#Foodgram of the Week: @fordfry

Want a glimpse behind the curtain at the man responsible for The Optimist, JCT. Kitchen & Bar, No. 246 and King + Duke? Instagram @fordfry for a peek into Ford Fry's life both in and out of the kitchen.

Chef Ford Fry Names New Restaurant St. Cecilia

Music-loving Ford Fry has serious guitar skills and plays with local chef band Five Bone Rack, so it’s fitting that he’s named his new seafood-heavy Mediterranean restaurant after St. Cecilia, the patron saint of musicians. Opening this fall in Buckhead’s former Bluepointe Space, Ford describes St. Cecilia as a combination of No. 246 and The Optimist, his popular Italian restaurant in Decatur and his acclaimed West Midtown sustainable seafood restaurant. St. Cecilia's menu will feature locally sourced ingredients and grilled seafood cooked in a wood-burning oven. The restaurant will also have a dramatic “crudo” bar. This is music to our ears!

Chef Ford Fry Hosts Lunch Break for Kids Fundraiser on October 18 for Childhood Nutrition Education

Chef Ford Fry is a firm believer that brain food begins with power-packed lunches. He's joining 75 chefs nationwide, the makers of Hidden Valley Original Ranch and the American Culinary Federation's Chef & Child Foundation in a national,weeklong effort to raise money for nutrition-based education materials for kids and families. Last year's Lunch Break for Kids effort was so successful, it's back for seconds. 

On Thursday, October 18 from 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m., dine in or grab lunch to go at JCT. Kitchen & Bar, and your lunch money will help generate nutrition education resources for schools and community centers. The goal is to encourage families to eat healthier, include more vegetables on their menus and build healthy family ties over the table. More national event information and recipes are online. Tweet with your mouth full at #LunchBreakForKids.

Southern Food Tour Features JCT. Kitchen & Bar, The Optimist and American Spirit Whiskey

On Thursday, October 11, four of Atlanta's best chefs will pour on their Southern culinary charm for the Southern Food Tour, a guided walking tour aimed at building awareness and community around Southern food heritage. 

Ford Fry of JCT. Kitchen & Bar, Adam Evans of The Optimist, Anne Quatrano of Bacchanalia and Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene are all participating. Each chef will prepare one of their restaurant's most iconic Southern dishes and will share their unique stories of what Southern food means to them. 

The chefs also will pair their dish with a whiskey cocktail from American Spirit Whiskey. Space is limited to 30 guests; tickets are $200 per person and are available online. More info on Facebook.

The Optimist Opens May 21, Bringing Sustainable Seafood To West Midtown

Photo by Andrew Thomas Lee

Fishermen embrace each day on the water as an opportunity to catch the next big one. As owner of The Optimist, West Midtown's soon-to-open sustainable seafood restaurant, Ford Fry finds the positive word appealing. The name "Optimist" was actually suggested by Fry's father, referring to a small sailing dinghy for children. Look for The Optimist and Oyster Bar at The Optimist to open Monday, May 21 at 914 Howell Mill Road. 

The restaurant will offer high-quality seafood, classically prepared in a wood-burning grill and oven and served in environs that evoke a vintage Savannah fishery feel. Weekdays, The Optimist lunch menu offers a selection of fish entrées, salads and sandwiches ($12-$19). Lunch might be crispy day-boat flounder with ricotta gnocchi, ale-battered haddock fish and chips or a chopped salad with wood-roasted organic chicken and local feta. 

Open nightly, the restaurant divvies up its dinner menu ($2.50-$26) into categories of On Ice, Start, Fish, Farm, Sides and Such, and Pies, Cakes and Frozen Stuff. Start salivating for East Coast oysters with fresh horseradish mignonette; Florida grouper with smoked Vidalia onion and horseradish broth; roasted Heritage pork with farm spinach and sherry onions; duck fat-poached swordfish with pickled sweet peppers and crispy pancetta; and buttermilk doughnuts, sweet corn ice cream and red pepper jam. 

For liquid refreshment, look for seafood-friendly wines from global coastal regions, American port-city microbrews and creative cocktails with a seaside twist ("The Truth As We Know It" martini has a smoked salmon garnish). Lunch is served Monday - Friday 11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.; dinner Sunday - Thursday 5 - 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 5 - 11 p.m.

Oyster Bar at The Optimist, is a casual "fish camp" style place with an outdoor patio and of course, an oyster bar. Venice Beach in the 1970s? You're there now. Raw bar and small plate prices run $2.50-$14 for tempters such as peel-and-eat Georgia shrimp, smoked haddock chowder and Maine lobster roll with shoestring fries. An ice-display station features a daily punch and "oyster backs," mini-cocktails that pair with the day's raw bar specials. 

Doors open at 5 p.m. weekdays and 3 p.m. weekends. Closing? When the fish stop running for the night. Add the phone number to your contacts now to get ready: 404-477-6260. 

Just Say No to Sloppy Joes: Lunch Break for a Good Cause at JCT. Kitchen & Bar Tomorrow

On Wednesday, February 29, JCT. Kitchen & Bar Executive Chef/Owner Ford Fry and the makers of Hidden Valley® Salad Dressings will host a Lunch Break for Schools fundraiser to help schools stock up on fresh veggies and fruits rather than Sloppy Joes and French fries. Lunch guests who dine in at JCT. Kitchen or get it to go can enjoy Fry's $26 specialty lunch featuring crudités served with Original Ranch® Light, Maine lobster chopped salad with Meyer lemon “ranch” vinaigrette and a brown bag “afternoon snack” of Hidden Valley® Ranch oyster crackers. The fundraiser is one in a weeklong effort by restaurants across the U.S. to host Lunch Break for Schools events with net proceeds going to American Culinary Federation's Chef & Child Foundation (CCF) and the Chefs Move to Schools program. As a father of two, Fry is excited about contributing to this program that will increase nutrition education and lunchroom options for American children. Learn more online and join the Lunch Break for Schools discussion on Twitter (#LunchBreakForSchools).

A Sinfully Good Deviled Egg Recipe for National Deviled Egg Day

Halloween treats were egg-ceptionally good this past weekend. National Deviled Egg Day, November 2, will be devilishly divine when you boil a dozen eggs and one lobster to whip up JCT. Kitchen and Bar Owner/Executive Chef Ford Fry's lobster deviled eggs!  

Maine Lobster Deviled Eggs

Meyer Lemon Vinaigrette

Makes 24 deviled eggs

Ingredients:

Eggs:

12 Eggs

1 cup mayonnaise

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

6 cornichon pickles (chopped fine)

1 tbsp. minced chives

¼ lemon (juice of)

Dash of Tabasco

Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

Lobster:

1 live Maine lobster

2 tsp. minced fresh garlic (Not that jar stuff!)

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt to taste

Vinaigrette:

1 Meyer lemon (zests and juice of)

3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp. finely chopped Italian parsley

Kosher salt to taste

Method:

Place eggs in a pot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil. Just as it boils, turn the heat off and let them sit for exactly 10 minutes. Immediately strain and cover with ice water to chill. Peel eggs, split in half and separate the yolks from the whites. Finely mash the yolks and mix in the remaining ingredients from the "egg" portion of the recipe. Place the yolk mixture into a piping bag with a nickel-sized round tip and chill until ready to assemble.

For the lobster, place a pot of water on to boil. Drop live lobster in for two minutes. Remove from water and cover with ice water. Once chilled, remove the meat and mince. Reserve until ready to assemble.

Prepare the vinaigrette by whisking together the juice, zests, olive oil, parsley, and salt to taste. (add the parsley just before assembling so that it does not turn brown.)

Just prior to serving, pipe the yolk mixture into each white bottom and place on your serving platter. Using a large sauté pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook until light golden. Add the minced lobster meat and stir well. Cook until just done. Take pan off the heat and season lightly with kosher salt. Toss with the vinaigrette and the parsley. Spoon a divot into the yolk mixture of the deviled egg. Spoon in the lobster mixture and serve.

Weekend Happenings: To Market We Go

Photo from Peachtree Road Farmers Market FB Page

Take home more than just veggies at two Atlanta farmers markets this weekend - pick up some valuable cooking tips from two awesome chefs! 


Partner/Executive Chef Kevin Gillespie of Woodfire Grill is back on the local farm-fresh circuit, sprouting up at Morningside Farmers Market for the chef demo at 9:30 a.m. this Saturday.  Catch Chef Ford Fry of JCT. Kitchen (also host chef of this Sunday's Attack of The Killer Tomato Festival) as he leads a demo at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market tomorrow morning, too.  Happy learning!