17th Annual Dining Out for Life

Maybe dining out is a big event for you or maybe it’s something you do several times a week without really thinking about it. Sometimes those who need nutritious food the most can’t get out to get it. That’s where you step in and step out into one of Atlanta’s numerous restaurants participating in the 17th Annual Dining Out for Life on Wednesday, April 22 to benefit Open Hand.

Partcipants include great restaurants such as Fifth Group Restaurants’ South City Kitchen Midtown and Vinings, Ecco, The Original El Taco and La Tavola Trattoria; Eclipse di Luna - Miami Circle and Park Place, Kozmo Gastro Pub, Aria and Portofino and Woodfire Grill.

Click here to make reservations and know that 20 percent of our tab is going straight to Open Hand’s work in our community. The organization helps people prevent or better manage chronic disease through Comprehensive Nutrition Care™, which combines home-delivered meals and nutrition education as a means to reinforce the connection between informed food choices and improved quality of life.

Those Crazy Eights

Ok, so it isn't technically a wedding anniversary, but it is an anniversary just the same... Portofino, Buckhead's favorite Italian hot spot, is celebrating their eight year anniversary with a month long Crazy 8 Celebration. All through the month of December a special menu sets forth a bevy of enticing $8 food and wine specials, but tonight is the night for those truly in the know.

Tonight, Portofino thanks their loyal guests with a truly crazy gift - the ENTIRE menu is $8. Yes, that grilled Italian sausage dish you love? $8. That veal scaloppine? $8 too. This special is for tonight only since today, December 1, is Portofino's actual anniversary date. Reservations are a must tonight so don't forget to call or reserve online.

If you can't make it tonight, don't despair because additional $8 specials are going on all month. Sundays, twirl your fork around the Italian-American bistro’s scrumptious spaghetti and veal, pork and beef meatballs in Tuscan tomato sauce for $8. Throughout the week, order up short rib bruschetta, gnochiette with Merguez wine-cured lamb sausage; duck confit with marinated, grilled radicchio; four cheese and walnut ravioli; date and pecan salad with gorgonzola dressing; ricotto and spinach ritollo; mushroom grilled polenta with gorgonzola cream; or truffled risotto balls with applewood smoked bacon. Fill your wine glass with these $8 beauties: Gravina-Botromango or Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay or reds, Zenato Valpolicella, Fontanafredda Barbera, Mark West Pinot Noir, Conte Brandolini Treanni, Coltibuono Chianti or Steele Zinfandel. Want more? All of Portofino’s more than 50 wine selections are available by the glass for $8 on Mondays during the month of December.

Sounds like some crazy good deals to me.

Portofino Pushes Pasta on Pre-Atlanta Marathon Menu

One week from today I will line up with thousands of runners on Peachtree street to run the Thanksgiving Day Atlanta Half Marathon. Thankfully, Portofino will serve a pre-race carb filled meal for all the marathoners and half-marathoners on the 26th. The prix fixe menu includes pasta, along with soup or salad and dessert. Fortify your reserves from 5-10 p.m. on Wednesday, November 26, for a mere $25 per person. Start strong with starters such as white bean or butternut squash soup; spinach salad with feta, pine nuts, tomato, cucumber and a balsamic vinaigrette; and Caesar salad with herb croutons and Parmesan cheese. A variety of pastas, such as garlic chicken penne; classic spaghetti with veal, beef and pork blended meatballs; pomodoro with fresh tomato and basil sauce over penne pasta; pasta primavera with fresh whole wheat fettuccine or mushroom risotto Milanese will put you in the carb-loading zone. Cruise to a finish with gelato, tiramisu or pumpkin bread pudding .

Portofino: 3199 Paces Ferry Place. For reservations, call 404-231-1136. http://www.portofinobistro.com/

Eating Regionally

Each month, Portofino features a special a la carte dinner menu that focuses on a specific region of Italy. This month’s regional menu spotlights “Piemonte,” the nation’s Piedmont region, and the menu offers appetizers, entrees, desserts and wines all inspired by the regional cooking of Piedmont.The culinary trip starts with an appetizer such as Bagna Caudo – tempura-fried vegetables topped with a sauce blend of anchovy, garlic and olive oil. Entrée choices include Carbonada – a rich, hearty veal stew scented with truffles over potato hash. Land in the sweet spot at meal’s end with mocha cinnamon bonet – a flan custard dessert with crushed Amaretto cookies and Amaretto di Saronno. Specially selected wines from the Piedmont region include the crisp, white Pio Cesare, Cortese di Gavi, ’07; Fontanafredda, Barbera, Briccotondo, ’06 with its hints of pepper and chocolate; and Pinot Noir-like Massolino, Langhe Nebbiolo, ’04.

I haven't made it in to taste this month's menu yet, but I was in recently and had a bruschetta appetizer topped with braised short ribs, creme faiche and what I think was a pesto. Oh my deliciousness, it was can-not-stop-eating-this-just-box-up-my-entree-because-I'm-so-full good. I'm looking forward to seeing if this menu lives up to my now very high expectations.

Get Out of the Office... and Go Out for Lunch!

Popular lunch destinations off the beaten path may be the best places to grab some food on your lunch break! Eclipse di Luna, located in Miami Circle right off of Piedmont, offers sensational lunch options that may have you branching out from your usual hot spots! Eclipse di Luna is well known with the locals for their specialty tapas, live music, and an artsy, laid-back atmosphere. The menu is packed with a wide alternative of options from tapas ($2.25 to $5.95) as well as Spanish paella ($14.50 or $20). Eclipse di Luna is open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday at 11:30 a.m. offering a great way to enjoy yourself and relax during your lunch hour.

Portofino, a neighborhood Italian restaurant located off of East Paces Ferry Road is a great place for a casual, yet delicious lunch. Executive Chef Marty Eberly is always busy cooking up a lunch menu that is sure not to disappoint! Portofino is open for lunch 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. So head out on your next break, you'll never pack lunch again!


Eclipse di Luna – Miami Circle: 764 Miami Circle; 404-846-0449. Also Eclipse di Luna – Park Place: 4505 Ashford-Dunwoody Road in Dunwoody; 678-205-LUNA.



Portofino: 3199 Paces Ferry Place; 404-231-1136.