Help folks just by enjoying a cocktail or two. Through March 11, American Cut, The Cut Bar and Seed Kitchen & Bar are observing “Old-Fashioned Month.” For every Old-Fashioned cocktail sold, promotion sponsors Four Roses Distillery and National Distributing Company will donate $1 to The Giving Kitchen. American Cut's Plank-Smoked Old-Fashioned blends Four Roses bourbon, maple smoke, AC bitters and caster sugar. Seed's Old-Fashioned includes Four Roses Small Batch, Cherry Heering, orange-infused turbinado syrup and walnut bitters. Call us old-fashioned, but when comparing donation options of sipping a cocktail or pressing “send” for internet donating, cocktail fundraising sounds more appealing and personable. Hometown nonprofit The Giving Kitchen provides emergency assistance to restaurant workers financially and through a network of community resources. Stop by American Cut or Seed, order up and say “Cheers!” You really will be adding cheer to the day of a hardworking hospitality worker in need.
A giving spirit shines brightly at six-year-old Seed Kitchen & Bar in East Cobb. Not only is owner/chef Doug Turbush creating a special three-course, prix fixe dinner menu for guests to enjoy through Nov. 9, the restaurant is donating a portion of dinner proceeds to Share Our Strength. For $39.95 per person, guests have a choice of three options for three courses. First-course options are Jonah crab toast with brioche, avocado, lime, radish and cured egg yolk; burrata with pickled baby beets, orange toasted hazelnuts, sherry vinaigrette and baguette; or sunchoke veloute of sourdough, mushrooms, truffle and chives. Entrée choices include pan-roasted Steelhead trout with celery root purée, blistered shishito peppers, sunchokes and red wine butter; Maple Leaf Farms duck breast with kabocha squash purée, rainbow chard, confit leg and cider glaze; or balsamic-braised lamb shank with whipped feta, puffed farro, pickled beets and pan jus. Dessert brings forth decadence: maple custard with Chantilly cream and Georgia pecan biscotti; rum raisin bread pudding with crème fraîche ice cream and salted caramel; or chocolate peanut butter parfait with roasted banana ice cream and peanut brittle. Celebrate twofold -- relishing a delicious meal and helping Share Our Strength alleviate childhood hunger in America. Make reservations on OpenTable or by calling 678-214-6888.
Ready. Set. Eat. Repeat. Don’t miss a chance to dine on good value prix fixe menus at Cobb County’s most popular restaurants during the ninth annual Cobb Restaurant Week, Sept. 16-23. Plan your strategy, including making reservations, starting with these top picks. Chicken and the Egg in Marietta plans a $25 dinner menu highlighting the restaurant’s sophisticated yet approachable American farmstead fare. Make reservations (closed on Mondays) through OpenTable. Hook a three-course dinner for $35 at Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar in The Avenue East Cobb and add wine pairings for an additional $15. Reserve a table to catch Cobb’s best seafood. Harvest a three-course dinner for $35 at Seed Kitchen & Bar and wine pairings for an additional $15; make reservations here. Date night? Next door neighbor Stem Wine Bar pours out a special three-course tasting menu for two priced at $25 per couple.
East Cobb’s acclaimed Seed Kitchen & Bar has launched a Chef’s Harvest menu to share the abundance of farm-fresh seasonal produce coming to market this time of year. Chef/owner Doug Turbush drives the specially curated three-course dinner menus, new each week, pushing culinary boundaries with innovative, flavor-packed dishes. Guests choose from two small plates, two entrées and two dessert options from the Chef’s Harvest menu, offered Monday through Thursday from 3-10 p.m. Examples of menu items include appetizers such as white gazpacho or crispy flatbread, entrées like cornmeal-crusted catfish or mole-braised pork cheeks, and sweet finishes such as tres leches cake or lemon cake. $35 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Add wine pairings for an additional $15 per person. The menu changes each week and is announced on the restaurant’s Facebook page and via email every Sunday. Oh, and there’s another catalyst for the Chef’s Harvest menu -- the highly successful and weekly changing Chef’s Catch $35 prix fixe menu at sister restaurant Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar. The best of land and sea is all yours.
Pastured Poultry Week,
July 24-30, roosts at the top of the pecking order as far as chicken
chowing (and chowing down on chicken) goes. Who wants to be cooped up
when there’s a world
to explore and taste? You certainly don’t and neither do these happy
birds. These slower-growing breeds have continuous daytime access to
outdoor pastures for at least half their lifetimes (extreme weather
exception), shelters for safety and pre-slaughter stunning. During
Pastured Poultry Week, savor their superior flavor in special dishes
featuring pastured poultry at Aria, The Federal, Gunshow, Revival and Seed Kitchen & Bar.
East Cobb standout Seed Kitchen & Bar proudly displays its newest accolade signifying recognition as a 2017 Top 25 Small Business by the Cobb Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber applauds Seed for excellence in entrepreneurship and industry and its contributions to the vitality of the community. Chef and owner Doug Turbush and his family are longtime East Cobbers. He feels “there is nothing more rewarding than seeing the people of East Cobb making lifelong memories right here in our restaurant.” Turbush and his team are honored and grateful to be recognized, and they give an appreciative shout-out to the Cobb Chamber for its work to support Cobb County businesses and community.
Catch the tail end of Cochon555 Atlanta? No way. We’re in for the entire nose-to-tail competition at this epic heritage breed pig party! Part of the 2017 Cochon555 Culinary Tour, this oinker on Sunday, June 25 boasts five chefs, five winemakers, five heritage breeds and a hefty amount of food and beverages from 4-7:30 p.m. at The Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead. Couchon555 is dedicated to supporting family farmers and educating chefs and diners about the importance of Old World livestock. Look for chef and owner Doug Turbush of Seed Kitchen & Bar who will be participating in the Tartare Bar at the Atlanta event, which includes 1,500 pounds of heritage pig, chef-crafted tastings, a “Somm Smackdown,” 40-plus types of boutique wines, craft cocktails and artisanal brews. Start salivating by peeking at the Atlanta “Eat & Drink” lineup. Buy all-inclusive tickets online (service fee applies); 5 p.m. general admission entry, $125 per person; 4 p.m. VIP early admission with exclusive sommelier and cocktail competition tastings, $200 per person. Squealing because you can’t attend? You can still make a donation to the Piggy Bank charity.
March over to the Taste of East Cobb on Saturday, May 6 and support the Walton High School band in its annual fundraiser held in the Johnson Ferry Baptist Church south parking lot from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sample menu favorites from Marlow’s Tavern, Seed Kitchen & Bar, Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar and other fine area restaurants and vote for the “Best of Taste of East Cobb.” Youngsters will pull toward the Kids’ Zone to jump in huge bouncy inflatables and to get artsy with face painting plus sand and spin art. Everyone will enjoy the live music, entertainment, raffle tickets and tempting items up for bid in the silent auction. Admission is free; tickets for restaurant bites are $1 each with offerings priced at one to five tickets each. Buy tickets online or at the event.
Atlanta’s annual Taste of the Nation is always one of the city’s most highly anticipated culinary events. This year promises an even greater abundance of chefs, restaurants, surprises and an intimate VIP Dinner Experience at the Thursday, April 20 extravaganza filling downtown Atlanta’s Southern Exchange at 200 Peachtree. TV personality and restaurateur Cat Cora, who opened Cat Cora’s Kitchen at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in partnership with Hojeij Branded Foods, will serve as the event’s honorary chef. Aria chef Gerry Klaskala, Umi chef Fuyuhiko Ito and Gunshow chef Kevin Gillespie take their talents to the tables for the ultra-exclusive VIP Dinner Experience featuring a multi-course dinner prepared tableside by the chefs and fine wine pairings. Guests opting for the 7-10 p.m. Grand Tasting experience will sample signature fare and spirits from more than 50 of Atlanta’s premier restaurants -- including Cat Cora’s Kitchen, Chicken and the Egg, 5Church, Gypsy Kitchen, Marlow’s Tavern, Seed Kitchen & Bar and Umi -- along with the excitement of auctions, wine tastings and live entertainment. “Cat Cora’s California Trip” is sure to stir a feeding frenzy of hot bidding in the live auction. Taste of the Nation events are held in more than 30 cities across the nation. Proceeds support Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign to end childhood hunger in the U.S.A. Buy Grand Tasting experience tickets here, $250 per person.
Cross the street (okay, highway) and go outward bound for lunch -- outside the Perimeter. Sail into Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar at the Avenue East Cobb for seafood, sandwiches, salads, raw bar and more seven days a week. Monday through Saturday, sister restaurant Seed Kitchen & Bar in Marietta offers a “Daily Trio” featuring a sandwich, soup and salad for $12.95 along with specialty plates, sandwiches and salads topped with grilled chicken, salmon or shrimp. Lunching at The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill Canton Street, situated amid the quaint shops and galleries of Roswell, is like taking a midday beach town “vacay,” any day, for fresh fish and seaside favorites, po’boys and signature low-cal bowls. Multiple OTP (and several right inside I-285) locations practically guarantee there’s a friendly neighborhood Marlow’s Tavern on your way from point A to B (even if point B is in Florida). Slip away to Taco Mac for a quick sports viewing fix, wings, soups, salads, burgers, wraps, tacos -- you name it, backed by a hefty beer program and lots of libations. Turn a potentially snoozer of a cubicle lunch from siesta to fiesta by crossing the FlexMex border to Tin Lizzy’s Cantina. Can’t help but say “ole!” to tacos, skillets, quesadillas, salads and a mega selection of margaritas, “Thin Lizzies” cocktails and libations. When pursuing lunchtime happiness, OTP is “fare” game.
“Brother, can you spare a rib?” may be query of the day for rib-wrangling, finger-licking guests at the Smoke & Glory Chef Thunderdome cook-off and craft brewery showcase at Steinbeck’s Ale House in Decatur on Sunday, April 2. An all-star lineup of chefs, including John Flagello from Seed Kitchen + Bar, slathers up for a real battle of the beasts cook-off where there’s only one rule: they have to smoke pork spare ribs. After that, anything goes. Block out 12-4 p.m. for a full afternoon piggybacking food samplings, unlimited beer tastings from local craft breweries and jamming to DJ Keiran Neely’s soul, funk and vintage hip-hop spins. Will your taste buds agree with the glory-winners chosen by judges Andy McDaniel of Slope’s BBQ and food writers Christiane Lauterbach and Bob Townsend – or will you have a (rib) bone to pick with their choices? Tickets cover all of the above: $65 adults; $25 ages 13-20; $10 ages 5-12 years; free for five and under. Proceeds benefit The Giving Kitchen and Camp Horizon.
We won’t have to sell you on the Merchant Burger at Seed Kitchen & Bar. Start drooling over the photo and let the hankering begin. Seed dresses the hefty half-pound beef burger with caramelized onions, white cheddar, tomato and merc sauce, barely leaving room for a side choice of fries or salad. The $14.95 Merchant Burger can be yours for lunch, dinner or brunch. Add bacon for $3 more. Brunchers get a crack at a fried egg topper for an additional $2.
When Mardi Gras’ excess and fast times roll out, Lenten simplicity and fasting wash in. Atlanta restaurants have their ways with seafood and vegetarian dishes to help Lenten diners stay dedicated all the way to Easter dinner (but that’s another story).
In Town5Church Atlanta pleases with Midtown lunch and dinner options such as appetizers of ahi tuna poke, charred octopus or butternut squash agnolotti. Lenten lunchers can bite into a crispy beet burger while the dinner crowd can savor a hearth-roasted whole fish. For dessert, save room for the Triple Scoop. Those forgoing meat for Lent can indulge on an elegant dinner of butter-braised lobster with truffle potatoes and broccoli mousseline presented with impeccable service at Aria in Buckhead. At Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar in Virginia-Highland, catch cornbread-crusted Georgia trout, mashed potatoes, green beans and bourbon brown butter apples on the lunch and dinner menus. Weekend brunch throws in fried green tomato Benedict and a vegetarian skillet. Bank on The Federal in Midtown for a satiating lunch or dinner appetizer of chopped chicken liver, toast and cornichons. Midday, make the main thing a veggie grilled sandwich. Come dinnertime, latch onto whole loup de mer with chickpea pancake, fennel, olives, saffron yogurt and bee pollen. Mom would be proud of the HOBNOB Neighborhood Tavern Super Food Plate, assembling a very veggie family of Mother Nature salad, fried green tomatoes and sautéed seasonal vegetables for a Midtown dinner. Jefe’s Tacos & Tequila heats up lots of Lenten “Ole!” in Brookhaven with seafood tacos filled with crispy calamari or “Baja fish” with slaw, pico de gallo, guac and serrano tartar sauce; Margarita shrimp tacos with green chili grits, cotija and picante and more. Order a couple of the same or go crazy and order a basket of several varieties.
On Atlanta’s Westside, harvest a veggie bowl at Ormsby's for the garden goodness of butternut squash risotto, asparagus, roasted red peppers and beurre blanc. Lenten diners can stay the course at Revival in Decatur where they’ll find dinner dishes such as local kale salad with apples, charred onion, artisan cheese and boiled dressing and savory Sunday brunch specialties such as cornmeal fried catfish served with smoked cheddar grits, milk gravy and hot sauce or a French-style omelette with soft herb cheese and roasted mushroom jus. OTPIn East Cobb, a stop at Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar at the Avenue East Cobb nets oysters from North American waters and at the Raw Bar, wood-roasted octopus as a starter and those luscious lobster rolls. Stop in for lunch or dinner or a relaxing Sunday brunch. At Seed Kitchen & Bar, white corn grit fritters with jalapeño pepper jelly and Thomasville tome spice up Lenten lunches and dinners. Bay of Fundy salmon with roasted garlic mashed potatoes, melted leeks and truffle vinaigrette fills the bill come dinnertime. At neighboring Stem Wine Bar, choose non-meat small plates like Gulf shrimp al ajillo with garlic, chili, parsley, lemon and extra virgin olive oil and Spanish octopus braised in red wine with fava beans, Fresno chili and spring onion vinaigrette. Multiple LocationsMarlow’s Tavern offers seafood selections to please any appetite including “AB Style” Firecracker Shrimp with Tempura Fried Shrimp, Red Bell Peppers, Pepperoncini, Sweet Chili and Cracklin’ Spicy Sauce and Crispy Pan Roasted Rainbow Trout, with Sauteed Farro, Tiny Green Beans, Parsnip, Buerre Blanc and Apple Shallot Gastrique. Items available at all locations.
Willy’s Mexicana Grill wraps up burritos to please, and tofu steps in perfectly when meat is off your list for Lent. Or, ask for Willy’s salad topped with black beans, pico de gallo, black olives, cucumbers, roasted red peppers and jack cheese. All locations. While fish fries are popular on Fridays during Lent, Taco Mac locations turn out beer-battered fish tacos daily that are plump with SweetWater 420 beer-battered North Atlantic cod, ancho chili aioli, house-made slaw and mango pico de gallo. Is that much fun allowed in a meal?
Mountain roads are clogged with folks looking for seasonal color. Psst. On Sunday, Nov. 6, you’ll find more vibrant seasoning, appetizing colors, fall flavors, heaps of entertainment and rake in silent auction luxuries at an Afternoon in the Country spreading over Foxhall Resort & Sporting Club in Douglasville. Fork into foods from some of these locals – Bellina Alimentari, Chicken and the Egg, Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar, Marlow’s Tavern, Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails, Ormsby’s, Seed Kitchen & Bar and White Oak Pastures – and taste fine wines and microbrews. The 16thannual event hosted by Atlanta Les Dames d’Escoffier International overflows from big-top tents onto the resort’s expansive lawns. Buy tickets online, $125 for adults 21 and over; free parking. No children’s activities this year. Dig up details on our blog.
This week marks five years of serving East Cobb and beyond for Seed Kitchen & Bar owner and executive chef Doug Turbush -- and Turbush and his team are ecstatic to gift guests with a special three-course dinner menu available Tuesday, Nov. 1 through Saturday, Nov. 5, and gift a portion of menu proceeds to Share Our Strength. Seed’s celebratory menu, offered in addition to the regular menu, includes choices such as chicken-fried Gulf oysters with habanero aioli; beef short rib ravioli; grilled redfish with butternut squash; smoked ham hock with stewed red beans and collard greens with andouille and buttermilk slaw; and Maple Leaf Farms confit duck breast with creamed Brussels sprouts. Maple custard made with Chantilly cream and Georgia pecan biscotti and an apple bread pudding with sorghum-bourbon ice cream and caramel entice as dessert choices. Cost is $39.95 per person, plus tax and gratuity. Next door, sister restaurant Stem Wine Bar also is celebrating a birthday and hosting a sold-out wine dinner on Nov. 1 in honor of its third anniversary.
Wise owls are hooting about the fifth annual Harvest on the Hooch fest at the Chattahoochee Nature Center (CNC) from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, October 16. Pounce on this opportunity for the whole family to spend an afternoon outdoors enjoying autumn’s splendor along with samplings from top local chefs, wineries and craft breweries, live bluegrass music, corn hole, hula hoops, scavenger hunts and other garden games. Be sure to join in a complimentary tour of the CNC between bites of tasty specialties from Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar, Seed Kitchen & Bar and The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill – Canton Street. Harvest on the Hooch highlights the vital connections between garden and plate while raising funds for the CNC’s Unity Garden, which supplies more than four tons of fresh produce annually for North Fulton Community Charities. This rain-or-shine event inevitably sells out. Snatch your tickets now: $45 adult; $15 child over 10; no admission charge for children under 10. VIP options available on ticket purchase page.
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).
“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!
Georgia is a gourmand’s paradise! Georgia Restaurant Week(GRW), Monday, July 18 through Sunday, July 24, is a fantastic time to experience the rich array of dining options and Georgia products used across our fair state. Atlantans have it easy and can spend more time dining and less time driving by visiting local participants.
Drift Fish House & Oyster Bar features North Georgia mountain trout, Georgia-grown field peas in field pea salad and wood-roasted peach crisp with brown sugar bourbon pecan ice cream. Peruse the full $35 dinner menu here.
Ray’s at Killer Creek offers a three-course menu with choices such as soup du jour, locally grown greens in an artisan field green salad with Statesboro blue cheese or Caesar salad as the first course; a choice of Parmesan colossal day boat scallops, salmon Oscar, horseradish-encrusted black grouper or an eight-ounce filet mignon for the main and chocolate mousse cake or a handmade praline basket holding High Road bourbon burnt sugar ice cream, seasonal berries, pecans and caramel sauce for dessert.
The $35 GRW dinner menu at Seed Kitchen & Bar embraces Georgian ingredients. Starter choices include Heritage Farms pork belly served with soy pineapple glaze, jalapeño and allspice crème fraîche or Pearson Farm peach salad with Craig Tucker arugula and Many Fold Farm brebis. Entrées include Springer Mountain Farms chicken sidling up to potato purée, arugula, Vidalia onions, capers and lemon; mountain trout and creamed corn with jalapeño and bacon vinaigrette and pickled summer vegetables; and Bear Creek flat-iron steak with polenta, oyster mushrooms, turnips, carrots and red wine jus. Select one of three desserts: peach crisp with Pearson Farm peaches, strawberry shortcake with strawberry sorbet or chocolate peanut butter pie with roasted banana ice cream. (By the way, the Benton’s country ham on the pimento cheese crostini and the Bear Creek flat-iron steak come from next-door neighbor Tennessee.)
At Stem Wine Bar, the $25 GRW “Tapas Tasting for Two”menu features a shareable board bearing local salumi and artisan cheese; a choice of two tapas from a list that includes caramelized peach and ricotta bruschetta, shaved Brussels sprouts with warm bacon vinaigrette and local apples, deviled eggs three ways, heirloom tomato panzanella salad, crispy Sicilian arancini with smoked mozzarella, chicken wings al ajillo, and White Oak Pastures lamb meatballs. Share salted caramel flan or house-made zeppole (Italian doughnuts) with red wine chocolate sauce for dessert. Prices exclude beverage, tax and gratuity. Reservations suggested. Thanks go out to the Georgia Restaurant Association and theGeorgia Department of Economic Development for sponsoring this yummy week and superlative excuse to eat out.
