A South African restaurateur has been winning hearts in his adopted city, Atlanta, with the food of his homeland. Justin Anthony first opened 10 Degrees South in 1998 (serving classics like ostrich medallions and grilled Cape Kingklip fish), and followed up its success with YEBO in 2012.
Now, for his third venture, he’s riffing on the classic South African snack known as biltong (spiced dried meat), often sold at roadside refreshment stands. The new counter-service restaurant, simply named Biltong Bar, is the first of its kind in the U.S., and will reside inside Ponce City Market’s acclaimed food hall. It will feature a walk-up counter as well as a retail section with imported spices, rubs, and soda from South Africa.
The meat itself—all organic, and air-dried inside his father’s garage-turned-curing house—will range from beef to other specialty jerky meats like elk, venison and ostrich. There will also be South African wines, as well as a menu of savory hand pies, prepared through a partnership with H&F Bakery (another Ponce City Market tenant).
Once the doors open (sometime later this month), the new restaurant ought to secure Anthony’s position as the authority on South African cuisine in Atlanta—and the closest thing locals will come to traditional South African eats without hopping on a 21-hour flight to Cape Town.
