On March 19, Decatur will gain another spot from James Beard award-winning chef Terry Koval, when wine and amaro bar Fawn opens beside Cafe Alsace on East Ponce de Leon Avenue.
Located around the corner from Koval’s Decatur restaurants, The Deer & the Dove and B-Side, Fawn seats just 35 people; a bar purposefully designed as an intimate gathering place for wine, amaro, and clever takes on seafood. (Koval and his team have been experimenting for months with fish charcuterie by dry-aging and curing a variety of local and regional seafood to serve at Fawn.)
Koval, along with his wife and business partner, Jenn, spent the last year completely renovating the century-old building Fawn now occupies in downtown Decatur. The renovation came with a unique set of challenges. The couple wanted to maintain as much of the charm and character of the space as possible, which included ripping out modern updates from the previous restaurant, Sweet Seed Salad, to find those original design details.
While the renovation took longer than anticipated due to a few surprises uncovered in the old building, it was worth the wait to achieve the “authentic ambiance” the Kovals were after at Fawn. The bar channels an Old World, European vibe as a low-lit and rustic space with a moody atmosphere.
Amaro and wine lie at the heart of Fawn, a menu carefully curated and overseen by The Deer & the Dove bar manager Matt Watkins. Look for wines with volcanic terroir from the Canary Islands, Sicily, Verne in France, and the Willamette Valley, as well as countries like Hungary and the Baden region of southwest Germany. Watkins discovered in his research and travels that Rangen de Thann produces a Grand Cru on slopes of volcanic rock and soil above the Thur River in the Alsace region of France, along with pockets in the country’s famed Loire Valley producing wines grown in volcanic soil, including a muscadet.
“We wanted wine to be a big part of Fawn, and I wanted the list to have a narrow focus, so I started thinking about what I like to drink and realized most of the wines I enjoy come from areas with volcanic soil,” Watkins said. “When Terry began thinking about the food and decided on seafood, these wines made sense. Volcanic wines are dry and mineral-driven, sometimes with savory notes or smoke, if grown near an active volcano.”
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Like the wine, Watkins spent time meticulously researching amari for Fawn, which will offer close to 40 varieties from countries across the globe. Served by the glass, in flights, or in cocktails, amari on the menu runs the gamut, from bright, citrusy, and floral to bitingly bitter and herbaceous. There are even a few non-alcoholic options on the menu.
“We have a decent selection of amari at The Deer & the Dove, and people seem interested in learning more about it, but Fawn will really be driven by it behind the bar,” Watkins explained. “I’m excited to share some American brands, too, like from Murrell’s Row [in Atlanta.]”
The food menu from Koval features shareable dishes, caviar service, and larger plates that could serve as small entrees. The point of the food at Fawn, Koval said, is not to be intimidating but to have fun, which includes playing with flavors and textures like turning pieces of fish into charcuterie through preserving techniques like dry-aging.
For the opening menu–something Koval collaborated on with chefs from both Fawn and The Deer & The Dove–expect anchored wild shrimp from Brunswick, Georgia, poached in cardamon-infused caviar butter or Sapelo Island clams with tuna ‘nduja. And the menu will always offer a market-fresh, charcoal-grilled fish. In the coming weeks, Koval will launch a reservation-only tasting menu at the chef’s counter. All other seats are available for walk-in service.
To create the desserts for Fawn, Koval tapped The Deer & the Dove pastry chef Chris Marconi.
“You can come to eat, hang out all night, and get a reasonably priced bottle of wine,” Watkins said. “You can just get dessert and amaro or a cocktail or coffee after having dinner somewhere else.”
“If we’re still full at 11 p.m., we’re not going to shut down and kick everyone out. This is a place you can hang out for a while, before or after dinner, and also learn about wine and amari if you want to,” said Watkins.
Fawn, 119 E. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur. Open Wednesday-Saturday, 4-11 p.m. Walk-ins only. Tasting menu debuts in the coming weeks and will be by reservation only.
