Atlanta Magazine - Best of Atlanta - December 2004

"Best Cupcakes"

Part upscale neighborhood bodega, part bake shop and deli counter, Virginia-Highland's latest gourmet destination is a fun place for retro pleasure like licking the frosting off an adorable cupcake. The shapely sweets come in many flavors, none the less terrific. Fresh soups, homemade olive oil bagels and more are award-worthy as well.

NEIGHBORHOOD NOSH - accessAtlanta

By BOB TOWNSEND
for accessAtlanta, May 3, 2005

BELLY GENERAL STORE isn't exactly like any eatery you've ever been to. But somehow its Americana-meets-European mix of novelty and comfort feels very familiar. Most of all, as its quirky name announces, Belly is a fun place, and so homey it seems like it's always been part of the neighborhood.

HISTORY AND WHIMSY: Anchored on the corner of North Highland and St. Charles avenues, Belly took over the space once occupied by Fleeman's Pharmacy, a Virginia-Highland landmark with an old, beloved soda fountain. Owner Melanie Manning preserved some of Fleeman's original look, including part of the famous Coca-Cola mural that covers the side of the building, and the marble countertop from the soda fountain. Tall new windows fill the interior with natural light, and the store is stacked from floor to ceiling with a riot of fascinating colors and shapes. There are fancy foods, such as the Poilane bread that's flown in from Paris every Thursday; unusual household goods, including vintage European enamelware; and exotic clothing, like the felt "nipple" hats from Nepal.

BELLY UP: In front, the combination gourmet deli/takeaway shop has so many delicacies in the cases and on the counters it's hard to know where to begin. But something with cheese is a good bet. Deputy storekeeper Raymond Hook, known around Atlanta as the Cheese Guy, has used his artisan expertise to create a very interesting program at Belly. In a way that typifies the overall concept of the store, Hook is featuring 30-40 cheeses, but they all come from just two award-winning family farms -- Sweetgrass Dairy in South Georgia and Guffanti Dairy in Northern Italy. There's a daily cheese plate selection and a Sweetgrass three cheese panini that melts in your mouth.

COUNTER CULTURE: Though there aren't many seats at the small tables in front or the counter in back, the vibe at Belly is so friendly, it's worth waiting to find a place to perch. On a recent morning visit, I enjoyed a hot breakfast wrap -- scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, mole and avocado rolled in a freshly-made flour tortilla -- and a fragrant cup of Mighty Leaf organic tea. There are also muffins and house-made olive oil bagels, with all sorts of smears and add-ons, including Amish butter and country ham.

At lunch and after, things get even more interesting, with a variety of soups, salads, sandwiches and sides. A roasted turkey breast sandwich is as yummy as Thanksgiving with lettuce, tomato, cheese, cornichons and homemade mayo on Toscano bread. Other enticing menu board selections include homestyle chicken salad with pecans and salmon salad with roasted peppers, both on ciabatta bread. All sandwiches come with a delectable little deviled egg and a crunchy whole Gus' pickle straight out of Brooklyn.

SWEET STUFF: Fearing a new addiction, I haven't had the nerve to follow the instruction on the sign that reads: "Ask Us About Our Cupcake Club!" Among the paper-wrapped delights are carrot with walnut cream cheese icing, chocolate truffle with chocolate butter cream icing and blueberry with peanut butter icing. There are also big cookies and key lime pie tarts, as well as organic coffee drinks and made-to-order organic juices.

Main Street, U.S.A.-Atlanta's Virginia-Highland neighborhood is as American as mom, baseball and peach, er, apple pie. by Jessica Bizik

I always seem to end up in Atlanta.

I've visited friends who've moved here over the years, attended more conferences than I'd like to remember and, of course, regularly changed planes at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the largest hubs on the East Coast. I've taken the CNN studio tour, visited Coca-Cola headquarters and perfected my Scarlet O'Hara impersonation at the Margaret Mitchell House.

But I never really got a taste of the "real" Atlanta. It didn't feel like a particularly Southern town—and frankly, my dear, it didn't stand out among the major metropolises I've visited.

Recently, though, I gave Atlanta another chance—and fell in love with an historic little neighborhood called Virginia-Highland.

Something Old, Something New

I start my stroll at Belly General Store (772 N. Highland Ave., 404-872-1003, bellystore.com), a new café/shop owned by a former Hollywood location scout. Belly has a "Little House on the Prairie" meets "Happy Days" feel, with its soda-fountain-style seating and old-fashioned sundries, including penny candy and handmade quilts. Don't miss the homemade cupcakes in flavors like carrot cake, chocolate truffle and peanut butter 'n' jelly.

CHEAP EATS 01.15.04 Creative Loafing

Ab fab - Belly wins over a hard heart with charm and quirkiness
BY CYNTHIA WONG

If "belly" weren't a part of the name, you probably wouldn't think North Highland's newest eatery, Belly General Store, had anything to do with food. From the outside, it looks like another hip 'n' crunchy, possibly snooty gift shop where you'd expect to find fair-trade pottery or a few chocolate bars whose profits benefit a rainforest preservation fund. Step inside, though, and you're immediately greeted by a smiling, enthusiastic, young staff happy to talk you through the menu. A large whiteboard announces a roster of snacks whose old-timey flair seems sure to please.

Snark attack: In my darkest, snarkiest heart I first visited Belly bent on hating it. Some friends who passed through the store called it a "freakish mish-mash" and a "Star Provisions/Sprout wannabe." The powder blue scooter in Belly's front window brought out the sneering skeptic in me, as did the rack of baby clothes in the back of the shop. But when I approached the counter and looked at the menu, my black heart melted. It's impossible to be curmudgeonly in the face of deviled eggs being offered with the sandwiches. Belly's self-hyped cupcakes ($1.50), with flavors like carrot cake with walnut buttercream and peanut butter and jelly, are adorable in their wonky homemade-ness. Their arrangement, though, sans cover on a Boos Block by the cash register, is a little too within curious kids' reach.

Yummy yummy in my tummy: Belly's old-fashioned snack counter seating is delightfully nostalgic, with its low stools that intensify the kid-at-an-ice-cream-counter feeling and view of row upon row of wooden shelves and an accompanying ladder that recall the mom-and-pop grocery of yesteryear. The prosciutto, pecorino and basil pesto panino ($7) is a heavenly marriage of salty yet buttery ham, nutty cheese and potent pesto. These goodies are wedged between slices of beautifully thin and crispy bread. The chicken salad on ciabatta ($6) would please the most hardcore followers of The Southern Belle Primer with its chunks of white meat and pecans. An airier ciabatta or a more generous hand with the salad would make this satisfying sandwich a treat to drive across town for.

Kiss these grits: On a Sunday morning visit to Belly, we worry there will be nowhere left to sit. The surprisingly few customers are only milling about, picking up luxury food items such as Marie Belle hot chocolate and Niman Ranch bacon and setting them back down. Perhaps no one knows breakfast is available, which is a shame. Delicious (often organic) juices ($1.50 small, $2.50 large) are squeezed to order. The homemade garlic bagel ($1.50) is worthy of a love song, with its crunchy exterior and cushy bite. A handmade flour tortilla stuffed with scrambled egg, cheddar, country ham and potatoes ($4) is such melting, heady eating my friend and I fight over the last bit. The creamiest, thickest grits imaginable with country ham and egg ($4) make us feel right as rain after a long, wine-soaked Saturday night.

As a store, Belly is indeed a bit kooky. Yet for having been open just over a month, its smooth running is admirable. This new neighborhood favorite should indeed expect the crowds to belly up to its charming counter.

cynthia.wong@creativeloafing.com

01.15.04

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 12/4/03
Turning tables By JULIA McBEE

NOW OPEN

•  VIRGINIA-HIGHLAND: Although it began as Atkins Park Pharmacy in 1914 and later changed to Cox & Baucom, most of us remember it as Fleeman's Pharmacy. Jack Fleeman went to work at Cox & Baucom after he left the military in the '50s, and later bought it. Now a new generation has come along. Belly General Store opened the day after Thanksgiving. Photographer and movies location scout Melanie Manning and D.J. Freed, owner of Key Lime Pie Salon and Wellness Spa, saw the space's potential as a gathering place. Folks can visit or grab a pastry and cappuccino or a sandwich to go (the counter seats eight). It also has eclectic hand-crafted offerings from local and international small enterprises -- beeswax candles, handmade soaps and birdhouses, leather Italian journals, French monastery linens and sweaters knitted by Tibetan monks.

Storekeeper Manning has taken as her deputy storekeeper cheese monger Raymond Hook, who has traded his consultant hat for an apron but will still advise customers on artisan cheeses from Georgia's Sweetgrass Dairy and Italy's Guffanti Farm, olive oils, vinegars and other specialties. In the kitchen is Brandon Carter, a Culinary Institute of America grad who was recently sous-chef at MidCity Cuisine. He packages gourmet dishes for the takeout case and makes soups, salads and sandwiches with nitrite-free meats and baking breads and pastries, including cupcakes with butter cream frosting.

The store has been stripped down to its original beech floors and windows, and the original marble counter has been restored. Many of Fleeman's apothecary items give the space a return to nostalgia, and on some Saturdays Jack Fleeman himself, now 86, will be in the store to tell stories about the good old days. 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays-Thursdays; 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays; 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sundays. 772 N. Highland Ave. 404-872-1003, www.bellystore.com .