BROOKLYN — Brooklyn’s newest restaurant, Atlas, came about thanks to a couple who traded Chicago for a quieter life in small-town Michigan.

Abie Baldwin grew up on a dirt road just outside of Brooklyn — where her mom still lives — while Taylor Aue was born in suburban Detroit. The pair met in Chicago, married, and raised a family, with Aue owning and operating several restaurants over the years and Baldwin working as a landscape architect for one of the nation’s premier design firms.

But over their 20 years in Chicago, a less-hectic way of life continually called to them. “We used to come back every chance we could get to escape the city,” Aue said in an email interview. “We always talked about ditching the congestion and chaos of the city and moving back here someday.”

And so a few years ago, once their children were old enough, “we decided it was now or never.”

The couple had lived in Brooklyn for a year when they realized “the only thing we missed about city life was the access to good food, good drinks, and a quality atmosphere to enjoy them in,” Aue said.

“So we just thought about whatever it was that we liked about the various places we’d been over the years and then tried to wrap the best of everything all into one big idea that would really raise the bar for what it means to eat, drink, and live well in Brooklyn.”

With Aue’s restaurant experience and Baldwin’s eye for design, the couple opened Atlas, a restaurant, bar and market located at 123 N. Main St. that opened the first week of November 2024.

Atlas focuses on fresh, global flavors, with everything made from scratch using high-quality ingredients, Aue said, describing the eclectic menu as “a mix of flavors from around the world and familiar favorites done with a unique twist.”

Choices range from ceviche and grilled salmon to skirt steak and smash burgers. Vegetarians, vegans, and people avoiding things like gluten or dairy can all find choices to suit their needs.

In addition to the main dishes, the menu includes small plates and shareables. “The bar menu also offers a lot of unique and unusual flavors to explore,” Aue said. “And dessert is not something people tend to skip at Atlas, except when we’re sold out of our Chocolate Ganache Cake for the night — which is usually at least once a week!”

Atlas also has a small retail market at the front of the restaurant that stocks snacks, wines, craft beers, and more.

Where did the restaurant’s name come from?

The couple chose the name for multiple reasons. For one thing, “it sort of touches on the whole menu idea of flavors from across the map,” Aue said.

But the main reason is a literary one: a reference to Ayn Rand’s book “Atlas Shrugged.”

Actually, Aue said, he and his wife originally planned to name their new restaurant “Fountainhead,” after that Rand book. 

“But when we started talking to people about that, they all asked if there was going to be a fountain in the center, and we decided that wasn’t a conversation we wanted to keep having for the next 20 years, so we moved on to Rand’s next book! If our early success continues, perhaps ‘Fountainhead’ will be our next project.”

What is it about Rand’s writing that connects with the couple?

“What I love about Ayn Rand’s writing is that it speaks to the virtues of being creative, finding one’s own strength or passion, and choosing to live a life in pursuit of those things,” Aue said.

Business has been brisk ever since Atlas’ first day of operation. “We opened way busier than we ever expected,” Aue said, adding that they were so busy their first week that they ran out of food by Saturday night and had to close for two days to get re-stocked and re-prepped. 

And customer response has been extremely positive. “People are just so thrilled to have something new, unique, and exciting in the community,” Aue said, and the restaurant already had “regulars” by the end of the first week.

Diners have been coming not only from Brooklyn and the surrounding Jackson County/Lenawee County area, but from Ann Arbor, Toledo, and even the Detroit area as well.

“Every day we hear the exact same thing from our guests,” Aue said. “They love how different the menu is from everyplace else around here. They love the look and feel of the space. They love the genuine hospitality and the importance we place on that.”

The restaurant recently added a reservation portal, which Aue said is especially helpful to diners coming from a distance or who are meeting friends for a meal, to its website. The full menu can be viewed on the website as well.

Aue said he and Baldwin are very happy to be part of the positive developments happening in Brooklyn.

“We created Atlas not just to fill a big gap in the local restaurant market, but also to be a catalyst for further economic development in Brooklyn,” he said. “Atlas is certainly not the first new business to open in Brooklyn, and we won’t be the last.”

He noted that other buildings in the downtown area — most notably the long-shuttered Star Theater — have recently been sold to new owners who plan to revitalize them.

“The timing of these local investments could not be better for us, and we are just thrilled to be such a visible a part of the immense transformation that is happening in Brooklyn right now,” he said.

Atlas can be reached at 517-855-2882 or online at atlasbrooklyn.com.