Desserts at the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton are not to be missed.
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Just a year ago, one could say that Atlanta was a very good, very diverse restaurant town. But now, with the recent addition of some dazzling dining venues and bright young chefs, the city has achieved parity with New Orleans as the most exciting place to dine out in the South.

Two decades ago, the most famous restaurants in downtown Atlanta were The Abbey (where waiters dress like monks), Nikolai's Roof (where waiters dress like Cossacks) and Pittypat's Porch (where waiters dress like Gone With the Wind extras), not to mention The Varsity drive-in, which still serves 2 miles of hot dogs each day. But the emergence of Buckhead as the city's yuppie enclave in the mid-1980s sparked a string of serious modern restaurants. The Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton and Pano's & Paul's led the way, followed in the '90s by Bacchanalia, Canoe, Bluepointe and Nava, all of which have wine lists to match their ambitious menus. In fact, 29 Atlanta restaurants now hold Wine Spectator awards. But it is the shifting of some top chefs to new venues that has spread the glory around town in the past two years.

The chef who spurred this upward spiral of good taste is the revered Guenter Seeger, who, having spent more than 10 years proving his mastery at the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead, left five years ago to open his namesake restaurant. Seeger's has a state-of-the-art kitchen (which takes up two-thirds of the restaurant space), a beautiful wine room, a marble bar and a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence-winning wine list of more than 650 selections, including more than 60 German and Alsace wines that reflect the owner's heritage and tastes. It is also extremely strong in Burgundies, Rhônes and dessert wines.

Seeger's multicourse tasting menus (including a vegetarian option) -- remarkably priced at only $69 and $85 -- signified a seriousness of culinary purpose at a time when fine dining was still something of a rarity in this city. His concentration of a few flavors demonstrated an extraordinary technique in dishes such as day boat black grouper poached in duck fat with bok choy and garlic confit, and tuna tournedos with bone marrow soufflé.

The Ritz-Carlton's loss of Seeger might well have deflated hope for the deluxe hotel's illustrious reputation, but management had the good sense to bring in another master, Joél Antunes, whose own distinctive cooking style did not mimic Seeger's and thereby won over new patrons who delighted in his brisk, sharply focused modern French cuisine. Yet within three years, Antunes also moved on. Last year he opened his own namesake, Joél -- a $5 million extravaganza of hip minimalism combining 16-foot ceilings, leather banquettes, and a kitchen even larger than Seeger's, with a 62-foot-long stove.

Antunes' French background and training was enhanced by a tour of duty in Bangkok, so his cooking is replete with Asian nuances: beef short ribs with tamarind sauce; sashimi of salmon in a dashi broth; braised veal cheek with seven-spice sauce; and roast lobster with fried vermicelli and Thai sauce. Yet he is just as proud of robust, beautifully composed Euro dishes such as beef consommé with horseradish-laced potato tortellini; roast tenderloin of pork with homemade sausage and pork belly in a sage jus; and roast pheasant breast with a Provençal tapenade and Port wine sauce.

For dessert, there are excellent cheeses with quince jam and a glass of Port; chocolate cake with pistachio ice cream; and Antunes' whiskey-woozy mille-feuille with caramel ice cream.

Sommelier Philippe Buttin, formerly of the Ritz and Lucas Carton in Paris, has put together a formidable 1,500-label list, including a reserve list, that has won Joél an Award of Excellence. It begins with more than 50 top Champagnes, including several 1.5-liter bottles of various rosés, moves on to pages of Chardonnays, including a slew of Paul Hobbs wines with several in 3-liter formats, and an equal litany of California Cabs, including nine vintages each of Chateau Montelena and Freemark Abbey Sycamore Vineyard. There are 10 vintages of Cháteau Latour, six of Margaux, and the list extends from there to 15 vintages of Pétrus dating from 1964. There are even seven vintages of the Lebanese Cháteau Musar.

Antunes' defection from the Ritz must have caused recurring nightmares at the hotel, but the challenge to find yet another impressive talent resulted in the hiring of Bruno Ménard, a native of Tours, who says, "I was born in a pot of chocolate," referring to growing up in a family of pátissiers. Stages in Michelin-starred restaurants such as Charles Barrier led to a stint as executive chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Osaka (he once participated in that crazy Iron Chef television show) and then to his appointment in Atlanta.

It's useless to compare Ménard's cooking with his predecessors' at the Ritz; each chef has a unique style. Yet there is no radical departure here from the refined good taste of the Dining Room's traditions. There is great delicacy in Ménard's exotica. An amuse-bouche of glass-eyed eel fritter with spiced tomato sherbet sounds eccentric, yet is a wonderful two-temperature, double-textured spur to the palate. A lovely steamed egg on parsnip puree with white asparagus and a chicken jus might follow. Then perhaps there will be sautéed foie gras with ginger, Jordan almonds and argan oil. Ravioli are stuffed with carrots and cucumbers, then dashed with green tea and set with a tomato gelée and eggplant caviar -- a dish on the edge, but heaven on the tongue. Veal tenderloin, with celery semolina, carrot puree and a very complex sweet-sour "dolce forte" sauce was a miracle of coalescing flavors and textures. For dessert, remember Ménard's description of his childhood and go with his Cuban chocolate tart with chocolate sorbet.

The Dining Room itself, long a clubby-looking Ritz fantasy of Edwardian posh, has been lightened considerably while retaining its heritage of sophisticated elegance. The service is very smooth, the staff bolstered by master sommelier Michael McNeill's Best of Award of Excellence-winning 25-page wine list, which starts off with more than 100 half-bottle selections, including Louis Latour Corton-Charlemagne '98 and Cháteau d'Yquem in three vintages. It is very strong in German, Alsace, Austrian and New World Rieslings, and its Burgundy listings are first-rate, with seven selections of Chambolle-Musigny and eight of Gevrey-Chambertin, though it's not as strong in Bordeaux. There's an admirable number of Spanish and Italian red wines and two dozen top dessert wines.

Just a notch below the fine-dining level and well into the comfort zone are two other delightful newcomers -- a Greek restaurant named Kyma and a California-style hotspot called Woodfire Grill.

When it comes to interesting wine lists, Kyma is a standout. It is the creation of the Karatassos family, owners of the Buckhead Life Restaurant Group (which runs many of Atlanta's top eating spots, including the streamlined Buckhead Diner, the Chops steak house, the Southwestern Nava and Bluepointe). They have put all their resources and Hellenic pride into this strikingly handsome, white-and-blue-pillared dining room completely free of Greek kitsch. Unstintingly fresh seafood -- arrayed on ice at the restaurant's entrance -- is the draw here, with Mediterranean St. Peter's fish, porgy and dorade grilled with olive oil and lemon. Appetizers include cod cakes with beets, and impeccably tender grilled octopus. Very delicate Greek desserts round out the meal.

Kyma also boasts what may be the best modern Greek wine list in the United States; comprising nearly 100 selections from small estates, it includes bright whites like Gaia Santorini Thalassitis '01, the aromatic Domaine Spiropoulos Mantinia and Kourtakis Retsina from Attica. Among the notable reds are the '98 Boutari blend of Cabernet-Agiorghitiko and the Ktima Kir-Yianni Ramnista '94. Drinking good wines such as these at Kyma is not only eye-opening but educational, as the experience is helped along by an extremely knowledgeable staff.

As you might expect, Woodfire Grill has a nice, cozy ambience and American spirit, with a blazing open kitchen, booths with custom-made wooden benches, and a large communal table. The restaurant name asserts the focus on chef and owner Michael Tuohy's cooking, while the wine list here is an inseparable aspect of the total dining experience.

Big, smoky flavors prevail on the menu, and the wine selections provide maximum complementary pleasure. Thirty wines are available by the glass, including pretty starters such as Pierre Boniface Vin de Savoie Blanc Apremont '01 and Segura Viudas Xarel-lo Penedès Creu de Lavit '01, and delightful surprises in reds such as Miner Sangiovese Mendocino Gibson Ranch '00 and José Maria da Fonseca Periquita Azeitão '99. Another 150 selections by the bottle follow, including unusual finds such as Long Island's Wölffer Estate Chardonnay La Ferme Martin '00, Turley Zinfandel Napa Valley Hayne Vineyard '00 and Babcock's Bordeaux-style blend Fathom '00. There is also a slew of Tuohy's personal favorites -- the Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs of Patz & Hall. The markups are very reasonable indeed, and the list has plenty of sensible notes to facilitate your choice.

Woodfire Grill recently hosted a wine dinner with Lyndsey Harrison of Harrison Vineyards at which her wines were paired with Tuohy's lusty food. Grilled scallops with mango and smoked paprika came first, followed by fresh foie gras and breast of squab with spiced wild strawberry jam, and spit-roasted loin of venison with Japanese mushrooms and a fig-red wine reduction.

The menu, which changes daily, draws ingredients from members of Georgia's Organic Growers, a group Tuohy helped pioneer. Each night he includes fresh local produce in an array of small "tastes," such as fried okra with tomato chutney, or Asian-spiced tuna tartare. There is also a good deal of straightforward California-style cooking that reflects Tuohy's San Francisco background. A rib eye of beef comes with superlative pommes frites, and a thick-as-a-fist Niman Ranch pork chop with baby mustard greens goes beautifully with a simple, sturdy Zinfandel like the Rosenblum Vintner's Cuvée XXIV or the more complex MacRostie Syrah Carneros Wildcat Mountain Vineyard '00. Tuohy is also passionate about cheeses, 15 to 20 of which are kept in a temperature-controlled cabinet. They're ideal with a glass of Cossart Gordon Malmsey Madeira 5-Year-Old.

Of these Atlanta restaurants, only Seeger's was open with its current chef two years ago. With the recent addition of panache and tasteful novelty to an already strong dining scene, there's little doubt that Atlanta is moving up in the culinary rankings very, very fast.

John and Galina Mariani's new book is The Italian-American Cookbook (Harvard Common Press).

Seeger's
111 West Paces Ferry Road
Telephone (404) 846-9779
Open Dinner, Monday to Saturday
Cost Prix fixe $69 and $85
Credit cards All major
Award of Excellence

Joël
3290 Northside Parkway
Telephone (404) 233-3500
Open Lunch, Tuesday to Friday; dinner, Monday to Saturday
Cost Entrées $20-$36
Credit cards All major
Award of Excellence

Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead
3434 Peachtree Road NE
Telephone (237) 237-2700
Open Dinner, Tuesday to Saturday
Cost 3-course prix fixe dinner $72; 7-course tasting menu $86 ($141 paired with wines)
Credit cards All major
Best of Award of Excellence

Kyma
3085 Piedmont Road
Telephone (404) 262-0702
Open Dinner, Monday to Saturday
Cost Entrées $22-$28; fish priced by the pound
Credit cards All major

Woodfire Grill
1782 Cheshire Bridge Road NE
Telephone (404) 347-9055
Open Dinner, Monday to Saturday
Cost Entrées $17 to $24
Credit cards All major