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Fire, water help spice up Straits eatery
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Rapper/restaurateur Ludacris and chef/owner Chris Yeo are giving the former Spice space at 793 Juniper St. in Midtown a million-dollar makeover as they prepare for the April 25 opening of Straits Restaurant.
As we’ve previously reported, Straits will feature a modern Singaporean menu. For weeks now, the Johnson Studio has been busy transforming the 218-seat space into an eatery that will pay “homage to [Singaporean] heritage with a subtle Eastern influence,” including “a dual focus on the elements of fire and water, incorporating a color scheme featuring vibrant reds and rich browns, including dark woods and chocolate brown leather.”
Additionally, there will be two flanking fireplaces with votive lighting along open brick shafts, a lounge entry area off the bar with banquette seating and a gold-leafed red painted wall with window slots, which will allow for natural light during the day and “sexy mood lighting at night.”
“With a nod to water, edge-lit glass shelves with LED lighting will span the bi-level wall behind the downstairs bar.”
Did we mention the 12-seat private dining room and the 40-seat downstairs Opium Lounge?
According to the advance scoop supplied to Buzz Friday, the restaurant’s name “comes from the Straits of Malacca, a waterway which flows between Malaysia and Singapore, where the lifeline of the two countries flows together, exchanging their cultures.”
We’re told that Straits will be open for dinner seven days a week, from 5 p.m. to midnight Monday through Wednesday, from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. Thursday through Saturday and from 5 to 11 p.m. Sunday. Straits will serve Sunday brunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Straits has three locations in California.
For more info, please go to: www.straitsrestaurants.com.
A SWEET SHOW
It was a hurrah of a homecoming.
From the moment Jennifer Nettles sang the opening lines to “Baby Girl,” to the thunderous applause after “Stay,” to the shots of Turner Field, Eddie’s Attic and West Peachtree Street shown during “Who Says You Can’t Go Home,” to the rocking encore (a cover of Def Leppard’s “Pour Some Sugar On Me”), Atlanta country duo Sugarland’s concert Thursday night at the Fox Theatre felt more like a victory parade than concert performance. Minus the floats and confetti.
“People come up to me and say how nice it must be to be living your dream,” Nettles said before “Something More.” “And I’m telling you what, Atlanta, Georgia — I’m looking at all of your smiling faces and you know what I’m saying? ‘[You’re] damn right!’ “
Hours before the first of his band’s two sold-out performances at the Fox, Kristian Bush looked around in a kind of awe about what was about to happen.
Sugarland has been nominated for a Grammy, won two CMT Music Awards, a CMA and an American Music Award — but in all of his years toiling the Atlanta music scene, “I have never played the Fox. This is already major, and the show hasn’t started.”
HIGH FIVE
The top-selling albums at Decatur CD for the week ending April 5:
1. R.E.M., “Accelerate”
2. Lazyeye, “Lights in the Attic”
3. Gnarls Barkley, “The Odd Couple”
4. The Black Keys, “Attack & Release”
5. Van Morrison, “Keep it Simple”
Source: Decatur CD
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“I don’t think I’ll ever film another music video with a hot girl in it. There’s no way that any other girl is going to compare to how hot my girl is.”
— Singer/songwriter and Augusta native Josh Kelley (pictured) on his wife, “Grey’s Anatomy” actress Katherine Heigl. The newlyweds met on the set of Kelly’s “Only You” video in 2005.
SUPERMODEL DOCKET UPDATE
Now, Buzz dutifully brings you this public service announcement: Supermodel Naomi Campbell is back on the loose. Yes, the jewel-encrusted BlackBerry bruiser was released on bail Friday.
London’s Metropolitan Police said she was released pending further inquiries and told to report to a police station in late May.
The supermodel was arrested Thursday on suspicion of assaulting an officer at Heathrow Airport.
Witnesses said Campbell was aboard a plane due for Los Angeles when she became involved in a dispute because one of her bags had been lost. Campbell allegedly spit on an officer.
Campbell spokeswoman Annabel Fox said Campbell was traveling to the U.S. to attend a memorial service and had boarded the plane when she was told one of her two checked bags was missing.
British Airways “decided to resolve this by insisting she leave the flight and then called the police to forcibly eject her,” Fox said.
CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS
Today: Actor Mitch Pileggi (“The X Files”) is 56. Country singer Troy Gentry of Montgomery Gentry is 41. Rapper-producer Pharrell Williams is 35.
Sunday: Country singer Merle Haggard is 71. Actor Billy Dee Williams is 71. Actor Paul Rudd is 39. Actor Zach Braff (“Scrubs”) is 33.
Contributing: Sonia Murray and news services.
If you have a tip, call 404-526-2749. Or fax 404-526-5509. Or e-mail: buzz@ajc.com.
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