I’ve driven up and down Buford Hwy hundreds of times and it still amazes me to know that you can discover interesting new dining destinations simply by venturing off onto one of its many neighborhood side streets. A few days ago I intentionally made such a turn in order to locate The Market Norcross, a neighborhood eatery located in the area’s historic district.
I was invited to The Market by Emily Hatch to try some dishes prepared in their recently expanded kitchen and to check out their new outdoor space. The patio maintains the charming, cozy feel of the restaurant which was a private home in its former life. In fact, the General Manager’s father was born there. With the season changing soon, I can imagine that dining Al Fresco will become quite popular there.
The Market Norcross was closed for 11 months during the renovation but is open again, resuming it bustling lunch service and is Now Serving Dinner to boot. For those who are so inclined, you can BYOB to enjoy with your meal.
After pouring myself something to drink and finding a place to settle into, I sat down and did what we do when we go out…watch other folks. It was nice to see how familiar the customers were with the place. Besides stopping in to dine or to pick up orders to go, there were friendly exchanges between the regulars and the staff which emphasizes the neighborly quality of the eatery.
As far as the food goes, Chef Bryan Wyatt has been pretty adventurous in the kitchen. The first item I tasted was his Pimento Deviled Eggs. The pimento cheese was good and I’m not just saying that because I happen to be a loyal cheese fan. While the appetizer was an acceptable deviation from the typical deviled egg, I do wish that it still contained the yolks. Some deviled egg yolks with homemade pimento cheese mixed in sounds pretty tasty don’t you think? {wink}
For the main course, I opted to try portions of two of The Market’s more popular entrees. The Smoked Beef Brisket was moist and had an intriguing array of flavors that I just couldn’t put my finger on. Chef Bryan shared with me that its preparation included a cherry vanilla soda mop sauce which helped to not only add that unique taste but to also keep it moist as it was smoked. Another moist entree was the Wood-Smoked Teriyaki Salmon. It can be challenging sometimes to prepare salmon without drying it out but that wasn’t the case here at all. The sauce was a nice touch for this dish.
Rounding out my plate were two sides I adore – Mac and Cheese and Watermelon Salad. My absolute favorite thing about the salad was the use of sliced radish. Love that. It also included feta cheese, pickled red onions and a dash of balsamic vinegar. The strength of the vinegar in the onions took me by surprise but didn’t deter me. The watermelon was perfectly sweet and it was all too easy to eat around the acidic component.
Dessert is always the most fun thing to explore at a restaurant for me. The ones I sampled were prepared by Nicole Adams, General Manager at The Market. She’s a pretty impressive baker and I sincerely hope she knows it. She prepared the three sweets I tried. They were a Red Velvet Bar, a Dark Chocolate Macaron and a Praline topped Chocolate, Chocolate Chip Brownie. They all taste as good as their names, if not better. When I asked Nicole about how she prepared them, she seemed to light up when she described the ingredients and her technique. That’s a sign of someone who loves what they’re creating. I’m a fan.
The Market is located at 62 College Street in Historic Norcross.
You can visit their website for more information and to check out their menu.
Disclosure: While the meal at The Market Norcross was complimentary, I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way. You can view my full Disclosure Policy here.
