Get pumped! The Atkins Park Riders and Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar in Virginia-Highland are setting wheels in motion for this year’s Warren Bruno Summerfest Celebration Ride and fundraiser for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Societyon Sunday, June 7. Warren Bruno owned the flagship Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar in Virginia-Highland and later opened Ormsby’s on Atlanta’s Westside. Bruno lived life with gusto, even during his eight-year battle against the cancer that eventually took his life in 2012. An avid cyclist, Bruno loved biking through his neighborhood and helped found Virginia-Highland Summerfest to share his love for “Va-Hi.” Each June, bicyclists saddle up to ride along some of his favorite streets and paths in New Highland Park, Little Five Points, the Old Fourth Ward, Piedmont Park, Ansley Park and along the Atlanta BeltLine. Summerfest, with its artist market, music, food and refreshments, waits at the end of the ride. The family friendly ride is organized for three cycling skill levels. Ride begins at 8:30 a.m. at the corner of North Highland and St. Charles avenues. BYOB -- as in bike, bottle for water and bike helmet. Sign up ($5 children under 18 years, $20 adults) before June 6 or make a donation online. All proceeds benefit Atkins Park Cycling Team as they raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in Bruno’s honor.
If you’re tossing ideas around over what to do on Sunday afternoon, the cornhole tournament at Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar in Virginia-Highland wins, hands down. Bags will fly on the patio from 2-5 p.m. on May 17. Buddy up and form a two-person team to join the fun. The $30 per person ($60 per two-person team) entry fee includes your first pint of Monday Night Brewing Company beer and two raffle tickets for an onslaught of raffles throughout the afternoon. Loosen up with discounted Monday Night Brewing beers. Even better, 100 percent of proceeds benefit the Georgia Chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Team in Training. Stretch those fingers over your mouse or screen and register online in advance. By the way, cornhole cadre, now is the time to register for Cornhole ATL’s summer leagues that compete Tuesday nights at Atkins Park in Virginia-Highland.
The Local Palate on Instagram appe-teases food voyeurs to dig further into the Southern scene at the album’s sister website and magazine. What will happen when Gunshow executive chef Joey Ward barrels into Instagram for a #TLP2DayTakeover” on May 15-16? In non-tech terms, that means Ward will take over the Instagram account and post an inside look into his Southern culinary world at Gunshow. Cheers -- it’s a friendly conquest.
Fried chicken is one of those feel-good Southern foods, especially when chomping into crispy-tender pieces of regionally raised poultry generates multiple rewards, i.e. your personal comfort food tank and assisting homeless families move toward more stable lives. Give Back Night at Bantam + Biddy Avalon on Monday, May 18 is such an occasion. After 5 p.m. that evening, 10 percent of all proceeds move on to The Drake House. This North Fulton County nonprofit helps homeless mothers and their children work toward self-sufficiency through short-term crisis housing, education and empowerment programs. Fried chicken is just the start. Bantam + Biddy offers rotisserie chicken, pork loin, pork schnitzel, sautéed Maine salmon, Southern Breakfast All Day, salads, sandwiches and snacks such as pimento cheese, crispy wings and Jb Farm deviled eggs. Browse the complete menu here.
Those bumbling around, interested in beekeeping but not sure where to begin, will find a sweet Saturday awaits them at White Oak Pastures. The family owned, organic farm is leading a Beginner’s Beekeeping Workshop on May 16. Pull into the Bluffton, Georgia farm at 10 a.m. for a tour of the farm (optional). A noon lunch in the Pavilion officially opens the workshop, followed by an introduction to honeybees, apiology and colony organization, tools of the trade, managing hive pests naturally, colony collapse disorder and Q & A time. Inspect an open hive, weather permitting. No hives of your own? No problem. It’s still a golden opportunity to learn how to make your own honey and create bee-friendly environments to keep the world buzzing with these important food chain pollinators. Limited to 25 participants; $65 per person. Call 229-641-2081 for information or reservations. Reservations also may be made online.
A Taste of the Highlands will be one mammoth, mouthwatering walk in the park; that’s John Howell Park in Virginia-Highland, on Saturday, May 16 from 2-5 p.m. FLIP burger boutique and Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar are two of more than 30 restaurants claiming spaces and doling out tastes of popular dishes at the 13th annual food fest. Music to munch by comes courtesy of Sweet Auburn Swing Band and Jambodia. All proceeds go to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. The nonprofit hospital system marks 100 years of aiding children in 2015. General admission tickets are $50 each and include entry and your fill of food and drinks.
Around 200 sheep and 800 chickens cavort on Many Fold Farm, situated in the Chattahoochee Hill Country about an hour southwest of Article 14. (View a daily dose of cute on the Many Fold LambCam.) Many Fold owners Ross and Rebecca ventured to Vermont to soak up knowledge and scale the cheesemaking learning curve before raising ewes to milk for their own farmstead cheeses -- cheeses that have been mentioned in Garden & Gun magazine. For anyone who’s had the wool pulled over their eyes into thinking all cheese comes via cow or goat, this month’s cheese dinner at Article 14 lends a ewe-some chance to sample Many Fold’s organic sheep milk cheeses as part of a four-course dinner with wine pairings. Gather up some bits of wisdom from an American Cheese Society speaker during the evening. $45 per person (not including tax or gratuity). Make reservations online or call 404-443-8432.
Does anyone ever say, “Sure wish there were more hours to enjoy Monday?” Precisely. Monday tends to drag on the heels of its boisterous weekend siblings. Max’s Wine Dive, the Midtown restaurant and wine bar that pairs casual foods and fine wines, is out to drag the mundane weekday down a different path by teaming up with Atlanta’s best drag queens for “Monday’s a Drag” viewing parties featuring a classic drag movie or TV show each Monday from 6-10 p.m. Campy food and drink specials, such as $8 mixed berry sangria, $5 hibiscus Bellinis or $5 glasses of wine, will vary weekly and always raise spirits. Chef Patric Bell baked pink champagne cupcakes for the first “Monday’s a Drag” party -- who knows what delicacies he’ll “drag” out next. During the 6-10 p.m. timeframe, 10 percent of all food and drink sales will go to Lost-n-Found Youth, Atlanta’s only nonprofit organization dedicated to taking homeless lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth off the streets and placing them into more permanent housing. Lost-n-Found Youth advocates and serves youth from 13-25 years of age. Stay tuned for what’s on the screen and more on Facebook or at #MondaysADrag. Save a seat on Max’s reservation page or by calling 404-249-0445.
‘Cue and brew. Have two rhyming words ever been so delightfully compatible? Smokebelly BBQ and Atlanta’s own Red Brick Brewing Company join forces for a harmonious evening of chef-crafted barbecue and craft beers at the Buckhead barbecue joint on Tuesday, May 12 at 7 p.m. Smokebelly chef Nagib Sued and Red Brick lead brewer Steve Anderson navigate attendees through five courses and five Red Brick beer pairings. Plans are to tap into a special cask created specifically for this event! Seats are $50 each and are available to purchase online.
Our Bite-Size Bonanza board is mighty with many, mini recipes perfectly portioned to pick up and go, no drips, slips or launching off paper plates and onto pristine white jeans. Hand egg and cheese mini muffins to toddlers and find adult brunch bites among mini-breakfast ideas. Meatball sub cupcakes, mini brie en croute, zucchini pizza bites and low-carb/gluten-free bacon guacamole cups pack some protein while baked s’mores, pineapple upside-down cupcakes and three-bite chocolate French silk pies fashion neat little sweets.
Bill Addison, Eater’s restaurant editor and roving food critic, calls Atlanta home base, which bodes well for all of our locals looking for good eats in Atlanta, Decatur and Duluth as well as those traveling to NYC, San Fran and Santa Fe.
