How a chef-turned-ceramicist created the hottest reservation in town.
For the last several old age , Zach Meloy has been honing two distinct craftsmanship . During five years at the helm of the now - shuttered restaurant Better Half , he apace became one of Atlanta ’s most celebrated chefs . But what most diners did n’t be intimate is that Meloy guard a degree in ceramic and has been crafting dishware on the side for long time .
Now he ’s combining both passions atDirt Church Ceramics , a ceramics studio apartment with an underground supper club that he opened in Upper Westside this year . During the biweeklyMug of the Month Clubdinners , five course crafted by Meloy in an off - website kitchen are serve in ceramic dinnerware made right here in his studio apartment .
“ I attempt to be a little more intentional , ” Meloy says . “ [ And during the pandemic ] I had this idea for a ceramic studio apartment where I can still feed multitude . ”
Photo courtesy of Dirt Church Ceramics
Throughout his career , Meloy ’s goal has always been to tot up a human hint to the dining experience — and that intention is especially plain in the dinner serial where plate have his thumb prints in the mould and weak sharpness on bespoke bowls are a reminder that each piece is hand-crafted .
When guests arrive at Dirt Church Ceramics in an retiring , overlooked construction , they ’re welcomed with a cocktail in a hand-crafted cup that is theirs to take home . The cozy salon and studio space plays lo - hi hip - hops to set the mood , but the long , standard candle - light tabular array set for 16 does n’t need much supporter in that department .
The twilight card begins with a Apium graveolens dulce root soup wait on in a jagged , bulbous sports stadium that draws aspiration from the master ingredient itself . Purees of chestnut , black earthnut , carrot , and tangerine with a celeriac muddle were arranged in a Stonehenge - like circle inside the bowl . The dish seemed too pretty to eat , and right as the thought crossed my nous , Meloy arrived tableside and poured quick soup in the bowl , swim the colorful melange .
Photo courtesy of Dirt Church Ceramics
“ Monks will spend day making a mandala with sand , and then they destruct it , ” he enunciate . “ I think my intellectual nourishment is the same style . Every week , I come up with these dishes , I ghost over them , and in the death , expect . It ’s all gone . ”
Other dishes align with the ceramics they will be dish on , like the sous - vide chicken entree , which is cheekily served on a home plate with chicken feet imprinted on it . Meloy say he writes the menu for each time of year first , then start to work in the ceramics studio to make each course ’s corresponding dishware .
The meal ended with a Mexican drinking chocolate caramel in a bowl with chocolate-brown butter - washed bourbon cordial on the palpebra — a delicious combination that ’s enhanced by the custom - made ceramics it is served in . As the meal issue forth to an final stage and the gorgeous shell with constituent edge are whisk forth , guests are left with the computer storage of a one - of - a - kind dinner organize by a culinary ceramist who has understandably mastered both craft .
Photo courtesy of Dirt Church Ceramics
Mug of the Month Clubdinners are held every other weekend atDirt Church Ceramics . Tickets are $ 185 per person and include a cocktail reception , tour of the ceramic studio , five - course dinner , and a tradition mug available exclusively to dinner party node .
