Hellacious thunderstorms have been known to muscle their way across Atlanta in spring and summer months. They’re nothing like the Texas Thunderstorm taking Article 14 by storm. Bourbon lovers are hailing the Midtown restaurant’s bourbon-rich twist on a Dark and Stormy that swirls Balcones Rumble Cask Reserve with ginger beer and maple syrup and adds a sunny lemon wedge. Big kick? You know it. Texas-sized.
While Bellina Alimentari in Ponce City Market is not open to the public yet, the all-in-one Italian eatery, market, wine bar and culinary club extends warm Tuscan hospitality to artist Nick Cave and Flux Projects for a special VIP patron party on Thursday, April 23 at 7 p.m. The celebration and dress rehearsal preps guests for Cave’s upcoming “Up Right Atlanta” performance series April 24-26. Hors d’oeuvre, cocktails and a performance preview are in the cards for 100 lucky event ticket holders. Don’t wait for your olives to cure and pasta pot to boil. Grab tickets now and experience the authenticity of Bellina Alimentari.
Johnny’s Hideaway, Atlanta’s original grown-up party place is 36 years young this month. Owner Chris Dauria is celebrating the dance club’s anniversary with a big bash on Thursday, April 23. The anniversary party opens with a complimentary buffet and open bar from 7:30-8:30 p.m., then DJs keep the dance floor swinging until the wee hours. Who’s going to show? Heck, fun-seekers of all ages congregate here, and 20- and 30-somethings who weren’t even born when Johnny’s opened its doors now throng the place for late-night footwork and revelry. Surely you fit somewhere in that mix. No need to RSVP, just show up with a fun-loving attitude and dancing shoes.
Buckhead Restaurant Week, April 18-26, stretches a seven-day week to nine days, giving Atlanta diners a couple of extra days to savor lunch or dinner at a wealth of top-notch restaurants for bargain prices of $15, $25 or $35 per person. Tax, gratuity and beverages are not included in these prices.
Pick a date and make reservations for an elegant dinner atAria where Buckhead Restaurant Week diners are privy to a special three-course dinner menu for $35 per person. The regular à la carte menu also will be available, and wine pairings are always an excellent add on.
Do lunch or dinner at Bantam + Biddy in Lenox Square and chow down on Southern favorites for $15. Choose pimento cheese and veggies, chopped pastured chicken liver and toast or Jb Farm deviled eggs with bourbon-smoked paprika as a first course; a quarter chicken with two sides, White Oak Pastures grass-fed beef meatloaf with two sides or pork schnitzel with one side as a main; and close with your choice of desserts.
Catch a $15, $25 or $35 lunch menu at The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill and dine in or out on the covered deck. All three menus start with appetizer choices of a full order of hushpuppies, sweet ‘n spicy calamari or crab and shrimp dip and end with your choice of dessert. For the second course, the $15 menu offers a choice of fish “in” chips, TBK steak burger, or sweet ‘n spicy or Buffalo shrimp po’boy with one side; the $25 menu includes two sides with either crabcakes, shrimp skewers or fresh salmon; the $35 menu shows off fresh grouper, sea scallops or fresh fish of the day with two side stars.
A $25 lunch and dinner menu at Buckhead’s Smokebelly BBQis your cue for ‘cue. Start with Smokebelly’s classic cherry cola wings then segue to the “Delta Double,” a duo of your choice of pulled pork, chopped brisket and/or smoked turkey with two sides. The featured dessert of the day pleases sweet spots.
Shaun Doty, executive chef and co-owner of Bantam + Biddyand Chick-a-Biddy, alights at the Morningside Farmers Marketon the morning of Saturday, April 18 to lead the day’s chef demo. Doty draws upon seasonal, local produce and regional, free-range poultry for his restaurant menus. That said, this gent knows his way around the weekly organic market like a fox in a henhouse, scooping up farm-fresh produce to create dishes that taste of springtime. The “Shop with a Chef” demo starts at 9 a.m. Peek at “This Week’s Market” after 5 p.m. Thursday to see what market members anticipate offering on Saturday. Rise with the rooster and arrive when the market opens at 7:30 a.m. for the best selection!
Doll up those bonnets and don those derbies, the 50th running of the Atlanta Steeplechase is galloping into Kingston Downs on Saturday, April 18. This horsey harbinger of spring is an Atlanta tradition -- and a 50th anniversary calls for an all-out Southern celebration. Two of metro Atlanta’s most Southern restaurants -- The Southern Gentleman and Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails -- are champing at the bit to oblige. These Southern Proper Hospitality restaurants are tethering up under the Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles magazine Chairman’s Tent to serve guests an elegant, contemporary Southern feast amid decor reflecting the two restaurants’ town and country personalities. The Southern Gentleman is a Southern-inspired gastropub in the Buckhead Atlanta development. Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails nestles in a restored 150-year-old farmhouse in historic Crabapple. Both restaurants draw on fresh, locally sourced ingredients, and Milton’s grows much of its produce on site in Milton’s Acre. Chairman’s Tent patrons will sip premium bubbly and indulge in a sumptuous spread as the day’s excitement unfolds within view. Go online to pony up for a seat or to reserve a table for 10.
SweetWater 420 Fest 2015 fills Centennial Olympic Park with beer and wine, 45 bands, an artist market, comedy acts and sustainability facts over the dates of Friday, April 17 through Sunday, April 19. To attend, buy a swanky wristband here. On Saturday morning, there will be a major beer run as SweetWater 420 Fest 5K entrants dash out of Centennial Olympic Park at 8:30 a.m. and receive a ticket for a free brew (ages 21 and over) when crossing the finish line. A block away on Marietta Street, the patio at Der Biergarten is a convenient and congenial place to meet before or after the fest or escape for a fest break. Share hearty German fare and explore the beer menu featuring more than a dozen German beers for drafting into half-liter and liter steins, and domestic and imported bottled beers. Lots of tables and comfy chairs here. Good to know Der Biergarten is open until midnight on Saturdays for those not quite ready to call it a night when the fest wraps up at 11 p.m.
Be a German shepherd’s shepherd or a do-gooder who’s right up an alley cat’s alley. On Thursday, April 16, guests lapping lagers and biting into juicy brats at Der Biergarten or woofing down tender Texas and Southern-style wood-smoked meats at Twin Smokers BBQ will be assisting the Atlanta Humane Society through the nonprofit’s Tables for Tailsannual dining out fundraiser. Both eateries will donate a portion of the day’s food and drink sales to the Atlanta Humane Society. Bark out the word to your pack of friends and meet at Twin Smokers BBQ for lunch or dinner or gather at Atlanta’s authentic German beer garden for purr-fect pilsners and dinner. Short leash on time this Thursday?Donate online anytime.
For a quick after-tax day getaway, scoot over to Virginia-Highland where Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar will feature the craft beers of Eventide Brewing and live music on Thursday, April 16. Simply put, Eventide is a new brewery in Grant Park founded on the principle that great beer doesn’t have to be complicated. In other words, it shouldn’t take longer to explain than imbibe. The brewery is in the process of building a tasting room, and Atkins Park is one of the select places to enjoy its beers -- especially during the tavern’s April Locals-Only Tap Takeover featuring Georgia craft brews on draft. Chip Jones, another local favorite, headlines that night with rock and acoustic favorites from 7:30-10:30 p.m.
April 15 can be emotionally taxing. There’s the relief of pressing send on the tax software or dropping the packet in the mail, elation over an anticipated refund or frustration at owing more. However the 1040 form rolls, Ray’s Restaurantsand RA Sushi Bar Restaurant advise a tax day detox plan: come in on Wednesday, April 15 to celebrate or commiserate over delicious food and tall glasses rich with liquid assets. All three Ray’s Restaurants will hand out lottery tickets to guests while supplies last (one ticket per guest over age 18).Ray’s in the City, Ray’s on the River and Ray’s at Killer Creekall offer plenty of libations and stress-soothing specialties.Happy hour menu prices flow all day on drink specials, select rolls and appetizers at RA Sushi Bar Restaurant in Midtown. Go ahead, sake it to ‘em with a strawberry coconut saketini ($7) and a Viva Las Vegas roll or RA’ckin shrimp ($8). More RA tips: Blushing Geishas are $6 all day in April, and taxpayers sliding in under the midnight deadline will find RA Sushi open until 1 a.m.
Raise a toast to National Grilled Cheese Month and Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day on April 12. All in favor say “Grilled Cheese, Please!” The white bread and American cheese classic is a kid magnet. Sandwich sophisticates may favor bacon and brie, avocado and goat cheese, lasagna grilled cheese, pesto caprese, blueberry breakfast grilled cheese or rendezvousing with “31 grilled cheeses better than a boyfriend.” Novices, a grilled cheese instructional video butters you up for the cheesy challenge, should you accept it.
