Photograph courtesy of Hen Mom Cookhouse
Longtime diners at Hen Mom Cookhouse in Johns Creek know a number of truths: You may’t make a reservation and you will probably have to attend, the pastries promote out shortly, and chef-owner Soraya Khoury marches to the beat of her personal drum. That is why, regardless of years of requests from company, he is in no rush to open a second location. “I used to be, It’s truly inconceivable. There isn’t any solution to do it” she remembers. Nonetheless, the best alternative lastly got here way back, and on Friday, October 4, Hen Mom’s second location will open in downtown Alpharetta at 50 South Fundamental Road. It is twice the scale of the unique location at 110 seats and brings new choices to the desk.
Situated within the 1912-built Jones Home (the previous web site of Restaurant Holmes), the brand new location hits all the best notes for Khouri. “We had been actually particular. I needed to be nearer to house. I need to keep house for my youngsters at evening,” she says. Choices inside the metropolis had been financially engaging, however very a lot out of bounds. Khoury had lengthy admired Jones Home and when it turned obtainable, it made excellent sense. “I liked the house, and I used to be jealous that this superb historic home was a restaurant,” mentioned Khoury, who made the deal a couple of 12 months in the past.
Photograph by Leah Pickard
Photograph courtesy of Hen Mom Cookhouse
Whereas the home has nice bones, Khoury infused it with private touches. She began by portray the partitions in Raging Sea by Sherwin-Williams, a inexperienced extra soothing than its title suggests, and employed artist Alia Smith to color a mural of purple and yellow flowers on the again eating room ceiling, together with a wallpaper—yellow California poppies—within the entrance room. sample like As with the unique location, homely touches like vegetation and knickknacks add to the charming weave of the Hen Mom all through. “I refurbished a number of the present tables within the restaurant. We acquired all our chairs from the Fb Market and recreated them I simply repainted them,” mentioned Khouri Preserve an eye fixed out for plates, too, a lot of which have been picked up from Goodwill or donated to common eating places. “I unboxed a field that somebody gave me from their grandmother’s china a 12 months and a half in the past,” says Khoury.
Photograph courtesy of Hen Mom Cookhouse
Photograph courtesy of Hen Mom Cookhouse
Photograph by Leah Pickard
With regards to the menu, company can anticipate finding the identical objects because the Johns Creek location, apart from vitality bowls and extra streamlined omelet choices. Unique to the Alpharetta location are the additions of breakfast tacos and oat pancakes, in addition to rooster and tuna salad sandwiches at lunch. The placement additionally has a cocktail menu with drinks just like the “Brunch Punch” (rum and strawberry-arbol syrup) and an espresso “Frap-Innie.” For Khoury, a primary espresso martini will not do: “I do not like espresso martinis, and each one we had been engaged on, I hated,” he says. “I might get up in the course of the evening and be like, No, it is a breakfast restaurant, the breakfast martini should be scrumptious” He finally ends up ingesting a drink much like an Italian frappe made with Nescafé on the spot espresso and vodka.
Photograph by Leah Pickard
Photograph by Leah Pickard
The brand new location carries an emotional punch for Khoury, who misplaced his father in 2010. “For some purpose with Alpharetta opening, I am considering of her increasingly more,” she says. “In all probability as a result of I do know he can be happy with us and since his greatest dream was all the time to open a restaurant.” He translated these sentiments right into a cool product by together with a classic poster from certainly one of his grocery shops — that includes objects like spare ribs and floor beef and their old-school costs ($.89 per pound for beef?!) — on T-shirts solely. offered at that place. The poster will get a Hen Mom twist (for instance, the bologna is changed with a cinnamon roll) however it’s additionally a solution to honor her entrepreneurial father who began her culinary journey. “It feels proper,” Khoury mentioned. “I really feel that I’m very serious about remembering my father with this restaurant.”
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