Dining Guide

By F.C. Foodie
Dining Critic

The Continent has landed in Fayette County.

After weeks of watching the building under construction, Fayette County diners got their first sample of the European style of dining at The City Cafe and Bakery last month. The restaurant, located near the county administrative complex on Ga. Highway 85 in Fayetteville, is this month's winner of The Citizen's Choice dining award.

If you haven't sampled the delicious food served in a gorgeous building, run immediately to what is now the best restaurant in the county. Owners Jorg and Doreen Schatte hail from Germany and their touch is apparent. As you enter the room, you're immediately transported to a courtyard in Europe. Exposed brick and old-fashioned lamps give the diner a sense of walking through some of the historic streets of Germany and France.

The restaurant also throws in a touch of Fayette County's history with pictures throughout the restaurant illustrating the county's past and a brief history featured on the back of the menu. Both the history and the pictures were supplied by the county's historian Carolyn Cary.

The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner and each meal has its own charms. Breakfast features a wide variety of muffins, croissants and turnovers that can tempt even the most diet-conscious diner to surrender to the absolutely sinful pastry selection.

For lunch, the cafe offers a wide variety of sandwiches and soups that offer a perfect mid-day break. The Reuben is particularly good, but other diners have told me the turkey burger and the City Cafe Stew are also wonderful. Dinner is my favorite meal at the cafe because of the ambience and the variety of menu items. Dishes include steak au poivre, blackened swordfish and pork medallions. Two particularly flavorful items are the Chicken Marsala and the ribeye.

Meals come with bread and salad and the only negative thing I can say about the restaurant is the bread was not served warm. After sampling the entrees, be sure to save room for dessert. The choices can include cannolis, tiramisu, turtle cheesecake and a large variety of cakes.

Dinner entrees are in the mid-teens, while a delightful lunch can be had for easily under $10.

Every time I've been to the restaurant, it's been crowded, which is fairly typical for new restaurants. The buzz I've heard on the street, though, is that this is the kind of restaurant Fayette's affluent and food loving diners have been wanting for a long time. Hopefully, this is only the beginning to Fayette becoming a dining destination.

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