New Dishes Blend Southern, Asian, and French Influences Lazy Betty, Atlanta's one-Michelin-star restaurant, has introduced new dishes and cocktails for fall under Executive Chef-Owner Ron Hsu's culinary direction. The updates reflect Hsu's Asian heritage, Southern upbringing, and French training through contemporary American tasting menus. New additions to the menu include Gulf Coast Snapper with green papaya and galangal-coconut, and Rocky Mountain Lamb with smoked relish, perilla, sweetbread, and bordelaise. "Snapper is one of the best fish you can get from The Gulf, and this dish really brings out its fresh flavor," Hsu said. "It was created in collaboration with one of our lead line cooks, who's from Thailand. First, we dry age the fish for four days to concentrate its flavor and to give the fish a firmer texture, then we cure it for deeper flavor. Finally, it's marinated in kombu to build umami and ocean notes, and served with a Thai-style dipping sauce." On the lamb preparation, Hsu noted: "Perilla is in the mint family and commonly used in Asian cuisine. When our forager brought us perilla leaves, we knew we wanted to do a take on the classic pairing of lamb and mint. We take the lamb and perilla and serve them with a smoked relish that's made with housemade lamb bacon, bordelaise, charred cippolini and sweet bread mousse." The restaurant also offers a Peanut Amuse with Hudson Valley foie gras pâté and madeira peanut gastrique, which Hsu described as "an ode to one of our home state of Georgia's most iconic crops, the peanut. The combination with foie gras and jelly is a play on the familiar flavors of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."
Fall Cocktails Draw on Mid-Autumn Festival Beverage & Wine Director Gracie Barwick has developed a new seasonal cocktail lineup inspired by China's Mid-Autumn Festival. The program maintains the restaurant's approach to refined cocktail craftsmanship alongside wine pairings, zero-proof options, and a portfolio featuring rare spirits like WhistlePig. New cocktails include The Jade Rabbit (Roku Gin, Haku Vodka, Dragon Well-Infused Verjus Blanc, Clarified Granny Smith Apple Gum & Saline), described as drawing on Georgian orchard freshness with an aperitif-driven structure and French finish. The Forbidden Fig (Sweet Gwendoline Fig Gin, Ming River Baijiu, Lillet Blanc & Peychaud Bitters) pairs late-harvest fig with Vesper-inspired structure, blending European aperitif sensibility with French accents. Huey Dewey & Louie (Duck Fat-Washed Rhum J.M. L'atelier Des Rhums Epices Creoles Rhum Agricole, Sweet Potato Syrup & Fee Brothers Walnut Bitters) is positioned as a harvest-driven Old Fashioned channeling Georgia autumn with refined, culinary construction.
Zero-Proof Options Expand Pairing Choices The beverage program also introduces zero-proof cocktails: Midnight in Macon (Lyre's Coffee Liqueur, espresso, chicory black tea concentrate & black sesame orgeat), South + East (Seedlip Grove 42, lemon cordial & keemun-lemongrass-pandan tea), Backroads (DHOS N/A Tequila, black muscadine juice, Asian pear juice, lime juice, yuzu juice & Fever-Tree ginger beer), and No-Groni (DHOS N/A Bittersweet Orange, Lyre's Botanical & Martini & Rossi). These non-alcoholic options are available for wine and cocktail pairings alongside the restaurant's tasting menus.
Why It Matters
The update demonstrates how Michelin-starred establishments maintain relevance through seasonal menu innovation and expanded beverage programming—including non-alcoholic pairings—reflecting both local sourcing and global culinary traditions.
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Written by FBM Publications Editors
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the process behind Lazy Betty's new Gulf Coast Snapper dish?
Chef Ron Hsu dry ages the snapper four days to concentrate flavor and firm the flesh, then cures it for deeper taste development. The fish is marinated in kombu to build umami and ocean notes, then served with a Thai-style dipping sauce developed with one of his Thai-born lead line cooks.
How does Lazy Betty update the lamb-and-mint pairing on its fall menu?
The Rocky Mountain Lamb incorporates perilla—a mint-family herb common in Asian cuisine—paired with smoked relish made from housemade lamb bacon, bordelaise, charred cippolini, and sweetbread mousse. This play on the classic mint pairing reflects Hsu's culinary blend of Southern, Asian, and French techniques.
What's the concept behind Lazy Betty's Peanut Amuse?
It's an homage to Georgia's signature crop, featuring Hudson Valley foie gras pâté and madeira peanut gastrique—a sophisticated riff on peanut butter and jelly. The dish demonstrates Hsu's ability to elevate regional American ingredients through classical French preparation.
Who's driving the culinary direction at Lazy Betty?
Executive Chef-Owner Ron Hsu leads the kitchen, drawing on his Asian heritage, Southern upbringing, and French training. The new fall menu reflects collaborative input, including contributions from his Thai-born lead line cook and foraged ingredients sourced through the restaurant's forager.
What's Lazy Betty's current standing and market position?
The Atlanta restaurant holds one Michelin star and operates under Hsu's ownership and culinary direction, positioning it as a destination for contemporary American tasting menus in the Southeast market. The fall menu updates signal ongoing refinement and seasonal relevance in a competitive fine-dining landscape.
