Live the Sweet Life as Ray’s Restaurants Slices into National Dessert Month

Halloween candy, move over. It’s National Dessert Month, and Ray’s Restaurants is pulling out the good stuff. At Ray’s at Killer Creek, seasonal fruits bubble under brown sugar, flour and butter in iron skillet crisps – which really are baked in iron skillets in their wood oven. 

French toast becomes dessert when it’s made with brioche squares filled with sweetened mascarpone, cinnamon-battered and pan-seared then topped with maple syrup, whipped cream and fresh berries. Pumpkin crème brûlée and white chocolate bread pudding make the month-long dessert menu at Ray’s on the River. Downtown, Ray’s in the City features a different special dessert each week: bananas foster with vanilla bean ice cream this week, followed by macadamia nut bread pudding with cinnamon ice cream then pumpkin panna cotta.

It's Follow Friday; Meet Our Tweep Of The Week @CHOW

Recipes, restaurant reviews, videos, cooking how-tos and more. Get hyper -- if CHOW (@CHOW) can't tweet it in 140 characters, you'll see the hyperlink to a larger helping of details. Still hungry? Visit the CHOW website.

What's New on Pinterest: Seafood Sensations

Pacific Roll at RA Sushi

We see you out there, casting your lines among Pinterest boards looking for ways to load your deck with seafood ideas. Go ahead, hook 'em (because it's kind of tricky to pin fish down).

Hirsch Vineyards Wines Pair Up with Five-Course Dinner at Woodfire Grill on October 16

Jasmine Hirsch from Hirsch Vineyards is coming to dinner at Woodfire Grill next Tuesday, October 16, bearing six superb and different wines to pair with the evening's five-course menu. 

Come for the reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Sonoma Coast wines being served with dinner include: 2010 Hirsch Vineyards Estate Chardonnay, 2009 Hirsch Vineyards Pinot Noir Reserve, 2010 Hirsch Vineyards "Bohan-Dillon" Pinot Noir,2009 Hirsch Vineyards "San Andreas Fault" Estate Pinot Noir,2010 Hirsch Vineyards "San Andreas Fault" Estate Pinot Noir and2010 Vineyards Pinot Noir East Ridge. 

$130 per person, not including tax and gratuity. Reservations required; call 404-347-9055 or email cate@woodfiregrill.com. 

Calling All Party Animals to Jazzoo, Zoo Atlanta's Wildest Night of the Year

More fun than a barrel of monkeys, Jazzoo Atlanta on Saturday, October 13 is the party habitat for Atlanta's young professionals. This jungle jam runs amok from 6:30 -11 p.m. at Zoo Atlanta. All-inclusive tickets cover grrrrreat food from more than 30 restaurants -- The Pinewood, RA Sushi and Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Food included -- full bar watering holes and four stages of live music and entertainment. Proceeds support Zoo Atlanta's gorilla and orangutan programs such as the Great Ape Heart Project. Creative cocktail attire is a must! Unleash those leopard prints and sequined zebra stripes and perk up your mane with some animal ears. YouTube videos from last year's event show how crazy those human animals can be. Tickets are priced as regular or VIP, and there are group discounts for human herds of 10 or more. More information:  jknox@zooatlanta.org.

Will Harris of White Oak Pastures to be Honored at ecoBenefête

Photo by Angie Mosier

The man from down on the farm is being honored in the big city on Thursday, October 11. Georgia Conservancy is honoring Will Harris of White Oak Pastures as its 2012 Distinguished Conservationist for his dedication to advancing sustainable and organic farming in Georgia. White Oak Pastures is Georgia's largest USDA-certified organic farm, fielding the only on-site USDA-inspected poultry and beef abattoirs in the U.S., a zero-waste processing plant with recycled water used on-site, an anaerobic digester that converts cow parts to all-natural fertilizer, and facilities relying on solar-generated power. Cattle and poultry lead a free-range, antibiotic-free lifestyle on the farm, which leads to more healthful eating in the city. EcoBenefête guests will dig cocktails, a locally sourced dinner paired with wines, dancing, a silent auction, and the awards presentation by Mara Davis. Purchase tickets here for the 6:30 p.m. event at The Foundry at Puritan Mill.

Vote for Aria and Others in Atlanta Magazine's "Best of Atlanta"

Before November's Election Day comes voting for some of Atlanta's most-delectable candidates in Atlanta magazine's annual "Best of Atlanta" poll. Aria is up for a "Best of" award, and voters can select the "other" option to vote for more of their own favorites. Hurry! Voting concludes October 15.

Lunching at Lure

Lunch is the newest munch on the menu at Lure, Fifth Group Restaurants' newest restaurant located on Crescent Avenue in Midtown. From 11 a.m.-3 p.m. daily, guests can dine on Executive Chef David Bradley's coastal themes, including smoked trout pâté, fried Rhode Island calamari, fried catfish chopped salad, shrimp and crab gumbo, grilled octopus and pork lettuce wraps and a smoked trout club sandwich. In the mood for something from the mainland? Available only at lunch is Lure's new charcoal-grilled burger with Cabot clothbound cheddar, bread-and-butter pickles, red onion and lettuce. The spacious patio is ideal for fall time al fresco dining, so come join us for lunch today!

Get wild with ATL restaurants at Jazzoo fundraiser at Zoo Atlanta - And Lots More - In This Week's Dish

Live the sweet life with all the fantastic events and happenings going on around Atlanta restaurants this month! Be sure to take a look and plan your culinary schedule with the latest Dish.

The Optimist is Esquire Magazine's Pick for "Restaurant of the Year"

Photo by Andrew Thomas Lee

Congratulations are in order - The Optimist has just been named "Restaurant of the Year" by Esquire magazine! Esquire Food and Travel Correspondent John Mariani, who has eaten his way across the country for nearly three decades, selected the 20 best new restaurants in America including “Restaurant of the Year.” Mariani described the restaurant as a “soaring, convivial spot” with “seafood cooked with old-school expertise.” He also noted that “far more than a resounding local success; it is an overnight totem of all that is wonderful about American food today.” 

Owner Ford Fry opened The Optimist and Oyster Bar at The Optimist in May 2012 as a place for landlocked Atlantans to enjoy a classic seafood experience. Executive Chef Adam Evans' menu features sustainable seafood simply prepared using wood-burning ovens and grills. The Oyster Bar at The Optimist casts a more casual "fish camp" vibe with an outside patio and oyster bar. Even the beverages evoke coastal qualities: light, herbaceous and savory cocktails, Fish House Punch at The Oyster Bar and a daily punch by mug or pitcher, a wine list plucking from coastal vineyards and draft brews gathered from American craft breweries anchored in port cities. 

Make sure to check out the November issue of Esquire available on October 16 for the complete list of "Best New Restaurants."

Charitable Cocktails Keep on Giving at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar and Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub

 

During October, every last drop of the sales of “Sweet Charity” cocktails at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar goes to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The elegant new Cocktail for a Cause combines Lillet Rose-infused wine, St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur and soda water served over ice in a wine glass with a raspberry garnish. You’ll find the cocktail on Fleming’s “5 for $6 ‘til 7” bar menu and available after 7 p.m. for $9.95. 

In Brookhaven, Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub is mixing up three cocktails to go toward Breast Cancer Awareness. At month’s end, The Susan G. Komen Foundation will receive a portion of the proceeds from the sales of  “Walk for Linda” combining Campari, Maestro Dobel Tequila, limoncello, grapefruit, lemon and elderflower syrup ($9); “Breast Cancer Awareness Pisco Punch” with house-infused strawberry and raspberry pisco, fresh lime, pineapple and agave nectar ($8.50); and “ILBT” mixing Bols Genever, mint syrup, fresh lemon, hibiscus liquor and Belgian triple ale ($10).