The award-winning Decatur restaurant Cakes + Ale has announced it will close after dinner service on Saturday. Don’t plan on grabbing a last meal there, either. The eatery is fully booked.
The imaginative farm-to-table spot on Sycamore Street specialized in dishes made with seasonal ingredients — gnocchi, trout, asparagus and beets, pork terrine, mushroom tarts. It often made best-of lists, and chef Billy Allin has been a semifinalist in the Best Chef: Southeast category of the James Beard awards more than once.
Owners Billy and Kristin Allin talked about the closing in an email to customers:
“We opened Cakes + Ale over 10 years ago and are very proud of what we built and accomplished. It has been with great pleasure that we have been able to serve our friends and guests, but have decided that we need to take a break and start a new chapter in our lives including spending some much-needed time together as a family and focusing our attentions on Proof Bakeshop and Bread & Butterfly.”
Proof Bakeshop, on Hurt Street in Inman Park, serves breakfast, lunch, coffee, espresso, teas and baked goods. Bread & Butterfly, on Elizabeth Street in Inman Park, is a European-inspired café and bistro that serves food and drink from early morning to late night.
In his email, Allin said a new restaurant will fill the Cakes & Ale space, but no details were provided.
Of Proof Bakeshop and Bread & Butter, Allin said: “They’re still young, and they need more focus from me as an owner and chef. Everyone’s been doing a wonderful job keeping things going, but it’s always helpful when I can spend more time there.”
Allin also said he’s working on allowing anyone with a Cakes + Ale gift card to transfer it to Bread & Butterfly.
