Cinco y Diez, a new restaurant in Five Points, hopes to bring a wide variety of Latin and South American cuisines to Athens.
Cinco y Diez opened on Jan. 21 in the original location of nationally-acclaimed restaurant 5&10 on 1653 S. Lumpkin St. The new restaurant serves several Latin and South American cuisines with basis in local cooking and produce.
“I always joked about it, when we moved 5&10 that I would open up a Mexican restaurant called Cinco y Diez,” co-proprietor Hugh Acheson said. “It kind of just became true.”
Acheson is the author of A New Turn in the South: Southern Flavors Reinvented, a James Beard Award winning cookbook. He competed in Top Chef Masters and served as a judge on seasons 9-11 of Top Chef. Furthermore, Acheson has worked for and owned several restaurants including 5&10, The National and Empire State South.
“I think growing up in Canada and also in the States sort of showed me a lot of different culinary heritages, and that kind of made me realize the bounty of the world overall,” Acheson said. “This sort of fascination with other parts of the (restaurant) industry makes you figure out what to do right and what to do wrong.”
Melissa Clegg, founder of the Last Resort Grill and co-owner of Cinco y Diez, was an early leader of the New Southern food movement. Additionally, Clegg serves on the board of the International Slow Food organization and the Charleston Wine & Food Festival in SC, and is an avid traveler who was inspired by her trips to Latin and South America.
“Any opportunity you have to travel and understand the complex tapestries of the flavors and cooking methods that other cultures offer will only provide you more depth and richness in your culinary style,” Clegg said. “All those influences definitely affect your perception of the world and of food.”
Acheson and Clegg met when Acheson worked as the executive chef at the Last Resort Grill. In 2000, the two partnered to open 5&10.
“As our population becomes more diverse, we are seeing this Latin element. That is here and that is changing the taste of Southern cuisine and will continue to,” Clegg said. “I think it’s a really exciting time to explore the complexities of these flavors that are already having an impact on Southern food.”
Cinco y Diez executive chef Whitney Otawka has an extensive resume. She has served as the executive chef of Farm 255 and sous chef at 5&10. She has also worked as chef de partie of Linton Hopkins’ Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta and held positions in many in New York’s finest restaurants. Otawka competed on season nine of Top Chef.
“I used to be a line cook, and then I started taking on more responsibility over the years,” Otawka said. “I really pushed myself to try to work harder and be better every single day at what I do.”
The menu at Cinco y Diez has a strong Mexican influence, but the restaurant also serves cuisines from nations like Guatemala and Brazil as well. The menu, however, is not set in stone and the owners will expand the variety of cuisines as they are inspired by the styles of other cultures.
“Initially, (the owners and I) thought about the really amazing flavors of the Americas,” Otawka said. “But also, we’re playing to the flavors themselves because we use a lot of local farmers and local products. All of the produce (in our dishes) comes from local farmers.”
Even though Cinco y Diez has only been open for a short time, the feedback from customers has been very positive.
“(The meal I ordered) tasted like something very healthy. Not too salty or greasy like at other restaurants, but still very satisfying and good,” sophomore Simone Zaccaria-Jeffers said. “The waiters (at Cinco y Diez) were all extremely nice and the food and desserts were all presented so beautifully. It’s definitely one of the best restaurants in town.”
With Cinco y Diez opened, Clegg and Acheson are working to bring Athens a different kind of dining experience.
“I see this movement across the country in having a reverence for (Latin and South American) cuisine. And we’re doing something new and showing that it can be a beautiful kind of experience,” Acheson said. “(Clegg, Otawka and I) are really excited about it.”
