Kozmo Gastro Pub

Address: 11890 Douglas Rd, Johns Creek, GA 30005

Hours: Monday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 10p.m, Friday 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m – Bar until…, Saturday 5 p.m. to 11 p.m – Bar until …,Sunday 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Website: http://www.kozmogastropub.com/

Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/KozmoGastroPub

Twitter:https://twitter.com/Kozmogastropub

Last night, I stopped by the delightful Kozmo Gastro Pub in Alpharetta, Georgia. Kozmo Gastro Pub (KGP) is an urban-style restaurant in the suburbs offering comfort food that’s familiar, yet inventive.

Kozmo Gastro Pub has an extensive wine list, a great cocktail menu, and craft beers. This urban oasis was create about six years ago to allow people who live in the surbubs of Atlanta to enjoy an urban experience.

I had a chance to meet the owners, husband and wife duo, Oswald Morgan and Karen Harper. I always have a soft spot for power couples. I wanted to sit down with the dynmatic duo and talk about Kozmo Gastro Pub. Of course I had to inquire what was the inspiration behind KGP’s summer menu.

EWE: What makes this cocktail or menu item “slimmed down comfort”?

Karen: The choice of agave versus other high glycemic sweeteners. Baking or pan-searing is a significantly healthier way to prepare salmon and chicken versus frying.

EWE: Where did you get the inspiration for this menu today?

Oswald: I was inspired to create foods that were light, healthy, and refreshing. My good friend Carolyn O’Neil created a cookbook, “Slim Down South,” which demonstrates how to take southern and comfort items and makes them healthier without losing tradition or the flavor. We are hosting Carolyn tonight with a book signing and invite everyone to stop by to meet her.

EWE: I understand you began a relationship with the Good Sheperd Agro Ecology Center?

Karen: We have been working with Nicole and Eugene. They deliver to us weekly and are fabulous and considered authorities on urban farming and teaching. We’ve visited the farm and harvested some of our produce, and I encourage everyone to find a neighborhood farmer’s market.

I was thrilled to try the slimmed down comfort menu. I started with watermelon tomato gazpacho with spicy cucumber mint relish. This truly is a refreshing summer dish. This soup was a wonderful start to this meal. It’s spicy, big on flavor, slightly sweet, and just simply amazing. The mint relish was the icing on the cake! I highly recommend this soup!

Kozmo Gastro Pub

Kozmo Gastro Pub Bar

Watermelon Tomato Gazpacho

Salmon is one of my favorite foods especially during the summer. I can never have too much salmon. So I was very excited to see the salmon meatballs as a featured appetizer. I was even more excited to try this tasty ball of goodness.

The salmon meatballs were lightly breaded and topped with almonds, citrus, and romesco sauce. This was a homerun! The salmon was extremely fresh, and the meatballs weren’t your typical heavy filling. Romesco is a nut and red pepper-based sauce from Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. It is typically made from any mixture of roasted or raw almonds, pine nuts, and/or hazelnuts, roasted garlic, olive or sunflower oil, bitxo peppers and/or nyora peppers. To better explain this dish, it’s pan-roasted salmon, corn, white bean, tomato citrus, onion, and cilantro salad. The salmon was perfection, and it was pan-seared to a perfect temperature. If you look at the picture, it tastes even better than it looks. The salad was fresh and full of flavor, and the cilantro and citrus were an awesome blend with the onion and white bean.

The final dish was Greek yogurt panna cotta with fresh seasonal berries with agave. I’m a huge lover of Greek yogurt and panna cotta. So, needless to say, I was completely in love. This luscious panna cotta manages to be both an indulgence and a healthy choice. What’s really better than that? Nothing! The fresh berries were the perfect touch. Everything was delish!

Salmon meatballs at Kozmo Gastro Pub

Pan-roasted Salmon at Kozmo Gastro Pub

I think the main reason everything was so amazing was that you can taste the ingredients, and preparation makes a huge difference.

For example, the choice of agave versus other high-glycemic sweeteners. Baking or pan searing is a significantly healthier way to prepare salmon and chicken versus frying. After speaking with Oswald about their slimmed down dishes, I realized that comfort is really a freshness that you can taste. To achieve your own slimmed down comfort menu, make sure to visit your neighborhood farmer’s market to select the freshest ingredients such as The Good Sheperd AgroEcology Farm. And make sure that you add Kozmo in Alpharetta to your bucket list very soon. I am very excited to see what their fall menu has in store!

Panna Cotta at Komzo Gastro Pub