{"id":8077,"date":"2016-01-04T10:00:51","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T15:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/?p=8077"},"modified":"2020-02-13T09:39:55","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T14:39:55","slug":"big-smiles-at-the-palm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/","title":{"rendered":"BIG SMILES AT THE PALM"},"content":{"rendered":"

General Manager Andrei Caciula treats every guest like family.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

When you walk into the renovated Palm Restaurant in the Westin Buckhead Atlanta Hotel<\/a>, you\u2019re greeted with a big smile by General Manager Andrei Caciula. A Brookhaven resident, he started working at various Palm locations (there are 28 throughout the U.S.) as a busboy at age 22 and has been with the company ever since. He has a passion for hospitality and makes it his mission to learn the names and stories of many a Palm guest, from the regulars whose caricatures are painted on the walls to the younger generation who just discovered it.<\/p>\n

Caciula learned about hospitality from now deceased General Manager Willy Celluci, as well as his own father, a winemaker. \u201cHe was always teaching me that when you do your job, you have to do a little extra. That little extra is what defines you. It\u2019s what pushed me from a server assistant to a server to a bartender to a manager and so on,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Nowadays, you can find him roaming the dining room, chatting with guests and telling stories of days past. In his spare time, he likes to garden, hike and spend time with his wife and 2-year-old daughter.<\/p>\n

What are your favorite items on the menu?<\/strong> Veal parmigiana and the lamb chops. The [secret] to the parmigiana is the Muenster cheese we use. For the lamb chops, it\u2019s the cut of the meat that\u2019s nice and juicy, served with a mint sauce. Steak and lobster are what we\u2019re known for. Our lobster is out of this world.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most stressful day you\u2019ve ever had at The Palm?<\/strong> It was Father\u2019s Day, and there was a storm in Atlanta. We ship in our lobsters on a daily basis. The lobsters arrived a little too late and couldn\u2019t pass through customs fast enough to get here for dinnertime. We already had the first seating of our guests who had come to eat surf \u2019n\u2019 turf. We had to hold them with many appetizers and extra glasses of wine. Then we had to feed them steaks first and wait for the lobsters to arrive. Around 7 p.m., the lobsters arrived in the restaurant, and the guests were pretty positive about it.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the most interesting thing that\u2019s ever happened at work?<\/strong> My first day I was working as a server assistant was Valentine\u2019s Day. I was astonished by something I saw in the kitchen. I was bringing plates to the dishwasher station and saw the dishwasher directing everyone and motivating them. I thought if a dishwasher has so much power to direct everyone, it must be a really good place to work. Later, I found out the dishwasher was the executive chef. The dishwasher hadn\u2019t shown up, and the chef took it upon himself to do the dirtiest job. It was amazing to see.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the best way to get a reservation when The Palm is fully booked?<\/strong> I would suggest people call and let us know they are coming, and then come have a cocktail or appetizer on us to make their wait not so painful. The longest wait I\u2019ve seen here is 45 minutes or an hour. At the end of the day, people come for an experience. It\u2019s not just about having dinner at 7 p.m. It\u2019s about having a cocktail, a conversation and dinner.<\/p>\n

THE PALM RESTAURANT ATLANTA
\nThe Westin Buckhead Hotel
\n3391 Peachtree Road N.E.
\nAtlanta 30326
\n404.814.1955
\n thepalm.com\/atlanta<\/a><\/p>\n

STORY: Carly Cooper<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

General Manager Andrei Caciula treats every guest like family. When you walk into the renovated Palm Restaurant in the Westin Buckhead Atlanta Hotel, you\u2019re greeted with a big smile by General Manager Andrei Caciula. A Brookhaven resident, he started working at various Palm locations (there are 28 throughout the U.S.) as a busboy at age…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":8078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[18,530],"tags":[4031,4035,4032,4033,4034],"thb-sponsors":[],"yoast_head":"\nBIG SMILES AT THE PALM – Simply Buckhead<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BIG SMILES AT THE PALM – Simply Buckhead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"General Manager Andrei Caciula treats every guest like family. When you walk into the renovated Palm Restaurant in the Westin Buckhead Atlanta Hotel, you\u2019re greeted with a big smile by General Manager Andrei Caciula. A Brookhaven resident, he started working at various Palm locations (there are 28 throughout the U.S.) as a busboy at age…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Simply Buckhead\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LivingWellATL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/LivingWellATL\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-01-04T15:00:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-02-13T14:39:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Andrei-Caciula_-The-Palm-GM.jpg?fit=571%2C800&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"571\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/carlyfcooper\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SimplyBuckhead\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carly Cooper\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Simply Buckhead Magazine\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LivingWellATL\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/simplybuckhead\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SimplyBuckhead\"],\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#logo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Simply-Buckhead-Logo-22.png?fit=1290%2C650&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Simply-Buckhead-Logo-22.png?fit=1290%2C650&ssl=1\",\"width\":1290,\"height\":650,\"caption\":\"Simply Buckhead Magazine\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#logo\"}},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/\",\"name\":\"Simply Buckhead\",\"description\":\"Your Guide to Living Well in Atlanta\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Andrei-Caciula_-The-Palm-GM.jpg?fit=571%2C800&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Andrei-Caciula_-The-Palm-GM.jpg?fit=571%2C800&ssl=1\",\"width\":571,\"height\":800},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/\",\"name\":\"BIG SMILES AT THE PALM – Simply Buckhead\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-04T15:00:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-13T14:39:55+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BIG SMILES AT THE PALM\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#webpage\"},\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#\/schema\/person\/28adcf4cbf76e94adf693eb3e5482568\"},\"headline\":\"BIG SMILES AT THE PALM\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-01-04T15:00:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-02-13T14:39:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#webpage\"},\"wordCount\":603,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Andrei-Caciula_-The-Palm-GM.jpg?fit=571%2C800&ssl=1\",\"keywords\":[\"General Manager Andrei Caciula\",\"General Manager Willy Celluci\",\"THE PALM RESTAURANT ATLANTA\",\"The Westin Buckhead Hotel\",\"What\u2019s the best way to get a reservation when The Palm is fully booked?\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Simply Delicious\",\"Tastemaker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#\/schema\/person\/28adcf4cbf76e94adf693eb3e5482568\",\"name\":\"Carly Cooper\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#personlogo\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Carly-Cooper-Bio-96x96.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Carly-Cooper-Bio-96x96.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Carly Cooper\"},\"description\":\"Foodie Tastemaker Columnist at Simply Buckhead. Contributing Editor at Atlanta Magazine. Restaurant Aficionado and Mother of Two.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\",\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/LivingWellATL\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/carfeltcoop\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/simply-buckhead-magazine\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/carlyfcooper\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/author\/carlycooper\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BIG SMILES AT THE PALM – Simply Buckhead","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BIG SMILES AT THE PALM – Simply Buckhead","og_description":"General Manager Andrei Caciula treats every guest like family. When you walk into the renovated Palm Restaurant in the Westin Buckhead Atlanta Hotel, you\u2019re greeted with a big smile by General Manager Andrei Caciula. A Brookhaven resident, he started working at various Palm locations (there are 28 throughout the U.S.) as a busboy at age…","og_url":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/","og_site_name":"Simply Buckhead","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LivingWellATL","article_author":"https:\/\/facebook.com\/LivingWellATL","article_published_time":"2016-01-04T15:00:51+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-02-13T14:39:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":571,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Andrei-Caciula_-The-Palm-GM.jpg?fit=571%2C800&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/carlyfcooper","twitter_site":"@SimplyBuckhead","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Carly Cooper","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#organization","name":"Simply Buckhead Magazine","url":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/LivingWellATL","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/simplybuckhead\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/SimplyBuckhead"],"logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#logo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Simply-Buckhead-Logo-22.png?fit=1290%2C650&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/12\/Simply-Buckhead-Logo-22.png?fit=1290%2C650&ssl=1","width":1290,"height":650,"caption":"Simply Buckhead Magazine"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#logo"}},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/","name":"Simply Buckhead","description":"Your Guide to Living Well in Atlanta","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#primaryimage","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Andrei-Caciula_-The-Palm-GM.jpg?fit=571%2C800&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Andrei-Caciula_-The-Palm-GM.jpg?fit=571%2C800&ssl=1","width":571,"height":800},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#webpage","url":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/","name":"BIG SMILES AT THE PALM – Simply Buckhead","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2016-01-04T15:00:51+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-13T14:39:55+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BIG SMILES AT THE PALM"}]},{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#webpage"},"author":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#\/schema\/person\/28adcf4cbf76e94adf693eb3e5482568"},"headline":"BIG SMILES AT THE PALM","datePublished":"2016-01-04T15:00:51+00:00","dateModified":"2020-02-13T14:39:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#webpage"},"wordCount":603,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Andrei-Caciula_-The-Palm-GM.jpg?fit=571%2C800&ssl=1","keywords":["General Manager Andrei Caciula","General Manager Willy Celluci","THE PALM RESTAURANT ATLANTA","The Westin Buckhead Hotel","What\u2019s the best way to get a reservation when The Palm is fully booked?"],"articleSection":["Simply Delicious","Tastemaker"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/big-smiles-at-the-palm\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#\/schema\/person\/28adcf4cbf76e94adf693eb3e5482568","name":"Carly Cooper","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/#personlogo","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Carly-Cooper-Bio-96x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/Carly-Cooper-Bio-96x96.jpg","caption":"Carly Cooper"},"description":"Foodie Tastemaker Columnist at Simply Buckhead. Contributing Editor at Atlanta Magazine. Restaurant Aficionado and Mother of Two.","sameAs":["https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com","https:\/\/facebook.com\/LivingWellATL","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/carfeltcoop\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/simply-buckhead-magazine\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/carlyfcooper"],"url":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/author\/carlycooper\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Andrei-Caciula_-The-Palm-GM.jpg?fit=571%2C800&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p59OHf-26h","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8077"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8077"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8077\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8077"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8077"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8077"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/simplybuckhead.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=8077"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}