The heat is on at Feed Fried Chicken and Such in The Battery Atlanta. It’s just a matter of whether you want your Atlanta hot fried chicken experience to register a mild or medium heat level. Given to extremes? Go Southern Fried for no heat, Cluck’n Inferno for red hot. Once your chicken climate is under control, the rest is easy: breast, wing, thigh, drumstick ($8.50-$10.50); half chicken ($13); tenders ($8-$12); Bucket O’Chicken ($22); Atlanta hot sandwich ($6-$8) or the contrast of Atlanta hot fried chicken on a crisp, cool spicy chicken salad ($9.50).
When things seem crazy out there, take comfort in hitting the pause button for Sunday brunch, served from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. at Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails in historic Crabapple. Beloved comfort foods, breakfast staples and inventive, chef-crafted newcomers mingle on executive chef Derek Dollar’s new brunch menu. Wake up to garden-fresh goodness, because Dollar and staff love to highlight fresh ingredients from Milton’s Acre, the on-site garden, in dishes like the farmer omelet stuffed with red and yellow bell peppers, tomatoes, scallions, cheddar cheese and buckboard bacon or shrimp and grits with red and yellow peppers, smoked bacon, mushrooms, scallions, tomatoes, lemon butter sauce and cheddar stone-ground grits. Other menu standouts are Tater Tot waffles with sunny side eggs served with andouille redeye gravy, hot sauce and scallions; fried chicken and sweet potato waffles served with cracked mustard maple syrup and bourbon-peach jam; the fisherman omelet stuffed with crab, shrimp, asparagus, julienned radish, avocado, tomato and hollandaise; fried green tomatoes with chive-spiked goat cheese and piquillo pepper coulis; sticky toffee pecan beignets with powdered sugar and toffee sauce; sweet potato shrimp fritters with red chile syrup and basil oil; bacon cheddar croissant French toast with jalapeño maple syrup and scrambled farm eggs and a choice of Applewood bacon, jalapeño bacon or sausage; and avocado toast with sunny side farm eggs, julienned radish, creamy lemon dressing, pickled Fresno chilies and garden greens. Raise a glass to Sunday with a brunchy loaded bloody mary, mimosa, Bellini, Bee’s Knees or Hair of the Hog trotting out bacon-infused bourbon, maple syrup, bitters and jalapeño bacon. Reservations are not required but can be made on OpenTable or by calling the restaurant at 770-817-0161.
All hands on deck for party time! The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill on Canton Street in Roswell cruises full steam ahead past the second-year buoy marker into a party packed with oceans of fun, food and drink specials on Sunday, Oct. 8 from 2-8 p.m. Chef Derek Dollar is cooking up an all-you-can-eat low country boil for hungry partygoers ($20 plus tax). A special occasion like this one deserves a dozen oysters -- slurp down a dozen, specially priced at half-off. Toast to Roswell’s coast over $6 sangria and $3 local canned beer while rocking to live music and trying your luck in a raffle.
Chili, oh, where have you “bean” all summer? The sixth annual Atlanta Chili Cook Off kicks off chili season on Saturday, Oct. 7 from 1-5 p.m. at Brookhaven Park featuring 60+ restaurant and amateur teams competing for the best chili and Brunswick stew in the ATL. Popular Brookhaven eateries Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub and Jefe’s Tacos & Tequila are stirring the pot of con carne contenders. K-Pub will be defending its title after squirreling away first place for best Brunswick stew last year and third place for best chili. Additionally, K-Pub won the hearts, taste buds and votes of attendees to capture the People’s Choice chili award in 2016. Here’s a spoonful of Cook Off trivia: Kaleidoscope has placed in the top three winners for best chili and Brunswick stew every year since the first cook off in 2012, besting 12 to 20 other restaurants each year. The afternoon is sure to be a gas with live music by Atlanta Retro Band, Martay Partay and DJ Suspense and wine, cold beer and Electric Vodka lemonade available for purchase to temper the heat. Event bean-eficiaries include Atlanta Fundraising Foundation and Brookhaven Park Conservancy. Buy VIP and general admission tickets online. VIP includes noon admission, unlimited chili tastings, open bar, swag, commemorative spoon and more ($55 per person). General admission ($19 per person) buys 1 p.m. entry and unlimited chili tastings. Children under 12 admitted free with paying adult.
Patties up! Atlanta magazine’s Best Burger Battle sizzles its way across the Lenox Square parking deck on Saturday, Oct. 7 from 1-5 p.m. Best Burger Battle stars two dozen of Atlanta’s burger joints -- The Federal and Bantam + Biddy Lenox among them -- plus bourbon, blues and brews. Attendees and judges taste and vote on their burgers of choice while a live blues band provides music to chew and choose by. Between beefy bits, imbibe Bulleit bourbon and beers from Brooklyn Brewery and Wild Heaven. Drinks are included in your ticket to the event, presented by Infiniti and Lenox Square. Bring your ID and appetite to this sizzler for ages 21 and over (ID check, no children). Tickets are $50 per person (plus small service fee) and include burger tastes, bourbon and brews.
Friday night is almost here, ushering in a new “Friday Night Blues” mic and tap takeover at HOBNOB Neighborhood Tavern Midtown. In the case of this popular series, Friday night lights shine on excellent music by top local performers, righteous tap takeovers by beloved local breweries and beer-and-a-shot specials. Music begins at 9 p.m. and beverage specials continue to flow until 1 a.m.
Oct. 6 – Rod Hamdallah; tap takeover by Creature Comforts Brewing Co.
Oct. 13 – Swami Gone Bananas; Monday Night Brewing commandeers the tap takeover.
Oct. 20 – The Wild Hares; SweetWater Brewing Company rides herd on the taps.
Friday Night Blues events are only at the HOBNOB Midtown location. Reserve a table here.
Ring the dinner bell and call in all your beloved little chickees and big farmhands in time to head over to Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails for this season’s last Farmyard Chowdown on Sunday, Oct. 8. Look for the timeless red barn and turn in to find the backyard garden known as Milton’s Acre, then join the 6-8 p.m. party and partake in endless eats. Live music, lawn games and a roving magician entertain all ages. Feast on oysters, plentiful fried chicken, a low country seafood boil, side dish favorites and more. Buy tickets here for $40 per person and $20 for children 12 and under. Price does not include a small service fee, tax or alcoholic beverages. Please call 770-817-0161 for more information.
Stars continue to align at Umi in Buckhead as September sightings attest. Jennifer Aniston befriended creamy rock shrimp tempura and black cod misoyaki, a cucumber wrap California roll, shrimp tempura roll with light rice and Grey Goose vodka cocktails. Laurence Fishburne and Spencer Garrett peeled off from filming “The Maltese Falcon” to dine on Umi’s tuna tartare, shishitou, yellowtail jalapeño, unagi nigiri, tobiko nigiri with a quail egg, hinomaru nigiri, a crunch lobster box, black cod misoyaki, Kobe beef nigiri, sanmori sashimi and kikusui. CW stars Nathalie Kelley and Liz Gillies noshed on yellowtail jalapeño, seaweed and cucumber salad, sanmori sashimi, otoro aburi and Kobe beef nigiri.
Say “Oh, bag it!” to boring al-desko lunches and order in, taking advantage of 5Church Atlanta’s new complimentary weekday lunch delivery service in the Midtown Business District. 5Church neighbors within the area bordered by 11th, 15th, West Peachtree and Juniper streets can chow on lunch classics with a twist from executive chef Scotley Innis. Steak tacos, salmon BLT, 5Church lamb burger, crabcake sandwiches, steak salad, margarita flatbread or other mouthwatering menu selections would sure perk up that lunchtime team meeting or add tasty incentive to buckle down and crank out work over a delicious in-cubicle lunch. No need to break the thought train to step outside; 5Church delivers right to you, Monday-Friday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. For more information, visit www.5churchatlanta.com/lunch-delivery/. To schedule your lunch delivery or find out more about in-office catering, call (404) 400-3669 x 0 or email delivery@5churchatlanta.com.
Atlanta’s love for chef-driven, creative American tavern fare has propelled Marlow’s Tavern from one location in 2004 to 22 locations today -- throughout Atlanta and on into Florida. Learn to prepare Marlow’s favorites from their own chef Steven Nichols and garner culinary tips at Salud! Cooking School Alpharetta, located within Whole Foods Market Avalon, on Wednesday, Oct. 4. Bring friends for a 6:30-8:30 p.m. midweek boost and go home with an arsenal of new recipes and ideas to fortify your own menus. Chef Nichols’ menu features shaved Brussels sprout salad with pancetta, pecorino, toasted pumpkin seeds and a maple vinaigrette; roasted corn-arugula pesto with linguine; potato-wrapped salmon with roasted carrot romesco sauce and blistered cherry tomato panzanella salad; and maple-cayenne apple tarte tatin with spiced almond brittle. Register online, $45 per person.
Hightail it to Game Day Favorites to elevate the “ate” in “tailgate” to corporate box status. Fill the cooler with spiked Arnold Palmer to temper tomatillo-serrano salsa verde, cheesy Buffalo chicken bombs, The Commissioner’s jambalaya and spicy Italian sandwiches. Brunching before a noon game calls for spinach artichoke dip mini bread bowls, chicken and waffle sliders and bacon-cheddar-ranch pinwheels. Rethink staples -- a cute football-shaped chocolate chip-covered cheesecake ball; forgoing tubs of goopy slaw in favor of seriously good homemade slaw; and white queso, sans Velveeta, so neat-a!
Get unstuck. Lifestyle expert and Food Network chef/television personality Mandy Landefeld throws out new ideas for home, travel, kitchen and Friday cocktailing on Sumptuous Living. As if her wheelhouse isn’t full enough, she’s also an interior designer and chef who blogs at sumptuousliving.net.
