Saturday, November 14, 2015

What’s New on Pinterest


Not gherkin you around. National Pickle Day on November 14 is the real dill. The perky cukes come out of the jar to star on Pickles, Please. Cuban sandwiches, no-bread dill tuna “sandwiches,” dill pickle dip, dill pickle popcorn, oven-fried pickles with dill buttermilk ranch, pickle poppers, oven-baked pickles and a few rogues like spicy squash and kimchi refrigerator pickles. If pickles are your bread and butter, this board’s for you.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Master Pasta Making at Bellina Alimentari Culinary Club Pasta Classes November 19 and 23


Bellina Alimentari chef David Berry shows how to make delicious, fresh pasta to last through the holidays during two upcoming Culinary Club classes. Berry covers pasta making basics in a hands-on cooking class on Thursday, November 19 from 6-7 p.m. ($15 per person). Next up, your new holiday tradition! Make pillows of fresh creamy pumpkin-filled ravioli with melted butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano and sage sauce on Monday, November 23 from 6-7 p.m. When all is al dente, pasta prepsters will taste the pasta and sauces they’ve prepared together. ($20 per person). To save a seat in either class, stop by the Italian eatery and shop in Ponce City Market, email events@bellina-alimentari.com or call 404-330-9933. (Photo by Andrew Thomas Lee)

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Moxie Kitchen + Cocktails Coins Dishes for March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction November 12


Count Moxie Kitchen + Cocktails in the fundraising equation for worthy causes like the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction at the Omni Jacksonville Hotel on Thursday, November 12. Chef Tom Gray toques up with other Jacksonville, Florida chefs for the 6 p.m. event, creating the signature dishes and desserts that will prime guests for the night’s live auction. Tickets start at $250 each. Donations for the March of Dimes mission are gratefully accepted to fund the research, education, advocacy and programs that help more moms have full-term pregnancies and healthy babies.

Spice Trade Influences Chef Matthew Ridgway’s New Gypsy Kitchen Menu


Traditions live and breathe like the rest of us. Just ask Matthew Ridgway, executive chef of Gypsy Kitchen. In Ridgway’s kitchen, culinary traditions are dynamic, and The Shops Buckhead Atlanta restaurant’s rich repertoire of Spanish cuisine easily welcomes to the fold new recipes inspired by global spices and Southern harvests. New on the Gypsy Kitchen menu are Pinchos Calientes y Frios (hot and cold snacks) like marinated octopus salad, littleneck clams pipérade, foie gras escabèche and uni-stuffed eggs with colatura. The tapas menu welcomes hot mussels with red lentils, chorizo, torn basil and coconut milk; roasted cauliflower and quinoa salad; Pennsylvania duck al pastor with crushed white beans and tamarind ketjap manis; and tuna tartare-stuffed piquillo peppers. New Raciónes (entrées) include Georges Bank cod with green onion pil-pil, glazed eggplant and black garlic migas; braised Berkwood Farms pork jowl with romesco and roasted heirloom apples; and grilled yellowfin tuna fideo with toasted vermicelli short noodles and lemon confit. Looking ahead to 2016, groups of six to eight guests will be able to sit down to family style “Gypsy Kitchen Experiences,” three-course meals featuring entrées such as lobster and seafood paella, whole suckling pig or Moroccan lamb shoulder tagine served with a seasonal appetizer and salad. Ordered one week in advance, the experiences are a surefire way to spice up the cold months.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Shaun Doty Steals Away to Savannah Food & Wine Festival November 9-15


Summer hot-spot Savannah cooks up a storm next week when the Savannah Food & Wine Festival (SFWF) fans out across the historic coastal city November 9-15. Chef Shaun Doty is leaving his roosts at Bantam + Biddy and Chick-a-Biddy for a few days to contribute his talents to the annual eat-drink-repeat extravaganza of tastings, tours, classes and dinners. Doty and other regional and nationally recognized culinary talent, sommeliers and winemakers will pour themselves into a VIP Artisanal Supper of “Food, Drink & Music on the Green” at The Landings on Friday, November 13. From 7-10 p.m., guests can hobnob with chefs while sampling Georgia Grown and artisanal creations, wines, spirits and beer at indoor and outdoor culinary stations. Tickets for the dinner are $135 per person; purchase here. Chef Doty puts his own taste buds to work as a judge at SFWF’s huge Taste of Savannah event at the Georgia State Railroad Museum on Saturday, November 14 from 1-5 p.m. Buy tickets, $65 and up, here.

Dish Reader Exclusive: Invite to FIGO West Midtown Private Anniversary Party on November 11


FIGO Pasta loves any excuse to kick into festivities mode. There are still a few weeks until the holiday season begins, but why let that diffuse high spirits? In the meantime, FIGO West Midtown is celebrating its first anniversary on Marietta Street with a party on Wednesday, November 11 from 5-7:30 p.m. The restaurant will be closed to the public for the party, but the FIGO staff extends a special invitation to Dish readers to come on over for complimentary light bites, wine, cocktails and a free gift to take home. To put your name on the guest list, RSVP today to Nicole@melissalibbypr.com.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Atlanta Restaurants Salute Military Veterans with Veterans Day Specials November 11

Thank you Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard and Merchant Marines. U.S. Armed Forces have served our nation and work hard to protect freedom. In appreciation, Atlanta restaurants are honored to serve our veterans and active-duty military with specials and promotions on Veterans Day, Wednesday, November 11. Be sure to bring your military ID.
Der Biergarten slices 50 percent off the tab on November 11 to all active and retired military with presentation of military ID.
HOBNOB Neighborhood Tavern peels 20 percent off the lunch or dinner check for each veteran and his or her guest on November 11.
Show off dance floor maneuvers at Johnny’s Hideaway, where active and retired military will receive $11 off their bar tab. No minimum spending required.
Ray’s Restaurants marches out a 20 percent discount for all veterans and active duty military, plus one guest.
Head to Decatur where Revival trims 25 percent off the bill for all current and former military service members.
Saltwood Charcuterie & Bar will be offering 25 percent off for active military and veterans plus one guest on Veterans Day. Must show military ID or proof of military service to redeem.
Active and retired military can snag a complimentary appetizer at Smokebelly BBQ and The Big Ketch. Valid with purchase of an entrée and presentation of military ID.
Grab some FlexMex food at Tin Lizzy’s Cantina where all veterans will receive 50 percent off their food on Veterans Day.
White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia pays respect to veterans and active military with a 15 percent discount for purchases.
Willy’s Mexicana Grill rolls a 50 percent discount off meals for veterans and active military and their families. Must show military ID to redeem. Details here.

Stampede to Bellina Alimentari Today for Brasstown Beef “Meet the Farmer” Aperitivo


Bellina Alimentari believes melding strong links in the chain between farmers, consumers and chefs originates with meeting the people and food sources behind the plates...building a “plate”-onic relationship of sorts. This evening, November 10, the Ponce City Market Italian eatery and shop will host a “Meet the Farmer” aperitivo (a.k.a. Italian-style happy hour) from 5-7 p.m. in its Culinary Club area so guests can become more acquainted with Brasstown Beef, Bellina’s beef supplier. Chat with father and son cattle farmers Steve and Whit Whitmire while sipping a glass of wine and add a beefy nibble for $5 featuring Brasstown’s all-natural, aged beef. Ask “What’s your beef?” and the Whitmires will answer -- humanely raised on vegetarian feed, without receiving hormones or antibiotics, just across the border in North Carolina. 

Monday, November 9, 2015

What’s New on Pinterest


Halloween candy only counts as a dessert treat for a few days post-holiday. After that, give us something without a wrapper, please. Fall Desserts to the rescue with donut holes dressed up like acorns, snickerdoodle apple cobbler to scoop and bites of salted rosemary pecan brittle. For Cinderellas whose coaches turned back into pumpkins at midnight, there’s plenty o’ pumpkin in pumpkin Oreo cheesecake, salted caramel cake, no-bake spice latte bites, dreamboat dessert, pumpkin cannoli and a one-minute pumpkin spice mug cake when there’s no time to spare.

#Foodgram


Garden & Gun magazine points to Sedesh as one of Five Southern Chefs to Follow on Instagram. The sous chef at Hot & Hot and the new Oven Bird in Birmingham, Alabama, creates each plate as a masterpiece for eyes and palates. Out of the kitchen, he leans toward paints and canvas as the medium of choice. 

Sunday, November 8, 2015

Appetizing Aperture


What’s on the menu this fall at Guy Wong’s Le Fat? Bún: rice noodles topped with an aromatic herb salad, pickled daikon, crushed peanuts, and crispy grilled pork. Head over to the Westside for Wong’s take on Vietnamese comfort food. Dinner is served nightly beginning at 5 p.m. For more information, call 404-439-9850 or visit lefatatl.com.

Saltwood Bourbon Red Promo Struts Bourbon Cocktails and Turkey Small Plates Throughout November


Bird’s the word on the tip of the tongue and top of the table during the Bourbon Red bar promotion at Saltwood Charcuterie & Bar in the Loews Atlanta Hotel. Bourbon Reds are a handsome heritage turkey breed first introduced in the Kentucky bourbon belt. Good name for the special month-long menu boasting three bourbon-based cocktails and a trio of turkey-touting small plates, all of which will ruffle “the usual” feathers. Gobble turkey sliders ($6) with boiled peanut mustard and pickles paired with the Not So Old Fashioned ($10) cocktail twirling Jim Beam, muddled cranberries, Angostura bitters and soda. Smoked turkey wings ($10) with Manhattan barbecue sauce fly with Sage Advice ($12) mixing Wild Turkey, sour mix and muddled sage, and a turkey pastrami board ($9) of grilled bread, pickles and whole grain mustard stretches out next to a Rosemary Sparkler ($11) of Jim Beam Rye, red wine and Chambord.