Eater is highlighting some of Atlanta’s oldest restaurants and food institutions through a series of photo essays, profiles, and personal stories. The restaurants featured are a mix of longtime familiar favorites and less well-known venerable establishments serving a wide variety of cuisines and communities in Atlanta and the surrounding metro area. These restaurants serve as the foundation of the Atlanta dining scene, and continue to stand the test of time.
When French-born Benedicte Ulsas Cooper first visited Atlanta in 1990 on a summer student work visa, she never expected to move here permanently, or open a restaurant paying homage to the traditional Alsatian dishes of her native region. But after spending three months hawking ice cream from a mobile truck in Marietta and the surrounding suburbs, Cooper fell in love with Atlanta and launched a hospitality career that spans more than three decades.
“It was an amazing way to meet people and taught me about business, building your clientele, and consistency in service,” says Cooper of that first food industry gig. It’s the same philosophy Cooper now practices at Cafe Alsace — the tiny downtown Decatur French restaurant she opened in 1997.
Cooper earned a business degree in France, but food is also in her DNA. Her grandfather owned a bakery, her father was an avid gardener, and she learned to cook classic Alsatian dishes, like tarte flambee, spaetzle, and beef bourguignon, by spending time in the kitchen with her mother and grandmothers. The Alsace region in France borders Germany and Switzerland along the Rhine River and blends the cultures, languages, and foods of the three countries together.
After permanently relocating to Atlanta in 1995, Cooper began working in the restaurant industry, first as a waitress and cook at a French…
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