It's Follow Friday; Meet Our Tweep of the Week @TasteofAtlanta

The orchestrators of Atlanta's premier food festival, Taste of Atlanta, know that their market tweets between bites.  

To satisfy the steady diet of food info festival fans demand, they're using Twitter to send out quick info bites and the website for meatier portions.  

Join in and stay in the know -- Taste of Atlanta is this weekend, October 23 and 24 at Tech Square in Midtown!

Halloween Happenings Around Atlanta

Get your spook on all week long at Halloween events being held throughout the city October 22 - 31!

Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Food is offering something fun for both adults and kids in celebration of this spooky holiday. Visit this Buckhead established anytime between Friday, October 22 and Sunday, October 31 to try the limited-time Halloween Margarita. On Halloween day, children decked out in their Halloween attire will receive a free kid's meal with the purchase of a regular entree after 4 p.m. While there, children can participate in the Uncle Julio's costume contest taking place at 5 p.m. The contest winner will receive a $100 Uncle Julio's gift card.

Make your way to your favorite Atkins Park Tavern location on Wednesday, October 27 to put your pumpking carving skills to the test in the APT pumpkin carving contest. Atkins Park will be providing pumpkins and carving tools, all you've got to do is show up and carve your heart out! While you're carving, both locations will be playing scary movies to help inspire you and get you in the Halloween spirit. First place winners will win an Atkins Park gift certificate! Return Saturday, October 30 dressed in your spookiest gear for the annual Atkins Park Halloween party and costume contest. The party starts at 9 p.m. and will include a DJ spinning tunes throughout the night. Cash prizes will be given out at the witching hour to the best male and female costumes!

Deadwood Saloon's Halloween event line-up will have you howling with joy and coming back for more all weekend long. On Friday, October 29, the Midtown Scary Party Pub Crawl kicks off at Deadwood at 8 p.m. and will include drink specials, a raffle and three costume contests. The pub crawl will consist of nine different bars and tickets are $10 if purchased before October 29 and $15 at the door. Return on Saturday, October 30 for Midtown's Haunted Mansion Party beginning at 9 p.m. Tickets to the party are only $10 per person and include admission to Deadwood, Lava Lounge, Door 44, Cosmopolitan and The Parlour. The Halloween fun continues Sunday, October 31 as Deadwood hosts a "come as your scary self" industry party starting at 5 p.m. The night will consist of food and drink specials along with football viewing at the bar.

For those of you Outside the Perimeter, visit Aqua Blue on Saturday, October 30 for the 9th Annual Aqua Boo Halloween Monster Bash. Along with creepy cocktails and ghoulish appetizers, the night will feature a la carte dining from 4 to 10 p.m. Come dressed to impress and ready to dance the night away as the DJ starts spinning at 9 p.m. and the costume contest is at 11 p.m. The contest will consist of $300 in cash and prizes for the lucky costume contest winner!

Get your groove on at Ormsby's on Saturday, October 30 for their Halloween party starting at 7 p.m. The night will feature DJ Mo'Tech spinning tunes for a costume dance off on the bocce court along with psychic readings and a costume contest.

Worried about what to do Halloween night? RA Sushi's got you covered with Boo Bash 2010. The night will feature freakish Halloween decorations, food and drink specials, a costume contest and musical entertainment provided by the rock cover band, Mega Colliders. Complimentary tarot card readings will take place from 8 to 11 p.m., and the costume contest winners will be announced at 10 p.m. The first place winner will receive a $100 RA Sushi gift certificate, and the second place winner will receive a $50 gift certificate. RA Sushi's Flying Fish Lounge will feature specials from 8 to 11 p.m. Enjoy "Potent Potions" such as hot sake for $2, Pabst Blue Ribbon for $3, Chang Lager for $4, Uchi Red and White Wine for $5 and Chang Lager with sake for $6. RA Sushi's "Boo Bites" will consist of a variety of half-priced sushi and appetizers such as the Viva Las Vegas Roll, Pork Gyoza, Lobster Spring Rolls, Grilled Short Ribs and Spicy Tuna Roll.

If you're looking for a place to take the little ones to help them wind down from a sugar-filled weekend, look no further than The Original El Taco. On Halloween night, costumed kids will eat free from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Virginia Highland location.

Hmmm...what should I have for lunch?

Leave the brown bag and leftovers at home tomorrow and treat yourself to something yummy. Tomorrow, Friday, October 22, Pacci Ristorante is providing a box lunch at Fall Friday Lunches sponsored by the Midtown Alliance. I can go ahead and tell you this isn't the type of box lunch you had as a kid, gone are the days the bologna sandwich, celery sticks and Squeeze-Its.

Fork over a $10 spot and pick up your lunch beginning at 11:30 a.m. until they're all gone at Bank of America Plaza, adjacent to the intersection of Peachtree Street and North Avenue. Get an early start to the weekend and enjoy the live music that plays until 2 p.m.

Think Pink This Month at Atlanta Restaurants

Atlantans are wearing pink, walking miles and finding all kinds of ways to think pink for the cause of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  Atlanta restaurants are right in there with specials and events to raise awareness and funds for needed research and treatment.

Ray's Restaurants Corporate Executive Chef Tom McEachern has contributed more than 10 recipes to Johnnie Gabriel's newly released "Second Helpings"cookbook.  With October being National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the cause being close to McEachern's heart, all three Ray's Restaurants will be selling cookbooks to benefit Northside Hospital Breast Care Program.  Each $25 cookbook purchase at Ray's on the River, Ray's in the City and Ray's at Killer Creek comes with a $15 Ray's Restaurants dining card and sends $5 to Northside Hospital Breast Care Program.  Johnnie Gabriel has been in the baking business since 1989, opening Gabriel's Desserts in Marietta with her husband in 1996. 

Buy the "ONEHOPE and Pink Roll" special at RA Sushi between October 15 and November 15, and RA will donate 100 percent of "ONEHOPE and Pink Roll" profits to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Inc. (NBCF). The $15 special includes a glass of ONEHOPE 2009 California Chardonnay and RA Sushi's  signature Pink Roll featuring shrimp, kani kama crab mix and sriracha along with lettuce, avocado and cucumber wrapped in pink soy paper and served with a pink strawberry sauce.  California ONEHOPEwinery donates half of its profits to breast cancer awareness and five other causes.  The NBCF's mission is to save lives through early cancer detection and to provide mammograms to those in need.  

It will be easy to pick out Spice Market's W Atlanta Midtown home during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  The hotel and its three Atlanta sister hotels will be aglow in pink lighting for a month-long ThinksPINK campaign.  ThinksPINK offers throughout the month will benefit the Young Survival Coalition (YSC) of Atlanta as the organization works to ensure no young woman faces breast cancer alone.  Look for the pink lights when you come to the "Pups In Pink" patio event tonight at 7 p.m.  Nibble on exotic Spice Market fare and celebrate all things pink with guests from davefm, V103 and NBC's "Atlanta & Co."  You also can help by purchasing discounted ThinksPINK Cosmos in Whiskey Park & Living Room Bar throughout the month.  $1 from each special drink sold benefits YSC.

Get Your Fill of Food, Fun and Five Bone Rack at Taste of Atlanta This Weekend!

Taste of Atlanta at Tech Square in Midtown is the place to be seen eating and drinking this Saturday and Sunday, October 23 and 24. With more than 70 restaurants participating, you're sure to leave satiated. Some of the highlights include the following Atlanta celebrity chef demos:

• Woodfire Grill Executive Chef/Partner and "Top Chef" star Kevin Gillespie will be on the main cooking stage from 2:45 - 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.
• David DiCorpo of The Cook's Warehouse demonstrates his skills from 11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. on Sunday
• JCT. Kitchen & Bar Executive Chef Ford Fry moves in Sunday afternoon from 2:15 - 3 p.m. to prepare lobster Carolina Gold rice
• Pacci Ristorante Chef Keira Moritz leads two cooking lessons on Sunday. At 1 p.m., she'll prepare lavender brown sugar-glazed braised pork belly on the Farm to Festival cooking stage. At 3:30 p.m. on the main stage, she'll be part of a Pink Power demo, showing off beef short rib with creamy polenta and auctioning off a few "pink" items to raise money for Susan G. Komen Foundation.

You won't want to miss Five Bone Rack, an all-chef band staring Ford Fry and Brian Horn of JCT. Kitchen & Bar, Gary Mennie of Woodruff Arts Center, Joe Truex of Watershed and Zeb Stevenson of Livingston, performing on Sunday from 3:45 - 4:15p.m.

Admission to Taste of Atlanta ($25 advance purchase, $35 at event) includes 15 taste tickets (attendees can buy more), and VIP Experience guests ($75) also have access to wine/beer/cocktail tasting tents, educational seminars and the Barcraft Competition. Click here for tickets!

Gena Knox and Country Living: A Perfect Pairing in Stone Mountain

Want to know more about the cook behind the book?  Gena Knox and her soon-to-be-released cookbook “Southern My Way” ($34.95, Atlas Books) will be out at Country Living magazine’s three-day Country Living Fair at Stone Mountain Park Friday, October 22 through Sunday, October 24.  You can watch Knox in action on the Country Living kitchen stage as she gives cooking demos at 11 a.m. on Friday and noon on Saturday.  Then, after the demos you can get your book signed in the Country Living book signing venue adjacent to the Country Living General Store where Knox will be from 2 - 3 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.  In addition to Knox’s booth, there will also be artisans, country skill demonstrations, antiques, and food, so come out (rain or shine – exhibits are under cover) for what is sure to be a deliciously enjoyable event!  You can get your tickets in advance ($12 daily/$15 weekend pass) or at the door ($15 daily/$20 weekend pass).  Early bird passes are also available.

Woodfire Grill Pours Hirsch Wines This Wednesday

Photo by Fredrik Brauer

Looking for something to spice up your mid-workweek blues? Woodfire Grill is offering an exciting event this Wednesday, October 20. Chef/Partner Kevin Gillespie has a fabulous five-course menu planned to go with the wines of Sonoma, California's Hirsch Vineyards for a wine dinner you won’t want to miss. Gillespie has four savory courses and a dessert in mind to go with the following Hirsch wines (in order of courses): Cep Rose, 2008 Hirsch Vineyard Chardonnay, 2008 Hirsch "M" Pinot Noir, Hirsch Bohan Dillon Pinot Noir, 2007 Hirsch San Andreas Pinot Noir, plus a dessert wine. Reception begins at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. There are only 19 seats open to the public, so don't think about it too long. Make reservations now with your credit card for the $160 per-person, all-inclusive dinner by calling the restaurant at 404-347-9055.

Woodfire Grill: 1782 Cheshire Bridge Road; 404-347-9055

It's Follow Friday: Meet our Tweep of the Week @alisonlewis

Drop in on this fresh blog and find all kinds of food info.  Alison Lewis tweets for those who prefer shortcuts.  And boy, does Lewis have a long list of ingredients in her own life recipe:  food TV and media spokesperson, recipe developer, cookbook author, mom, food blogger, food educator, food photographer/stylist, nutritionist and president of Ingredients, Inc. in Birmingham, Ala. -- and lots more!  

Visit her blog, Ingredients, Inc., to add an extra dash of healthy, family friendly recipes and a generous shake of entertaining ideas to your bookmark list!

Ray's at Killer Creek Rolls Out New Sunday Brunch Menu This Weekend

Ray's at Killer Creek is changin’ things up a little bit with a new à la carte Sunday brunch menu starting this weekend. Executive Chef Tracey Bloom is making this mid-morning meal to-die-for with delicious new dishes like mascarpone-stuffed brioche French toast, green eggs and ham, steak and eggs and a homemade veggie frittata. Head on up to Alpharetta and be the first to check it out! Brunch is served from 10:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

Ray's at Killer Creek: 1700 Mansell Road; 770-649-0064

Hey mom! Can we get some meatloaf?!

This summer, Marlow's Tavern held its "Red, White and Brew" grilling recipe contest and had some great recipes to choose from. The big winner though is Steve Hartsock for his blue ribbon-winning Big Daddy's BBQ grilled meatloaf. This Saturday, October 16 from 3 to 5 p.m., Marlow's Tavern in Tucker is honoring contest winners with an open-to-all celebration featuring complimentary tastings of all winning recipes, drink specials and live music. In addition to tasting Hartsock's meatloaf, guests can try out recipes from the runners up: Jonathan LaLiberty's famous inside out burger; Jason Gates' root beer BBQ pork sandwich; peachy smoked pork loin from Lauren Cox; the teriyaki burger with chili ketchup from Lisa Mary Anglese; and Lisa Rodebush's grilled green beans.

Top winner Hartsock wins a Big Green Egg and has the honor of seeing his meatloaf on the tavern's fall/winter menu and knowing that Special Olympics Georgia will receive a donation each time a Marlow's guest orders his dish. So come out and enjoy all these contestants’ great recipes, grab yourself a few drinks, enjoy the live music and stay after to watch a game or two on TV.

Marlow's Tavern-Tucker: 4156 LaVista Road; 678-987-1197.

Pinkberry Party Tonight!

We're getting another Pinkberry in Atlanta - yay! Well, actually, in Marietta, but that's a technicality. Tonight is the party and tomorrow is the first day of business. Come to the new location in Merchant's Walk Shopping Center from 6 - 10 p.m., take in tunes from DJ Black Dominoes and sample your favorite flavors. There will be several chances to win FREE Pinkberry for a year: either be the first person in line when the party starts at 6 p.m. or enter your name for the three drawings that night. See you there!


Pinkberry Marietta: 1281 Johnson Ferry Road, Marietta; 770-977-9770.

A Taste of France Comes to Ray's On The River with Trimbach Wine Dinner

Ray's Restaurants Corporate Executive Chef Tom McEachern has put together the ultimate autumnal menu for the upcoming Trimbach wine dinner slated for Ray's on the River on Monday, October 18.  Maison Trimbach has been making fine French wines in the French region of Alsace since 1626.  

 The five-course dinner includes pairings of Trimbach's 2008 vintage.  McEachern starts the evening with hamachi tartare, a warm scallion compote and caviar, paired with Trimbach Pinot Gris, Reserve followed by a seafood sausage with peppered pineapple vinaigrette paired with Trimbach Riesling.  Miso-glazed sea bass with kimchee and steamed rice finds friendship with Trimbach Gewurztraminer.  

The next course, seared venison with elderberry gastrique and roasted root vegetables, is a warm companion for Trimbach Pinot Noir, Personelle.  Alsatian apple and plum strudel add the final sweet fall note.  $85 per person, all inclusive.  Make reservations by calling Julie at 770-952-4209 or by email.

We’ll Drink To That: Wine Wednesdays at Davio’s

More please!

This week brings a great new tradition to the middle of your work week when you stop by Davio’s in Phipps Plaza; Wine Wednesdays will have shoppers, diners and movie-goers alike cheering with a glass in hand!   

Each Wednesday night starting at 5 p.m. in their bar area, Davio’s will be featuring four wines and serve complimentary appetizers to snack on while you taste. The cost is $25 per person/ $40 per couple (plus tax & tip) with complimentary parking. 

What a perfect way to end a busy day of shopping or to start a great date night before hitting the movie theatre!  Make sure to visit Davio’s Facebook page for more information about the wines they’ll be featuring each week.

Cocktails for a Cure at Pacci Ristorante

Be a H.E.R.O. at Pacci Ristorante, a Kimpton restaurant, in October and November by ordering a Red Ribbon-themed cocktail. Pacci will donate $1 for each one of the three "Cocktails for a Cure" purchased from now through World AIDS Day on December 1 to non-profit HIV/AIDS service organization H.E.R.O. for Children (Hearts Everywhere Reaching Out for Children, Inc.). The three $10 cocktails for this year's Red Ribbon Campaign include:

•Rouge: Belvedere Vodka, Grand Marnier, Campari and fresh orange juice shaken with fresh raspberries
•Ruby Red: Belvedere Pink Grapefruit Vodka, Lillet Blanc, fresh grapefruit juice and simple syrup muddled with ginger coins and sparked with club soda
•VS Smash: Hennessy VS, Grand Marnier, 10yr Tawny Port and lemon juice muddled with pineapple and dusted with grated nutmeg

Money raised for H.E.R.O. will help improve the quality of life for children infected with and affected by HIV/AIDS across the state of Georgia.

Pacci Ristorante: 866 West Peachtree Street, NW, adjacent to the Hotel Palomar; 678-412-2402

This Friday Brings Aqua blue’s Beer Festival

Don’t forget about Aqua blue’s second annual Beer Festival this Friday, October 15. The Roswell restaurant and festival sponsor Eagle Rock Distributing Company are taking advantage of fabulous fall evenings by hosting the party outside on the restaurant's patio and lawn areas starting at 5 p.m. and adding live music from The Moonlight Band at 7 p.m. Festival attendees can savor the night's prix fixe tapas menu of eight dishes paired with eight different beers for $44 per person, including tax and gratuity. Menu items include hoisin BBQ ribs, sweet and spicy tuna roll, spicy pumpkin soup, smoked lamb lollipops, fried Gouda ravioli, oatmeal-crusted chicken tenders, Port-Salut beef sliders and a mocha German chocolate brownie. Beer pairings will include Magner's Irish Cider, Mothership Wit, Magic Hat #9, Southern Tier 2XIPA, Red Hook Late Harvest Autumn Ale, Southern Tier Harvest Ale, Magic Hat Hex and Kona Pipeline Porter.

Aqua blue: 1564 Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell; 770-643-8886

It's Follow Friday - Meet Our Tweep of the Week @Foodieville!

It's not like we're saying you won't see a victory in Athens this fall, but we are saying a surefire way to win points is to base your pre/post game chow-down plans on Kristen Phillip's @foodieville tweets or FoodieVille blog ideas.  

She lives in Athens so she has great foodie advice to ease your pain while you're swallowing your pride.  Phillips takes on "Reviewing Athens One Bite at a Time"... now, if the Dawgs could take it one winning play at a time...