Article 14 makes a strong case for goat cheese at the Midtown restaurant’s monthly cheese dinner. Executive chef Christopher Blobaum plans a four-course dinner menu with wine pairings, carving into the 6:30-8 p.m. time slot on Wednesday, February 11. Those on a quest for cheese knowledge will end the evening knowing “whey” more thanks to pointers from guest Aaron Norford, a certified speaker from the American Cheese Society. $45 per person (not including tax or gratuity). To make reservations, call 404-443-8432.
What does a @thrillist food porn star do, and can we show that in our G-rated (for great food) newsletter? Perry Santanachote is that person, and she’s a food editor as well. You have our permission to look at her thrillist food and drink teasers on Instagram (@perrysant).
Aria guests know how smoothly Buckhead restaurant general manager and wine director Andres Loaiza covers Aria’s chic interior. Wait until he hits a real dance floor. Loaiza is one of the Atlanta celebrities partnering with professional dancers and choreographers to dance the night away and compete for fan votes at the Eating Disorders Information Network (EDIN) 5th annual Celebrity Dance Challenge in the Buckhead Theatre on Thursday, February 26 from 8-11 p.m. The competition takes cues from the hit shows “So You Think You Can Dance” and “Dancing with the Stars.” Anyone can visit the EDIN website to vote for their favorite dancers for a mere $1 per vote. All proceeds benefit EDIN and its mission to increase education and awareness of disordered eating and body image issues in the Atlanta area. Tickets start at $25 and twirl on up to $1,250 for a 10-guest table. Buy tickets online. We’re expecting a cha cha-champion event, barre none.
Curiosity led to the founding of Creature Comforts Brewing Co., and the Athens, Georgia brew crew firmly believes curious minds lead to better living. Satisfy your own inquisitive nature, thirst for craft beer and appetite for seafood and smoked meats at The Pig & The Pearl Third Thursday Beer Dinner on February 19. Chef Todd Richards pairs four courses with Creature Comforts Brewing Co. beers for the 7 p.m. dinner. The evening includes Athena (Berliner weisse) with tastings from The Pig & The Pearl raw bar; Bibo (pilsner) with shaved beef, soft-boiled egg, scallion relish and mung beans; Tropicalia (American IPA) with smoked jerked chicken, dirty rice and curried spinach; and Reclaimed Rye (rye amber aged on French oak) with carrot cake and olive oil ice cream. $50 per person (plus tax and gratuity). Call 404-541-0930 to make reservations.
Party store beads, masks, trinkets and confetti. Bakery cases resplendent with king cakes glazed over in purple, green and yellow. Hurricanes, in glasses. The evidence is clear. Mardi Gras is getting ready to swing through Atlanta like a jazz band on Bourbon Street, and Atlanta restaurants are ready to set the good times rolling.
Fill up on Low Country boil and gracious amounts of gumbo at the Fat Tuesday celebration rocking 10th & Piedmont and G’s Midtown on February 17. James Patrick Morgan takes to the stage with live music at 7:30 p.m.
Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar in Virginia-Highland paves a mighty fine Bourbon Street on Fat Tuesday. Party plans promise live music, drink specials, beads, a parade and Louisiana specialties. Seafood gumbo swimming with shrimp, mussels and andouille sausage is $4 a cup, $6 a bowl. Crispy oysters and spicy remoulade sauce fill fabulous oyster po’boys ($12), and a vegetable muffaletta packs in grilled zucchini, roasted red pepper, artichoke-olive salad, provolone and arugula on ciabatta bread ($10). Steamy crawfish boil bubbles with Louisiana crawfish, andouille sausage, corn and potatoes. If you’re swearing off desserts for Lent (and even if you’re not), celebrate with a colorful slice of Mardi Gras king cake, a fun companion to any New Orleans dish or drink.
Tin Lizzy’s Cantina is a 2015 Georgia Restaurant Neighbor Award winner, affirming what Atlantans already know: their favorite friendly, fast casual cantina takes its good-neighbor role seriously. The National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation honors restaurants across the U.S.A. with its Restaurant Neighbor Award, recognizing those that go all out to serve their communities and hoping to inspire other restaurants to do likewise. Each Tin Lizzy's Cantina works with local nonprofits in their community. For instance, the cantina celebrated National Taco Day by donating $1 for each taco sold (which chips in $7,578) to Bert’s Big Adventure to help the nonprofit group provide magical, all-expense-paid, five-day journeys to Walt Disney World for children with chronic and terminal illnesses and their families. Tin Lizzy’s donated $2,014 to help It’s the Journey and the Atlanta 2-Day Walk for breast cancer research. Additional neighborly partners include Habitat for Humanity, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, Sunshine on a Ranney Day, Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper and others. Tin Lizzy’s, thanks for being such a good neighbor. Can we borrow a cup of queso?
Tonight, splash some wine in a glass, open your browser and visit our new website. Wow-ser, browser! Our new ‘do gives a better reflection of all that we do and can do here at Melissa Libby & Associates. Catch up on our Pinterest posts, tweets and social skills and meet the faces getting the word out about the places and events where Atlanta loves to eat and drink. We owe a big shout-out and thank you to Jenkins Creative, our neighbors here at the Lumberyard Lofts, for helping us create our fun, new website!
The Atlanta Food & Wine Festival is coming to Midtown the weekend of May 28-31, 2015, and the ticket line opens Friday, February 13. A couple of reasons to buy now: tickets step in as a sweet last minute Valentine’s surprise, and if you wait, you’ll forget and event history points to sell outs. Your ticket accesses full-fledged tastes of Southern cuisine and culture, whether you’re choosin’ fusion or going for down-home goodness. Sample highly desirable wines and on-trend bar faves. Sign up for exclusive wine and cooking classes at the Loews Atlanta Hotel, see cooking demonstrations, meet Atlanta and regional chefs and more. More feel good factors besides the food and wine you’ll ingest? Festival proceeds benefit organizations that promote Southern culture and history, opportunities for women in culinary arts and increasing access to organically grown produce. Whet your appetite by viewing AF&WF on Pinterest.
Heartily timed to hit during Valentine’s week, HOBNOB Neighborhood Tavern zings in with its second-annual Ribs & Brews dinner menu that delivers fall-off-the-bone tenderness and opportunities to reach across the table and dab sauce off your dearest’s chin. From February 11-24, Midtown diners can delve into baby back ribs with SweetWater Blue-honey barbecue glaze, braised short ribs with Duck-Rabbit Milk Stout demi-glace and Saint Louis-style pork ribs doused in Guinness beer barbecue sauce ($16-$18), all paired with mouthwatering Southern-ish sides. The Ribs & Brews menu suggests ideal rib-brew duos including SweetWater Blue, Eventide Nitro stout and Terrapin Liquid Bliss chocolate peanut butter porter. Leave some room for a happy ending of homemade cobbler of the day with vanilla ice cream ($6) and perhaps a moonshine cocktail from the bar. By the way, the regular HOBNOB menu still stands during this Ribs & Brews special.
Curling
up with a good cookbook is quite a palatable pastime. Splattered pages
verify tried-and-true recipes, margin scribbles remind us what worked
and when we served it, and seasoned chefs offer wise words and pictures
showing exactly how it’s done. Turning the pages of vintage cookbooks is
like taking a culinary trip through time. So inspired, we’re turning a
Pinterest board into a virtual library of Cookbook Creations with volumes such as Kevin Gillespie’s “Pure Pork Awesomeness,”
the classic “I Hate to Cook Book,” “The Unofficial Downton Abbey
Cookbook,” and even all you need to know about creating your own family
cookbook. This board’s sure to be a page turner.
