The season for habanero peach salsa at Willy's Mexicana Grill is short, hot and sweet, just like orchard peach season. Visit your favorite Willy's location and add summer's peachy-keen kick to a burrito, salad or dipping chips. Limited time only -- better get there before the last peach meets a habanero.
A tantalizing triangle of West African flavor, Caribbean influence and NYC edge point to chef Kevin Gillespie's Gunshow for an intriguing "Hired Guns" dining event on Tuesday, August 11 and Wednesday, August 12. Chef Joseph "JJ" Johnson of award-winning The Cecil and Minton's in New York City's Harlem neighborhood travels south to the nationally recognized Glenwood Park restaurant for a two-night culinary adventure featuring dishes such as crispy porgy with coconut corn mash, strawberry curry and lychee. Johnson, a 2015 James Beard Award Rising Star semifinalist, cites several sources as kitchen muses: his grandmother's Caribbean influences, training at the Culinary Institute of America and a month-long stay in Ghana, where he cooked at a five-star restaurant, visited local markets and studied West African flavors. Gillespie's "Hired Guns" dining series brings nationally recognized chefs to Atlanta to share their talents and stories in Gunshow's open kitchen. Chef Johnson's accolade cupboard is well stocked, including a place on both Forbes’ and Zagat's "30 Under 30" lists, inclusion in Eater's Young Guns list, winning Rocco DiSpirito's Dinner Party competition and StarChef's Rising Star for Community in 2015, and having his restaurant The Cecil recognized by Esquire magazine as the Best New Restaurant in America in 2014. Sure to fill up quickly! Reservations: 404-380-1886.
Fall “Hired Guns” events include Jean-Paul Bourgeois of New York City's Blue Smoke, Sept. 29-30; and Colby and Megan Garrelts of Rye in Kansas City, Nov. 17-18. Reservations can be made one month in advance.
Join Ray's at Killer Creek executive chef Mike Fuller for a midday foray into Big Green Egg cooking on Saturday, August 8 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Fuller's special tasting menu features smoked, locally foraged wild mushroom flatbread with Capra Gia chevre, arugula pesto and charred lemon oil; low-and-slow smoked pork butt tacos with crunchy slaw, cilantro and lime; prime beef short rib with salsa verde and smoked Gruyere mac and cheese; and grilled Georgia peach sweet biscuit with freshly whipped cream and bourbon Coca-Cola reduction. $35 per person or $60 per couple (includes tax and gratuity) covers cooking demo, Big Green Egg tasting menu and beverage of iced tea, soda or coffee. Reservations required; call 770-649-0064. A credit card will be necessary to confirm the reservation and will be charged prior to the event.
Back to school sales are in full swing, reminding us it's time to buy pens, pencils, lunch boxes and...Thanksgiving turkeys. Save 20 percent off the price of a White Oak Pastures American Standard Bronze heritage breed turkey by placing an order for your bird between July 31-September 27. These hormone- and antibiotic-free birds are living the good life, pecking and foraging their way across the pasture lands of White Oak Pastures -- and developing the rich flavors industrial farm-raised ice-block turkeys lack -- before being humanely slaughtered in the on-farm USDA-inspected poultry abattoir. Prices before discount: $75 for small turkeys (8-12 lbs.), $100 for medium-sized (12.1-16 lbs.) and $125 for large (16.1 and heavier). Discount drops to 5 percent between September 28-November 1, and full pricing kicks in November 2. Order through White Oak Pastures’ online store. All Thanksgiving turkey orders will be shipped Monday, November 16-Friday, November 20 to ensure timely delivery. For savory savings, healthy birds and getting a jump on holiday planning, let us give thanks.
Only 33 guests will be able to sit down to "A Night in the Parlour" beer dinner featuring a trio of courses and beers at The Blind Pig Parlour Bar on Wednesday, July 29 at 7 p.m. Chef Nagib Sued of The Blind Pig and Smokebelly BBQ will be joined by Brian Purcell of Three Taverns Craft Brewery to guide guests through three courses paired with three different Three Taverns brews. Buy tickets in advance online, $33 per guest. The Blind Pig is located behind Smokebelly BBQ in Buckhead.
the 20th Anniversary Photo Contest at Willy's Mexicana Grill in less time than it takes to develop a Polaroid snapshot and show Willy's your #SummerOfWillys love! Before Saturday, August 1, sign up on Willy's Facebook page, snap a picture, tag your photo with "#SummerOfWillys" and upload on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Grand prize winner receives a GoPro Hero4 and 20 free burrito cards; runner up wins 10 free burrito cards. Willy’s also heats up the last month of its anniversary celebration with a 20th anniversary sweepstakes destined to send some lucky folks on an Orlando resort vacation. Willy's is partnering with Coca-Cola to build a grand prize package for up to four people, including four airline vouchers, a three-night stay at an Orlando theme park hotel and 12 one-day park tickets. Enter August 1-31 at any Willy's location or online. Find rules at www.willys.com
5Church, which has an existing location in Charlotte and a second opening in Charleston, will open a Midtown Atlanta location in the first quarter of 2016. The newest venture from restaurateurs Patrick Whalen, Ayman Kamel, Alejandro Torio and Jamie Lynch will be located at 1197 Peachtree Street, NE and will serve lunch and dinner daily along with weekend brunch. Partner and executive chef Jamie Lynch boasts an impressive background -- Le Cirque, Aureole and Café Boulud as well as Blue and Barrington's in Charlotte. His menu will feature some 5Church favorites that have garnered him recognition as Charlotte Magazine's Best Chef for three consecutive years. Look for "60 second" NY strip steak, 5Church lamb burger with red onion marmalade and Gorgonzola fondue as well as locally sourced dishes original to the Atlanta location. A 200-bottle curated wine list and a selection of specialty cocktails and craft beers will complement Lynch's menu. What's in a name? 5Church derives its nomenclature from the location of the group's first restaurant on the corner of 5th and Church in Uptown Charlotte.
According to a CBS News report, 85 percent of all tea consumed in the United States is iced -- that's about three billion gallons of iced tea every year. No drop in the bucket figure for sure. Now iced tea drinkers can rock their own porches by sipping the same Blue Durango signature proprietary blend of iced tea served at Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails, MAX's Wine Dive, Bantam + Biddy and many other popular restaurants. Shop the Lakehouse Coffee online store where Blue Durango "Classic" iced tea now comes in packages containing eight single-use filter packs for $8. Steep one pack in one pot of boiling water, and you're good to go with a pitcher of summer's ultimate refresher. Sweet or unsweet, well, whatever's your cup of tea.
Two scoops of ice cream celebrations this week!
National Vanilla Ice Cream Day rolls in July 23 with National Hot Fudge Sundae
Day hot on its trail July 25. We Scream for Ice Cream, wishing these days were
national holidays but appeasing our desires with hot fudge poke cake, salted
caramel ice cream, a chocolate stout brownie sundae, snowman shooters, Vitamix
green apple ice cream, rainbow soft serve and a “healthy” sundae thrown in for
good measure.
Hard to say, but in the photo, the seasonal ice
cream sandwich appears to be five-inches tall. See this marvel and other
gastronomical delights, including the restaurant’s Pastured Poultry Week pick,
on The Southern Gentleman Instagram page.
