In the past

few months, Fayette County's foodies have been rejoicing with two new

restaurants coming to the area.

Ted's Montana

Grill at the Avenue in Peachtree City is wowing residents with bison burgers

and hearty chicken sandwiches.

Next to Ted's

is the Famous Fish Company, which is one of the only seafood options in

the county.

Let me start

off by saying the food is fabulous. I dined there recently with a large

party and everybody was very happy with their selections.

Famous Fish

emphasizes fresh products, and you can tell the difference. The fish and

shellfish do not have that slight freezer-burn taste that many restaurants

try to pawn off on the unsuspecting diner as fresh.

The restaurant

is operated by a South African, who also operates a restaurant in London.

The chef's take on seafood reminds me Brasserie Le Coze in Atlanta. The

brasserie is an offshoot of Le Bernardin in New York, which maintains

an almost reverential treatment of serving seafood.

At Famous Fish,

the delicacies are given that same treatment. Sauces compliment the seafood,

rather than overpower it.

A seafood bisque

served as an appetizer tastes like the essential elements were just snatched

out of the sea minutes ago.

With just one

meal at Famous Fish under my belt, I already know that this is one of

the best places in Fayette to eat.

But, like any

good critic, I did have a few problems with some parts of the overall

dining experience.

First, serve

that fabulous bread warm. The servers are very accommodating in bringing

baskets of bread to the table, but it would be much better hot, instead

of ice cold.

Second, improve

the acoustics. We spent two hours at the restaurant the other night, and

of the noise level. Perhaps fabric on the walls or other noise reduction

elements could help.

Third, bring

the check in a timely matter. We had a wonderful meal, and enjoyed our

time at the restaurant, but waiting 20 minutes to pay left everybody with

a bad taste in their mouth.

Fourth, do

something about the french fries. They're just bad.

And my final

criticism is probably the one that's going to cause the most controversy:

the price.

Everybody at

our table agreed the food was wonderful, but that Famous Fish was not

a place we could afford to eat at every week.

you get through appetizers, salad, entree and maybe dessert, you're looking

at more than $30 a person.

I don't have

a problem paying that much for the food; in fact I've spent a lot more

at restaurants in Europe, New York and San Francisco, but I want the atmosphere

to be different. Famous Fish's lovely open design is not conducive to

a romantic dinner for two.

I know the

restaurant is now serving a lower-priced lunch menu, which I think is

a great idea. But, in order to keep people coming back on a regular basis,

I think maybe some nightly specials could be added for the budget-conscious.

Overall, I

love this restaurant and want it to be in our community a long time. It

just needs some tweaking.

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