Move Over Mozart, Chef Kevin Gillespie and Food Fans Are Heading To Vienna and Budapest

Vienna Images from Wikipedia

This time of year when the cold visits Georgia, it’s always nice to dream about what’s coming in the spring and future travels we hope to take during the year. Far off places, new cuisines to discover… we’re getting wistful just thinking about it.  If you’re experiencing some winter wanderlust right now, you’re in luck!

Kevin Gillespie, owner and executive chef at Woodfire Grill in Atlanta, and Tammy Zacks, travel designer and founder of Travel by design, will share their love for travel and gastronomy with other foodies as they lead "A Taste of Austria with Chef Kevin" March 24 - 31.  The culinary journey wines and dines through Michelin-starred and traditional restaurants in Vienna, visits nearby wineries and jaunts over to Budapest. 

Travelers will be well schooled during a cooking class in Vienna's opulent Schoenbrunn Palace.  For information on "A Taste of Austria with Chef Kevin," including a trip itinerary, click here.  Those interested in registering for the trip can click here.  For information on Travel by design and upcoming excursions, visit www.travelbydesigninc.com or call 404-467-0980.

Gute Reise!  Have a good trip!

It's Follow Friday, Meet Our Tweep of the Week @niche

Nichelle (@niche) is a Brooklyn food nerd.  She said it; we're just passing it on.  She could drown in a bathtub of cupcakes and be happy (no lie, see "about me" on her Niche Food blog).  

 Say you roll with cupcakes, too?  Social media specialist Nichelle has another blog for you, Cupcakes Take the Cake, and cupcake/food tweets served a bite at a time!

I Bet Dunwoody Tastes Delicious!

Friends of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta has been throwing Dunwoody's best-tasting party for eight years -- and each year raised more funds for not-for-profit Children's. This year, Aqua blue and Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar are two of the more than 30 restaurants plating up samples at Taste of Dunwoody on Friday, February 4 from 7 - 10:30 p.m. Between forkfuls, buy drinks at the cash bar, bid in the silent auction and groove to 70s and 80s tunes performed by Yacht Rock Revue. The snappy, casual event at the W Atlanta - Perimeter always sells out...hint, buy your ticket early. This year's VIP ticket includes two complimentary drinks. Click here to purchase your $50 general ticket or $70 VIP ticket.

Aqua blue: 1564 Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell; 770-643-8886.

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar: 4501 Olde Perimeter Way in Perimeter Place Village; 770-698-8112.

Acquire a Taste for Scotch at Atkins Park

Whether you already love Scotch or want to learn more about it, be sure to mark your calendar for January 27! Atkins Park Tavern in Virginia Highland and Macallan Scotch will be hosting "Scotch Tasting Through the Ages" that night. You'll learn about Scotch from Macallan's ambassador while tasting Macallan Scotch at several points through its life.  You'll be reeling in the years with each delicious sip!

Your evening will also be enhanced as you enjoy your Scotch with some delicious, specially prepared bites from Atkins Park Chef Andrew Smith!  It all goes down Thursday, January 27 at 6:30 p.m. $35 per person. Seating is limited so make your reservations now!

Peachy Keen Pie

If the rain is keeping you in tonight, be sure to tune in to "United Tastes of America" on the Cooking Channel at 9:30 p.m. Eastern time to check out JCT. Kitchen & Bar Owner/Executive Chef Ford Fry's fried pie skills! On this all-about-pie episode, Chef Fry will be dishing up a Southern comfort food classic - peach fried pies. If your mouth gets to watering while watching, you can always stop by JCT for the current pie special, Georgia apple fried pies with butter pecan ice cream!

New Deals at Davio’s

Don’t miss your chance to try the new Sunday and Monday night specials at Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse in Phipps Plaza. On Sunday, take the family out for Davio's $20 three-course dinner served family style from 5 - 9 p.m. Guests also can enjoy half-off pricing on any of Davio's house wines, including Stags' Leap Chardonnay, Duckhorn Cabernet Sauvignon Decoy and Van Duzer Pinot Noir (served by the glass). Davio's regular dining menu also is available on Sunday evenings. Monday nights will thrill steak and beer lovers: order a prime steak and receive 24 ounces of draft beer for free! Davio's in Phipps Plaza serves dinner Monday through Thursday from 5 - 11 p.m., until 12 a.m. on Friday and Saturday and until 10 p.m. Sunday.

Davio's Northern Italian Steakhouse: Phipps Plaza, 3500 Peachtree Road, NE; 404-844-4810

An Easy Way to Eat Your Veggies: Spice Market's New Vegetarian Bento Box

Spice Market, in the W Atlanta - Midtown, is helping diners stick to their New Year's resolutions to eat healthier this year, and for that we are very grateful. Inspired by the Meatless Monday non-profit initiative, Spice Market Executive Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten has created a vegetarian bento box that will be servd on Mondays for $24 per person. Incorporating a meatless meal once a week can reduce your risk of conditions like cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and obesity. It can also help reduce your carbon footprint and save precious resources like fresh water and fossil fuel - an added bonus!

The vegetarian bento box comes with white or brown rice, the chef’s soup of the day and the choice of three of the following items: market green salad with radishes, cherry tomatoes and sesame seed vinaigrette; fragrant mushroom egg rolls with galangal emulsion; vegetables in green curry; spicy Shanghai noodle with chilled silken tofu, garlic and herbs; wok-charred eggplant with sweet chili glaze and peanuts; and spicy Thai slaw with Asian pear, crispy shallots and mint.

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

It's Follow Friday; Meet our Tweep of the Week @jonesishungry

Busy culinarian Scott Jones has been active for more than a decade in magazine publishing, marketing and food.  Maybe you've seen him on TV... he's been on dozens of TV shows from "Cooking with Paula Deen" to "Food Network Challenge."  He also worked as the executive food editor of Southern Living and authored the Southern Living Wine Guide and Journal.  

Now you can find out what's next on the menu by following him on Twitter at @jonesishungry, Facebook and on his Jones Is Hungry blog.  (By the way, his wife wants you to know that he graduated with honors from the Culinary Institute in Hyde Park.)

Our Top 11 in 2011

Image from writeclickscrapbook

Yes, it felt like an entire year went by here in Atlanta as we were all stuck in our homes (thanks, Mother Nature), but luckily it was just a drop in the bucket of time in 2011!  

We still have a whole year ahead to enjoy tons of amazing culinary adventures.   In this week’s Dish newsletter, we revealed our list of “Top 11 in 2011” – the top 11 things we here at MLA are most excited for this year! 

It’s going to be an amazing year and we’ll be sure to be here to share the latest culinary events and news as it unfolds.  Without further ado, we present our Top 11 in 2011 list!

1.  Ford Fry, owner and executive chef of JCT. Kitchen & Bar, and Drew Belline, formerly chef de cuisine at Floataway Café, are partnering to open a new Italian-inspired restaurant in Decatur this spring.  Look for more news as the late March/early April "open" sign appears!  The new restaurant will be located at 129 E. Ponce de Leon Avenue in the old Eurasia Bistro.
    
2.  In the works, Woodfire Grill Partner and Executive Chef Kevin Gillespie's new BBQ restaurant: Terminus City.  All we can say is "smokin'!"
    
3. RA Sushi has new dishes and cocktails on its menu for 2011.  New friends join your favorites in the dinner, sushi, bar food and cocktail categories!  To name a few, there are Otoko salad, lobster with garlic sugar snap peas, "RA" tapas, shishito peppers, sweet mochi trio dessert and four new sushi rolls, including a vegetable tempura and tropical roll.  Fresh fruit, exotic liqueurs and premium spirits go into the nine new cocktails ($8-$9), and there are more wine selections and sake flights.  Expanded menus bring more appetizers, tapas, sushi and maki to happy hour, Monday through Saturday from 3 - 7 p.m., and to Sunday's restaurant industry night at Flying Fish Lounge from 8 p.m. until midnight.
    
4.  White Oak Pastures now sells jerky so you can take the grass-fed beef raised in Bluffton, Ga. with you anywhere!  Cost is $15 a jar (1/2 a pound) in the White Oak Pastures' online store.
    
5. The 34th Annual Vidalia Onion Festival makes for a sweet weekend April 30 - May 1 in Vidalia, Georgia. The world-famous onions are joined by Kellie Pickler in concert, an air show and so much more.
    
6. JCT. Kitchen & Bar's Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival is going down in Atlanta's Westside on July 17.  Host and JCT. Owner/Executive Chef Ford Fry promises there's a happy ending for guests, participants and beneficiary Georgia Organics.
    
7. The Atlanta Food & Wine Festival fills Atlanta with more than 200 food-related activities over the dates of May 19 - 22.
    
8. Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar will open its newly remodeled patio this spring -- just in time for people watching from behind those big sunglasses.
    
9. Pinkberry is coming to Buckhead and Midtown!  We can verify some sweet and tart gossip among Buckhead and Midtown fro-yo devotees:  yes, the purveyor of all-natural frozen yogurt is coming to your area this year so prepare to let the good times swirl.
    
10. Jeffrey Gardner, South City Kitchen Midtown sous chef will be on Food Network's competition show "Chopped."  You'll be able to watch him in action when the episode airs at 10 p.m. on February 8.  Better yet, join the viewing party at The Original El Taco from 9 - 11 p.m. and watch the culinary battle on the restaurant's five flat screen televisions.

11. Pacci Ristorante renews its vow for fun and romance with its second "Queen of Hearts" social.  Last year's cocktail party was such a Valentine's week hit that Pacci is planning another big night of food, drinks, games and prizes this February.  We can't commit to a date just yet, but Dish readers will be the first to know!