CUERNO

He says:
As soon as you step into Cuerno, you see the bull. It’s a hulking metal beast, not unlike the charging bovine on Manhattan’s Wall Street, except this one is a pastiche of brilliant orange, green, and gold plates welded together like an art student’s thesis project. It’s a bold statement, and a welcome one, in this formerly empty corridor of Midtown. In the past year several new restaurants have opened around Juniper and 8th, starting with the dessert café Chocolate Pink and continuing with the new cocktail lounge, Beleza. Although we plan to review Beleza soon, right now Cuerno is potentially the best Midtown restaurant south of Piedmont Park.

Cuerno serves Spanish tapas in a dark, intimate space that blocks out the Juniper traffic with translucent red curtains. The handsome wood tables are spaced out fairly well against the spare walls, though the restaurant can get crowded on a weekend night. It’s only been open for a few months, but word about this place is obviously starting to spread.

She says:
Sangria is an integral part of dining at Cuerno. The sparkling sangria, made with cava (sparkling wine), grapes, apples, oranges, and pineapple, was light and fruity… perfect for a warm spring evening. The tinto sangria, made from Tempranillo (Spanish red wine) and brandy, was smooth, but not as interesting as the sparkling version.

On our first visit, we shared a number of appetizers and tapas, and managed to order just the right amount of food to feel satiated but not weighed down by a heavy dinner. Almost all were excellent. The addition of rosemary to the panache de verdures, a mix of stewed bell peppers, zucchini, and eggplant, added a welcome woody fragrance to the dish. A few of the pimientos del pradon fritos (deep fried pradon peppers) had a surprising kick to them, and all of the peppers had an intensity you can sometimes find in really good chili rellenos. We didn’t know what to expect from the tortilla de patatas y cebolla (potato and onion tortilla); it turned out to be more like a frittata, and was our favorite of all the appetizers. The mussels, which were among the best I’ve ever had, were grilled on a plancha, which brought out their flavor in an amazing way. Cuerno has several different types of seafood prepared this way, and I would guess that they are all equally as good as the mussels. We rounded out our meal with the serviceable tabla de embutidos, a sampler of three Spanish cheeses (manchego, feta, and another sheep cheese) and three types of charcuterie (prosciutto, salami, and sausage) served with garlic toast.

The only appetizer that we were not at all impressed with was the brandada (house made salt cod with tomato-garlic bread). The waiter had encouraged us to get two orders to share between the four of us, touting it as the most popular appetizer. I guess Downtown Boy’s theory fell through on this one. The brandada, which was meant to be spread on the bread, was nearly indistinguishable from mashed potatoes, and we could barely taste the cod.

He says:
On our second visit, we tried the Paella Valenciana, a mix of shrimp, mussels, clams, cuttlefish, chicken, rabbit, and vegetables served with a bed of rice on a sizzling cast iron pan. It’s exactly what paella ought to be. The shrimp were enormous and delicious, and the chicken had been cut large enough to prevent any drying out (a common problem in other paellas I’ve had). The rice had soaked up the juices of the peppers and seafood to stay quite moist, but it still maintained a nutty texture for good mouthfeel. Uptown Girl thought it should have been softer, but I liked it.

If Cuerno has a weak point, it’s the dessert list. The three options listed on the menu that night (crème brulee, rice pudding, and almond cake) were uninteresting, and the cardamom crème brulee we finally decided on was solid but far from spectacular.

We say:
Admittedly, we’ve shied away from the pricey mains, but we’ll definitely be back for the paella and tapas!




Cuerno
905 Juniper Street, Atlanta, GA 30309
http://www.sottosottorestaurant.com/