Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails Names New Executive Chef, Launches Lunch Service and Updates Dinner Menu
AJ Jones has joined the team at Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails as the Crabapple restaurant’s executive chef. Jones boasts a wealth of experience in the Atlanta food scene, working at acclaimed restaurants like Ray’s on the River, The Sun Dial Restaurant at the Westin Peachtree Plaza and Rootstock, where she was the executive chef. Under her leadership, Milton’s has launched lunch service and a new dinner menu, both available now.
The admiration for using local ingredients initially attracted Jones to Milton’s. “What got my attention was the garden,” she says. “Being able to pull seasonal, fresh produce out of Milton’s Acre really inspired me.”
Jones is no stranger to creating specialty menus incorporating gourmet flavors and locally sourced ingredients and has already enjoyed using Milton’s Acre’s bounty to spark her culinary curiosity. Lunch-goers at Milton’s can look forward to the following options:
Nibbles such as crab and piquillo pepper bisque with blue crab, chive and annatto oil ($11) and fried green tomatoes with chive-spiked goat cheese, herb pesto and peach chow-chow to start.
A wide range of salads ($12-$17) from Milton’s Caesar to the warm spinach and beet salad to the roasted chicken Cobb. These can be topped with seared tuna, salmon, shrimp or chicken.
Handhelds ($14-$19) include a blackened salmon sandwich with fried green tomato, arugula and citrus aioli on toasted sourdough; the Broadwell burger with double smashed patties, steak jus, white cheddar, shredded lettuce and dill pickle mayo on a brioche bun; and a turkey ciabatta BLT with shaved turkey, lettuce, tomato, bacon, smoked Gouda cheese and roasted jalapeno aioli.
Entrees ($20-$21) feature Southern fried chicken with buttermilk mashed potatoes, green beans and andouille red eye gravy; shrimp and grits with red and yellow peppers, smoked bacon, mushrooms, scallions, lemon butter and stone-ground grits; benne seed crusted tuna with cola-braised turnip greens, herb couscous and miso butter; and local mushroom risotto.
Shared sides ($10) round out the meal with local mushrooms, crispy Brussels sprouts and apple, smoked Gouda mac ‘n cheese, chef’s garden veggies and more.
Examples of Jones’ new additions to the dinner menu include:
Chicken liver mousse with strawberry jam, pink peppercorn mustard and baguette.
Warm spinach and beet salad with roasted beets, goat cheese, confit fennel, oranges, pistachio and citrus honey vinaigrette.
Grilled cauliflower steak with cola-braised turnip greens, cauliflower puree and chimichurri.
Prime Bolognese with prime meat, San Marzano tomatoes, pappardelle pasta and house ricotta.
Herb-crusted trout with roasted cauliflower puree, sweet potato shrimp fritters, asparagus and sweet chili sauce.
Pan-seared scallops with fava and corn succotash, Brussels sprouts, candied pecan and white mole.
“I’m French-trained, but I’m Southern. I love taking French techniques and processes and twisting them into a French-Southern style,” says Jones. “I grew up watching Julia Child and Jacques Pépin, who influenced my career.”
Jones’ culinary style continued to evolve during a solo trip to Barcelona that she took while she was working at Ray’s on the River.
“The stores in Barcelona featured whatever was local and fresh, and you bought what you needed for the day. Something I took away from that trip was learning how to take foods from two different cultures and make them look new but true to their roots and essence,” she recalls.
Milton’s Garden Dinner Series will return in October after a summer hiatus, and Jones has big plans for maintaining the stellar guest experience that diners have come to expect. “I want to do some innovative things while still keeping it approachable.”
Outside of work, Jones enjoys kickboxing, spending time with family and friends and sampling as many restaurants as she can. She lives in Vinings with her pet ferret Radar.