Innovating for a global palate since 1978.
For nearly five decades, patrons have convened in true speakeasy style for one of Atlanta’s best kept secrets. Tucked away in the cellar of a Buckhead condo building, La Grotta offers upscale dining in an intimate ambiance overlooking a lush courtyard garden. Serving traditional Northern Italian cuisine, the menu emphasizes fresh pastas, seafood, and veal.
Started by Sergio Favalli & Antonio Abizanda, La Grotta (the cave in Italian) was Atlanta’s first fine dining Italian restaurant. Since that time, La Grotta has become known for it’s well-seasoned staff, well-heeled patrons, and it’s philosophy that trends come and go but classic never goes out of style. While La Grotta is now owned by the next generation, Christian Favalli, the classic and iconic nature of 1978 La Grotta still remains. This unwavering devotion to keeping it classic is what truly sets La Grotta apart.
La Grotta has been voted ‘Best Italian Restaurant’ by Atlanta Magazine for 18 consecutive years, is a AAA Four Diamond award recipient for over 20 years, and long time winner of the DiRona Award.
Meet the Team
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Christian Favalli
OWNER
Born into hospitality, Christian’s family moved from Bermuda to Atlanta when he was 4 years old. At the ripe age of 7, his father opened La Grotta and Christian found himself hanging coats in the coat room when he could barely reach the racks. By 22, he graduated from Vanderbilt, where upon completion, Christian told his father he planned to remain in hospitality. As Christian tells it, he learned some new Italian curse words that day. He has since worked mostly at La Grotta taking the occasional sabbatical to sharpen his skills at other restaurants throughout the city. He spent 3 years cooking in Italy, a stint in New Orleans, and in 2007, dad was ready to retire and Christian was called home to La Grotta. He can now be seen bustling around the dining room most nights serving many of the same fine patrons he knew as children over 40 years ago.
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Drew Van leuvan
EXECUTIVE CHEF
Drew brings a culmination of over 30 years of hospitality experience to La Grotta. With mentors spanning from Chef’s Jean Louis Palladin to Guenter Seeger, he mastered a sense of unwavering discipline and an uncompromising standard from day one of his career. Since relocating from New York to Atlanta, Drew has honed his skills at some of the most respected restaurants throughout the city including James Beard Award–winning The Deer & The Dove, Seven Lamps, One Midtown Kitchen, and Ecco. Drew’s culinary passions are centered around handmade pastas, eclectic vegetable preparations, & his love of precision baking. Outside the kitchen Drew is an avid cyclist and can be found enjoying quality time with his daughter Kayden, wife Kimberly, and their two dogs, Baby Mae & Sophie.
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VINCENT STEWART
GENERAL MANAGER/PARTNER
An Ohio native, Vince has lived in over 20 different locales ranging from Atlanta to Alaska. His passion for food began at an early age; he grew up taking in the culinary scene in every place his family would move. After attending Mizzou, Vince went on to bartending school, which set him onto his hospitality trajectory. Vince has been a part of the La Grotta family since 1996, where he started as a lunch server at our La Grotta Ravinia in Sandy Springs. Working his way up the ranks, he became the manager in Buckhead in 2001 and he is still hosting many of the same devoted patrons today. Vince has a passion for all things culinary both at work and at home, where is an avid cook, entertainer, and an ardent Kansas City Chiefs fan.