Wednesday, June 19, 2002

Famous Fish docks in Peachtree City

By F.C. FOODIE
Food Critic

In the past few months, Fayette County's foodies have been rejoicing with two new restaurants coming to the area.

Ted's Montana Grill at the Avenue in Peachtree City is wowing residents with bison burgers and hearty chicken sandwiches.

Next to Ted's is the Famous Fish Company, which is one of the only seafood options in the county.

Let me start off by saying the food is fabulous. I dined there recently with a large party and everybody was very happy with their selections.

Famous Fish emphasizes fresh products, and you can tell the difference. The fish and shellfish do not have that slight freezer-burn taste that many restaurants try to pawn off on the unsuspecting diner as fresh.

The restaurant is operated by a South African, who also operates a restaurant in London. The chef's take on seafood reminds me Brasserie Le Coze in Atlanta. The brasserie is an offshoot of Le Bernardin in New York, which maintains an almost reverential treatment of serving seafood.

At Famous Fish, the delicacies are given that same treatment. Sauces compliment the seafood, rather than overpower it.

A seafood bisque served as an appetizer tastes like the essential elements were just snatched out of the sea minutes ago.

With just one meal at Famous Fish under my belt, I already know that this is one of the best places in Fayette to eat.

But, like any good critic, I did have a few problems with some parts of the overall dining experience.

First, serve that fabulous bread warm. The servers are very accommodating in bringing baskets of bread to the table, but it would be much better hot, instead of ice cold.

Second, improve the acoustics. We spent two hours at the restaurant the other night, and by the end of the evening, we could barely carry on a conversation because of the noise level. Perhaps fabric on the walls or other noise reduction elements could help.

Third, bring the check in a timely matter. We had a wonderful meal, and enjoyed our time at the restaurant, but waiting 20 minutes to pay left everybody with a bad taste in their mouth.

Fourth, do something about the french fries. They're just bad.

And my final criticism is probably the one that's going to cause the most controversy: the price.

Everybody at our table agreed the food was wonderful, but that Famous Fish was not a place we could afford to eat at every week.

By the time you get through appetizers, salad, entree and maybe dessert, you're looking at more than $30 a person.

I don't have a problem paying that much for the food; in fact I've spent a lot more at restaurants in Europe, New York and San Francisco, but I want the atmosphere to be different. Famous Fish's lovely open design is not conducive to a romantic dinner for two.

I know the restaurant is now serving a lower-priced lunch menu, which I think is a great idea. But, in order to keep people coming back on a regular basis, I think maybe some nightly specials could be added for the budget-conscious.

Overall, I love this restaurant and want it to be in our community a long time. It just needs some tweaking.

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