Win Big This Sunday with Game Day Specials

The home team may not be playing in this year's Super Bowl, but you can still take advantage of some super specials for the big game. Whether you're cheering for the Giants, Patriots or Madonna in this Sunday's Super Bowl, Atlanta restaurants are ready with in-house viewing and specials plus parties-to-go. Atkins Park Tavern in Smyrna kicks off a roster of appetizer and drink specials for the night's viewing, and there are plenty of screens handy to cover that aspect. Eat like an NFL champ at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. Their "5 for $6 til 7" bar menu featuring five appetizers, five premium cocktails and five wines by the glass - all priced at $6 - will be offered all day, and February 5 is the last day for the $29.95 three-course prime rib special.

For football fans hosting viewing parties, RA Sushi in Midtown is offering five sushi platter take-out options sized for small or large crowds. "House" platter choices are the basic ($60) option with eight nigiri pieces and 44 sushi pieces and the vegetarian combo ($50) with 54 sushi pieces. The "Block" option consists of the Harajuku combo ($120) with eight nigiri pieces and 111 sushi pieces. Wasabi, ginger, soy sauce and chopsticks garnish all, and customized platters also are available. Call 404-267-0114 in advance to order your party platters. Guacamole is another game-day staple, and Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Food has three different kinds for you to dip your chips in. Try the roasted lump crab and corn, pineapple and bacon or three-pepper spicy guacamole. 

It's Follow Friday; Meet our Tweep of the Week @MotherNatureNet

Usually Twitter profiles include just one city where the tweep resides, but Mother Nature Network (@MotherNatureNet) thinks more globally and declares their home as Planet Earth. Connect for environmental news, local foods, innovations and green inspirations. Recent exposures include "Think positive!" and "Natural remedies for seasonal affective disorder." Winter-worthy topics to brighten a cold or cloudy day! Read more on the Mother Nature Network website.  

Get Your Snack on and Enter Our Foodzie Giveaway

I have to admit, I look forward to the beginning of a new month. Not only because that means spring is getting closer, but also because a new month means a new Foodzie box. To a habitual snacker like me, it's like a monthly Christmas present.

For those of you not familiar with Foodzie, it's a great way to discover new products from smallbatchmakers you may not come across otherwise. Every month, you select a different Tasting Box with an assortment of goodies to try.

Since February is National Snack Food Month, we're giving one lucky person a chance to win his/her very own Foodzie box. Some of the yummy snacks you'll enjoy include pacific sea salt and cinnamon crunch bites (my personal fave), cheesy kale chips and a vanilla blueberry energy bar.

Leave a comment below and tell us what your favorite snack food is. We'll pick our favorite answer and announce the winner Monday on Twitter, so make sure to follow us @AtlantaDish.
Good luck and happy snacking!

Have No Fear, Smashburger's Coffee Shake is Here

Super Bowl Sunday is the perfect excuse to eat, drink and spend time with friends and family. Football rivalries are played out; TV commercials get more elaborate by the year; the half-time show always leaves us gasping and to top it all off, we get to eat and drink like it doesn’t count because it’s a “holiday.”

Reality check… Monday is a work-day! But have no fear folks, Smashburger always has our backs and have created the perfect pick-me-up, the coffee shake, to help us face the day. New to the menu on Monday, February 6, this java-nated treat is hand-spun using Häagen-Dazs ice cream and a jolt of the strong stuff. The $4.29 shake will be on the menu through March 25.

This time Atlanta-area Smashburger locations have outdone themselves. Not only have they created the perfect coffee shake, but they also have a great money-saving cling-on ad on the front page of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution today. Any purchase more than $5 saves $2!

Cast Your Vote For Justin Balmes in Round 1 of Eater's Hottest Chefs Contest

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen! In case you missed it over on Eater Atlanta today, voting has begun in the competition to find Eater's Hottest Chef 2012. We're casting our vote for Justin Balmes - take a look and do your culinary duty by voting today!

Strong Men, Strong Drinks - Fadó Is The Only Place In Town To See The Entire 6 Nations Rugby Tournament

Get out your rugby shirts, or for the real fans out there, your favorite team jersey because it’s that time of year again! The 6 Nations Rugby Tournament, February 4 – March 17, will showcase England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales as they battle it out for this year’s title. You won’t miss a single moment of the action thanks to Fadó Irish Pub & Restaurant in Buckhead, which is the only spot in town broadcasting all of the games.

Fadó already has the viewing scheduled posted online for all of you diehard fans, and if you’re new to the rugby scene, here's a website where you can brush up on all the rules.  There is no cover charge to watch any of the games shown on BBC America; otherwise, a $20-per-person cover charge will apply.  Since tournament games are all set and the winner is determined though a point system, we can guarantee that the final Ireland vs. England game will fall on St. Patrick’s Day!  That calls for a celebration, and Fadó’s new winter menu (running through February 29) has plenty of new concoctions for you to try.

Along with downing Fadó's Irish coffee, Bailey's and coffee, and hot apple cider with Bushmills Irish Whiskey ($7.50), fans can tilt back whiskey favorites such as Fadó's famous Pickleback, Red Breast, Black Bush and Jameson 12 ($7.50-$10.50) and seasonal bottles of Sam Smith Winter Welcome, West Malle Tripel, Avinger Celebrator Doppelbock, Guinness Foreign Extra Stout or Guinness Black Lager ($5.50-$9).  Cheers! 

The Celebrity Chef Tour is Just Around the Corner!

This weekend, eight celebrity chefs from around the Southeast are coming together at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta for a Celebrity Chef Tour to benefit the James Beard Foundation. Atlanta's own Robert Gerstenecker of Park 75, Hugh Acheson of Empire State South, and Andrea Litvin, pastry chef at The Spence, will join other regional top toques including Edward Lee of 610 Magnolia in Louisville, Ky.; James Lewis of Bettola in Birmingham, Ala.; John Currence of City Grocery in Oxford, Miss.; Bob Waggoner, host of "U Cook with Chef Bob;" and Josh Feathers of Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tenn.

On Thursday, February 3, the chefs will host a cocktail party with some of the city's best mixologists at Park 75 Lounge from 6 - 8 p.m. for $50 per person, all inclusive.

Friday, February 4 features a multi-course menu with wine pairings, starting off with a 6:30 p.m. reception followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m. Cost is $140 per person, all inclusive.

Get a sneak peak for what you're in for by watching the video above. Tickets can be purchased here.

**Bonus for VISA Signature cardholders - you can attend both events for $160 when purchasing tickets with your VISA card.

DIY: Uncle Julio's Pineapple Bacon Guac Recipe

Prepare to share. Fix Uncle Julio's pineapple bacon guacamole for Super Bowl Sunday, and you're sure to be bombarded with recipe requests for this playoff of fresh, sweet pineapple, crisp bacon and creamy/chunky avocados. Because Uncle Julio's Rio Grande Café guacamole is a major ingredient, we've included the recipes for both.

Uncle Julio's Pineapple Bacon Guacamole

Ingredients:

1 cup Uncle Julio's Rio Grande Café guacamole

2 tbsp. diced pineapple (¼" dice)

2 tbsp. chopped, cooked bacon (½" pieces)

½ tsp. diced red bell peppers

For Garnish:

1 piece green leaf lettuce

1 tbsp. chopped, cooked bacon (½" pieces)

2 tsp. queso fresco

1 tbsp. diced pineapple(¼" dice)

1 lemon wedge

Directions:

Place guacamole in mixing bowl. Add pineapple, bacon and red bell pepper and fold into guacamole carefully. To serve, top lettuce with guacamole, sprinkle with bacon and queso fresco and side dress with diced pineapple and a lemon wedge to squeeze on guacamole. Serve with tortilla chips. Serves 2-3.

Uncle Julio's Rio Grande Café Guacamole
Yield:  6 cups

Ingredients:
6 Haas avocados
Guacamole oil ( ¼ cup olive oil infused with 1 peeled and minced clove of garlic)
Juice of 2 lemons

1 tsp. salt, to taste
½ cup tomato, chopped
¼ cup white onion, chopped

Directions:

Halve and pit the avocados. With a tablespoon, scoop out the flesh into a bowl. Mash the avocados using either a fork or potato masher, leaving them a bit chunky. Stir guacamole oil into avocado. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Salt to taste. Lay a piece of plastic wrap tight on any remaining guacamole so it doesn't brown and refrigerate. To serve, scoop onto a green leaf lettuce leaf, sprinkle with ¼ oz. white and yellow cheese and garnish with a lemon wedge.

Score super specials for Super Bowl game viewing - and much more - in The Dish

It's almost game time and The Dish has you covered with Super Bowl ideas, plus much more! Pour yourself some coffee and take a look.


If you're not receiving The Dish every Tuesday morning, you can sign up either here on our blog or on our Facebook page. Enjoy!

For Your Sipping Pleasure: Fleming’s Reveals Crafty New Cocktails

Some lucky people had to research, create and verify the deliciousness of the new cocktails spilling off the bar menu at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar. Pity it wasn't us. Still, we can all indulge in the fruits of their labor. The new menu is divided into three categories:  Retro Chic, which puts a contemporary spin on the classics; Modern Martinis with their exotic takes on the American martini; and Couture Cocktails that use seasonal ingredients and signature spirits. You may turn your back on the traditional margarita after trying the new Mad Milagro margarita with Milagro Silver Tequila, fresh lime juice and muddled fresh cucumber, topped with a perky touch of cilantro and a spicy jalapeño. Fleming's Limoncello martini tastes of pure luxury, made with Hangar One citron "Buddha's Hand" Vodka, smooth Luxardo Limoncello and house-made lemon-thyme simple syrup. For those living lightly, Skinnier Cocktails are still on the menu to fill your glass with less than 99 calories of hardcore flavor. 

Hot Diggity Dawg! White Oak Pastures Named to the Bulldog 100

Two things are really significant about White Oak Pastures receiving this honor on January 21. One, the Bluffton, Ga. farm is the only farm or farm-related business to be chosen by the UGA Alumni Association for the Bulldog 100: Fastest Growing Bulldog Businesses Class of 2012. Two, it ranks as this year’s fourth fastest-growing Bulldog business. White Oak Pastures top Dawg Will Harris is a 1976 UGA graduate and a fourth-generation cattleman on the same land his great grandfather settled in 1866. Nearly 800 nominations were submitted to the UGA Alumni Association for this year’s rankings, representing companies all across the U.S. Criteria includes being in business for at least five years with revenues of $100,000 or more for calendar year 2008, being owned or operated by a former UGA student who owns at least 50 percent of the company or who is the CEO, president or managing partner. The program recognizes the fastest-growing businesses regardless of size by focusing on a three-year growth rate average. Congrats to Will Harris and his White Oak Pastures team!

Don’t forget that tomorrow is the last day to save some green during the White Oak Pastures sale. Some of their most popular poultry and grass-fed beef items are offered at special prices online only.

(Photo Credit: Angie Mosier)