Polaris, the legendary rotating restaurant and lounge atop the historic Hyatt Regency Atlanta hotel, a symbol of Atlanta’s progress for nearly 50 years, will “re-turn” to the city skyline in June. To celebrate the reopening, the hotel will turn off, and then relight the famous Polaris blue dome before its official opening to the public on June 10.
The new Polaris will serve handcrafted cocktails and chef-inspired shared plates with a panoramic view of the Atlanta skyline. Guests will shoot 22 stories up in the hotel’s glass elevators and be transported to a space that is both completely modern and a tribute to Polaris’ retro history.
Conceived by visionary Atlanta architect John C. Portman, Jr., Polaris is one of Atlanta’s most recognized landmarks. It was Atlanta’s first rotating restaurant when it opened in 1967, and quickly became a symbol of the fast-growing city, featured on souvenirs, postcards and murals. Polaris was so popular guests lined up just to ride the elevators and take in the view. In its heyday, Polaris hosted dignitaries, presidents and celebrities, as well as everyday Atlantans celebrating birthdays, wedding proposals, anniversaries and prom nights.
Executive Chef Martin Pfefferkorn will lead the kitchen at Polaris. Pfefferkorn grew up in Austria, was classically trained in European resorts and has been a creative force at Hyatt Hotels Corp. since joining the company in 2001. He is also the creator of Sway, Hyatt Regency Atlanta’s Southern-influenced dining experience based on locally sourced, seasonal ingredients.
For the new Polaris menu, Chef Pfefferkorn has created plates inspired by many cuisines. The debut menu will feature tributes to classic dishes such as a deconstructed Maine lobster cocktail; Steak Oscar (locally raised beef filet topped with asparagus, crab and béarnaise sauce); braised veal cheeks; and rabbit sausage with quail eggs. Polaris will source “soil to city” ingredients from local purveyors, as well as produce from the hotel’s rooftop garden.
Visible from the restaurant, the Polaris Rooftop Bee Garden features homegrown tomatoes, herbs, peppers and other produce, ingredients that will be served in Polaris’ plates and cocktails. The garden also grows flowers, seasonal plants and the only peach tree on Peachtree Street. The garden’s most interesting feature is its bees. Chef Pfefferkorn tends two hives of more than 10,000 honey bees in the rooftop garden, busy insects producing several gallons of fresh honey to be served in Polaris and sold in the hotel’s gift shop. The bees, which were rescued from a truck accident, came to the hotel through an ongoing partnership with the Metro Atlanta Beekeepers Association.
Hyatt Regency Atlanta beverage director Mehdi Natanzi heads the Polaris mixology program. Polaris’ cocktail menu will celebrate the golden age of spirits, from stiff old fashioneds and dry Manhattans, to mint grasshoppers and tart gimlets, rickeys and tonics – all served in vintage glassware. And the new Polaris will present a modern version of its throwback signature drink, the peach daiquiri. The wine list has been collected from smaller, noteworthy producers from around the world, and the bar also will offer its very own barrel of “Polaris Bourbon,” through a partnership with Kentucky distillery Elijah Craig.
The Johnson Studio is the architect and interior designer of the restaurant, which features four sections, each loosely based on the home – an open dining room with a communal table, a living room, a library and the bar While inside, guests will rotate comfortably around the dynamic kitchen where chefs will prepare the evening’s plates in full view.
And, just as it did in 1967, Polaris will rotate once every 45 minutes.
