This fall, a restaurant group in Vinings closed a nine-year concept and rebuilt the same room. The center's independent shops are giving a discount for a children's camp. The preservation society is raising money in the buildings it was formed to protect. On the hill above it all, a pair of 1980s office towers is getting a planned hospitality makeover. Each of these moves reworks something Vinings already had.
The coming week puts most of it on the calendar. The Partners Card discount week starts Friday, the Party for Preservation is Saturday night, and Cotto is now about a month into service.
Nine Years In, a New Menu in the Same Room
For nine years, chef Scott Kinsey and Alexis Kinsey ran Stockyard Burgers & Bones at 2850 Paces Ferry Road SE in Vinings Jubilee. In late September they opened Cotto Modern Italian in the same space, serving dinner nightly and weekend brunch, Atlanta Magazine reported. In March, What Now Atlanta said the swap was expected by the end of 2026, so it arrived a full season early.
Cotto isn't new to the Kinseys. They opened the first one in Gainesville, Georgia, three years ago, and their group also runs Taqueria Tsunami, Silla del Toro and Forno Vero. Scott sets the food for every one of those kitchens as executive chef, and he leads the Vinings kitchen himself each night.
The room is where the change shows most. The Kinseys gutted the old Stockyard interior, moved the bar and took out the half walls to open up the dining room. They added arches, niches and stucco walls in neutral tones with olive-green accents. Cotto seats 75 inside and 40 on the open-air patio, and it takes both reservations and walk-ins.
The menu runs from antipasti and pasta to mains and 10-inch wood-fired pizzas, and most plates are meant for sharing. Atlanta Magazine named the gnocchi, pollo saltimbocca and cacio e pepe as early favorites. The bar puts limoncello and spritzes next to old fashioneds and espresso martinis. The seasonal Fly Me to the Moon mixes vodka, lemon, apricot, Italicus and amaro. The Tuscan Ember, with Bulleit bourbon, amaretto, apple liqueur, amaro, apple juice and lemon, fits late October. The wine list carries 85 Italian offerings.
That's the pattern in small form. The operator, the address and the patio are the same, and the room and menu are new.
A Discount Week That Runs Through the Jubilee's Own Shops
The same approach of putting money back into what's already here explains the Jubilee's biggest retail event this fall. From Friday, October 23, at 6 p.m. through Sunday, November 1, at 7 p.m., Partners Card holders get savings at participating Jubilee shops. The money supports Camp Twin Lakes and its programs for children and families facing serious illnesses, disabilities and other challenges.
The Partners Card site lists the card at $80, with 20% off at participating retailers and restaurants during the ten-day window. Retailers may set exclusions, and alcohol is excluded at restaurants. The campaign says the full purchase price goes to Camp Twin Lakes, which reports more than 13,000 camp experiences each year.
These are the six participating Jubilee businesses:
- Hemline Vinings
- J.McLaughlin
- Redefine Home
- Waiting on Martha Home
- Southern Baked Pie Company
- Sugarcoat
The timing works in shoppers' favor. Two home shops are on the list, Redefine Home and Waiting on Martha Home, and the window closes on November 1, as hosting season gets close. Southern Baked Pie Company is on the list too. Twenty percent back on gifts, tableware or a holiday pie, with the whole card price going to a Georgia camp, is a quieter kind of shopping event than a mall sale. It also keeps the spending inside the center's own storefronts.
The Jubilee's one notable newcomer this year was national. Warby Parker held its grand opening on Saturday, July 25, 2026. But the businesses carrying this fall's charity week are the boutiques and home stores that give the Jubilee its character.
Saturday Night at Pace House
The Vinings Historic Preservation Society exists to look after the old buildings at the center of the village. On Saturday, October 24, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m., its annual Party for Preservation fills those buildings, Pace House and the Old Pavilion.
The fundraiser supports the Society's work on the oldest corner of the community. On Saturday you can walk out of a newly reworked restaurant on Paces Ferry and, a short drive away, raise a glass inside a building whose job is to stay the same.
The Society's events page lists the party as its main fall event for now and asks visitors to check back for more.
The Towers Are Next
The biggest example of the pattern sits at the corner of Cumberland Parkway and Paces Ferry Road, just inside I-285. 2727 Paces Ferry, formerly Paces West, is a pair of 18-story office towers totaling 640,000 square feet, built in the 1980s. Urbanize Atlanta reported in September that owner Insignia LLC has planned an "eight-figure capital investment" to reposition the property, with Newmark as leasing agent.
The plans call for:
- A coffee bar and café
- A restaurant space
- A tenant lounge and library
- New conference facilities and coworking areas
- Indoor-outdoor gathering areas
Insignia CEO Eti S. Lazarian told Urbanize Atlanta the goal is to reposition both towers
"around a hospitality-inspired workplace experience focused on thoughtful design, service, wellbeing, and connection."
No construction start or completion date has been announced, so for now this is a plan, not a job site. Even so, the plan follows the same approach as the Jubilee storefronts. The towers aren't being torn down for something new. They're being rebuilt from the inside around food, coffee and places to gather. If the restaurant and café space happen, Paces Ferry will have dining on both sides of the interstate interchange instead of mostly in the village.
The Week, Day by Day
Here's how October 22 through November 1 lines up for anyone staying close to home:
- Thursday, October 22. The Vinings Farmers Market runs Thursdays from 2:30 to 6 p.m. Its 2026 season was listed from March 19 through October, so this is one of the last market afternoons of the year.
- Friday, October 23. Partners Card savings start at 6 p.m. at the six participating Jubilee shops. Dinner at Cotto, which opens at 4 p.m. on Fridays, makes it an easy evening out.
- Saturday, October 24. Weekend brunch at Cotto, then the Party for Preservation at Pace House and the Old Pavilion from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
- Through Sunday, November 1. The Partners Card window closes at 7 p.m. on November 1, which leaves one more full weekend for gifts and holiday tableware.
The Kinseys decided to rebuild a room they already had instead of moving somewhere new. Homeowners face a similar choice before they sell. If you're deciding between updating the home you have or bringing it to market as it stands, The Katie McGuirk Team can help you sort out which changes buyers will pay for and which ones to skip. Contact Us whenever you're ready to talk it through.
