Michel Arnette has spent more than two decades building a small empire in Brookhaven—Haven, Valenza, Vero Pizzeria, Arnette’s Chop Shop, and the members-only Associate club—but his newest concept, is inspired by something a little further afield: the enchanting sea caves of the Italian coast.
“I found my way into these magnificent grottoes that opened up into these vast caverns under the mountains, nestled right next to the Tyrrhenian Sea,” Arnette says of the trips that shaped Siren, his modern coastal seafood restaurant opening Tuesday, August 18 next door to Arnette’s Chop Shop. “That natural formation, where the ocean sweeps its way through—it left an impression on me as a place that’s unique, that not everybody gets a chance to see.”
That memory is now a restaurant. Guests will walk through a portal, low lit with blue light and anchored by heavy, black door frames, past hundred-year-old portholes—that Arnette proudly sourced on eBay—before entering the main dining room. The sleek, enclosed space has no windows, centering instead around a 12-foot custom wood-burning range where co-executive chefs Stephen Herman and Matt Swickerath and their team will do most of the cooking in full view of the room.
Arnette couldn’t have timed the opening better. Riding the coattails of Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Siren has already garnered free publicity all summer long.
The Concept: A Tour of the World’s Coastlines
Siren is inspired by the spirit of adventure. “The cuisine is inspired by the coasts of the world,” Arnette says. “We’ve got recipes that are Mediterranean, that come from Latin America, from the Mexican coast, the Pacific coast.”
The through line is technique: everything gets touched by wood and binchotan, the Japanese charcoal used for years at Arnette’s Chop Shop, before it lands on the plate.
“We felt like the wood and the smoke would impart amazing flavor into these composed dishes,” he says. Layer in a raw bar in the style of The Optimist and Japanese-influenced crudo, and Arnette says the format gives his chefs “an open palette to do some unique things.”
Above all, he wants the seafood itself to do the talking. “If you’re not using simple technique and letting that protein do its magic, you’re basically covering it up…you’re hiding the fact that you don’t have culinary technique,” Arnette says. “Finesse and refinement. That’s something our two chefs are really special at.”
The Menu
Expect a raw bar and crudo program built for sharing, alongside wood-fired seafood that draws inspiration from Japan, the Mediterranean, and the American South. Arnette says Siren will feature one of the Southeast’s only dry-aged fish programs, while the menu ranges from delicate seafood starters like Maine lobster salad, Japanese madai crudo, and cured kampachi to larger entrées including wood-roasted flounder, whole fish à la meunière, and grilled swordfish.
Groups will appreciate the Siren Plateau, an extravagant shellfish tower piled high with oysters, shrimp, bluefin tuna, madai, lobster, and the restaurant’s signature Siren toast. And, for the table’s non-seafood eaters, a prime New York strip and a grilled chicken al pastor round things out. “We wanted to focus on seafood,” Arnette says, “but you always have to have a chicken.”
The Bar: Built Around Bubbles
Siren’s bar centers on a 16-foot-wide, 8-foot-tall uplit water feature Arnette cheekily calls the Bubble Bar, a glass wall that peeks through into the adjoining Associate club. The cocktail list was built to match that energy: nearly every drink incorporates effervescence (including the non-alcoholic options), alongside a wine program curated by sommelier Andrew LeClair.
On the bar menu, you’ll find sips like the Sorrento Spritz, a limoncello-forward spritz; a yuzu sparkler with gin, yuzu, and cherry blossom syrup, finished with an egg white topper; and the Veraduro Mojito, made with aged rum, Cuban mint, and cane sugar. There’s also a reworked Negroni called the Civilian, and a skinny margarita riff dubbed Una Paperina built on Calabrian chili-infused white grappa.
Zero-proof cocktails get real estate on the menu, too, including sparkling teas from Danish producer Copenhagen Sparkling Tea Co. “People aren’t drinking like they used to,” Arnette says. “We have to pivot and change as the market does.”
The Space
The dining room’s centerpiece is a bulbous, golden Tom Dixon light fixture—a nod to a memory Arnette has carried since his diving trips along the Italian coast, watching the bubbles from his breath rise towards the surface. Three custom paintings of mermaids, made by a Croatian artist, complete the room’s namesake theme.
Siren seats just 80 for dinner, intentionally small and purposefully connected to its steakhouse sibling. The two restaurants, plus the private Associate club, share a building, and, per Arnette, a single evening’s itinerary for a lot of guests.
“Someone can pop into the Arnette’s bar for a cocktail and go, ‘I’m going to have dinner over at Siren tonight,’” he says. “Or flip it—drinks at the Siren bar, dinner at Arnette’s. You don’t even have to leave the building.”
Siren 2700 Apple Valley Rd. NE, Ste. 65, Brookhaven, sirenatl.com
