Red Wine and a Ten Day Celebration at Toulouse

It’s their anniversary, but you get the gifts!  Toulouse is celebrating their 16^th Anniversary from October 1-10 with $16 entrees and $16 bottles of wine!  Dozens of wines normally priced at $50 or less will be available throughout the entire 10-day celebration!

Then on Sunday, October 3, Toulouse is focusing on fall with their “Fall Reds” wine tasting.  The Toulouse Wine Guy will lead guests on a sampling tour of 15 different wines along with some light appetizers for $30 per person.  Call 404-351-9533 in advance to reserve your seat. All the fun begins at 6:30 p.m. so don’t be late!

Atkins Park Brings Oktoberfest to Virginia-Highland

We've already been rejoicing the return of pumpkin spice lattes, and now it's time to toast lederhosen and everything else October-y at the Atkins Park Oktoberfest on Thursday, September 30 in Virginia-Highland. Atkins Park Chef Andrew Smith is preparing a special Oktoberfest menu of traditional German fare that includes veal and beef knackwurst with local apple sauerkraut, roasted potatoes and Stout mustard ($10); short rib sauerbraten with braised red cabbage and buttered noodles ($16); and Black Forest cheesecake ($5). The event will also feature Sam Adams Oktoberfest Beer. Just as if you were in Germany, this Oktoberfest keeps going into the wee hours since Atkins Park is open until 3 a.m. Monday through Saturday!

Atkins Park Tavern - Virginia Highland: 794 North Highland Avenue; 404-876-7249.

"Ribs & Whiskey" Starts Today!

It’s that time of year again! “Ribs & Whiskey” is back at Marlow’s Tavern for the next five weeks, so head on over to your favorite location to see what this year’s selection includes. For those of you who just can’t wait until lunch, here’s a sneak peek at the menu:

• Slow-Cooked St. Louis-Style Maker’s Mark Glazed Ribs $15/ $21
Half or Full Rack Served with Our Soon-to-Be-Famous “Two Potato” Potato
Salad, Chili-Slathered Corn on the Cob and Our House Made Sweet Corn &
Jalapeño Muffin

• Marlow’s Smoke-House Flatbread $9
Slow-Roasted Pulled Pork, Basted with Chipotle BBQ Sauce, Jalapeño Jack
Cheese, Vine-Ripe Tomatoes, Fresh Scallion and Crispy Tobacco Onions

• BBQ Blazed Cobb Salad $11
BBQ Chicken, Crisp Field Greens, Roma Tomato, Apple-Smoked Bacon,
Sweet Corn, Gorgonzola, Crispy Tobacco Onions and BBQ Gorgonzola Dressing

• A Pig with Buns $9
Slow-Roasted Pulled Pork, Crispy Tobacco Onions, Basted with Chipotle
BBQ Sauce on a Buttery Soft Roll with Our Soon-to-Be-Famous
“Two Potato” Potato Salad

• Drunken Chicken $13
Prestige Farms Chicken, Blazed with Maker’s Mark with Grilled Asparagus,
Southern-Fried Mac & Cheese and Chili-Slathered Corn on the Cob

• Marlow’s Ribs & Whiskey Hookup $22
St. Louis-Style Maker’s Mark Glazed Ribs, Drunken Chicken with
Our Soon-to-Be-Famous “Two Potato” Potato Salad, Southern-Fried Mac &
Cheese and House-Made Sweet Corn & Jalapeño Muffin

• Kickin’ Chicken Verde Soup $6
Tender Chicken, Fresh Cilantro, Roast Tomatillos, Fall Sweet Corn and Chili Cream’

This year’s menu also features some rib ticklin’ cocktails including "A Kick from Ginger"(made with Maker’s Mark and Red Rock Ginger Ale), spicy pineapple cooler (made with fresh pineapple, Maker’s Mark and jalapeño simple syrup) and Georgia peach lemonade (made with Minute Maid lemonade, peach nectar, south Georgia cane, Maker’s Mark and frozen peaches). Signature cocktail prices range from $8 to $10. Marlow's also has plenty of soothing beer and wine selections to help diffuse the bold tastes of "Ribs & Whiskey" dishes!

Marlow's Tavern: Alpharetta at 3719 Old Alabama Road, 770-475-1800; Kennesaw at 745 Chastain Road, NW, 770-425-8777; Midtown at 950 West Peachtree Street, 404-815-0323; Vinings at 2355 Cumberland Parkway, 770-432-2526; Northlake at 4156 LaVista Road, 678-987-1197; and Duluth at 1950 Satellite Boulevard, 770-622-2033.

One Contest Over, Another Just Begun

Thanks to our budding pig poets for the great entries last week… and a big congrats to our High on the Hog winner C, who submitted the following witty limerick for last week’s contest challenge!  

C will be heading to Streak O’ Lean’s High on the Hog event on Thursday, Oct 7 at Engine 11 with a guest.  Have fun!

Here’s the winning entry:

Man, that bacon looks great.
Just look at it there on his plate.
It’s all that I see,
And it’s calling to me,
I don’t care if I ruin our date.

Now, on to another fun prize for our Atlanta Dish readers!  

Local veggie lovers will want to block out Sunday, October 3 for the Field of Greens, Georgia's 5th Annual Organic Farm Aid event at "Don't Panic. It's Organic!" Whippoorwill Hollow Farm.  The family friendly event runs from 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. and features lots of locally grown, chef-prepared foods, live music and green-living education. 

Get ready for all-day access to the farmers market and educational expo; small-plate tastings (from noon - 3 p.m.) of farm-fresh food prepared by Atlanta- and Athens-area farm-to-table chefs including Micah Willix of Ecco, E. J. Hodgkinson of Woodfire Grill and Ford Fry of JCT. Kitchen & Bar; live music, cooking demos by chefs, a learning and activity area for kids, plus trail walks and animal visits on the 74-acre, certified-organic farm in Walnut Grove. 

To enter to win tickets here on our blog, just tell us in the comments what your favorite seasonal ingredient is and why – we’ll be picking a entry at random this Wednesday!  Stay tuned to our Twitter and Facebook pages for the winner announcement.

Purchase tickets for $15 in advance or $20 at the gate; children 12 and under enter for free.  Event proceeds benefit Georgia's organic and sustainable farmers, in partnership with nonprofit Slow Food Atlanta. 

Can You Swirl with the Best of Them?

Looking for a fun, part-time or full time job? You're in luck! Pinkberry is currently hiring a team of enthusiastic “Swirlers” for it's newest location opening next month in Marietta's lively Merchants Walk area. The folks at Pinkberry are looking for energetic team members for both part-time and full-time positions. If you're interested, you must attend Pinkberry's job auditions that are being held at various times starting today through Sunday, October 3. Click here to see the listing with all the details and times. Now, get out there and show them your best swirl!



The newest Pinkberry will be located in Marietta at 1281 Johnson Ferry Road, Suite 108.

This Gown Can't Keep You Down - Hit Midtown for the Ugly Bridesmaids Dress Bar Crawl

Photo from http://thegloss.com

Poofy shoulders… weird bows… bizarre colors… there are lots of variations that make that “ugly” bridesmaid dress hanging in the back of your closet just a little more ridiculous.   Give that gown one more time to shine this weekend with the Ugly Bridesmaid Bar Crawl happening in Midtown this Saturday night! 

The evening begins at 7 p.m. at Deadwood Saloon where you can register for the bar crawl and great prizes.  Bar crawlers can also meet Maid of (Dis)Honor, Atlanta author and syndicated advice columnist Blane Bachelor and get a copy of her new book, On Being a Bachelor: Thoughts on Dating, Mating and Relating (purchase an advance copy at www.askabachelor.com).  The bar crawl will have great food and drink specials throughout the night, just for donning that dress!  The bar crawl continues on to other Midtown hotspots, including RA Sushi, Ri Ra Irish Pub and Restaurant, Vickery’s and Front Page News.

The night doesn’t end there though!  You and your crew in the bar crawl will want to head back to Deadwood by 10 p.m. for prize drawings that include a signed copy of Blane’s book, Deadwood gift certificates and more. From 10 p.m. on, Deadwood will have karaoke and a DJ spinning 80s tunes all night long.   Don’t miss your chance to shimmy through Midtown in all of your taffeta glory!

It's Follow Friday - Meet Our Tweep of the Week @kimseverson!

Kim Severson is a Midwesterner who's been a journalist in Anchorage and San Fran and now writes for The New York Times.  Between coasts and pages, she's authored books and a food blog and finds time for softball. 

Her latest book "Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life" is a memoir that just might be the inspiration you need to get off the couch and into the kitchen.  

Follow Severson on Twitter (@kimseverson) as she begins her newest adventure here in Atlanta.  Welcome, Kim!

Let the Eating Begin at Midtown Festival of the Arts

I'm pretty excited about checking out the brand new Midtown Festival of the Arts this weekend. Of course, the best part sounds like the food. There are street food vendors like Yeah! Burger (hello, sliders!), JCT, El Taco and South City Kitchen. And there is a cool restaurant area called Plates on Peachtree with the likes of Ecco, RA Sushi and Shaun's. While the rest of the event is free, Plates is $30 ($40 at the door). It's definitely worth it - lots of great restaurants and cooking demos on the Culinary Stage. I'll see you there!

HopCity Craft Beer Dinner at Ormsbys

Wednesday, September 29 will be a night full of great pairings, starting with HopCity Craft Beer and Ormsby’s.   HopCity, the store specializing in craft brews, is joining forces with Ormbsy’s to serve up an evening full of tantalizing food and beer pairings.  A reception and Dupon Foret kicks off the evening at 7:30 pm.  Dinner will follow with a local heirloom tomato salad, Sweetgrass Dairy goat cheese, Vidalia onions and balsamic vinegar served with Brooklyn Local 1; IPA-steamed black mussels and crusty bread served with SweetWater IPA; and ends with a savory pairing of roasted pork tenderloin, pimento cheese grits, green beans and a local fig glaze served with Maredsous 8.  Last but certainly not least, Trois Pistoles, a Belgian-style strong and dark ale wraps up the meal…but not the fun – stay for some after-dinner bocce at Ormsby’s!  Cost is $30 per person.

Ormsby's: 1170 Howell Mill Road, NW; 404-968-2033.

Atlanta hot spots for football, food and drinks!

Be it college or NFL action, football season is upon us, and Atlanta restaurants and food companies are ready with game-day food, drink and better-than-50-yardline views.

All Marlow's Tavern locations, for instance, have a full lineup of gridiron action running on HD televisions and a special play list for Saturday through Monday night action. On Saturdays, Marlow's locations will highlight a SEC game of the week and offer a special "Game Day" menu. Sign up to receive weekly announcements about the game of the week and to find out the secret word for the day. Share the secret word with the Marlow's manager on duty and receive a free gift. Touch down on Sundays and Mondays for food and drink specials to keep you in the all the action. (Alpharetta at 3719 Old Alabama Road, 770-475-1800; Kennesaw at 745 Chastain Road, NW, 770-425-8777; Midtown at 950 West Peachtree Street, 404-815-0323; Vinings at 2355 Cumberland Parkway, 770-432-2526; Northlake at 4156 LaVista Road, 678-987-1197; and Duluth at 1950 Satellite Boulevard, 770-622-2033.)

Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Food steps in with a full catering lineup and a special team of Party Packs To-Go so you can plan a winning game on your own turf. To plan your strategy, intercept info online for full-service catering, Catering Express and Party Packs. Uncle Julio's comes through, catering the whole shebang from utensils and chafing dishes to fajita and appetizer fiestas and soft taco parties. (In Buckhead at 1860 Peachtree Road, NW; 404-350-6767. To-go line: 404-974-2991. In Sandy Springs at 1140 Hammond Drive, NE, Building K, Suite 100; 678-736-8260. To-go line: 678-736-8261.)

Football and the Old West don't usually appear in the same sentence, but then Deadwood has always been synonymous for bucking tradition and making every day a game day. Deadwood Saloon may be the new kid in Midtown, but they are well established in the art of football viewing and food and drink specials! (66 12th Street; 404-671-4290.)

Atkins Park Tavern in Smyrna is a primo spot for the LSU Tiger and New Orleans Saints fans to hang out at the bar to watch their games and cheer on their teams with music and fight songs. Market Village, Road, Smyrna; 770-435-1887.)

We all know steak graces football training dinner tables -- so why not the tables for game-famished fans? Land your fan group at Morton's The Steakhouse in Buckhead or Downtown for game viewing and sink your teeth into their renowned steaks and toss back top-shelf cocktails and brews. Plunk down at the bar or rent a boardroom for a spirited party place. (Buckhead: Peachtree Lenox Building, 3379 Peachtree Road, NE; 404-816-6535. Downtown: SunTrust Plaza Building, 303 Peachtree Center Avenue; 404-577-4366.)

Does the phrase "hot and spicy" get your game-day mojo going? Well, Hot Squeeze Sweet Heat Chipotle Sauce is just for you. Whether you have meat, fish, potatoes, vegetables or even salad in mind, it's sure to jazz up everything on your plate! With Hot Squeeze you've got it all -- sauce, marinade, dressing, glaze -- in one bottle! Want a free bottle of Hot Squeeze? Visit the website now for a special limited time offer. or more information on where to buy your bottle of Hot Squeeze, visit the company website or call 404-377-2987.

If you're a do-it-yourself football fans will be happy to know that you can pick up White Oak Pastures grass-fed beef products at Publix and Whole Foods Market locations all over town. Whether savory steaks or hefty hamburgers are on your game day menu, the Harris family farm has something for everyone! Check out all White Oak Pastures retailers online.

Pig Poets Strike Again! Win Tickets to Streak O' Lean's High On The Hog Event

Photo from http://hubpages.com/hub/Butcher-a-Pig-Diagram

We absolutely loved reading everybody’s hog haikus earlier this year for our big contest – so much so that we’re bringing back some pig poetry today for another tasty prize.  Namely, two tickets to High on the Hog, hosted by Streak O’ Lean! 

What is High on the Hog, you ask? 

On Thursday, October 7, High on the Hog refers to a night of live butcher demonstrations and a meat-centric feast hosted by Streak O' Lean at Engine 11 (30 North Avenue, NE).  Streak O' Lean provides informative classes, dinners and demonstrations to help folks appreciate and comprehend the power of local food systems and the symbiotic relationship of domesticated livestock. 

In simpler terms, they invite you to meet and greet over some great, locally raised and freshly butchered meat. High on the Hog begins at 7 p.m. with cocktails featuring bacon-infused bourbon and a full, three-animal butchery demonstration (hog, lamb and local Georgia rabbits) then heads to the table for a four-course dinner.

Now, back to those two tickets we’re giving away to a lucky winner… write a LIMERICK here in our blog comments about your favorite cut of meat and if it’s our favorite, you could find yourself at High on the Hog with a lucky friend! 

Rules To Be Awesome at Limericks:

Proper Limerick Form (thanks Wikipedia)

Be Witty

Be Clever
Be Funny

Not good at poetry?  Don’t fret – you can purchase your tickets online for $75-$100 each.  Slow Food members, mention your membership at the event and a portion of your ticket price will be donated to the Terra Madre fund.

Atkins Park and Ormsby's Will Take You Out to the Ball Game!

Ormsby's and both locations of Atkins Park (Virginia-Highland and Smyrna) want to bid farewell to Atlanta Braves General Manager Bobby Cox at his last Braves home game on October 3, and the restaurants want to take Braves fans with them! Snag a seat with one of the three restaurants for the Braves' last home game of the 2010 season and get a pre-game hotdog, Jäger, beer, a roundtrip bus ride to and from Turner Field and a ticket (with 755 Club access) to the anticipated sell-out game against the Philadelphia Phillies. Cost for this package is $55 per person. Each restaurant has only 45 seats available, so stop by and purchase your seat today and be ready to roll at your chosen restaurant at noon on October 3.

Atkins Park Tavern - Virginia Highland: 794 North Highland Avenue; 404 -876-7249.
Atkins Park Tavern - Smyrna: Market Village,2840 Atlanta Road; 770-435-1887.
Ormsby's: 1170 Howell Mill Road, NW; 404-968-2033.

Make Your Way to Marietta for the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction

No plans this Thursday night? Well, we’ve got an incredible event with good food and a great cause. The Marietta Country Club is hosting the March of Dimes Georgia Cobb Signature Chefs Auction this Thursday from 6 p.m. to 10: 30 p.m. Corporate Executive Chef Tom McEachern of Ray's Restaurants and other premier Cobb restaurant chefs will be servin’ up savory dishes for everyone in attendance. The event also includes silent and live auctions. Click here to purchase a table for 10 ($1,500) or single tickets ($150 each).

National Singles Week?!

So, this week is National Singles Week and, while we aren't exactly sure why we need to celebrate being single (OR being in a relationship *cough - Valentine's Day-cough*), we do love any excuse for a fun evening out! Get ready to toss back a few drinks and enjoy the festivities - they are open to EVERYONE - single, formerly single or soon to be single!!

Thursday, September 23 - Join advice columnist and local author Blane Bachelor and DAVE FM DJ extraordinaire Sully as Spice Market's guest bartenders for A Singular Celebration! From 7:30 - 10 p.m. Blane and Sully will be serving up drinks, free appetizers and advice all night long. Tips from the evening will be donated to the Atlanta chapter of Dress for Success. Spice Market will also be collecting gently worn shoes and handbags throughout the evening. So clean out your closet, grab your pals and come get your drink on!

Saturday, September 25 - Ugly Bridesmaid Dress Bar Crawl. Need we say anymore? Put on one of the 20 or so ugly bridesmaid dresses in your closet and meet us at Deadwood Saloon at 7 p.m. Check-in to pick up your signature Ring Pop and then follow the crowd as we crawl down Crescent Avenue to RA Sushi, Ri Ra, Vickery's and Front Page News. We'll end up back at Deadwood around 10 p.m. for great prize drawings, two DJs and plenty of 80s tunes.

Happy National Singles Week!