Bird is the Word: Local Food Expert Julia Leroy Shares Chicken Rillette Recipe

Check out this week's issue of The Sunday Paper to get tips from Chef Julia LeRoy on preparing chicken...her recipe for chicken rillette with pickled vegetable salad has been a dinner party hit and is sure to come in handy with the holidays approaching. Julia prefers humanely raised and locally procured birds, especially those from White Oak Pastures, and suggests readers use the same for their chicken dishes. You can also find other culinary tidbits from Julia on Facebook.

Pacci Brings In the Queen of Hearts

Whether you love it or hate it, Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Happily, this year Pacci is thinking of everyone on Thursday, February 11, during their Queen of Hearts Night from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Join us at the bar and meet Blane Bachelor, The Sunday Paper's sage advice columnist, and enjoy a reading from her favorite essays. There will be plenty of time for questions and answers along with great drink specials, plenty of free appetizers and cool raffle prizes, including a weekend stay at Hotel Palomar, if you draw the Queen of Hearts from the deck of cards!

Get card crazy and wear red if you love Vday or black if you hate it and stick around for complimentary tarot card readings. All in all, it is a good night to celebrate your love, or hate, of Valentine's Day!

Save The Date For Dogwood's Anniversary

Mark your calendars: Dogwood Owners Scott Black and Shane Touhy have planned a special five-course dinner to celebrate their Midtown restaurant’s first anniversary on July 20. Plan on savoring seasonally inspired Southern specialties along with award-winning wines from Napa’s Falcor Winery at the anniversary dinner party. A Falcor winemaker will be at the dinner to review wine and food pairings, and Dogwood will donate 10 percent of all proceeds from the event to Breast Friends, an Atlanta-based non-profit organization that provides support, practical assistance, information and resources for breast cancer patients and their loved ones. The party starts at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails at the bar followed by dinner at 7 p.m. Cost is $70 per person (plus tax and gratuity). Be sure to snag a seat by calling now for reservations. Touhy was named one of Atlanta’s Top 25 Chefs by The Sunday Paper and he was a guest chef at the renowned James Beard House in NYC this past April, so you won't want to miss out on his anniversary specials!

Dogwood is located in the Reynolds condominium building at 565 Peachtree Street, Suite A; 404-835-1410.

Sunday Paper Reader's Choice Awards

The Sunday Paper has announced the winners of the Reader's Choice Awards and a few of our favorite places around town have received recognition. Congratulations to everyone - click here to view the complete list of winners in the categories of Food and Drink, Style and Shopping, City Living, Arts and Entertainment, Health and Body and Sports.

Best Tapas: Eclipse di Luna

Best Southern: South City Kitchen

Best Restaurant to See and be Seen runner-up and Best Wine List runner-up: Ecco

Best Fried Chicken runner-up: JCT Kitchen & Bar

Best Patio runner-up: The Nook

Best Health Food, Best Eco-Friendly Goods and runner-up for Best Buffet: Whole Foods Market

Chef Party at El Taco Sunday

Feeling a little let down now that all the holiday parties are over? Don't despair! There's a great party on Sunday night at El Taco - and you're invited. A while back, Kirsten Ott from The Sunday Paper named her top 25 chefs in the city and Shaun Doty has invited them all to come celebrate with him. And you know there's nothing more fun than partying with a bunch of chefs!

Sunday night, Dec. 28, starting at 9 p.m. El Taco will be serving $1 tacos and $2 beer. No deals on the FroMos though - boo! Nevertheless, it will be tons of fun. All the chefs have been invited and we know for sure that Joe Truex/Repast, Craig Richards/La Tavola Trattoria, Micah Willix/Ecco, Shane Touhy/Dogwood, Riccardo Ullio/Beleza, Cuerno, Sotto Sotto and Fritti and of course Shaun will be there.

I can't wait!

La Tavola Trattoria's Alli Royce Soble Stars "Behind the Bar" in The Sunday Paper

Open up The Sunday Paper this week to the “Behind the Bar” column and get acquainted with La Tavola Trattoria’s knowledgeable bartender, Alli Royce Soble. Her passion for art can be found on a canvase or in this case a martini glass. You will read about how she got started in the biz and what keeps her inspired at Fifth Group Restaurant's neighborhood trattoria.

La Tavola Trattoria: 992 Virginia Avenue, NE; 404-873-5430.

Gerry Klaskala Names His "Key Ingredient" in the Sunday Paper

In the Low Country, locals call them "busters" or "peelers" when they're getting ready to bust out of their shells. If they've just shed, they're called "velvets," and they're highly sought after, especially the female ones. In modern menu lingo, the term is "soft-shell crabs," crustless-crustaceans that Aria's Executive Chef Gerry Klaskala is highly qualified to discuss, having been a part of Savannah's coastal scene for six years. Gerry relates his insight into this underwater softy in this week's "Key Ingredient" column in The Sunday Paper. For a quick dive into the topic, click here.
The June 22 issue of The Sunday Paper is free and easily within pinching range if you live in the metro area. Read it online at SundayPaper.com. Visit Aria in Buckhead to enjoy soft-shell crabs in their ultimate state-on-a- plate, next to the restaurant's dill shallot dipping sauce.

Aria: 490 East Paces Ferry Road; 404-233-7673.

It’s Okay To Play Favorites In The Sunday Paper's "Best Of" Awards!

It’s wonderful to be an American and know that you can openly share your opinion by voting for your “best” places and faces in Atlanta in The Sunday Paper’s Reader’s Choice contest. Readers should put down the paper and log on to submit their faves for everything from local celebrities and neighborhoods to pet spas and stores galore. Those who enter will earn a chance to win a $50 Café Intermezzo gift certificate! We’ll drink a European coffee to that!

La Tavola Trattoria Chef Craig Richards Uses the Power of Cauliflower as His Sunday Paper "Key Ingredient"

Show of hands: How many of you avoided the cauliflower on the veggie tray because it just looked so boring and it has, you know, that bitter bite that requires gobs of dip to disguise? La Tavola Trattoria Chef Craig Richards once felt that way, too…until he started thinking in Italian. Caramelized and roasted with garlic, tossed with grilled squid and cannellini beans, parleying with pasta, pureed and folded into risotto – Richards discovered this seasonless super vegetable is no mild-mannered mouthful, and it adds a super nutrition punch wherever it goes on the menu. Read more about Richards’ love affair with the fair flower in “Key Ingredients,” inside the April 6 edition of The Sunday Paper. Rutabagas, you could be next! Fifth Group Restaurants’® cozy Italian trattoria is located in Virginia-Highlands at 992 Virginia Avenue; 404-873-5430.