city guide

The concierge says...

Kyle Baynes, concierge at the Four Seasons Atlanta, says his recommendations vary depending on the guest. But for fine dining, he typically suggests Two Urban Licks, a hot eatery in a sleekly renovated former warehouse in the Old Fourth Ward that offers elevated Southern fare like Italian sausage–stuffed duck breast with fried okra. Baynes also likes Midtown’s Silk for its Asian-inspired steak and seafood dishes.




Activity-wise, he steers travelers toward the two-year-old Georgia Aquarium, the recently refurbished World of Coke, and Atlantic Station, a fashionable shopping and dining destination on the gentrifying west side of town.

Explore the Old Fourth Ward

Sweet Auburn Curb Market (209 Edgewood Avenue SE, 404-659-1665, sweetauburncurbmarket.com). The owner of the smoothie counter, Henry Williams, says he could have set up shop anywhere, but chose the intown market packed with seafood counters, soul-food vendors, baked goods and stands full of sweet potatoes, collard greens and plantains, “not because of the present, but because of the future. I’m excited about the future.”

Five minutes from where Dr. King was born and later preached, others are excited also. A former architect sells decadent cupcakes at the rainbow-colored Irwin Street Market (600 Irwin Street, irwinstreetmarket.com) alongside vendors of cocktail-themed bouquets, $50 marionettes, assorted folk art, organic skin products, and gourmet sandwich shops.


Across the street, a former cotton warehouse now houses various art galleries and upscale businesses, such as Click Model Management (659 Auburn Avenue #123, 404-688-9700, clickmodel.com/atlanta.htm). Gourmet fruit shops such as Lottafrutta (590 Auburn Avenue NE, 404-588-0857, lottafrutta.com), hip coffee shops like Javaology (466 Edgewood Avenue SE, 404-223-3202, javaology.com) and southern bakeries like Sweet Auburn Bread Co. (234 Auburn Avenue NE, 404-221-1157, sweetauburnbread.com) are popping up like hotcakes between pastel-colored homes and retro chicken-wing shops.