Wendell Brock

Atlanta

Food Writer at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

I review stuff and write profiles, often about people in food and drink. James Beard Award, for profile. Former Atlanta Journal-Constitution writer & critic

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Articles

The owners of Minhwa Spirits want to reshape the narrative around Korean alcohol

1 month ago | atlantamagazine.com | Wendell Brock

James Kim (left) and Ming Han Chung of Minhwa SpiritsPhotograph by Ben RollinsWhen James Kim was young, he used to visit his father’s family on Geoje Island off the southern coast of South Korea. There were no traffic lights in the village, but there were rice paddies on steep slopes, and his uncle fermented makgeolli, Korean raw rice wine, in clay pots. Compared to the dry cleaner’s shop his immigrant parents ran on Jimmy Carter Boulevard in Norcross, it was idyllic.
With Long Snake, Joshua Fryer embraces a long-simmering passion for cooking

Nov 21, 2024 | atlantamagazine.com | Wendell Brock

Joshua Fryer grew up in a family of food-loving Tennesseans. Sometimes, they’d drive 45 minutes to try a new fried-catfish place. “From real, real young,” he craved his grandmothers’ field peas, okra, and cornbread. And to this day, his parents serve country ham and chocolate gravy—a standard of the mountain breakfast table—on Christmas mornings.
Atlanta's Best New Restaurants of 2024

Oct 23, 2024 | atlantamagazine.com | Wendell Brock |Daniela Cintron |Carly Felton Cooper |Craig Edwards |Vené Franco |Christiane Lauterbach | +1 more

Edited by Vené FrancoWritten by Wendell Brock, Daniela Cintron, Carly Cooper, Craig Edwards, Vené Franco, Christiane Lauterbach, and Xavier StevensI don’t know about you, but for me, keeping up with Atlanta’s restaurant scene can be, in a word, overwhelming. Even for someone who covers food for a living, it’s a challenge to monitor the relentless pace of change in our city. Throw in a historic water main break and the closing of some of our favorite places, and it can border on heartbreaking.
Atlanta’s Best New Restaurants of 2024

Oct 23, 2024 | ourcommunitynow.com | Wendell Brock

ShareI don’t know about you, but for me, keeping up with Atlanta’s restaurant scene can be, in a word, overwhelming. Even for someone who covers food for a living, it’s a challenge to monitor the relentless pace of change in our city. Throw in a historic water main break and the closing of some of our favorite places, and it can border on heartbreaking.
The verdict on 3 new Atlanta restaurants: Capolinea, Du Bu Gong Bang, and Raik Mediterranean

Sep 17, 2024 | atlantamagazine.com | Wendell Brock |Lia Picard

CapolineaThe first thing you notice when you enter Capolinea, the Italian restaurant within Signia by Hilton, is the attention to architectural detail, from the pearl-encrusted chandeliers to the floor-to-ceiling windows offering stunning views of Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Fortunately, this isn’t the last time Capolinea impresses.
Atlanta Orders In: Busy Bee Cafe

May 16, 2024 | ajc.com | Wendell Brock

Editor’s note: As the coronavirus disrupts the restaurant industry, the AJC has changed its dining coverage and suspended its restaurant reviews. Instead, we are publishing a new column called Atlanta Orders In, which looks at the challenges faced by Atlanta restaurants and serves as a guide to ordering takeout. Is there a restaurant you want to see featured? Do you have feedback about the new column? We want to hear from you. Send your comments to [email protected].
RECIPES: Welcome to the chili crisp universe

May 8, 2024 | ajc.com | Wendell Brock

A recent trademark kerfuffle over the name “chili crunch” brought more attention to the tingly Sichuan condiment than any trend story or cookbook ever could. When David Chang’s Momofuku brand declared it was seeking to trademark the term, itwas as if some Goliathan condiment king had decreed himself the only legal maker of ketchup or hot sauce. Ultimately, Momofuku backed down, meaning that the many smaller makers of chili crunch, chili crisp and other chile oil products could go on as usual.
RECIPES: With hot pot, anything goes - spicy or plain, rich or vegan friendly

Feb 21, 2024 | ajc.com | Wendell Brock

When I wrote about chef Todd Dae Kulper for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s “At Home with Atlanta Chefs” series last year, I asked for a recipe he likes to cook with his family. He sent me a novel — about the pleasures of hot pot. We ended up going with the Umi executive chef’s recipe for a quick and easy bibimbap, but his hot pot rumination and recipes — everything from spicy Sichuan to a “beautifying broth” for the skin — were too good to throw away.
RECIPES: For the love of gluten-free cookies and tea

Jan 24, 2024 | ajc.com | Wendell Brock

Deklah Polanskyand Poorvi Chordiacome from different cultures. But in their love of tea and cookies, they have found a common language. Take a bite of Polansky’s lemon-glazed brown butter and black sesame cookie, a nutty, burnished beauty of astonishing complexity. Then take a sip of the black Assam tea that Chordiaimports from hilly northeastern India, a cup that evokes stone fruit and fine-aged brandy.
Theater review: ‘MJ’ dazzles but doesn’t tell the full Michael Jackson story

Oct 25, 2023 | ajc.com | Wendell Brock

While Atlanta’s restaurant community buzzed with news of the city’s first Michelin stars, “MJ” — the Broadway telling of the Michael Jackson story — opened to a near-capacity crowd at the Fox Theatre. So what’s the takeaway on the jukebox musical? “MJ” succeeds in revealing the genius of Michael Jackson — the prodigious singer, songwriter, dance maker, video innovator, fashion provocateur.