Cold Beer

2019 Atlanta Eater Award Winners for Best New Restaurant, Best Design, and Dish of the Year - Eater Atlanta

"Atlanta-based firm Ai3 designed chef Kevin Gillespie’s (Gunshow, Revival) latest restaurant along the Eastside trail to highlight his love of art, architecture, and nature. It’s the chef’s most ambitious and stylish restaurant yet. While the modern, minimalist interior may not appeal to everyone, the design behind Cold Beer is deeply personal for Gillespie, who describes the restaurant as “serene and simple.” Neutral tones in the dining room accentuate the natural light flowing through the two-story windows, while pops of color come from bright yellow trim, live plants, and several panels filled with preserved mosses and ferns above the bar. Perhaps the restaurant’s most striking and deliberately designed element is the large painting of a polar bear (Gillespie’s spirit animal) created by artist O.M. Norling for the chef. Entitled “A Recluse, the Journey, and a Curious Game of Skill and Chance”, the bear represents Gillespie, his life, and his recent tribulations, which includes a battle with renal cancer last year." - Beth McKibben