One More Day to Buy Attack of the Killer Tomato Tickets

Y'all. This is a really fun event. And I'm not just saying that. Last year was a blast and I am sure it will only be better this year. It's Sunday, August 8 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at JCT Kitchen. You've got 28 of the best chefs in town plus 8 of the most creative mixologists, plus beer, a great band and it benefits Georgia Organics. Okay, it could be a little cooler, but other than that it's a perfect day!

The $50 ticket price is a real bargain. It goes up to $65 on Sunday so buy yours today! You can get them online or at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market from 8:30 - 12:30 Saturday.

Oh, and I almost forgot - a few of the chefs have gotten together to form a band and they'll be playing in between the "real" band's sets. They have even practiced! Hope to see you there!

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

Don't know about you, but we'd rather our peaches take their own sweet time getting juicy and ripe in orchards than resting on trucks blazing across the lower 48.  After all, Georgia is the "Peach State."  Join the bushels of Georgians who are making the Georgia Peach Promise this summer, pledging to purchase Georgia peaches instead of those from other states.  

Peachy-keen Georgians can learn more on the Georgia Peach Commission's Twitter page, website or by becoming a fan of "Georgia Peaches" on Facebook. Then click your pick of recipes, storage tips and other info bites on our state's official fruit! 

Lights, Camera, Action! Food Network Heads to Town

Are there stars in your eyes when you see a camera nearby?  Do you love to educate friends and family on your newest cooking technique discoveries in your kitchen?  Maybe you aspire to see your name in Food Network lights?  Well, your moment to shine might be coming! 

With your personality and pans in hand, you can show Food Network you’ve got the perfect ingredients required to be The Next Food Network Star when they come to Atlanta on Monday, August 9.  Details are below – good luck!

The Next Food Network Star

 is NOW CASTING Season 7 in Atlanta!

Do you think you have what it takes to host your own show on the Food Network?

Calling all Chefs, Line Cooks, Home Cooks, Caterers and Culinary Enthusiasts!

WHAT WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

Strong Culinary Skills                             Personality that Pops

Passion for Cooking                              Food Knowledge

Lots of Energy and Enthusiasm

Atlanta Open Casting Call

Monday, August 9, 2010

Time: 10am-3pm

Location: W Hotel Midtown

188 14^th Street NE, Atlanta, GA 30361

What to Bring:

1. Two recent photos

2. A copy of your resume

3. A COMPLETED application (found at www.FoodNetwork.com/star)     

For more information or questions please e-mail us at nfns7atlanta@gmail.com or visit www.nfns7casting.com.

Farmer's Markets are the New Kitchens, for Chefs That Is!

What else are you going to do in the Georgia heat besides going to a fresh and fabulous farmer’s market! Atlanta chefs are leaving the kitchens and heading out to the farmer’s market, too.

Mark your calendar for Thursday night and watch Woodfire Grill Executive Chef and Owner Kevin Gillespie slice and dice at the East Atlanta Village Farmers Market (1231 Glenwood Avenue) on July 29. Other than his colorful tattoos, we never know what Kevin Gillespie has up his sleeve for a farmers market demo. See Kevin in action and glean kitchen pointers at 6:30 p.m. The Thursday evening market, open from 4 - 8 p.m., is timely for those of you who can't make it to a morning market. Meet friends for a summer's night of eating, learning and shopping at vendors such as Love is Love Farm, Gaia Gardens, Scharko Farms, Decimal Place Farms, H & F Bread and Hidden Springs Honey.

Over in Buckhead at the Peachtree Road Farmers Market, Gerry Klaskala of Aria will command the demo action at 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 31. Even better, you can now take in all of the award-winning chef's tips under the soothing shade of the market's new tent. Market hours for the Saturday shopping tradition are 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. in the parking lot of The Cathedral of St. Philip (2744 Peachtree Road, NW). Fill your shopping bag with local goods and garden-grown produce and pick up a couple of tickets to the Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival. This all-out tomato bash will take over JCT. Kitchen & Bar from 1 - 5 p.m. on Sunday, August 8 -- tasty, harmless, fun and for Georgia Organics.

Up north at the Riverside Farmers Market in Roswell, chefs from Roswell's own Aqua blue will show guests how to roll sushi on July 31. Freshly made sushi is just one of the many items offered at Aqua blue. Watch how to make the healthy and delicious favorite at 11 a.m. This weekly Saturday morning market is held from 8 a.m. - noon at Roswell City Hall (38 Hill Street).

Chef Julia LeRoy gets the early bird demo award. Her demo at the Morningside Farmers Market starts at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 7 (1393 N. Highland Avenue across from Alon's Bakery) and features her working with produce from Crystal Organic Farm. The market is open from 8 - 11:30 a.m. Time it right and you can shop, watch and then stop in for a hot cup of joe or brunch at one of the nearby restaurants.

Head out on a sustainable adventure with Worthwhile Wine

Craving an eco-adventure across the world this summer?  We are, too!  We’ll be following along and living vicariously as Worthwhile Wine Founder Tom Lynch heads from his Atlanta headquarters to South Africa on July 28 through August 15 on a sustainable adventure through gardens and grapevines.  Readers are invited to follow along with Lynch’s travels through his guest blog posts at Eat.  Drink… Better, a great website devoted to food, drink and the environmental impact that both bring to our planet, as well as via his posts on the Worthwhile Wine blog.

During his first week of traveling, he will be working in the remote village of iNzinga in the community gardens in conjunction with the inspirational non-profit program Isipho founded by Lynch and his daughter Miranda.  Lynch and Isipho will also be partnering in iNzinga with Water For All, an organization that helps improve access to clean water in sub-Saharan Africa, to help establish wells powered by both solar power and energy generated by simple playground equipment to be enjoyed by local children.  Pretty amazing stuff!

His second week will involve visits to many of the area’s wine regions, including Robertson, Stellenbosch, Franschhoek and Swartland, among others.  Lynch will be sampling soon-to-be released vintages and barrel samples that South Africa’s best sustainable and Fair Trade vineyards are producing, as well as getting a fresh glimpse of the current state of affairs in the South African wine industry.  We can’t wait to hear about the latest sips and steps that Lynch takes on this adventure – stay tuned for more!

You Say Tomato...

You would think with all the canning, ketchup-making and BLT-eating I've been doing in an effort to keep up with my overly-enthusiastic tomato plant that I would be all tomato-ed out. In actuality, I still can't get enough of them, which is why I've already made my reservations for La Tavola Trattoria's 8th annual Tomatofeast!

From Wednesday, July 28 (that is tomorrow!) through Saturday, August 7, tomato-obsessed Atlantans can load up on favorites à la carte or choose the $30 three-course prix fixe menu. Be sure to check out the entire menu online and make your reservations early because once Tomatofeast is gone there is a whole lot of waiting until next year's season returns.

Now back to that canning...

Downtown Restaurant Week Kicks Off Today

As if you really need another reason to hit the Atlanta restaurant scene, Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week starts today! Join in the fine dining experience and save! The two-week-long celebration continues through Sunday, August 8 at restaurants in the heart of Atlanta, including Ray’s in the City and Truva. Reserve your table online; prix fixe dinner prices do not include alcohol, tax or gratuity. Ray's in the City offers metropolitan appeal for $35 per person. Choose from two appetizers -- chilled jumbo shrimp with watermelon, feta cheese, fresh mint and ginger syrup or a vegetable sushi roll with wasabi and pickled ginger; field greens salad with pecans, dried cranberries, blue cheese, roasted red onion and balsamic vinaigrette; and entrées of Parmesan-crusted flounder, campanelle shrimp pasta with wilted spinach and diced tomatoes, or grilled flat iron steak with macaroni and cheese, sautéed spinach and red wine demi-glace. Truva's Mediterranean menu runs $25 per person and includes your choice of appetizer -- red lentil soup, Mediterranean salad or shepherd's salad; an entrée of lamb shank braised in coriander and mint sauce on a pillow of roasted eggplant, a nine-ounce Black Angus filet or swordfish kebab and Adana kebab; and Chocolate Fantasy, rice pudding or baklava for dessert.

Ray's in the City: 240 Peachtree Street, NW; 404-524-9224.
Truva: 60 Andrew Young International Boulevard, NE; 404-577-8788.

It's #FollowFriday; Meet Our Tweep of the Week @ELFMarket!

Planted and nurtured by its community, the ELF Market is growing in a previously crime-ridden section of East Lake.  Friends, neighbors, artisans and local agriculture converge at the corner of Second Avenue and Hosea Williams Drive each Saturday from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. 

Support the market and get a vintage-looking ELF t-shirt and shopping bag.  Collard Cookoff, Peachapalooza . . . this market is so hip, the veggies don't talk, they Tweet! 

Don't Forget Tequila Day Tomorrow

Just in case your Hallmark calendar doesn't have it listed, we wanted to be sure you didn't forget that tomorrow is National Tequila Day. And it falls on a Saturday this year - score! So just in case you needed a reason to have a shot or a margarita, you are in luck. And, wouldn't you know it, we have a couple of suggestions for you to celebrate this auspicious occasion.

At The Original El Taco, the tequila portion of the drinks menu reads like a who's who of tequilas to be met straight up, face to face. "FroMos" and on-the-rocks margaritas befriend mixed drink lovers by the glass or pitcher and include a variety of tequilas and mixers. Welcome the Original, Palermo Texas, Key West, El Primo, Resales and El Big Boy margaritas to put some "Ole!" in your Virginia Highland visit.

Over in Buckhead and Sandy Springs, 15 types of tequilas and their margarita relatives are equally sociable at both Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Food locations. The Swirl, twirling frozen margarita and frozen sangria, is the most popular of the more than 200,000 margaritas and tequila drinks served monthly at Uncle Julio's restaurants nationwide. Popular cousins include the classic frozen, strawberry and Chambord margaritas and the Baja Gold frozen margarita, which mixes Corona with frozen margarita. Uncle Julio's managers go through "tequila training" in Guadalajara, Mexico each fall to do justice to the magical elixir in drinks and recipes.

Feliz dia de la tequila, amigos!

Veggies on My Mind

It's almost the weekend, which means it's almost time to visit your local farmers' market. While you're there though, stop and watch Atlanta's local chefs demoing some of their favorite fare.

Chef Ford Fry of JCT. Kitchen & Bar stops at the junction of hand-picked and vine -- the Peachtree Road Farmers Market -- on Saturday, July 24. There will be plenty of locally raised raw materials to fuel his regionally inspired dishes and Southern specialties! Don't miss his 10:30 a.m. demo. Maybe he'll hint about the upcoming Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival! The Peachtree Road Farmers Market is open from 8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. Saturdays from April through December in the parking lot of The Cathedral of St. Philip, 2744 Peachtree Road, NW.

Spice Market Chef Mauro Gomez toques up at the Piedmont Park Green Market on Saturday, July 24. He'll tempt morning shoppers by stirring up Southeast Asian-inspired dishes from Southeastern U.S.-grown (as in Georgia) ingredients. Park your shopping bags and look for him from 11 a.m. - noon under the patio at the Piedmont Park Community Center.

That special, secret grilling recipe of yours can win you some glory!

Marlow’s knows grilling, but for their 1st Annual Marlow’s Tavern Grilling Recipe Contest they want to hear from you! Submit your recipe by July 26, and you are eligible to win: a Big Green Egg and a spot for your winning recipe in the Fall/Winter menu, and a portion of the proceeds from the sales of your menu item will be donated in your name to Special Olympics Georgia. Second prize winner will win a $50 Marlow’s Tavern gift card and third prize winner will win a Marlow’s Red, White and Brew limited edition t-shirt.

All you have to do is click here and fill out the form. Co-Owner and Executive Chef John Metz will pick the winner and will be announced in August. So grab those skewers and spatulas and get to work. Good luck!

There's more to Belgium than just their waffles and frites!

Seeing as how Belgium Independence Day is July 21, 2010, what other way is there to celebrate it than doing what Belgians do best, eating and drinking with friends! Join Ormsby’s in celebrating Belgium’s independence from the Netherlands in 1831 by stopping by to try some delicious food and drink pairings. Starting July 21 through July 27, Ormsby’s will be offering distinct combinations created by Chef Andrew Smith.

The pairings include: Belgium ale steamed mussels with country ham & tomatoes, pommes frites paired with Duvel Green, House ground lamb burger with goat cheese & charred Vidalias paired with McChouffe and Crispy chicken livers with fettuccine, caramelized onions & bourbon paired with Maredsous. These items will be available a la carte or together. Be sure to stop in soon to get your taste of Belgium while it lasts!

Ormsby’s is located at 1170 Howell Mill Rd. For more information, call 404.968.2033.

Voting for Creative Loafing's "Best Of" has commenced!

For the “Best of Atlanta 2010” nominations Creative Loafing wants to hear from you! All you have to do is click here and vote for your favorite item in each category. The types of categories presented range from “New thing about Atlanta” to “Power Couple.” 319 categories to fill out can seem pretty lengthy, which is why Creative Loafing is allowing you to vote for 5 minimum and still have your answers count. Voting closes July 31 and the results will be published September 23. So get out there and make your opinion count!

Happy National Fortune Cookie Day!

Don’t forget that today is National Fortune Cookie Day! Even if you don't have this special holiday marked on your calendar, Spice Market in the W Hotel Midtown, offers the perfect place to celebrate with its selection of unique, yet yummy fortune cookie flavors. Through the end of August, lunch and dinner guests can choose from green tea-, chocolate- or coffee-flavored cookies after their meal and that’s not all. Each cookie contains a special discount such as 50 percent off at Spice Market, a free night's stay at the W Atlanta Midtown or a complimentary treatment at the hotel's Bliss Spa. Start dining on Spice Market's Southeast Asian-inspired dishes now and see what good luck you have coming your way!

Spice Market: In the W Atlanta Midtown, 188 14th Street, NE; 404-724-2550

Winner Winner Whiskey Dinner!

Thanks to Chef Shaun Doty, Atlantans can get a taste of what High West Distillery & Saloon, Utah's first distillery, has to offer without having to head out West. Doty has partnered with the distillery to host a whiskey dinner at his restaurant, Shaun's, in Inman Park on Thursday, July 29. Doty will prepare four courses of Southern fare that will be paired with High West's award-winning Rocky Mountain whiskeys (some neat, some in the form of cocktails made by mixologist Callie Schlosser). The evening begins with an hors d'oeuvre reception at 6:30 p.m. followed by dinner at 7:15 p.m. Guests will enjoy dishes like Sea Island red pea soup served with shrimp toast; Riverview Farms porchetta with grilled okra and Benton's smoked ham gravy; and vanilla pound cake served with sweet corn ice cream and cinnamon. Whiskey pairings include Silver Oat Whiskey, Rendezvous Rye, Bourye, Rocky Mountain Rye 16 Year Old and Rocky Mountain Rye 21 Year Old. High West Whiskey Proprietor and Distiller David Perkins, an Atlanta native, will give an educational overview of how whiskey is made, its history and how to appreciate it. The menu is $75 (with alcohol) or $55 (without alcohol) per person. Call 404-577-4358 to reserve a seat as space is limited.

Shaun's: 1029 Edgewood Avenue, NE.

Veggie Knowledge Is Power

Heading to your local farmers’ market this weekend? Set your alarm and get going early -you might be able to take some new cooking tips home along with those garden-fresh tomatoes if you head to the chef demos that Chefs Kevin Gillespie and Keira Moritz are doing tomorrow! Get your basket and a notepad ready, because you won’t want to miss an ingredient.

If Piedmont Park Green Market is your local pick, you’ll see Woodfire Grill's Chef Kevin Gillespie there from 11 a.m. to noon under the patio at the Piedmont Park Community Center. More of a Peachtree Road Farmers Market kind of day for you? Watch Pacci's Chef Keira use the summer harvest in her demo at 10 a.m. and take notes to create your own summer dishes.

photo from Peachtree Road Farmers Market Facebook page 

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

Feeling led to blog but don't know how to get started?  Perhaps you're a blogger who wants to kick it up a notch or two?  Go ahead and register for the September 11, 2010 Food Blog Forum that's going to be held right here in Atlanta.  

Zoom in on food photography, social media, technology, and the business of blogging through hands-on, in-depth training that will send you home with skills you can put to work immediately.  A Friday night networking social leads into a jam-packed Saturday.  

Get the short version on Twitter, long version on the website.  Join in nightly chats at www.foodblogforum.com and follow Bunkycooks to find out the latest on the Atlanta event!

Heads Up: Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse Job Fair is coming!

Looking for a great new job opportunity where you can really use your love of all things steak and all things Italian?  Shine those shoes and get those resumes ready, because Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse is having a job fair next Monday, July 19 and Tuesday, July 20!  The restaurant will be opening in August for lunch and dinner.

From 9 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and then again at 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., you can apply in person at Phipps Plaza (3500 Peachtree Road, Atlanta 30326) at the Meeting Room on the Main Level at the entrance of Belk.  Available positions include Bartenders, Wait staff, Bussers, Line Cooks, Prep Cooks, Runners and Dishwashers.  

If for any reason you’re unable to attend on Monday and Tuesday, you can email your resume to claude@davios.com .  Good luck everyone!

Cookbook Publishing 101 in New Orleans Next Week

Have you ever been told you should write a cookbook? Is it on your bucket list? Now you have a chance to learn how from two experts. And it requires a trip to New Orleans! Doesn't get much better than that.

You've probably seen Virginia Willis' cookbook, "Bon Appétit, Y'all. Recipes and Stories from Three Generations of Southern Cooking" (Ten Speed Press, 2008) around town. It's a beautiful book and has been very successful. One of the key women behind the book is cookbook literary agent and culinary publicist Lisa Ekus. She and Virginia have teamed up to teach "Cookbook Publishing 101" on July 20 at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum in New Orleans. Tuition for the 6 - 9 p.m. class is $199. Read more about the class experience at Cooking From Scratch and register online at the Southern Food & Beverage Museum website.

Maybe one day we'll be writing about your cookbook on our blog!

TGIW! Text Your Way to Insider Perks at Spice Market Today

Just be sure to park first so you don’t get pulled over by the popo, since texting while driving is now a no-no. Once you find yourself in a non-moving vehicle, or not behind the wheel at all, text “TGIW” to 99699 today and receive a special deal from Spice Market sent directly to your phone. This offer is part of the W Hotels of Atlanta “I ♥ W ATL” summer of sizzling specials and can be redeemed at Spice Market in the W Atlanta Midtown for up to one week after you receive your text. For more information, please visit W Hotels of Atlanta on Facebook. Offers will be updated by 9 a.m. ET on Wednesday mornings. Text messaging and data rates may apply.

Spice Market: In the W Atlanta Midtown, 188 14th Street, NE; 404-724-2550.