Seattle freelance photographer Brittany Wright has one goal, to teach herself how to cook anything and everything. Don’t know how that’s working out for Brittany, but the fruity photos on Wright Kitchen are ripe for the picking (and one can, at wrightkitchen.com/prints).
The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill, Buckhead’s beachfront property, is always ready to party, especially when marking an anniversary. The restaurant coasts into its weeklong anniversary celebration on Monday, September 19 with $6 specials honoring six fun-loving years. Take advantage of $6 chef-crafted appetizers and $6 drink specials throughout the week. The party culminates with a big blowout from 1-9 p.m. on Sunday, September 25 featuring $6 Champagne and house wines, $6 specialty cocktails, beer specials, giveaways and live music from Jason Pomar (1-5 p.m.) and the Cothern Miracle Band (5-9 p.m.). Guests who dine at the Buckhead beach house during the anniversary week celebration will be entered to win a $500 gift card. Stick around for games, giveaways and the 6 p.m. Champagne toast and gift card drawing.
At 5Church, powdered sugar dusts the crispy duck fat beignets resting on a golden pond of burnt-orange rye caramel sauce ($7). Share a dish of four over coffee, and everyone will enjoy sweet dreams.
The tantalizing trio of Seed Kitchen & Bar, Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar and Anchor Distilling join forces to create an incredible Anchor Distilling Cocktail Dinner at Stem Wine Baron Monday, September 19. Chefs Doug Turbush and John Flagello are handling the five-course menu, and beverage managers/mixologists David Peek and Jose Pereiro have developed cocktail pairings using spirits from the Anchor Distilling portfolio. Anchor brand ambassador Harvey Mayorga swizzles in with backstories on the spirits used at the 6:30-9:30 p.m. cuisine and cocktails event. Menu highlights include seared Maine scallop escabeche with a Crème de Noyaux cocktail; juniper-cured Ora king salmon paired with a cocktail mingling Junipero gin, King’s Ginger liqueur, Luxardo Maraschino liqueur and Carpano Bianco; bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin and pork carnitas sope cooled by a drink of Mezcal Amarás, passion fruit, lime juice, orgeat and crushed ice; whiskey-braised veal cheek and fall mushroom ragu with a cocktail of Old Potrero rye, Luxardo Amaro Abano, sherry, turbinado, walnut bitters and flamed orange; and dessert of sweet potato s’more pie tucked in by a dreamy blend of scotch, crème de cacao, condensed milk, espresso and cinnamon-dusted brûlée marshmallow. Seats are limited. Buy tickets in advance, $99 per person (tax and gratuity included).
Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar in Virginia-Highland interrupts couch-bound college gridiron and NFL viewing schedules with an important announcement: all the games are on, cocktails are cold and may yield prizes, and draft beers are a bargain. For the record, all NFL games are viewing options thanks to DirecTV Sunday Ticket connections. SweetWater 420 and IPA are Atkins Park official house draft picks, filling pints for only $3 each every day of the week. Those with a team at their table may want to order pitchers of Bud Light, priced at $12 every day. Enter the weekly pick ‘em for a chance to win $50 house cash by completing the in-house pick ‘em sheets and submitting them before kickoff time of the Thursday night game. Saturdays, guests who purchase a game day cocktail from the special college game day drink menu will be entered into a raffle to win an “Ultimate Tailgate Package” valued at $500. Cheer like you mean it while sipping a Georgia Salty Dawg, Roll Tide, Tech Buzz, Hotty Toddy or Tiger Fizz ($6-$7 each). When the drawing is held the night of the National Championship (January 9, 2017), one lucky fan will score two tailgating chairs, a cornhole set and a Yeti Hopper. During Monday night football, the restaurant will offer cans of Monday Night Brewing beer for $5 and throw in a keeper of an Atkins Park/Monday Night Brewing koozie. No time to run home for a bite between office and game? Order winning football fare from Monday’s football menu.
Fall calls out for Big Green Egg cooking. Executive chef Mike Fuller’s Big Green Egg cooking class at Ray’s at Killer Creek prepares BGE newbies and longtime devotees for a smoking-hot season. Guests at the 11 a.m.-1 p.m. session on Saturday, September 17 will watch Fuller prepare a tasting menu of barbecue pork cheek deviled eggs with homemade bread-and-butter pickles; pimento-stuffed poblano peppers with chipotle aioli and tortilla chips; pepper-crusted beef brisket with street vendor corn and queso fresco; and cast-iron s’mores oozing Mexican chocolate and toasted marshmallows. More delicious news – everyone gets to taste the results! The $45 per-person (plus tax and gratuity) cost includes cooking demo, tasting menu, iced tea, soda, coffee and a choice of a bloody mary, mimosa or a 16-ounce draught beer. Reservations held with credit card are required; call 770-649-0064.
“Good eatin’” victuals taste even better when indulging in Good Eatin’ Great Cause. Test our words at this culinary tour and competition benefiting SafePath Children’s Advocacy Center and filling the Cobb Galleria exhibit hall Thursday, September 15 from 6-10 p.m. Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar and Seed Kitchen & Bar are in the mix of Atlanta’s most popular restaurants and chefs turning out tapas-style food tastings at the event. Granted, that’s plenty vying for your taste bud attention, yet there’s more fanning the flames of culinary desire. Celebrity chef judges will pass judgment in the hot cooking competition between the Cobb County and Marietta Fire Departments, Cobb County Law Enforcement and the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office. Purchase tickets online, $75 each. Donations always welcome!
Taste of Buckhead, hosted every fall by the Buckhead Business Association, shows off tastes from Buckhead’s premier restaurants as well as samples of wine, beer, spirits and other goodies. More than 30 chefs, mixologists and reps from beloved Buckhead restaurants -- including Smokebelly BBQ, The Southern Gentleman and The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill -- will come together on Thursday, September 15 for this year’s event at The Stave Room at American Spirit Works in the SweetWater Design District. This year’s event premieres The Taste of Buckhead Spirit Wall, in lieu of the wine wall of past years, where attendees can purchase a ticket for $20 and take home a donated bottle of spirits. Wall proceeds will pour into The Giving Kitchen and the organization’s mission to help workers in the restaurant industry. A silent auction and VIP experience round out the night’s entertaining agenda. General admission tickets are $50 each and include unlimited tastings. VIP tickets, $75 each, include exclusives such as a tour of American Spirit Whiskey’s distillery, chef demonstrations, food samples, specialty cocktails, interactive stations and a VIP gift bag. Buy tickets here.
Tickets are now available for Harvest for a Cure, a one-of-a-kind evening on Thursday, October 20 uniting 18 of Atlanta’s most talented chefs and pastry chefs with 18 savvy sommeliers and mixologists to pair culinary creations with wines from the personal cellars of top local wine collectors. Guests will sample an extravaganza of fine food and vintage wines surrounded by stunning contemporary art in the galleries of Mason Fine Art at this third annual fundraiser for the Georgia Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society. You know the evening will be delish and well curated with these stars onboard -- chef Gerry Klaskala, pastry chef Kathryn King and sommelier Andrés Loaiza of Aria; chef Billy Cole and mixologist Mercedes O’Brien of Gunshow; chef Matthew Ridgway of Gypsy Kitchen; and Derek Dollar of Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails. In order to reach its $500,000 goal in fundraising, Harvest for a Cure will feature an extravagant raffle and employ a new digital MS Wine Event app where guests can access event details and raffle item information. “The great thing about Harvest for a Cure is that it’s an event that people living with MS can actually enjoy,” says John Carlos, president and chief operating officer of National Distributing Company and longtime supporter of the National MS Society. To be a part of it all, buy tickets online today.
Sink your teeth into a hefty, honkin’ handful of burger at Smokebelly BBQ. Sure to become your beefy bestie before, during or after gridiron viewing, the Smokebelly Signature Burger boasts a blend of ground brisket and short rib piled with smoked Gouda, crispy bacon and tobacco fried onions as well as a nice contrast of crisp lettuce, pickles and juicy tomatoes. Comes your way on a white or wheat bun for $11.50.
Gunshow executive chef Joey Ward caters to social surfers hungry for humor with a ‘gram well stocked in food porn, farmers market mixings and kitchen funnies revealing a chef who’s serious about cooking and stirring up laughs. He’s a party animal. Just ask his pup.
