a new outdoor beer garden called Communion! This extension of Revival will offer the ideal spot to socialize pre- or post-dinner at Revival or for laid-back afternoon revelry on the weekends. Session beers, wine and cocktails will be served along with a menu of traditional beer garden favorites including Bavarian-style pretzels with hot mustard and grilled sausages with sauerkraut. While you’re there, how about a game of horseshoes or cornhole?

The lawn/drinking area behind the Revival space (formally Harbour Bar/House, Jakes, etc) has long been one of the great, laid back hideaways in Decatur.  Having Gillespie’s team trick it out as a full on German biergarten may prove to be one of the coolest Atlanta restaurant “extensions” of the year.

Photo courtesy of Red Bread Restaurants

Eater is reporting that the tentative opening date for Kevin Gillespie’s meat-and-three family style restaurant “Revival” is scheduled for next Thursday, July 23rd.

Click here for other details we’ve learned about “Revival” over the last few months.

Eater is reporting a bunch o’ new details about Kevin Gillespie’s new Decatur spot, “Revival”.  Here are some quick highlights:

• Opening has been pushed back from June to July
• Gillespie’s sous chef at Gunshow, Andreas Müller, is the executive chef
• The patio space will eventually be home to an outdoor bar called “Communion”, which “will be Gillespie’s take on a Viennese wine garden”
• The rehabbed space will feature “trey ceilings, crown molding, fireplaces, mixed-metal and wood accents, and an antique blue-and-white color palette”

That’s just a start.  Click over to Eater for more.  They’ve even got some details on the menu!

h/t: 4 Walls Realty Facebook page

Big Decatur restaurant news!  Celeb Chef Kevin Gillespie announced this afternoon that he’ll be opening a new restaurant, Revival, in the former Harbour House Pub location at 129 Church Street this summer…

Atlanta-based chef, restaurateur, and author Kevin Gillespie, the man behind the nationally recognized Glenwood Park restaurant Gunshow, is taking aim at a beloved Southern institution with his newest project. Revival, located on the site of the former Harbour House Pub in Decatur, promises a fresh take on the traditional, family-style Sunday dinner, with a focus on farm-raised and artisan-prepared ingredients.

“I have fallen back in love with the traditional dishes I grew up eating, and those that represent the beautiful culinary traditions of the Deep South,” Gillespie says. “Inspired by the cooking of my grandmothers and the history of our region, I want to breathe new life into that classic family-style restaurant, or ‘meat and three.’ We hope to showcase the dishes with a passion and precision that is largely unavailable currently.”

Revival’s menu will offer a blend of meats, fish, and fresh vegetables, with seasonal options that change daily. Lunch will be served a la carte, while supper, Gillespie says, “will more closely resemble a classic Southern family-style spread served in your grandmother’s home. Revival will be like going to your grandma’s on Sunday—except every day.”

The setting even promises to echo a visit to your grandmother’s house, with a lush garden in the front and a spacious yard in the rear. Revival will be located at 129 Church Street in Decatur and is scheduled to open in early June.