Luxury licks and lures

High-end condo towers battle to serve prospects
Atlanta Business Chronicle - by Matt Hennie Contributing Writer

Call it Atlanta's own version of "Top Chef."

In an increasingly pitched battle playing out in Buckhead, Midtown and downtown, Tom Colicchio, the lead judge on the popular Bravo reality show, is among the celebrity chefs opening a restaurant in an upscale Atlanta hotel with residences.

Colicchio is bringing Craft to The Mansion on Peachtree in Buckhead, while Laurent Tourondel is opening BLT Steak at the W Atlanta Downtown Hotel & Residences. Nearby, Fabrice Vergez moved from Buckhead to downtown to open the grand-scale French American Bistro.

The addition of upscale restaurants with well-know chefs lures diners and creates a buzz. But it's also a move to attract new residents to the high-end condominiums that top the hotels and feature seven-figure price tags. It's part of an extensive offering of amenities by new high-rises that want to grab their share of the record number of people moving back into the city.