Team Spotlight: Ty Kelly
Ty Kelly, Assistant General Manager, Politan Row at Ashford Lane
Hometown: Pasadena, CA
What brought you to Atlanta? And how long have you been here?
I am in Atlanta since 2020. I was chasing love and adventure and got both. I came here for my partner, and we definitely have had some adventures, and now we’re engaged to be married.
How long have you been working in Food & Beverage?
My roots are in food and beverage for sure. From there I also grew into the events business, and then into project management and operations management. Going in that direction kind of grew me out of food and beverage as I kind of chased the projects. When I came to Atlanta, I thought, you know what, I miss that scene. Let's see how I can kind of marry the two and get back into that.
You have been with us at Politan Row at Ashford Lane since we opened. What keeps you here?
I would say the room to grow. Absolutely. I think that the management team at Politan Row has really created a space where they're constantly enriching you and teaching you new things. They always are asking “what else are you interested in and how can we feed that?”. That’s the main thing that keeps me here is being able to learn so many different aspects of the space and the business. The food hall business is a little bit different than typical restaurant work, and get be on the team and learn from some really amazing people.
Speaking of food, do you have a favorite dish from any of our incredible vendors?
This is so hard! I can literally name a dish for each and every vendor that I love dearly. I think my love affair started with the crispy thin naan pizzas from Tandoori Pizza & Wing, Co. with the chutney. Then I started kind of leaning into Sheesh and, and their Mediterranean options. How wonderful is that Chicken Shawarma and the salad? Bucatini, my gosh, their pizzas. They have the big oven and the crust is so perfect. I love the Curry from 26 Thai, and the chicken sandwich at Delilah’s is like I’m dreaming. I can go on and on.
Let’s move from food into drinks, tell me what your favorite cocktail is that we serve?
That one is so easy, because I literally get it any chance I get. The bartenders at Okay Anny’s know that it's my drink, and when I'm working back there, the first thing I tell customers is you have to try “Ah, Push It”. It’s just perfectly balanced. It's not so sweet. It's creamy and it's up. I love my drinks up and tastes a lot like a Creamsicle. So nice.
When you're not at Politan Row, what are your hobbies and interests?
Oh. I'm a big fitness girly, so I'm usually doing something fitness related, and if I’m not at Politan Row there’s a good chance I’m on the Beltline. I'm also an arts and crafts girl. I do any arts and crafts I can get my hands on. I also do my own nails, so I basically have a whole nail salon set up at my home. I also like to get my hands dirty with DIY and maintenance projects.
Do you have any long-term goals or moonshots that you're working on?
Oh, yeah, so many things. I'm a big daydreamer. I think the biggest, moonshot would be to co-own a giant compound with a bunch of housing out the country somewhere with all of my family where they could all come live with me. Basically, like a little mini neighborhood where all my family can spend summers together. Most of my family still lives in LA, so I don’t get to see them as much as I would like. My brother and his wife moved here last year with their 3 girls, so it’s been great to get to know them see them so much.
I love to travel, and I love to really experience places. So, to live in other cities and countries and definitely like a dream of mine.