Review: The Federal is chef Shaun Doty’s best venture yet

Chef Shaun Doty’s signature Sardinian flatbread topped with an herb-heavy salad.
PHOTOGRAPH BY IAIN BAGWELL
Shaun Doty is back in the kitchen again, and the only question you might have after dining at the Federal is, “What took so long?” We’re all the beneficiaries of the time he spent coming up with surefire moneymakers Yeah Burger and Bantam and Biddy, but opening the Federal last November has been his greatest gift yet—to Atlanta and, perhaps, to himself.
Although Doty was born in Oklahoma, Belgium is where he discovered the cooking style that suited him. After a year of bouncing around kitchens in Brussels and traveling around France, he had found his food: fine but not fussy bistro cuisine, simple and delicious. Charcuterie, wine, steak frites, salade vinaigrette.
