In The News
Opentable.com Diner’ Choice Awards “100 Best Restaurants in the United States” November 2011
For one of the best brunch spots in the city, head to Canoe. Located on the Chattahoochee River, Chef Carvel Grant Gould makes inspired southern fare in an elegant setting with an outdoor space that sums up Atlanta better than any guidebook. – Dana Seith, MSN Postbox (April 2011)
Wine Spectator 2011 Restaurant Award Winner
Canoe in Vinings is a perennial favorite outdoor dining destination. Hugging the banks of the Chattahoochee, a series of patios and gardens, a riverside bar, a big farm table and a stone grill offer multiple choice spots to connect with nature. – Bob Townsend, Atlanta Journal-Constitution (April 2011)
Matt Bradford, Canoe’s wine director, is kind of a big deal. The venerable vinologist [at Canoe] passes the test putting him one level shy of Master Sommelier – on his first try. (Oh yeas, only about 5 percent of people have done that). – Katie Kelly Bell, The Atlantan (November 2011)
The river waterfront is a tranquil landscape with colorful gardens, white tents for special events and walkways for an after-dinner stroll. Chef Carvel, who has a sophisticated Southern style, creates the fresh seasonal menu. – Delta Sky Magazine (Spring 2011)
I imagine few people in the city made note of the Abbey’s closing two weeks ago. The restaurant had been an icon in its time, sitting like a stone marvel for so many years on Ponce de Leon, known to generations as the place to go on a prom date or anniversary.So many restaurants fall out of favor – the chef isn’t hip enough, the menu needs dusting off. Newer, trendier spots take their place. Time is the ultimate critic.
Canoe could have been accused once of being just another of the newer, trendier places. It opened in 1995 when Atlanta was in pre-Olympics bloom and we had tired of relic menus that touted biscuits and fried chicken. Nor were we wowed anymore by the tame continental cuisine served at all the “it” restaurants.
“Just when we thought we’d never see a quenelle of coriander whipped cream or a squiggle of creme fraiche across our just-thick-enough mushroom soup, along came Canoe, with an all-star menu of players behind it”:
- John Kessler, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“My number one, fine dining, best food, coolest atmosphere, best table bread, can’t wait to go back restaurant in Atlanta is Canoe. This restaurant is my ‘complete package restaurant’.”
- Nani Matthews, Atlanta Restaurant examiner
“Canoe’s service deserves praise and even imitation. A genuine effort is made to remember guests and treat them like old friends when they return.”
- Besha Rodell, Creative Loafing
“We sat outside at night and it was great, making for the most rural experience one can feasibly obtain in the area.”
-George Simson, Associated Content Society Blog
Canoe is one of the best restaurants in Atlanta and inducted into Nation’s Restaurants News “2005 Fine Dining Hall of Fame”.
“Best View” by Atlanta Magazine – February 2010
“Tasting this array of regal wines was the perfect prelude for Chef Carvel’s expertly crafted lunch…. Lunch was like a waltz: gentle and graceful, often sensuous.”
- Doc Lawrence, Summer Pairings by the River
“Canoe, idyllically set on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in Vinings, has long enjoyed a reputation of superiority when it comes to restaurants. Everything was perfect that evening – the setting, the service and especially the food. Chef Carvel Grant Gould, a seventh generation Atlantan, is known for her use of fresh ingredients in her dishes and her seasonal menus. For a perfect meal in a perfect setting, it’s Canoe.”
- Sally Litchfield, Taste of Perfection
“Gould’s focus seems more seasonal, heavy on high-quality ingredients.”
- AJC Access Atlanta
“Gould has been chef de cuisine at Canoe for the past eight years and was part of the opening team when the restaurant was established nine years ago. She previously worked for the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group.”
- Atlanta Business Chronicle, 2006
“‘With her fresh approach, Carvel is taking Canoe to the next level,’ says McKerrow, who founded LongHorn Steakhouse in Atlanta in the early 1980s, and then developed the Ted’s Montana Grill brand two decades later with media mogul Ted Turner.”
– Jack Hayes, Nations Restaurant News
“The spectacular gardens, lodged on the banks of the Chattahoochee, bring throngs of diners to this Atlanta favorite night after night, brunch after brunch. It’s the type of English garden setting that has ‘bridal shower’ written all over it.”
- The Perfect Shower, Access Atlanta
Atlanta’s celebrity chef, Alton Brown, lists Canoe as the one place in Atlanta where he and his wife dine out.
“My husband and I first found out about Canoe through Alton Brown. We’re big fans of his. When we met him at a book signing in August, we asked what his favorite restaurant in Atlanta was. He said Canoe. So my husband took me there for our first wedding anniversary.”
- Melissa H., Yelp.com review
