Story by Corinne Kocher
Photos by Bailey Garrot
Shared Plates
It's 10:30pm on a Monday, and there's a long line outside of Octopus Bar, a late-night restaurant on Atlanta's east side. A menu is winding its way slowly down the queue, passed from guest to guest, each pointing out something new.
"Sauce africaine." "Hot sausage po' boy." "Oh my gosh, hazelnut custard."
Suddenly, the front door swings open, and the line quickly files in. Within seconds, the main dining room is packed. Diners split between tables and the bar, and the room fills with conversation made all the louder with DJ Kountry Boy spinning tunes from the corner.
Behind the bar, Shyretha Sheats is using a shaker to pour out tall cocktails for the waiting crowd. Past a narrow hallway, food runners darting to and fro, Mike Sheats is grilling sliced okra over flames in the kitchen. Shyretha and Mike are the couple behind The Plate Sale, a multi-faceted food concept that, tonight, is a pop up.
Shyretha and Mike Sheats have returned to Octopus Bar, where they held their first pop up over three years ago. Tonight, The Plate Sale is also collaborating with Chicomecóatl and Supremo, two fellow well-known pop up concepts in Atlanta. While the three pop ups draw from different cuisines, all are focused on themes of preservation.
Shyretha explains, "The menu is things we grew up eating, inspiration from family recipes, paying tribute to someone in our communities".
Their menu isn't just paying tribute to "the south" - the Sheats are paying homage to their home base: Athens. Mike, originally from Athens, and Shyretha, from Oglethorpe County (about 20 miles east of Athens), are making food and cocktails that pull from what they've shared with their families.
But for The Plate Sale, it doesn't just stop at preservation - their work is about rediscovery as well. While they draw inspiration from their experiences, the Sheats also do extensive research into older foodways and recipes. "The Plate Sale is also about things we've realized we don't even see or taste anymore," says Shyretha.
"The Plate Sale is a whole entity, focused on projects that are related to southern history and southern foodways," Shryetha expands. This includes their pop ups, but it also encompasses their farm restoration project, restoring Shyretha's grandmother's farm northeast of Athens, and someday, a brick and mortar restaurant in Athens that sources from that farm.
Until then, The Plate Sale keeps a homebase in Athens, hosting events, pop ups, and working in the city's food scene. Shyretha and Mike are planning on attending the 2020 Georgia Organics Conference in Athens - and with talk of a potential pre-conference dinner, as well as a possible pop up held during the conference, The Plate Sale is sure to be cooking up something good.
Stay up-to-date with The Plate Sale by following them on Instagram @theplatesale.
Corinne Kocher and Bailey Garrot are the writer-photographer team behind Shared Plates, a blog exploring food in the world and how it gets to the table. Read all of their work at www.shared-plates.com and follow them on Instagram @sharedplatesatl.