The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill Five-Year Anniversary Week Starts with $5 Apps and Ends with a Bash October 4

It’s high tide for a party! The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill, Buckhead’s favorite beach house, marks five years with a weeklong celebration. As always, fabulous seafood is a given. Dive in for $5 chef-crafted appetizers cruising from Monday, September 28 through party day, Sunday, October 4. Doors open at 11 a.m. Sunday. Later in the day look for drink specials including $5 prosecco and house wines, $5 specialty anniversary cocktails and beer specials. Wriggle into those flip-flops and boogie to rock, pop and soul stylings of Anthony Crane from 1-4 p.m. and Garrison Blagg Band’s rock ‘n roll from 5-9 p.m. Gather your “groupers” together to comb for giveaways and raise a Champagne toast at 5 p.m. Here’s to five years of fabulous seafood and many more to come.

10th & Piedmont Adds Sunday Supper Dining Experience September 27

Sunday Suppers join the family at 10th & Piedmont, Midtown’s favorite weekend socializing spot, beginning September 27. New executive chef Michelle Matlock entertains visions of a curated four-course dining experience, similar to a chef’s table, where chefs will introduce each dish and spend time with guests. Big time, small bucks -- $25 per person plus tax and gratuity. Sunday dinner service starts at 5 p.m., giving the 11 a.m.-4 p.m. brunch bunch a chance to wrap up their day...or stay on for another scrumptious meal. Reserve a table here.

Enjoy “4.B4.5” Drink Pricing at Moxie Kitchen + Cocktails

Posting some of the most-spirited shorthand in Jacksonville, Florida, clever mixologists at Moxie Kitchen + Cocktails have come up with “4.B4.5” handcrafted happy hour pricing, seven days a week. A select group of libations pour for $4 between 3-5 p.m. Regular happy hour pricing applies from 5-7 p.m. and kicks back in Friday and Saturday nights from 10 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. closing time. Enjoy $4 craft draft beer (including some local brews), $6 wines by the glass and $5.50 premium wells. Relax with a specially priced, handcrafted martini, sloe gin fizz, daiquiri, cucumber Collins, Midwest mule, Pimm’s Cup, French 76 or Nueva Moda cocktail. 

Fill ‘er Up for Atkins Park Atlanta Streets Alive Water Balloon Fight September 27 and Blue Point Brewing Oyster Jam September 30

Water balloons catapult into the playful wet-weapon-of-choice category amid the good times afoot at Sunday’s Atlanta Streets Alive street fest in Virginia-Highland. The Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar team is stockpiling -- water balloons outside, cold brews inside -- for an epic water balloon fight at 3 p.m. Sections of North Highland Avenue, Highland Avenue, Boulevard and North Avenue will be closed to traffic from 2-6 p.m. for the street party, encouraging Atlantans to take to the streets for social, human-powered activities like strolling, skating and bike riding. While walking and talking, stop by Atkins Park for Big Green Egg food specials and cornhole games. For every pint of New Belgium beer sold during the afternoon, the community-minded tavern will donate $1 to the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, the organization spinning its wheels to coordinate Atlanta Streets Alive activities throughout the city. Ride on!

Could the water balloon war lead to more whistle-whetting ops? Three days later, on Wednesday, September 30, Atkins Park will host an Oyster Jam with Blue Point Brewing Company. Special oyster menu cracks open at 5 p.m., joined by draft and can specials from Blue Point Brewing. Hang around -- Chip Jones & Co. performs on the patio from 8-11 p.m. 

High Taste, High Tech – Wristband-Ready Taste of Atlanta Takes Over Tech Square in Midtown September 25-27

Snazzy wristbands relieve Taste of Atlanta attendees from trifling with paper tickets, coupons and cash at this year’s mega-munch out in Midtown’s Tech Square Friday, September 25 through Sunday, September 27. Not Fitbits. More like “feast bits,” the tap-and-go wristbands free hands for forking tantalizing samples from Article 14, Bellina Alimentari, FLIP burger boutique, Gypsy Kitchen, MAX’s Wine Dive, Smokebelly BBQ, Stem Wine Bar, The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill, The Southern Gentleman and Twin Smokers BBQ -- over 90 restaurants in all. Chefs from Gypsy Kitchen,Marlow’s Tavern, MAX’s Wine Dive, Seed Kitchen & Bar, Stem Wine Bar and The Southern Gentleman are among those serving guests at Friday night’s “eat and greet” Bucket Bash kickoff party and benefit for The Giving Kitchen. Check the event website for participating restaurant details. Go totally tech and buy tickets online for the Bucket Bash ($75-$90 each plus tax and service fee) or Saturday or Sunday’s big taste fest ($25-$75 each plus tax and service fee). Those preferring a brick-and-mortar-based money/ticket exchange can save $5 when buying tickets at The Cook’s Warehouse locations, Hop City or the Georgia Tech Ferst Center. Whet your appetite by peeking at the food photos on Taste of Atlanta’s Facebook page. Nice to know that attending Taste of Atlanta aids a plate full of charities. 

Dinner or Drinks at MAX’s Wine Dive Generates Seed Money for Kula Project #FORTHEFARMER September 24

“Kula” means “A Community at Heart” in Sanskrit and translates “to eat” in Swahili. Share community comfort food at MAX’s Wine Dive in Midtown on Thursday, September 24, and your dining and drinking dollars become investments in the lives of coffee farmers in East Africa. That night, MAX’s will donate 20 percent of sales to Kula Project and its third annual #FORTHEFARMER campaign. The nonprofit Kula Project provides quality seeds for planting and links famers with fair-trade buyers to help change the opportunity landscapes for their families. Invest in a farmer and you’re investing in basics we take for granted: food, education for their children and healthcare. MAX’s Thursday night special, available after 4 p.m., is a satisfying Low Country boil, and there’s a huge selection of brews, wines by the bottle or glass and cocktails to slake thirsts. Ingest and invest. Sounds like a fair trade to us.

Gypsy Kitchen Caravans to Buckhead Theatre for Taste of Buckhead September 24

Chefs from Gypsy Kitchen and other hot Atlanta restaurants will wow guests with signature dishes and bites at the 11th annual Taste of Buckhead converging on the Buckhead Theatre Thursday, September 24 from 5:30-9:30 p.m. Along with amazing morsels, guests will have the opportunity to sample more than 50 wine, beer and spirit tastings and browse vendor products. General admission tickets ($50 each) allow access to unlimited food, beer, wine and spirit tastings. VIP tickets ($75 each, only 100 tickets available) stack on a VIP reception with celebrity chef demos, VIP gift bag and exclusive tastings and specialty cocktails. Limited to ages 21 and over. Gas South presents this year’s event at Buckhead’s landmark theatre.

Ray’s Rio Bravo Throwback Thursdays Pour on Retro Pricing

A five spot buys a 12-ounce house margarita, $7 brings on a 12-ounce Texas margarita and a Jackson? The $10 bill will procure a 64-ounce pitcher of Dos Equis during Throwback Thursdays at Ray’s Rio Bravo. Such a deal! Prices for these bad boys are regularly $7, $9 and $18 respectively. Settle in for a “Rio Fresh, Rio Fun” afternoon or evening with your amigos and a menu rounding up engaging compadres such as crisp tortilla chips and fresh guac hinting of Rio Bravo’s secret spice blend, queso fundido blending Cotija and Chihuahua cheeses and locally made chorizo, beef-brisket laden and beanless Texas chili plus tamales, street tacos (try veggie or fried red snapper), fajitas, nachos, quesadillas and enchiladas for every taste. Open Thursdays from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. 

Ray’s in the City Founding Chef Dean Berthelot Returns to Helm Kitchen

We all have those friends. The ones you may not have seen for a decade, but when you have a reunion, the two of you pick up right where you left off. Such is the story for Ray's in the City and “new” executive chef Dean Berthelot. Twelve years ago, Berthelot helped Ray's Restaurants’ founder Ray Schoenbaum open this shining star in downtown Atlanta’s culinary scene and shaped the restaurant’s menu and fine dining experience. Louisiana-born Berthelot began his culinary career in 1991 at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in New Orleans before moving on to his first executive chef position at NOLA’s House of Blues and opening other House of Blues locations. Atlanta-bound in 2001, he cheffed at The Cheesecake Factory. Ray’s snatched him up in 2003 to be executive sous chef at Ray’s on the River, tapping Berthelot to lead Schoenbaum’s new Ray’s in the City later that year. Berthelot was “Googled” to serve as executive chef at Atlanta’s four Google facilities in 2010. Here and now, this chef feels blessed to return to the world-class restaurant he helped open a dozen years ago. Ray’s “bestie” has come home. 

Cotton Calf Kitchen Opens in Historic Downtown Braselton September 23

Cotton Calf Kitchen opens the doors of the former Braselton Brothers Department Store on September 23 for a classic American steakhouse dinner and drink experience. Signature, dry-aged steaks and cocktails replace the dry goods and groceries that once graced the shelves of the 111-year-old storefront in Braselton’s historic downtown. Providing rich dining options for the vibrant live/work/dine community, chef Javier Viera creates a menu of small plates including bar selections of crab cake BLT sliders, a trio of petite black & bleu burgers, truffle Parmesan fries, smoked salmon tostadas, lamb lollipops, deviled eggs and caviar as well as tapas-style appetizers like Blue Point oysters on the half shell, lobster cocktail and bourbon-glazed thick bacon. Soups and salads lead off with lobster bisque, cauliflower Parmesan soup, a Caesar salad and the Cotton Calf Kitchen chopped salad. Steaks and chops range from a 10-ounce petite New York strip to Colorado lamb loin to a 48-ounce porterhouse for two. Viera’s menu pleases everyone’s tastes with specialties such as a market-priced whole baked lobster, colossal lump crab cakes, the prime burger plump with Schweid & Sons ground short rib, and garlic butter Springer Mountain Farms frenched chicken breast. Handcrafted cocktails tip toward The Midtown Manhattan, Russian Boar martini, Three Brothers Negroni, Hudson old fashioned, Cotton Club Sazerac, 4 Mules or a Crater Lake hazelnut espresso vodka-laced Daybreak. Open daily for cocktails and dinner from 4-11 p.m. For more information, visit Facebook and Instagram.

Food, Fellowship and Fall Rendezvous at White Oak Pastures’ Harvest Gathering October 17

Celebrate the harvest season where the harvest is close at hand, down on the farm at White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia. Will Harris and his team are already planning Harvest Gathering activities for Saturday, October 17. Join them for a farm tour, music, tailgating games and a whole hog roast sided by farm-fresh fixings. Toast the harvest with beer and wine from the cash bar. Don’t eat and run, slow down and circle up around the bonfire to make s’mores after dinner. Opt in for a tour and dinner combo ($40), dinner only ($30) or just the tour ($10) when purchasing tickets through the White Oak Pastures online store.