Lobsterfest 101. Be nice. No clawing. Ray’s Restaurants has a direct line to succulent whole Maine lobsters for Lobsterfest, which is now available at all three locations -- Ray’s in the City, Ray’s on the River and Ray’s at Killer Creek. Appease crustacean cravings with a 1.25 pound whole Maine lobster, choice of artisan field greens or Caesar salad and a side choice of Yukon Gold whipped potatoes or chef’s vegetable du jour for $29.95 (excludes tax, gratuity, drinks). The “Summertime at Ray’s” two-course dinner menu is available for those who prefer surf & turf ($29.95) or wild salmon ($24.95) to making the Maine thing their main thing.
Seems every week someone in our office mentions being nuts about “that coconut drink.” And everyone knows exactly what coconut elixir they’re referring to: the Re Del Cocco cocktail ($9) at Bellina Alimentari. Turns out the elixir is a little more complicated and contains ingredients more challenging to pronounce than straight up coconut: Encanto pisco, Don Ciccio & Figli Luna Amara, coconut crème, ginger, lime and mint. Maybe we’ll just stick with “that coconut drink.” And we’re definitely sticking with it.
Right before the back-to-school bell rings for most Atlantans,The Big Ketch Canton Street rolls out a backyard bash on the front yard grass on Sunday, July 31. The sociable Roswell seaside restaurant floats a family fun-filled Summer Lawn Party loaded with lawn games, live music and $4 mini lobster rolls to enthrall all ages. We don’t know if $1 grilled oysters offer pearls of wisdom, but they sure are tasty. Adults can gather liquid courage from $5 margaritas and mojitos -- to take on youngsters and drivers sipping lemonade, tea, soda and other alcohol-free (but no less spirited) beverages at the cash bar.
One year ago, Sandy Springs welcomed an old friend back to the fiesta when Ray’s Rio Bravo opened its doors. Tex-Mex fans, elated to see their friend return, wasted no time getting reacquainted over queso, margaritas and fresh-made tortillas from “El Machino” enfolding tacos and burritos. August marks anniversary “numero uno,” and Ray’s Rio Bravo founder Ray Schoenbaum and staff are excited about carrying the celebration throughout the month. During August, guests can dip into $1 cups of chili con queso or queso blanco.
Order a bottle or canned beer, and it will arrive in a commemorative koozie (supplies limited, one per customer per visit). On Wednesday, August 3, all guests will receive a complimentary mini birthday dessert to celebrate Ray’s Rio Bravo’s anniversary.
Croon, swoon or simply sit back and sip a small batch bourbon, fashionable cocktail or cold craft beer while listening to live music Friday and Saturday nights at The Southern Gentleman. Come in and enjoy a bite to eat before the music begins at 9 p.m. in the bar area of this Buckhead gastropub. The inaugural month lineup of music includes Americana, “Roots & Soul,” a modern day troubadour and more:
There’s no need to wait until dinner to dine at 5Church. The swanky new Midtown restaurant now serves lunch from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Monday through Friday. While exciting Atlanta palates with a progressive American dinner menu, chef RJ Cooper and 5Church partner/chef Jamie Lynch have been keeping their fingers on the city’s midday meal pulse. Their fresh takes on appetizers, sandwiches, salads and entrées will appeal to appetites large and small, adventurous and tame. Our crew is already hankering for the 5Church lamb burger sporting red onion marmalade, Gorgonzola fondue and arugula served on a house-made sesame bun along with hand-cut fries; Peach & Lord’s country ham flatbread with peach-heirloom tomato coulis, arugula and ricotta salata; oyster po’ boy with hand-cut fries; and Peruvian roasted chicken salad sandwich with hand-cut fries. For Midtown professionals and residents, High Museum and Woodruff Arts Center visitors, come noon, the coolest spot to lunch is 5Church. And baby, you can drive your car because 5Church validates parking for guests using the Colony Square deck.
Truthfully, you don’t stand a chance of standing up on that BOTE SUP if you fail to buy a raffle ticket at Ormsby’s before the July 30 drawing. Furthermore, all raffle proceeds go to the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, which needs your support to protect and preserve the Chattahoochee River Basin. How to? Through July 30, buy $5 raffle tickets for chances to win a high-quality BOTE standup paddle board. Additionally, Ormsby’s is donating $1 from every SweetWater brew sold, June through July, to the environmentally conscious organization. Cold brews, hip board, friendly bar. Summer doesn’t get much sweeter.
Did someone say tomatoes? Chef Joey Ward and the Gunshowcrew nailed first place for their tomato “sandwich” at the Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival on July 17. The next best thing to tomatoes on sliced bread (or dining at Gunshow) is to marinate in kitchen wisdom and wizardry from Ward at the Ponce City Farmers Market chef demo on Tuesday, July 26. Chef demos are held in The Shed covered space at the 4-8 p.m. weekly market.
Is there a lean-on-me pantry staple that segues from picnic to potluck to tailgate more successfully than pasta? Hallelujah for Pastas to be Praised, a year-round mealtime savior. Show off summer’s fresh veggies in pasta with corn, zucchini and tomatoes or play up shrimp with tomatoes and spinach in a garlic butter sauce. Ever-flexible pasta salads please dill pickle lovers, BLT cravers and Caesar salad hailers alike. And then there’s the lasagna noodle, planking in Tricia Yearwood’s cowboy lasagna with pepperoni and green chili and chicken pasta or folding around family pleasing, easy-to-serve cheese rollups. Yep. We’re praising pasta. Can we get an amen out there in Pinterestland?
Squeal, we must! Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails is unleashing the second Whole Hog Hootenanny in its summer series of smokin’ hot barbecue blowouts. Starting at 5 p.m. on Sunday, July 31, gather on the patio and front lawn of the historic Crabapple restaurant to partake in an all-you-can-eat extravaganza of roast pig, pulled pork, ribs, smoked chicken, beloved barbecue sides, sweet treats and more. Jump into live game fun and move those legs to live music between plates. Cash bar wrangles thirsts. Hog tie August 28 and September 25 on your calendar for the remaining 2016 Whole Hog Hootenanny events. Available online through Eventbrite, tickets for all-you-can-eat barbecue are $35 per person (plus service fee; includes gratuity).
For the best lobster rolls, go deep. Deep into cool Maine waters for lobsters and deep down to the bottom of the dinner menu at Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar in Marietta. Drift’s much-raved-about lobster roll floats among the sandwiches ($25). Catch one New England-style, served cold with lemon mayo, or bite into a decadently hot buttery roll. Either way, fries and slaw anchor the plate.
James Beard award-winning chef RJ Cooper is stepping out from newly opened 5Church Atlanta at 14th and Peachtree streets to lead the Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) Simple Abundance class on Monday, August 8 from 7-9 p.m. at The Cook’s Warehouse Midtown. Hailing from its original Charlotte, North Carolina location and Charleston, South Carolina, 5Church made a wise choice selecting chef Cooper to lead its new Midtown Atlanta location. Over his years working with chefs Eric Ripert, Guenter Seeger and Gilbert LeCoze and growing through his own executive chef experiences, Cooper developed his unique progressive style, grounded in French cooking fundamentals and showcasing local ingredients. Class includes demonstration, wine tastings and a chance to win door prizes. Register online; $55 per person.
We could swear we saw Santa sporting swim trunks and sunscreen while running the Peachtree. He’s training for the holiday party season that will race in faster than one can lap the last drip off that boozy snow cone. Gypsy Kitchen and The Southern Gentleman are looking ahead past fall and adding incentives for party planners who do likewise. If your crystal ball shows a seated dinner, happy hour, luncheon, social or a takeover-the-restaurant event on the holiday horizon, note that the two restaurants in The Shops Buckhead Atlanta are handing out gift cards to those who book events by August 31. Gift card ratios are $50 for events under $1,000; $75 for $1,000 to $2,000; $100 for $2,000 to $5,000; $200 for $5,000-$10,000; and $300 for bashes more than $10,000. Additionally, early bookings receive a complimentary bottle of bubbly for every 10 people in the party. Something to toast while roasting in the July and August sun.
The new lunch menu at Ray’s Rio Bravo in Sandy Springs is a game changer, injecting a fresh Tex-Mex punch into the daily routine. Start with a few group-friendly munchables like “no beans about it” Texas chili Frito pie ($8), duck meat-filled “Taquito Quackers” ($12) or crispy mole chicken wings ($9). Crisp “Field Fare” includes the Meredith D. salmon salad with pineapple-marinated salmon, grilled avocado, roasted corn, pico de gallo, cilantro-lime vinaigrette and cortija crisps ($15). Take the fork in the road toward Tex-Mex and Texican specialties such as the fried grouper tacos that come with three soft flour tortillas -- two hold fried grouper, grilled jicama-tortilla slaw, chipotle aioli and pineapple salsa -- and one catches the drop outs ($14). Fajitas sizzle their way to the table over a bed of sautéed onions and peppers with compadres of lettuce, guac, pico de gallo, El Machino flour tortillas, rice and refried beans ($18 steak; $10 roasted veggie; $12 chicken). When it’s not lunch without a sandwich, grab the Texas brisket sandwich boasting house-smoked brisket, grilled jicama-tortilla slaw, pickled jalapeños, grilled red onion, barbecue sauce and mango on a challah bun with fries ($12). Depending on how your day is going, opt for Ray’s house-made lemonade or a potent margarita. Ray’s Rio Bravo opens for lunch at 11 a.m. seven days a week. Si, lunching along the Rio is “Rio” grand.
Atlanta chef, restaurateur, speaker and cookbook author Kevin Gillespie welcomes Billy Cole to his Gunshow team. Cole, the first pastry chef for the Glenwood Park restaurant, totes a well-balanced background that includes 12 years of culinary experience in both the pastry and savory sectors. The innovative chef comes to Gunshow from The Luminary, a French brasserie where he served as chef de cuisine for two years. Before The Luminary, Cole was the assistant pastry chef under James Beard Award semi-finalist Aaron Russell at Restaurant Eugene for four years. His foundation-building timeline includes overseeing pastry production for The Chocolate Bar in Decatur and staging at Michelin-starred restaurants In de Wulf in Dranouter, Belgium, and Manresa in Los Gatos, California. The graduate of the Natural Gourmet Institute in New York began his culinary career working for chef Richard Blais in Atlanta as chef de partie at Element Gastro Lounge and Food Lab, then as sous chef at Home Restaurant & Bar and at culinary production company Trail Blais. Calling Gunshow “Atlanta’s best sounding board for culinary creativity,” Cole loves the freedom of “not being restricted to one genre of cuisine...and being surrounded by so many great young chefs in the Gunshow kitchen.” Taste and see what he’s all about --- the restaurant serves dinner Tuesday through Saturday from 6-9 p.m. Reservations are recommended and can be made one month in advance online.
Keeping up with the latest technological advances is one of the key challenges facing Atlanta’s food and beverage industry, especially when it comes to staffing. To help hospitality workers understand those challenges and advances, Nosh Talks, the networking organization for the city’s restaurant industry, is hosting the Restaurant NEXT: Technology & Staffing Panel. This can’t-miss event takes place Monday, July 25, at Monday Night Brewing (670 Trabert Ave., NW) from 2-5 p.m. Nosh Talks is teaming up with SPLIT, the platform that allows users to pay restaurant and bar bills from their mobile devices, to host the event that includes light bites and signature beers from Monday Night Brewing. Additionally, Nosh Talks is partnering with Culinary Agents, a professional networking and job matching website for the food, beverage and hospitality industry, to launch an Atlanta job board on the Nosh Talks website. See the page debut during the Restaurant NEXT event. Tickets, available through Eventbrite, are $15 for industry members and $35 for non-industry guests. For more information and to discover ways to get involved, go to noshtalks.com or follow Nosh Talks on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Avión tequila flights to National Tequila Day are now boarding at Tin Lizzy’s Cantina locations, and they will continue to take off through the salt-rimmed day itself, Sunday, July 24. The FlexMex taqueria is celebrating “Top Gun” style, lining up $10 flights of three (one ounce) pours of Avión tequila, including Silver, Reposado, Añejo and espresso varieties. From drinks to food and seating to service, Tin Lizzy’s does everything first class. Flights will land on tables atop Avión-branded wooden paddles, and generously sized tables easily accommodate any of more than 25 soft tacos, quesadillas, specialty skillets and other items on the FlexMex menu. Flights depart when lunch service starts, 11 a.m. daily at all Tin Lizzy’s locations.
2 p.m. or 2 a.m. No telling when inner screams for ice cream call out. Sublime Doughnuts scoops their homemade ice cream 24 hours a day, seven days a week at both the Midtown and North Druid Hills stores. Ice cream is crafted from high-quality ingredients in edgy, artisanal flavors just like in Sublime’s doughnuts. The shops use Italian ice cream-making equipment to churn out lick-and-love flavors like orange dream, white chocolate Oreo, Cinnamon Toast Crunch and salted caramel. And, to think they’re accessible 24/7! Sublime Doughnuts is located at 535 10th Street, NW and 2566 Briarcliff Road, NE.
Tickets for
the 15th annual Taste of Atlanta are
now on sale. Atlanta’s must-do food festival is already on your calendar for
October 21-23 so jump on buying tickets before prices rise August 1. General
admission is $20; fork over $65 for tickets to the VIP Grand Tasting Experience
with exclusive tasting opportunities. Starting August 1, ticket prices rise to
$25 general admission and $75 VIP. Enjoy more, save more by purchasing tickets
now for the special Friday night kickoff party featuring drool-worthy bites
from The Optimist, Marlow’s
Tavern and Colletta. Pay $55 for general
admission tickets and $70 for VIP access to this event through July 31 or
$65/$85 starting August 1. For those new to Atlanta, Taste of Atlanta is an
unforgettable food, craft beer, wine and cocktail festival where guests savor
tastes and spirits from Atlanta’s hottest restaurants and trendsetting chefs.
Admission to the festival nets each guest 10 “Taste Points” to purchase
nibbles, bites, sips and samples. Additional “Taste Points” are available for
$1 each. Nibble on the list of participating restaurants,
including Seed Kitchen & Bar, The Big Ketch and Smokebelly BBQ and start craving!
Visit TasteofAtlanta.com and
follow updates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Cotton Calf Kitchen chef Javier Viera and the wine wizards at United Distributors are setting the table for an oenophile’s delight on Wednesday, July 20 -- an intimate four-course dinner with wine pairings at the contemporary, classic American steakhouse in historic downtown Braselton. A quick peek at Viera’s menu shows tempting unions of wild cobia sashimi and chilled tomato consommé with Stag’s Leap Karia chardonnay, Napa Valley; pan-roasted rabbit filet with saffron mashed potatoes, Romesco sauce, braised Brussels sprouts and crispy prosciutto served with Villa Maria pinot noir, Marlborough; 10-ounce Manhattan steak with risotto croquettes and sautéed wild mushrooms with Conn Creek cabernet sauvignon, Napa Valley; and dulce de leche trifle with Nicolas Feuillatte Brut Champagne, France. Seats are limited for the 6-9 p.m. dinner; $135 per person (includes tax and gratuity). Call 706-684-0410 for reservations.
