Füm

SRecent years have brought a host of Miami-backed restaurants opening in Atlanta — Jagger Suite and Necessary Purveyor, for example. Perhaps the splashiest and most anticipated one, however, was Füm, which opened its doors in West Midtown in February. It’s the creation of Miami’s Grassfed Culture Hospitality Group which also owns MICHELIN-starred Los Félix. Though Füm is the product of Miami minds, it’s a restaurant firmly of Atlanta, as a recent dining experience showed me. It’s glitzy, but doesn’t feel imported. The service leans warm rather than flashy, and has a strong emphasis on local ingredients.

The Design: 

Located on the ground floor of Stella at Star Metals, the restaurant greets you with a serene patio adorned with olive trees before introducing you to a much livelier scene in the dining room. It buzzes with a diverse crowd; when I went on a Sunday night the tables were packed with couples on date night and friends out for group dinners. 

From the design firm, Hand, the dining room draws inspiration from Italy’s marketplaces and piazzas. The open kitchen features live-fire cooking on a custom-made grill, there’s the pasta room where chefs shape dough into a myriad of shapes, and meat hangs in a red-hued dry aging chamber.

Softly curved plaster walls add a gentle touch to the expansive space, along with a warm color palette of deeply saturated red, pistachio green, and cream. Every evening, a DJ spins vinyl in the booth adding an analog element. I worried that this would make the restaurant feel too scene-y, but it never got too loud and instead added an extra depth to the room. 

The Food: 

The approach here is contemporary Italian with seasonal ingredients. Across the menu, it’s less about heavy Italian classics and more so about bright flavors and beautifully composed dishes. 

Start with an order of pane (bread) and one (or two) of their spreads, like the stracciatella with smoked apple and pear or the pesto trapanese made with sun-dried tomatoes. When it comes to the crudo, the day’s catch — snapper, when I went — delighted with sweet-tangy accompaniments of green grape agresto (tart juice), olives, and citrus. The Caesar salad was also a standout with the additions of smoked anchovies and preserved lemon. 

Then there are the pastas. It’s hard to make a wrong choice, but if you’re unsure, opt for the agnolotti with smoked corn, porcini broth, and lemon. The restaurant keeps dessert restrained with housemade ice creams with inventive toppings. My favorite was the affogato with vanilla ice cream, chocolate rum, and coffee granita. 

The Drinks:

The restaurant touts its wine list which largely features biodynamic Italian producers and grower Champagne, but the cocktails shine, too. They were developed by bartender Esther Merino, who lives in Spain. Many of the drinks incorporate tea and are light accompaniments to the dishes’ fresh flavors. The Muratore cocktail eased me into the meal with a light blend of olive oil-washed amaro, gin, sake, and tea. Equally stellar, the Di Melone cocktail is made with Japanese whisky, sake, yuzu liqueur, sencha tea, and a playful honeydew melon garnish. Much like the food, the cocktails favor balance and brightness over heft, making them easy companions across courses.

Füm could have leaned into its flashy Miami roots, but instead feels like a place that belongs in Atlanta. In a neighborhood where high-design reigns supreme, it offers plenty of substance. It’s the kind of place that works for date night just as well as a friends’ night out, whether it’s the main event or a jumping-off point for the night ahead.