It has been a hot summer at Date Night Headquarters in Marietta. No travel for us, but we have been able to get out every now and then and bring home some excellent takeout food. As cooler weather approaches, one place you will want to put on your takeout radar is Spring.

Located right on the tracks behind Marietta’s Square, it’s easy to miss if you don’t know it’s there. (There is no extra charge for poetry on this blog.). Just follow the sign.

Owner and head chef Brian So has put Spring on the map. His dining room is postage stamp-sized, so to allow people to sit in there socially distanced would only let a couple of tables to be seated at a time. Bring on the customer pickup, which appears to be thriving.

The night we visited, there were three guys running food to cars that were parked across the street. They looked tired. A couple of minutes later, our food is home. Presentation is everything.

We actually had to order a day in advance. They have changed things now so that you can order the same day and go get it. Order early, or you may not get what you want. Menus change often, so you might not see the fried chicken on their pickup site.

We are sure their other offerings are as good as this chicken, but this is amazing fried chicken. All fried chicken should be this good. For $25, you can feed two people and have leftovers. The chicken comes with two honey biscuits, mashed potatoes, and collard greens. Because Spring is normally an expensive, fancy restaurant that you visit on special occasions, we get out our good plates for the meal.

Up close, it looks like this…

We are perfectly happy with this meal, but we order something that makes us even more ecstatic.

Sure, we already have biscuits, but why not add a polenta sourdough bread to the plate?

It’s crunchy on the outside, soft and warm on the inside. The loaf lasts the entire week, so it keeps on giving after your meal is over.

Dessert is cute, and some assembly is required.

The sweet corn custard comes with blueberries, caramel corn and corn powder. Put them all together, and it looks like this:

It’s a sweet, light ending to a fried-food meal.

We are too full to eat the complimentary sugar cookies in our bag.

Don’t worry–they were gone the next day.

The verdict: This is the best takeout meal we have eaten since the COVID-19 mess started in March. We would normally not eat at Spring unless we were celebrating a special occasion. Now, you don’t need any occasion to enjoy Chef So’s cooking. This special opportunity will eventually go away once the old normal becomes the new normal again, so take advantage of it while you can.