Southern Food Tour Features JCT. Kitchen & Bar, The Optimist and American Spirit Whiskey

On Thursday, October 11, four of Atlanta's best chefs will pour on their Southern culinary charm for the Southern Food Tour, a guided walking tour aimed at building awareness and community around Southern food heritage. 

Ford Fry of JCT. Kitchen & Bar, Adam Evans of The Optimist, Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia and Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene are all participating. Each chef will prepare one of their restaurant's most iconic Southern dishes and will share their unique stories of what Southern food means to them. 

The chefs also will pair their dish with a whiskey cocktail from American Spirit Whiskey. Space is limited to 30 guests; tickets are $200 per person and are available online. More info on Facebook.

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

 

This is good scoop! Follow Lauren Harris (@Mylittlefoodies) as she uncovers yums like High Road Craft Ice Cream's tasting room and factory tour, half-price meal deals and sushi making. 

Enjoy All the Tastes of Atlanta This Weekend

Streetwise advice for the October 5-7 weekend is to move your mojo to Midtown for Taste of Atlanta surrounding Tech Square. Bantam + Biddy, Ecco, Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub, JCT. Kitchen & Bar, No. 246, The Optimist and Ray's Restaurants are a few of the more than 80 restaurants participating in the big foodie and sampling festival. Chill out with chefs, cocktails and grills gone wild at "The Big Grill" Friday night party at Tech Square. American Spirit Whiskey will shake up cocktails, beer and wine will flow and more than 20 restaurants will be represented at the kick-off event, including Ecco, JCT. Kitchen & Bar, No. 246 and The Optimist.

There's excitement brewing on the Home Plate Main Stage Saturday and Sunday as chefs go spoon to spoon. See Ecco's Craig Richards at 1:45 p.m. and No. 246's Drew Belline at 3 p.m. Saturday. JCT. Kitchen & Bar's Ford Fry will hit the stage Sunday at 12:30 p.m. for "Food that Rocks." The Optimist's Adam Evans will be in The Kitchen Workshop on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. followed by The Cook's Warehouse's Mary Moore at 4 p.m.  Will Harris of White Oak Pastures and Lance Gummere of Bantam + Biddy will lead a poultry session on Sunday at 1:15 p.m. Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub Chef Joey Riley tackles tailgating by building steak sandwiches at 1 p.m. Saturday in The Grill Dome. Some events are over-21 only, but most are family friendly, including the Family Food Zone, which sizzles with fun classes and activities for all ages. Purchase tickets here.

Abbondanza Celebrates the Harvest at La Tavola Trattoria

 

  

Abbondanza goes straight to Italy's heartland and brings its rich spectrum of ingredients - fruits, vegetables, meats and cheeses - to La Tavola Trattoria in Virginia Highland. Executive Chef Brent Banda celebrates the abundant harvest on La Tavola's fifth-annual Abbondanza menu, which is only available Wednesday, October 3 through Saturday, October 13.

Order Abbondanza as a $35 three-course prix fixe dinner (plus tax and gratuity) to savor the full spectrum or pick and choose à la carte. A quick peek at the Abbondanza menu reveals appetizers ($8-$12) such as grilled duck sausage and beet and farro verde salad; entrées ($16-$24) that include Sangiovese-braised short ribs risotto and angolotti del plin with roasted pumpkin, Grana Padano brodetto and pumpkin seed oil; and a sweet-salty torte di mele -- a salted caramel and Grana Padano gelato for dessert ($7). 

Are you there yet? Click here for reservations or call 404-873-5430.

What's New on MLA Pinterest: Pizza Party

  

Are there too many zzzz's in pizzazzing up pizzas? No time to snooze. Join our Pinterest pizza party, and you'll feel the "knead" to turn out dough and compile your "top-this" list.

Casting Call for Atlanta's Most Creative Home Cooks and Food Entrepreneurs on October 14

If you have the next best food product America's been waiting for here's an Atlanta casting call especially for you! The creators of "Undercover Boss" and "Project Runway" are now casting culinary innovators for a new reality competition series culminating in a potentially life-changing prize package. This could be your big chance to put your product on a global supermarket shelf. The open call will be held on Sunday, October 14 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the W Atlanta Midtown. Before attending the call, you must send an email that includes your name, phone number, occupation, short description of your dish or culinary product, a recent photo of yourself, and a photo of your creation or product. If you are unable to make the call date, the website has instructions for submitting a home video. Is this your recipe for success? You'll never know unless you go for it!

Give Marlow's Tavern Your Best Rib Shot, and You May Win a Gift Card during Their Ribs & Whiskey Facebook Photo Contest

Having sauce on your chin only adds to the charm of your photo entries in the Marlow's Tavern Ribs & Whiskey Photo Contest going on through October 16! 

Enter a photo of your favorite item on the Ribs & Whiskey menu or a succulent shot of you and your friends enjoying your meal. During the Ribs & Whiskey promotion, Marlow's will pick one winner each week to highlight on their Facebook page and receive a $25 Marlow's Tavern gift card!

Ray's at Killer Creek is in on Awesome Alpharetta $1000 Dining Card Giveaway

What could possibly be better than winning $1000 in restaurant gift cards? The Alpharetta Convention and Visitors Bureau is giving away a $100 gift card to 10 of the city's most popular restaurants - all to one very lucky winner. Ray's at Killer Creek is providing one of the prized $100 gift cards. Register for the contest online or stop by the Downtown Alpharetta Welcome Center located at 178 South Main Street now through October 31. The winning entry will be drawn on November 1. Read more on the contest and learn about all of the awesome things to see and do in Alpharetta at www.awesomealpharetta.com..

Spend Some Quality Time with Kevin Gillespie and his Sharpie

Kevin's got his Sharpie ready. All he needs is for you to tell him what to write in the front cover of his brand new cookbook "Fire in My Belly". Come share the excitement, and the food, as we get the first glimpse of this awesome book filled with stories only Kevin could tell, easy-to-make recipes, and gorgeous photos by Atlanta's Angie Mosier. The party is at Woodfire Grill on Tuesday, October 9 from 6-10 p.m. Gillespie will be at the party to sign books and mingle while guests sample from the cookbook all night long.  Buy a $35 general admission ticket (does not include book) or a $75 ticket and book package. Purchase tickets online through Thursday, October 4; $90 at the door, pending availability.

Take Eats to the Streets for Taste of Atlanta and More in this Week's Dish!

Plans this weekend? Make sure you eat your way through Atlanta's best restaurants at Taste of Atlanta or enter to win delicious prizes from Marlow's Tavern. There's much more to indulge in this week's Dish!  

Fancy a Nightcap? The Pinewood's Got You Covered

The large, neat writing on a chalkboard menu spells out the new Nightcap specials each evening at The Pinewood. Homespun food specials change nightly, satiating the salivating late-night crowd beginning at 10 p.m. on weeknights and 11 p.m. on weekends. Nightcappers at the downtown Decatur bar and restaurant recently filled up on the “Hatch + Cheddar” burger ($12), gumbo and grits ($8), “Trout Sammy” ($10), fried okra ($6), chicken and waffle ($10) and loaded hash browns with or without a farm egg ($9/$7). Cocktails, PWTR porch punch, wines by the glass or bottle, draft beer and non-alcoholic beverages slake that thirst. No question, it’s worth making The Pinewood the last stop of the evening for Nightcap grub and a tippling cup or two.

Kaleidoscope is Hot Stuff - Wins Brookhaven Chili Cook-Off

Wowing spoon-bearing chili samplers, Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub took first place in the first annual Brookhaven Chili Cook-Off. More than 50 chili-stirring contestants and vendors participated in the event that benefitted the Brookhaven Arts Alliance.  Kpub’s award-winning chili is not on their usual menu, but heat-seeking diners can fire up their palates with “hot” items such as house-roasted cashews and peanuts with Thai chili and scallions, Thai-style beef jerky with bird’s eye chilis, Springer Mountain chicken wings with Kaleidoscope sauce and bleu cheese, “Firecracker” ahi tuna or mahi tostado with green chili grits. Good to know Kaleidoscope has plenty of chilled beverages to go counterpoint.