Savannah’s new nightspot has just arrived for adventurous night owls. With an enhanced Mediterranean atmosphere, complemented by the luxurious lure of a hookah lounge, The Mirage Mediterranean Bar & Grill is a pleasure for all the senses.

As the city’s only smoking lounge, owner Red Marsid prides himself on offering something new, but was unsure of how people in Savannah—with all their gentility— would take to the idea of giant smoking devices, complete with velvet hoses and all, adorning their beloved Broughton Street.

1.Black Bean Noodles

Umami Asian Kitchen

All diners have at some point experienced the intensity that somehow eludes definition: that enigmatic fifth taste known as umami. And Umami Asian Kitchen lives up to its unique name. “Every meal here at Umami has a distinctive taste and is freshly made to order,” says Steven Sanders, the owner of the new addition to the Twelve Oaks Shopping Center. One such dish worthy of sinking your chopsticks into is their black bean noodles. The key to unlocking these flavors is the heat, both in terms of the temperature and the spice. All stir-fry and noodle selections at Umami are quickly seared in a wok at a temperature of 700 degrees to lock in color, nutrition and freshness. The chefs create this popular entree by combining crushed black beans, ample chunks of red bell peppers, stalks of bok choy cabbage and slivers of flavorful onions and scallions: all stir-fried together with thin, tender yet firm rice noodles. You may also request that they toss in some chicken, tofu, beef or shrimp. And voila, noodle nirvana!

5500 Abercorn Street, 912.692.1411, Iwantmyumami.com

Leave it to Roberto Leoci, the sizzlin’ Sicilian who specializes in homemade pastas, fresh fish and all other ingredients necessary to bring a traditional trattoria to Savannah.

Walk into Leoci’s Trattoria on a Saturday or Sunday night, or Monday or Tuesday or any day for that matter, and you’ll find the same scene: the dark, slickly appointed dining room humming from the duos and trios of diners, and the lamplit patio, lined with long tables stretching under massive umbrellas, smelling of bubbling cheese and crisping crust as the smoke from the pizza oven wafts overhead.

Express Cafe and Bakery has been a Savannah staple for decades, but longtime regulars turned owners, Beth and Michael Meeks, are shaking things up a bit. The couple recently changed the name (although not the soul food) and decided to cook up a whole new business plan.

Before Beth and Michael Meeks shared a last name, they spent many a date in the dining room of the Express Café and Bakery, a quaint breakfast/lunch/brunch restaurant tucked to the side of Broughton on Barnard. “This restaurant has been here for 24 years and was a really special place for us.” Michael says. “Everyone has a Café Express story.” The Meeks’ story however is a little different from most.

Both native Savannahians, Beth and Michael left the Hostess City to pursue Michael’s career in corporate radio- a gig that had the two of them moving every two years as they traveled the country flipping radio stations. But, as Beth tells it, they never lost their love for Savannah. “We came back on vacation for five days and wondered why we ever left.” So when they heard that the Express Café and Bakery was for sale, after changing owners several times, the Meeks jumped at the chance to “be managers of our own destiny,” as Beth eloquently puts it.

1. Ceasar Salad with Seared Beef Tenderloin

First City Club

Nestled among the tops of the majestic live oaks in Johnson Square, the First City Club epitomizes the charm, elegance and sophistication of the South. When looking for a spot to dine, Joe Steffen, legal counsel for Savannah State University, finds that “the First City Club is the perfect place for a business lunch because it has high-quality food, served in a truly unique location downtown.”

Petere Gushanas, the new manager of this members-only dining club, recently unveiled a new menu with some fresh additions. This new twist on an old classic, the Caesar salad, is sure to capture the attention of business people looking for a lower-calorie, lower-carbohydrate alternative to a sandwich, but it’s also a meal into which you can really sink your teeth.

The city’s only Brew Master reveals his exact science

John Pinkerton has one-of-a-kind title. As the only Brew Master in the city, and partial owner of Moon River, he’s been brewing craft beer for 16 years, opening in 1999 and providing the city with quality beer ever since. In regards to being the only brewer in town, Pinkerton comments, “It’s magnificent!”

Serving on the national Board of Directors for The Brewer’s Association, Pinkerton is always looking for ways to further advance his craft. After attending brew school in Boston and working for Frederick Brewing Company (now Flying Dog Brewery) Pinkerton’s brewing talent comes from almost two decades of dedication.

Bobby Wells is a Georgia boy who knows his seafood. The Brunswick native scored an internship at Fiddler’s Crab House on River Street after college at Georgia Southern and now he runs the kitchen with affection. Affection for both the hungry patrons who pack the place and for the food he feeds them.

“We spend a lot of money to get the best seafood around,” he proclaims. “It’s as fresh as you can get.” Fiddler’s steamed seafood platter is a head-turning maritime celebration that is one of the restaurant’s signature dishes. Wells piles a tin platter high with piping hot steamed Georgia shrimp, crawfish, oysters, mussels and clams. Crowning the top of the feast are straight-from-Alaska snow crab legs. Plenty of butter and a few choice spices are all he needs to accentuate the flavors that just arrived fresh on the truck.

1 FRIED GATOR
Alligator Soul
Alligator tail, like venison or ostrich, is an exotic treat for the truly adventurous carnivore. The basement level restaurant Alligator Soul specializes in preparing this rare cut of meat allowing foodies to try the dish with no gator wrasslin’ necessary! Created by Executive Chef Chris Dinello, this distinctive, signature appetizer begins with fresh, farm-raised Florida gator tail, thinly sliced, then lightly fried and served with a Creole-spiced gravy. It’s then seated next to a bed of crispy, fresh mesculin greens, drizzled with extra virgin olive oil and lemon dressing and topped with a vibrant red pepper coulis. According to Mike Finkenaur, sous chef, “We kept trying until we hit upon the best way to prepare it so it wouldn’t be too chewy. First, we soak the gator in alcohol, lemon, and buttermilk. Next, we pound it with a meat tenderizer to soften it up even more. Before frying, we dip it in flour, egg and a special Cajun seasoning patented right here in Savannah by the original owner, Hillary Craig.”
114 BARNARD STREET, 912.232.7899, ALLIGATORSOUL.COM

THERE IS FISH AND THERE IS SEAFOOD. THERE ARE THE SCORES OF FRIED WHITE SOMETHINGS, THE STICK CRABMEAT THAT NEVER ONCE SAW A SHELL, THE GRAYED-OUT TUNA AND THE SUPERMARKET SALMON THAT’S DYED PINK. THEN THERE IS THE OTHER SORT. THERE IS THE GROUPER SO FRESH THE MUSCLES SEEM TO REPLENISH THEMSELVES AFTER THEY ARE COOKED, THE BOLD MEATY FLAVOR OF STURGEON, EVEN THE SALTY SWEETNESS OF A LITTLE LOCAL OYSTER. IN SAVANNAH, THAT IS WHAT PEOPLE EXPECT.

Charlie Russo’s seafood on Abercorn Street traffics the latter category. Russo is a second-generation fishmonger who talks about Georgia fish almost like they were family. He can be found in the back of the shop, dressed in a purple rubber apron and a black University of Georgia hat, overseeing the deconstruction of loads of fish that were flapping on the deck of a boat just a few hours ago. Fish is in his blood, he says.
“It’s got to be in your blood, the fish business,” he says. “It’s a hard business.” Russo has an encyclopedic knowledge of the fish that run in the waters from Darien to Bluffton. He has many charts of fish species that line the walls of the store and his office. The greatest resource of coastal Georgia to him, however, is shrimp.
“The local shrimp we get in these waters, the greatest in the world – tastewise, the supply, the quality—we don’t fool with anything else that’s imported, no pond raised stuff,” he says. “The shrimp here is our biggest commodity.” The Russos are a fish family—Charlie’s father opened shop in 1946, and now even his grandson and great-grandson are working there. They aren’t the only ones. Savannah is filled with people who have a passion for fish. Here’s where the fish go next:

Two of Savannah’s most seasoned chefs take their skills to a whole new canvas.

Two artists at the Telfair Museum’s Jepson Center work under a particularly challenging set of circumstances: Their paintbrushes are sharp and made of metal, their paints are perishable and from the earth, and they create their artwork every day, in a tiny, hot studio for a set of buyers with a seemingly insatiable hunger for their work. Their names are John Deaderick and Michael Pritchard, and together they’re the chefs behind Café Zeum.
Last year, when the Jepson Center decided to open up their in-museum cafe to outside restaurateurs, Pritchard and Deaderick were high on their culinary wish list and approached the pair with the idea. Evidenced by a cult like following at their other restaurant, the Starland Cafe, the chefs were comfortable with the lunchtime setting, but had their doubts about how they would fit into the museum environment. “We walked into the meeting just to see what they had to say,” Deaderick says. “For about an hour and a half, they described our business and our philosophy. It was a perfect fit.”