Sip a Skinny Stiletto for a Good Cause

We girls just love our stilettos. Well, we do for five minutes until our feet start hurting! But The Stiletto at Fleming's will make you want to linger. Not only is this a 99-calorie cocktail priced at $6 before 7 p.m. but one hundred percent of the proceeds from this drink goes to the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade. Be sure to stop by and have one in October. After that, you might want to try the recipe below at home!

Fleming's is also recognizing Breast Cancer Awareness Month by partnering with Cline Cellars to raise funds for Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC). Cline Cashmere will be featured by the glass on Fleming's 5-6-7 menu thorough Monday, October 31. Silky smooth Cashmere tickles with big cherry, raspberry and chocolate notes with hints of cracked black pepper and plum. Always a charmer, pink ribbon wine charms from Cline will dress up Cashmere purchases while supplies last. Cline has contributed more than $200,000 to breast cancer foundations over the years; this year, they'll make a $25,000 donation to LBBC. Learn more on the winery's website.

The Stiletto

Prepared By Maeve Pesquera, Director of Wine

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1.25 oz. Hendrick's Gin

5 fresh blackberries

1 oz. Monin Sugar Free

0.5 oz. lime juice

As needed, top with diet ginger ale.

Directions:

Muddle blackberries with Monin Sugar Free. Add Hendrick's Gin. Shake. Strain and pour into martini glass. Top with diet ginger ale. Garnish with two blackberries on a black bar pick.

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar: 4501 Olde Perimeter Way in Perimeter Place Village; 770-698-8112.

Our Appetizing Aperture of the Week

When fall weather really hits, the best dinners are often the comforting ones!  We love Chicken and the Egg's spin on a comfort classic, Chicken and Dumplings.

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

Tara Raun has a saucy mouth, and she knows it.  Flaunts it.  Tweets it. Blogs under it. The creator of SaucyMouth.com and Saucy's Seasoning virtually invites readers into her kitchen where she relishes sharing foodie and family experiences.  Not only that, she's bi-coastal with Eugene, OR roots and Atlanta branches.  Catch her tweets (@TheSaucyMouth) for small, saucy doses.

Celebrate Pride in Style at Briza and Rooftop 866 on October 8

This weekend is the Atlanta Pride Festival and the perfect way to end a day of celebrating is at the Official Passport After-Party at Briza and Rooftop 866 in Midtown on Saturday, October 8.  DJ Scorpio and Evafe will handle the music and entertainment.  Plus, the party is hosted by Nicole Paige-Brooks and will feature performances by Shawnna Brooks, Latesha Shante Shuntel, Gia Sunflowers and Angelica D' Paige!  Enjoy drink specials all night and enter for a chance to win a weekend stay with champagne and strawberries at the Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel!  The party starts at 9 p.m. so don’t be late!

Briza and Rooftop 866: 866 West Peachtree Street, NW, adjacent to the Atlanta Renaissance Midtown Hotel; 678-412-2400.

October Is The Month To Celebrate Books That Help You Cook

Devoured a good cookbook lately? October is National Cookbook Month, and we have a (recyclable) shopping bag full of tantalizing cookbooks to chew! Near and dear to our aprons is Atlanta Cooks at Home, which highlights Atlanta's prominent chefs and dangles personal interviews between their recipes including plans for easy and noteworthy entertaining. Virginia Willis' newly released cookbook, Basic to Brilliant, Y'all: 150 Refined Southern Recipes and Ways to Dress Them Up for Company, is destined to be a staple in any modern Southern kitchen. Open Spice Market's newest release, Asian Flavors of Jean-Georges, for global inspiration. The Spice Kitchen: Everyday Cooking with Organic Spices by Katie Luber and Sara Engram is another spicy hot read.

From the sweet-tea brined pork shoulder to making sausage, Libbie Summers shows how to honor every succulent porcine part in The Whole Hog Cookbook: Chops, Loin, Shoulder, Bacon, and All That Good Stuff. Quick-Fix Southern: Homemade Hospitality in 30 Minutes or Less by Rebecca Lang appeals to mouths craving tastes of the South but stuck with hands short on time. When you've completed this year's reading, get pumped for the fall 2012 release of Kevin Gillespie's Fire in My Belly.

Touch Down With John Metz at the Falcons Game on October 9th

Those Green Bay Packers can keep their cheeseheads; Marlow's Tavern and Aqua blue Chef/Owner John Metz is bringing the heat to the Georgia Dome at the Atlanta Falcons home game on Sunday, October 9 at 8:20 p.m. Talk food, or football, with Metz inside 2View Restaurant located in the Dome's east end zone on the Executive concourse (near the suites).

Take your game-day eats to the next level and pass on the dogs and nachos. 2View will be preparing some of Chef Metz's signature rave-worthy recipes for you to purchase and savor. Sounds like a fantastic place to touch down that night!

Drink to a Good Cause at Double Zero Napoletana

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the time of year when dedicated individuals and groups put their walking shoes on for the 60-mile trek known as the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure. Double Zero Napoletana in Sandy Springs is serving pink cocktails throughout October and donating 25 percent of the drink proceeds to the cause. At $11 apiece, the Blackberry Ginny, Pink Panther, Pink Ribbon, the Cure, Pink Lady, the 3/60 or the Raspberry Lynne will be sure to give you a charitable buzz. For those looking for an alcohol free way to contribute, try the Ribbon Refresher for $6.

Double Zero's Nancy and Stephanie Castellucci are walking on Team Gingersnap, honoring two close family members who lost the battle against the disease. Guests at all Castellucci Hospitality Group restaurants (Double Zero Napoletana, The Iberian Pig and Sugo) can also add a donation to their checks or online at www.the3day.org/goto/chg through the month of October.

Chop Chop! Head to Aqua blue for Chop Month

Pork chops and lamb chops are title cuts, still, chop-lickin' salads, chicken and signature drink specials are more headliners when Chop Month begins tonight at Aqua blue in Roswell!  The Chop Month menu will complement Aqua blue's award-winning á la carte and Blue Ribbon sushi menus through Monday, November 7.  


Look for the Aqua blue "Chop" salad on the starter list with hearts of palm, basil, Gorgonzola, croutons and lemonette on a bed of mixed greens and romaine ($9), and a St. Louis-style hoisin rib chop with jicama and apple slaw ($12).  


Entrée features include bone-in spicy Guinness-marinated chicken ($19); Caribbean-spiced pork chop with Maker's Mark glaze, black currants and pineapple ($26); and Australian lamb chop with pistachio, horseradish crust, Madeira demi and mint ($30).  All entrées are served with a "loaded" crispy potato cake, sautéed spinach and jumbo asparagus. Chop Month sippers include the AB Classic Martini with Gorgonzola-stuffed olives ($8); the AB Manhattan Chop made with High West Double Rye Whiskey, Cocchi Vermouth di Torino, orange flower water and orange bitters ($10); 2008 Benziger Sangiacomo Vineyard Carneros Chardonnay ($8.50) and 2008 Trapiche Broquel Malbec ($10).

There’s Something Fishy Going on in Columbus

Calling all seafood fans!  Columbus, Ga. has a hot new spot for you to get your fish on!  Bonefish Grill is now open at 6763 Veterans Parkway in Columbus.  The polished, casual seafood restaurant is known for its generous portions, unique dishes, and its inventive use of fresh ingredients all cooked over a wood-burning grill.  Some of the more popular menu items include Mussels Josephine, Cajun chicken egg rolls, scampi-topped sirloin steak, ahi tuna with warm mango salsa and pecan/Parmesan-crusted rainbow trout, and the always delicious (and fun to order!) Bang Bang shrimp.  In addition, cocktails and an interesting wine list help complete the overall dining experience.  Dinner will be served nightly.  Reservations, although not required, are available by calling 706-321-2015.  Follow Bonefish Grill on Facebook or Twitter.

Bonefish Grill Columbus: 6783-2 Veterans Parkway; 706-321-2015.

A Burger That Will Blow You Away

If you're like me, you love everything about Chicago except the painfully cold weather. Lucky for us, a taste of Chicago is coming to our very own Smashburger locations this month with the Windy City Burger. This limited-time burger comes to us straight from Smashburger in Chicago and will be available at all three Atlanta-area Smashburger restaurants until the end of October, so get some Windy City flavor in while you can. The layers of melted cheddar cheese, haystack onions, lettuce, tomato and Gulden's spicy mustard are sure to be a smash hit among Atlantans. You can also check out Smashburger's website to enter to win a three-day, two-night trip to Chicago for two people in the restaurant's Windy City Sweepstakes. Head to Buckhead, Johns Creek or Alpharetta to get a taste of Chi Town before time runs out - and don't forget to visit Smashburger's Facebook page first to get coupons.