Metro Atlanta added two new stars to its Michelin Guide constellation Wednesday night.

⭐ Chef Ryan Smith, who gave up a Michelin star at Staplehouse when he moved his tasting menu to a small resort restaurant south of Atlanta, was the biggest winner of the night in Nashville.

• He earned a new star with Uberto, his restaurant at Quercus in the town of Gay, Georgia, which was one of just a handful of restaurants in the American South to be added to the prestigious roster.
• He also was one of two chefs to win one of the night’s special awards, called Mindful Voices — a recognition of his leadership in the field.

⭐ Newcomer So. Fox also won a Michelin star.

• This designation comes just a few months after owners Myles Moody and Rachael Pack opened So. Fox in the Virginia-Highland neighborhood near their butcher shop, Kinship Butcher & Sundry.

Eight other Atlanta restaurants retained their one-star designations, bringing the state’s total up to 10 Michelin-starred restaurants.

This year’s ceremony was held in Tennessee, thanks to the Michelin Guide’s new regional structure. After focusing on metro Atlanta in 2023 and 2024, the guide expanded to cover much of the Southeast. Last year’s ceremony was moved to Greenville, South Carolina, for the debut of the American South guide, and the event’s host city will change each year going forward.

🍽️ Read more: The complete list of Atlanta’s Michelin-starred, Bib Gourmand and recommended restaurants.

Atlanta has plenty of Italian restaurants, but a growing number are serving something different from the handmade pastas and modern Italian cooking that have defined much of the city’s dining scene. They’re bringing back the big portions, familiar dishes and unapologetic comfort of New York- and New Jersey-style Italian American food.

“Red sauce” Italian has a culture entirely its own. Here’s where to find it around metro Atlanta.

📍 Casa Nuova Italian Restaurant

From plastic-covered tablecloths, carpeted floors and traditional artwork hung as you’d find in someone’s living room to free parking in a large lot of a suburban strip mall, Northeastern transplants will find themselves transported to the vibe of the family-owned restaurants once found in New York City’s Little Italy and quintessential to Long Island, New York.

• What to order: One of the only chicken scarpariellos available in the metro area, generously portioned on a plate overflowing with tender chicken, sausage, potatoes and more.

5670 Atlanta Hwy A1, Alpharetta. 770-475-9100, casanuovarestaurant.com

📍 Rosso

Known for introducing Atlantans to fresh house-pulled mozzarella at Bastone and for restaurants like The White Bull and Grana, Chef Pat Pascarella’s new casual spot is inspired by the big flavors and attitude of his Connecticut-based American Italian upbringing.

• What to order: Ziti with Sunday Sauce on (you guessed it) Sundays. This throwback to Tri-State Area lingo is house-made like all of the other pastas and loaded with meat that includes sausage, meatballs and pork.

931 Monroe Dr. NE, Atlanta. 404-876-1000, rossoatl.com

📍 No. 246

The pizza is not New York City-style (it’s wood-fired Neapolitan), but the tightly tucked tables and firmly American Italian menu certainly are. This former California-style Italian restaurant made a pivot to the East Coast in 2021 after having a lemony, garlicky chicken scallopini as a special and facing hate mail when it was removed. Chef Drew Belline hasn’t looked back since.

• What to Order at No. 246: The mushroom-packed chicken Marsala or the piccata-Francese mashup that is the chicken scallopini limone. Both are big on flavor and butter, so break it up with one of their many wines by the glass and a simply dressed arugula salad.

29 E. Ponce de Leon Ave., Decatur. 678-399-8246, no246.com

🍝 Read more: What defines red sauce Italian food

“Once that first leaf satisfyingly crunches beneath my shoe, I take it as a sign to make more comfort foods, such as butternut squash soup,” AJC contributor and chef Candy Hom writes. “If you’re a big wholesale shopping fan like I am, chances are you’ve seen the clamshell packages of precut butternut squash around this time of year. Even if you’re not, there are cornucopias of squash in every local supermarket.”

💡 How to choose the right butternut squash

Squash should have a uniform beige color and the surface should be matte, not glossy. When lifted, the squash should feel heavy, indicating it’s not dry inside. And just like other vegetables, the squash should have a stem; avoid the squash without a stem, as the exposed opening hints at a possibly rotting interior. The squash should sound hollow when tapped, similar to a watermelon.

💡 How to cut a butternut squash

While the packages of fresh or frozen precut squash reduce your prep time, it’s not difficult to break down a whole butternut squash as long as you have a sharp chef’s knife. First, remove the skin with a vegetable peeler. Using a sharp knife, cut the ends off and slice the squash lengthwise. Scrape the seeds out and discard them, then chop the squash into 1-inch cubes.

💡 What is curry powder made of?

Contrary to the name, curry powder is not made from pulverized curry leaves but a blend of various spices, all slightly different depending on the specific regional inspiration. The Madras curry powder Hom uses for this recipe consists of coriander, turmeric, fenugreek, cumin, curry leaves, cinnamon, clove, chile, ginger, black pepper and garlic.

💡 Coconut milk gives this soup lactose-free creaminess

This ingredient also adds a coconut flavor that complements the curry flavor nicely. The coconut milk is added at the tail end of the cooking process at a lower heat because it can curdle, and its aroma and flavor are lost when boiled over high heat for a long time.

🥣 Find the full recipe here and learn more about curry powder’s complicated origin.