Shaun Doty Steals Away to Savannah Food & Wine Festival November 9-15

Summer hot-spot Savannah cooks up a storm next week when the Savannah Food & Wine Festival (SFWF) fans out across the historic coastal city November 9-15. Chef Shaun Doty is leaving his roosts at Bantam + Biddy and Chick-a-Biddy for a few days to contribute his talents to the annual eat-drink-repeat extravaganza of tastings, tours, classes and dinners. Doty and other regional and nationally recognized culinary talent, sommeliers and winemakers will pour themselves into a VIP Artisanal Supper of “Food, Drink & Music on the Green” at The Landings on Friday, November 13. From 7-10 p.m., guests can hobnob with chefs while sampling Georgia Grown and artisanal creations, wines, spirits and beer at indoor and outdoor culinary stations. Tickets for the dinner are $135 per person; purchase here. Chef Doty puts his own taste buds to work as a judge at SFWF’s huge Taste of Savannah event at the Georgia State Railroad Museum on Saturday, November 14 from 1-5 p.m. Buy tickets, $65 and up, here.

#Foodgram

Selfies, food, travel, a pig’s head and more are all chronicled by Hugh Acheson, the self-proclaimed “man who cooks things. man who writes stuff. man who gets by.” Seems Acheson “gets by” just fine with three cookbooks, restaurants in Athens, Atlanta and Savannah, a James Beard award for Best Chef Southeast, a judging gig on Bravo’s “Top Chef” and numerous other accolades under his toque.

AquaCurean Harbors Seafood, Spirits and Shaun Doty at Westin Savannah April 25-27

This weekend, Shaun Doty leaves his Bantam + Biddy and Chick-a-Biddy roosts for the AquaCurean celebration anchored at the Westin Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa from April 25-27. Switching gears from poultry to seafood, Doty lands the Master Chef and Mixologist Demonstration stage spot at 1 p.m. on Saturday. AquaCurean packs the weekend with seafood dishes, craft spirit tastings, demos, seminars, live bands, riverfront walks, surprises and even a souvenir shot glass. Buy tickets and packages online.

MLA Taste and Tell: Erica's Sweet on Savannah

In this week's edition, our Client Services Manager, Erica, fills us in on all the sweet details of her trip to Savannah’s River Street. Erica was like a kid in a candy store -  sampling pralines, marshmallows on a stick and ice cream! While she neglected to bring her office-mates any treats (tsk, tsk), she was kind enough to recap her visit on YouTube. Check back next week for more Taste and Tell adventures.

It's Follow Friday; Meet Our Tweep of the Week @SaltedandStyled

 

Libbie Summers and Chia Chong are tweeters behind Salted & Styled in Savannah, Ga. Midwesterner Summers is a creator/writer/culinary producer and is the writer behind "The Whole Hog Cookbook." Creator/photographer Chia Chong hails from Malaysia and resides in Savannah, where she earned her B.F.A. in Photography at Savannah College of Art and Design. Each day brings "food-inspired living" for these two as they notice and expand on one item at a time. Get the gist on Twitter (@SaltedandStyled). There are more words and photos to devour on the Salted & Styled blog!

Grow Already!

This weekend marks the 14th annual Georgia Organics' conference in Savannah. Friday, March 11 and Saturday, March 12, attendees can plant themselves at "Go Grow" in the Savannah International Trade & Convention Center for 32 educational sessions, 10 in-depth workshops and then head out for food and farm tours, sustainable meals and the Farmers Feast.

Renowned food scientist, food activist and author Vandana Shiva takes the mic as keynote speaker on Saturday. Conference goers can gain an insightful look at sustainable farming in Georgia when they view the movie premiere of "Grow!" Other conference activities include book signings, a seed swap, silent auction, farm-to-school conference, children's conference and music jam sessions. Walk-in registration is still available so visit Georgia Organics' website for various ticket prices, event schedules and specific information.

The Lady and Sons (and The Women Who Loved Them)

First, I’d like to say that I tried really hard to hate it. I figured The Lady and Sons restaurant was a tourist trap, but, since I was a tourist, I felt obligated to go. Maybe that’s the best way to approach a celebrity restaurant; low or no expectations. There were five people in our party and two had been to the restaurant before. They were not impressed, but wanted to be team players. Also, as a disclaimer, I am generally not a fan of buffets. They always seem picked over and the food is usually lukewarm. Now that the formalities are over with…

My first impression of the restaurant came at 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning. After a loooong Friday night in Savannah (St. Patty’s Day weekend, no less), we rolled out of bed to the revelation that we would have to leave right then to get in line to make a reservation for 1:30 that afternoon. Not a good start. We weren’t the only ones to get that memo because when we got there, the line was down the block. When we reached the front of the line, we were told that the restaurant was not serving parties of five that day. Also not good. So we reserved a table for four and went home to get some rest.

When we returned to check in for our reservation, the hostess went ga-ga for one of the crew’s boots. When she realized our party was actually (still) a party of five, she decided that since she liked our shoe game, she’s let us slide (thanks Steve Madden!).

Paula Deen and her (cutie pie) sons have given something great to Savannah! The Lady and Sons restaurant fed me the best Southern meal I’ve had outside my grandmother’s kitchen. Four of us ate from the buffet, but one of my companions ordered the fried shrimp from the menu. All of the dishes on the buffet were in small pans so fresh food was constantly replacing half empty pans.

On the buffet: fried and baked chicken, riblets (served naked with bbq sauce on the side), black-eyed peas, rice, mashed potatoes and gravy, creamed corn, baked sweet potatoes, lima beans, green beans, collard greens, a salad bar and the richest, most succulent, cheesiest mac n cheese I have ever had.

I know, it all sounds so ordinary. I don’t know what separates this restaurant from every other place in town that serves Southern or Soul food, but there was something special going on in the kitchen here! Everything was amazing. Even my girlfriends who had been to the restaurant before were surprised with how tasty every morsel was.

Since I wanted to give a fair and balanced report ;-), I felt obligated to try everything. I was trying to be cute and sat down after I got my salad, so my food did not get cold while I ate the salad. My friends were not so discriminating and finished off the last of the lasagna that was on the buffet. It was the last batch and was, apparently, delicious (they didn’t want to share, so I guess I missed out). The chicken was juicy; the naked ribs and accompanying bbq sauce were reminiscent of grilling out with friends on a hot summer afternoon; the collard greens were spicy with a hint of Southern charm; and, as previously stated, the macaroni and cheese was TO DIE FOR!

We ate much more than our share and then continued to try to force food down; it seemed like such a waste to even leave the juice from the greens on the plate. We briefly discussed the etiquette of licking the plate, but in the end decided that although we could probably get away with it, there was just no more room in any of our bellies. Just one thing… dessert comes with the buffet! Dessert was a choice of banana pudding, peach cobbler or the rotating dessert, which, for us, was a chocolate chip gooey cake. I just wish I had room in my jeans or my shoes for another bite…

Needless to say, The Lady and Sons is a winner. A great deal of our conversation the rest of the day was devoted to justifying just one more plate. After I finished being miserably full, I dreamed that I had taken a plate to go. None of us were hungry until breakfast the next morning.

Take a bow Ms. Deen and sons, you have created a masterpiece!

*I think I actually drooled when I was posting the pictures!