A trio of Jewish restaurateurs have helped change Dunwoody’s culinary scene, making it not only a dining destination but also creating community for its residents.
On a recent sunny afternoon, David Abes, Billy Kramer, and Geoff Melkonian are sitting at a picnic table outside Breadwinner Cafe and Bakery talking life, career, and the area’s emergence as a place to come for food and fun.
All three came to own restaurants in this leafy, suburban city of 51,000 people in different ways. However, it is clear from their good-natured banter and loyalty to one another that they see themselves as part of the same team. They’re also quick to point out that there are many other hard-working restaurant owners here who deserve credit.
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Dunwoody is also home to a thriving Jewish population, with the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta and a plethora of synagogues nearby. But until recently, it was lacking places for its residents, both Jewish and otherwise, to gather.
David Abes, owner, DASH Hospitality Group, Bar{n} booze {n} bites, Morty’s Meat & Supply and Message in a Bottle // Photo Credit: Lauren Menis
David Abes
In 2019, Abes, the owner of DASH Hospitality Group and longtime restaurant industry veteran, decided to change the image and perceived value of Dunwoody Village.
“My wife and I were standing on top of the stairs in Dunwoody Village and I was tired of her saying, ‘Let’s go to Roswell, let’s go to Alpharetta,’” he says. “And I’m like, how is there no place to hang out here? You have great restaurants all around but no hangout spot.”
Just four years later, his vision has become a reality. Bar{n} booze {n} bites, a wine, craft beer and whiskey bar (which just won Best of Perimeter’s “Best Happy Hour” award) and Morty’s Meat & Supply, a take on a Southern “meat-and-three” meets Jewish deli, have become the places to be on weekend nights….
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