Hopeful for the future, we ring in the New Year with traditions meant to instill good luck and fortune for the impending calendar change. We kiss a special someone at midnight and we eat ceremonially to conjure blessings of prosperity. This year we are even ushering in a new decade.
While customs differ regionally, there are common dishes auspicious for delivering fortune and health for the next year. In the South, it’s hoppin’ John (rice and peas), hearty winter greens, and/or cornbread. All are symbolic wishes for wealth and luck. Black eyed peas are emblematic of coins and also the promise of things to come. Greens are the color of money. Cornbread represents gold. Pork is for progress because pigs root forward.
Photo Credit: Big Green Egg
The origin story behind hoppin’ John is uncertain. Those in Charleston tell of a hobbled man who sold rice and peas on the downtown streets. Some say “Hop in, John!” is a greeting. Scholars point to mispronunciation of the Hatian Creole term for black eyed peas- “pois a’ pigeons.” It probably evolved from the dishes enslaved West Africans subsisted en route to America, dishes like pilau, purloo, and perlo.
Hopeful for a prosperous New Year, southerners fill plates with these soulful dishes. Slow simmer collards from local Truly Living Well farm by picking up a bunch at Freedom Farmers Market or stop into Atlanta restaurants for all the luck and none of the work.
Chef Thomas McKeown has a rooftop garden that provides many of the vegetables and herbs for Sway and Polaris in the downtown Hyatt Regency hotel. He sources his collards locally from Narrow Way farm. Sway’s menu is chock full of Southern dishes for New Year’s Day. Order those collards along with a rack of Niman Ranch ribs or his famous fried chicken that takes 24 hours to prepare.
Sway. 265 Peachtree St. NE. Atlanta. 404-577-1234. hyatt.com.
For over 75 years, Midtown’s Mary Mac’s Tea Room has served southern comfort food to locals and tourists with renowned hospitality. They are open every day but Christmas, ensuring a lucky plate of hoppin’ John, turnip greens, and potlikker with crackling cornbread.
Mary Mac’s Tea Room. 224 Ponce de leon Ave. Atlanta. 404-876-1800. marymacs.com.
Buckhead’s St. Regis Hotel hosts a “Good Luck” brunch on New Year’s Day beginning at 11 am. Along with their traditional menu, they will serve up good fortune with hoppin’ John, cornbread, collard greens, potlikker, tassoham, and “freshened up” black eyed peas.
St. Regis. 88 West Paces Ferry Rd. NW. Atlanta. 404-563-7799. marriott.com.
Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar must be lucky. It’s Atlanta’s oldest continuously licensed tavern, having opened in 1922 as a deli. Beginning at 11 am New Year’s Day, they are serving braised pork, hoppin’ John, collard greens, and cornbread at the Virginia highlands’ institution.
Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar. 749 North Highland Ave. 404-876-7249. atkinspark.com.
Westside’s Miller Union isn’t open on New Year’s Day, but you can pre-game the luck on New Year’s Eve or continue to eat lucky on January 2nd. Chef Steven Satterfield sources his collard greens from local New Eden Ecosystem Farm. Order his braised collards with his famous vegetable plate or fried chicken served with sorghum pecan gastrique.
Miller Union. 999 Brady Ave. NW. Atlanta. 678-733-8550. millerunion.com.
Charleston outpost Garden and Gun Club at The Battery is open New Year’s Day from 11 am to 3 pm. Along with a new winter menu with items like pan seared triggerfish and a deviled ham club, lunch will include hoppin’ John, collard greens, black eyed peas, fried quail, and cornbread.
Garden & Gun Club. 2605 Circle 75 Pkwy. Atlanta. 770-726-0925. Gardenandgunclub.com.
Made with heirloom Carolina Gold rice and Sea Island red peas, the Minero Burrito at Ponce City Market’s Minero is a rolled-up blessing. Inside the house made tortilla is hoppin’ John, cheese, sour cream, avocado, poblano peppers, and fresh salsa verde.
Minero. 675 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE. Atlanta. 404-532-1580. minerorestaurant.com.
Decatur’s Kimball House is closed on New Year’s Day, but open New Year’s Eve. Hoppin’ John has been on the menu since its opening. Look for “Heirloom Peas” on the menu. The Sea Island red and white peas are a fancier version with celery, smoked mushrooms, and coconut rice milk. Order with a side of creamed greens for a lucky 2020.
Kimball House. 303 E. howard Ave. Decatur. 404-378-3502. kimball-house.com.
