It has been an eventful few years for Tim Lacey. In 2022, after several years of Michelin-recognized success, he closed Elizabeth, which he had purchased from Lane Regan, and replaced it with Atelier. The restaurant got a ton of positive attention, but earlier this year, Lacey announced that he was closing it and moving it to a new location. Let’s be honest — I’ve heard that many times before, and often it means that a restaurant is closing for good. Luckily, Lacey meant it, and Atelier has re-opened in a new, much larger space and I sat down with him and chef Bradyn Kawcak to discuss what’s new here.

It turns out that the lease on the old space, a small, easy-to-miss storefront on Western Avenue, was up, and the space, while charming, had always been a challenge. “The location was a bit of a wasteland, and it felt like even if I re-did the façade, people still wouldn’t pay attention,” says Lacey. Anyone who has walked past gets it; there was no way that the spot was going to reasonably generate any walk-in business. The new Atelier is at 4544 North Western Avenue, so it’s still in the neighborhood, but in a slightly busier area just south of Wilson Avenue.

The biggest change in Atelier is that it’s no longer just a spot for tasting menus — the restaurant now has an à la carte menu and a bar program. “The more I thought about it, the more I really wanted to have an actual bar, so we could have a real bar program instead of a handful of cocktails made off a prep table in the back,” remembers Lacey. The drink list includes cocktails like Touch Touch, with bourbon, oloroso sherry, Rare Tea Cellar Vanilla Bean Rooibos tea, and blackstrap bitters, as well as non-alcoholic offerings.

While the à la carte menu still features dishes made with fine dining techniques, the food and the pricing are more approachable. There’s a patty melt served with tater tots, for heaven’s sake, as well as “bacon and eggs,” which sounds simple but, as Kawcak explains, isn’t quite the diner staple you might expect. “It’s a purple potato pavé, very classic, served with a fried egg sabayon and sturgeon bacon made in house,” he explains. “We treat sturgeon loin as if it was a pork belly and put caviar on top.” Most importantly, Kawcak says, is that the careful sourcing, which has been a staple of the restaurant, is still evident in the à la carte options.

The new bar may get the attention, but the classic tasting menu is still going strong. Kawcak has had ideas for a long time which he wasn’t able to execute in the old space. Now, he has a slew of new equipment and with that comes new experiments, like a foie gras-filled take on a pizza bagel and a housemade fruit roll-up tongue tattoo (really). Right now, the first menu is focused on Mexican flavors, and once the kitchen team is established in the new space, we can expect menu revisions every couple of months.

The option to walk in is already proving to be popular after just a few weeks. While being a prestige tasting menu spot is great, it doesn’t really lend itself to having regulars. “Before, our regulars were people who came in three times a year,” laughs Lacey. Now, locals are stopping in for a drink and a bite several times a week and are making Atelier a go-to spot in the neighborhood.