5 Atlanta food books to add to your holiday gift list

Atlanta eaters and readers had plenty to devour this year, thanks to countless authors who appeared at venues across the city—sharing food and restaurant memories, historical research, kitchen wisdom, drinking lore, and recipes. Here are a few standouts:

Cutting Up in the Kitchen: Food & Fun from Southern National’s Chef (Gibbs Smith, 2025) by Duane Nutter, photographs by Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn

Chef Duane Nutter is well-known for his inviting Southern National restaurant in Summerhill and for his time getting One Flew South off the ground at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. But did you know his past credits also include stand-up comic? This biographical tidbit is one of many we learn in Nutter’s first cookbook, which shows off his international influences—further defining Southern cooking—and shares his whimsical kitchen philosophy: “Fun has always been a part of my cooking—it shouldn’t be stressful.” Among his signature dishes is the comforting Lamb Burger Helper, a modern take on his childhood favorite.

House of Smoke: A Southerner Goes Searching for Home (Crown, 2025) by John T. Edge

The author, known to many Atlantans as simply “John T,” is the founding director of the Southern Foodways Alliance and a prolific food journalist. In his new memoir, he reflects on his turbulent childhood and the violence and racism that defined his experience as a small-town Southerner. Charting his path from partying college frat boy to corporate salesperson, and from respected food culture champion to controversial leader, his storytelling is honest and heartbreaking yet mercifully uplifting, too. Among the sweeter moments are recollections of family trips to Atlanta, his “City on a Hill.”

Food for Thought: Essays & Ruminations (Gallery Books, 2025) by Alton Brown

If you’ve found yourself addicted to Alton Brown’s social media reels, you’re not alone. The famous Atlantan and Food Network veteran has garnered nearly 1.5 million Instagram followers who scroll his deep dives on martini making, baked potato basics, stovetop technology, and other culinary this and that. Filmed in his home kitchen, the informal videos are delivered with his trademark wit and humor. That same snappy delivery and kitchen mastery plays in his latest book—a collection of pointed rambles and “silly” doodles in some 40 chapters, with titles including “Biscuiteering,” “Aunt Verna’s Revenge,” and “Cooking, the Final (Marriage) Frontier.”

A Boozy History of Atlanta: People, Places & Drinks that Made a City (American Palate, 2025) by Caroline Eubanks

If you’ve ever wanted to know more about Atlanta’s drinking traditions and its most beloved spots for imbibing, this book is for you. Eubanks, a frequent Atlanta magazine contributor, covers beer joints, Black nightclubs, gay establishments, cocktail havens, dance halls, and more. Included, too, are a few drink recipes, such as the Champ-Ale from the Ticonderoga Club and the Castleberry Smash from Paschal’s Restaurant. Lots of black-and-white reference photos, from post–Civil War to Prohibition and up to the present, offer a splash of the city’s history as well.

Georgia’s Historical Recipes: Seeking Our State’s Oldest Written Foodways and the Stories Behind Them (The University of Georgia Press, 2025) by Valerie J. Frey

This hefty tome, which covers the antebellum period through World War II, is written by archivist and educator Valerie J. Frey. Here, she explores the state’s oldest cookbooks, including previously unpublished recipes, and offers biographical and cultural background information for context. Whether readers plow through all 50 sections or bite off various chapters randomly, the whole—which contains historical photos and illustrations—provides a greater understanding of how Georgia’s foodways evolved.

This article appears in our December 2025 issue.

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