Our Appetizing Aperture of the Week: Noodles & Company's Truffle Mac with Baby Portabellas

Looks like macaroni and cheese is all grown up at Noodles & Company with this delicious twist on the comforting classic -- truffle mac with baby portabellas.

Learn About Wine and Mingle with Wine Connoisseurs at Woodfire Grill's Louis/Dressner Winemaker Dinner

Whether you’re a wine aficionado or simply enjoy learning about the finer things in life, meet winemakers and taste wines at Woodfire Grill's Louis/Dressner Winemaker Dinner on Tuesday, January 17. Old world wine importer Louis/Dressner doesn't make the wines, but they have connections with more than 100 conscientious vignerons in France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia and Slovenia. Eric Texier from Chateauneuf du Pape and Jean-Paul Brun from Beaujolais, both winemakers whose wines are imported by Louis/Dressner, will discuss their naturally produced wines during the evening.

Even better, learning about the natural viticulture and tasting some of the exquisite wines is just the tip of the iceberg at this dinner party. You will also enjoy Woodfire Grill’s handcrafted five-course menu of four savory dishes and desserts plus wine pairings. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. and costs $115 per person (includes tax but not gratuity). There are only 20 seats open to the public, so don't think about it too long. Make reservations now for this exclusive dinner by calling the restaurant at 404-347-9055.

Woodfire Grill: 1782 Cheshire Bridge Road; 404-347-9055.

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

Squash Blossom Kitchens is a boutique catering company that specializes in small- to mid-sized dinner parties. Childhood friends Christine Roberts and Katy Purwin shelved their corporate careers to pursue their first love:  food. The duo is a regular on 11 Alive cooking segments, and have developed winning recipes for Jake's Ice Cream and Maggiano's. Follow their tweets (@SBKitchens) to stay on the detox track for 2012. Learn more about them on their Squash Blossomings blog.  

Happy 10th Birthday to The Dish!

Back in the day, before there were blogs, there was a little newsletter called The Dish. Every week, it was painstakingly typed, laid out with scissors and tape, copied on colored paper (different color every week!), and delivered around town to our city's concierges. Oh, and we faxed it to them too - woo hoo! What a difference 10 years can make!

Now The Dish is a weekly e-newsletter and daily blog post. The process is more efficient and our interns don't have to drive all over town anymore, but the goal is the same. We are still committed to spreading the news about the fun restaurant happenings going on in Atlanta.

We appreciate your reading and hope you'll sign up for the newsletter if you haven't already. Oh, and follow us on Twitter too! Can't wait to see what the next 10 years will bring!!

Sidle up to JCT. Bar for a Burger and Beer

Starting next Tuesday, JCT. Bar in Atlanta's Westside Urban Market is bringing back their popular Burger and Beer special. This year's combo features Ford Fry's house-ground "Frito Pie" Burger and a beer from Utah-based Uinta Brewing for $10. Beers options include Wyld Extra Pale Ale, Baba Black Lager or Hopnotch IPA. This deal runs each Tuesday through Thursday from 5-10 p.m. at the rooftop bar. The Burger and Beer is only available for a limited time, so make plans to stop on by for a "Frito Pie."

It’s National Soup Month – Start Slurping!

The MLA team just finished a two-day juice detox and after 48 hours of drinking nothing but cold, tart fruit juice, all I am craving is a hot bowl of soup. Luckily, it happens to be National Soup Month AND, despite the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having, the weather reports for the rest of this week finally point to colder temperatures. I can’t think of a better time to sample our city’s selection of body-warming bowls of goodness. Check out a list of our favorites around town in the latest edition of The Dish. My must-haves are Aria’s creamless celery root and black truffle soup (you will not believe this soup doesn’t have cream in it!) and Spice Market’s spicy chicken and coconut soup (pictured above). Both of these feel totally luxurious and are super satisfying on a cold day.

Wine and Dine Prime Style at Fleming’s

What better way to prepare for a busy work week than enjoying a nice dinner at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar? Luckily, the top-end Perimeter steakhouse offers a three-course Sunday Prime Rib Dinner for only $29.95 per person (before tax and gratuity) until February 5. This three-course meal begins with your choice of The Wedge, Fleming’s house salad or a Caesar salad, followed by the prime rib with au jus main course. The prime rib is served up with creamy horseradish and Dijon sauces and your choice of a side. To top it all off, you can choose a decadent dessert for your final course. The wine connoisseurs at Fleming’s recommend pairing your meal with the Raymond, Napa Valley Sommelier Selection Cabernet Sauvignon, 2009. At $8.75 a glass or $35 a bottle it’s a perfect choice! And of course, you can always choose from the Fleming’s 100 award-winning wine collection to round out your evening meal.   

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

Smash Your Way Into Winter!

Sizzling hot Smashburgers, chicken sandwiches, Smashdogs and veggie burgers send cold packing, if you catch our drift. If, however, cold calls you to the slopes, Smashburger again comes to the rescue with the Smashburger Winterfest sweepstakes. Enter online through January 27. One grand-prize winner will ski away with a trip for two to Colorado including hotel accommodations, a pair of Icelantic skis and a private tour of the Icelantic factory. Other prizes include Icelantic skis, a snowboard, 686 snowboard jackets, Winter Park lift tickets, Colorado Avalanche tickets and Smashgear. While you’re on the website, enter your preferred Smashburger location -- Alpharetta, Buckhead, Johns Creek, Kennesaw or Sandy Springs -- and receive news on specials and events.

Beef, Lamb and Chicken, Oh My!

Grass-fed beef and lamb and free-range chicken have earned a place for White Oak Pastures on many a regional restaurant menu and home dinner plate. These tender cuts are the culmination of long-term visions for sustainability and active stewardship by White Oak Pastures Owner Will Harris. Consider the big picture, and it's obvious why Harris will be inducted into the Fellowship of Southern Farmers, Artisans, and Chefs at the Southern Foodways Alliance Taste of the South, taking place January 12 - 15, at Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tenn. The event, which also serves as a fundraiser for the Southern Foodways Alliance, is now in its eight year. The Fellowship of Southern Farmers, Artisans, and Chefs fosters camaraderie and mentorship and honors the bounty of the South and the hands that grow, nurture and interpret its harvest. The organization's vision is to provide a forum for farmers, chefs and artisans to break bread and share knowledge while reinforcing the sustaining bridge between field and table. After five generations of Harris family farming, White Oak Pastures has become the largest certified organic farm in Georgia and is one of only two on-farm, USDA-inspected, grass-fed beef plants in the country. The farm is home to the largest solar-powered barn in the Southeast. The solar-thermal system generates energy for the processing plant -- which happens to be the only on-farm poultry processing facility in the states of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Tennessee and Mississippi. Both the grass-fed beef and poultry plants are no-waste operations, meaning animal by-products are turned into organic fertilizer or compost for the farm's certified organic pastures.

Even if the Blackberry Farm event is not on your calendar, you can enjoy White Oak Pastures products at home. They are available at Whole Foods Markets and Publix supermarkets.

White Oak Pastures: 22775 Highway 27, Bluffton, GA; 229-641-2081.

[Photo Credit: Angie Mosier]

Our Appetizing Aperture of the Week

Resolutions are no fun if you can't have a sweet treat here and there -- we'd recommend saving that stolen moment for one of these dark chocolate doughnuts, available from Krispy Kreme in Columbus. 

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

Lindsay and Taylor Landis are a cute couple dealing with humidity in Nashville, Tenn. They run two small businesses by day and cook by night, having discovered cooking together brings them together. And besides, they get bored by leftovers so they're always cooking something new. Lindsay handles the prolific tweets (@loveandoliveoil). Follow her daily adventures. Save theirLove & Olive Oil blog link in your bookmark file for a lot of incredible edibles and even some giveaways.

Learn to roll your own (sushi)

Did you make a resolution to learn something new in 2012? Did you vow to meet new people? You can check them both off your list by attending RA Sushi's first Sake and Sushi Social of the new year on Tuesday, January 10 at 7 p.m. This is a really fun way to get together with old friends or make some new ones. There are experts there to discuss sake-pairing basics and teach you how to roll your own sushi, plus you'll get a four-course sampling of fresh sushi and appetizers paired with fine sake. All for $35 per person or $60 per couple. Check out the photos from December's social on Facebook. Space is limited so give 'em a call 404-267-0114.

RA Sushi: 1080 Peachtree Street at 1010 Midtown; 404-267-0114.

All Aboard the Health Train: 2012 Healthy Eating Roundup Makes Keeping Resolutions Easy

"Diet" can be a heavy word, and no one wants to hear such a downer in a city with so many fabulous eateries. Healthy eating is more about considering the effects of what you're ingesting -- how your lunch will benefit your body and all of its systems -- including those all-important taste buds. Really, if it's not tasty, why bother anyway?

Guilt-free "Skinnier Cocktails" at Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar weigh in at 99 calories per glass and $9.95 each.  They're always on the bar menu to give you more options than diet sodas for a sassy but not sissy low-cal drink. Fresh fruits and juices knock sugary mixers out of the glass. Tickled Pink mixes Belvedere Vodka, Mionetto Prosecco, orange juice and raspberry. Bikinitini is a Florida beach trip in a glass with Grey Goose L'Orange Vodka, lemon juice, orange juice, Monin sugar-free syrup and soda water. The Stoli Bombshell fruits up Stoli Vanil Vodka with fresh raspberries, raspberry preserves and freshly squeezed lime juice. The Russian Prom Queen mixes fresh lime juice, cucumbers and blueberries with Stoli Blueberi Vodka. The Farmer's Daughter starts with Ketel One Vodka and adds strawberries, fresh basil leaves, lemon juice and cranberry juice. And finally, the Stiletto spikes fresh blackberries, lime and ginger with Hendrick's Gin.

Atlanta Smashburger locations dispel the myth that fast-casual dining paves a highway to the hips. Atlantans so love their veggie burgers that black bean veggie burger sales at area Smashburger restaurants nearly double the national Smashburger average!  Smashburger salads fill you up with fresh, crisp greens and toppings, and grilled chicken can be added to up the protein ante. The harvest salad features balsamic tomatoes, raisins, dried cranberries, sunflower and pumpkin seeds and blue cheese topped with balsamic vinaigrette. Create your own healthy grilled chicken sandwich by selecting a multigrain bun and choosing free toppings such as lettuce, tomato, red onion, kosher pickles and jalapeños along with a variety of sauces and mustards. Sweet potato smashfries and veggie frites add even more veggies to your plate.

Executive Chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten fills bento boxes with vegetarian selections for Monday night diners at Spice Market, located inside the W Atlanta-Midtown. Even carnivores will find the multi-layered boxes plenty to please at $24 per person. See the vibrant veggie bento box on our blogarchive.

Book a vegetarian-focused table at Woodfire Grill, and the chefs will prepare a five-course chef's tasting vegetarian menu that the entire table will relish. The vegetarian dinner costs $70 per person, and everyone at the table must participate. A tasting included a first course of cucumber and cantaloupe noodles with grapefruit and mint emulsion; a second course of roasted hen of the woods and morel mushrooms, baby radish and turnips with brown butter, lemon zest and herbs; a third tasting course of chilled new potato and wild garlic leek soup; a fourth course of roasted local root vegetables, smoked squash puree and pickled cabbage salad; a main course of creamed escarole and rutabaga, spicy smoked apples, asparagus and Anson Mills farro; and dessert of strawberry shortcake with sour cream pound cake, rhubarb jam and strawberry whip.

Say "hola" to heart-healthy menu items at Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Food. Three scrumptious selections have been certified as heart healthy by Medical City Heart. A generous Ensalada Especial heaps plates with mixed field greens, grape tomatoes, jicama, cucumbers, red onions and red cabbage and is served with citrus vinaigrette dressing. Go heartier by adding portobello mushroom or salmon. Increasing your intake of salmon for those healthy omega-3 fatty acids is easy when ordering flavorful mesquite-grilled salmon filet served with sautéed vegetables and fresh pineapple pico de gallo. Vegetable purists will find the grilled vegetable platter fills their wish dish with mesquite-grilled zucchini, yellow squash, portobello mushroom, red potatoes, and red and yellow onions served with roasted red and poblano peppers and a side of fresh pineapple pico de gallo.

At RA Sushi in Midtown, cradle a Skinny Cocktail in your hands and roll each potent sip across your tongue with pleasure. There are only 200 calories in a Lychee-teenie, Skinny Ninja or Thin Ginger ($8 each). 

Help Crown Decatur as the South's Tastiest Town

If you love the deliciousness of Decatur as much as we do, you'll want to show some favoritism. Decatur has been nominated as one of the South's Tastiest Towns in Southern Living magazine and it's time to cast your vote. Our favorite thing about Decatur? No.246 and Chef Drew Belline's Italian-inspired, locally driven menu. If you haven't already tasted Belline's cuisine for yourself, stop by the restaurant (located at 129 E. Ponce de Leon Avenue) for lunch or dinner and you'll find one more reason to love Decatur. Then cast your vote daily through January 31. Added bonus: voters are entered for a chance to win a $2,500 visit to the tasty town of their choice.

The Skinny on RA Sushi's New Cocktails

Oh, RA Sushi, we love you!  Now we can eat your delicious and healthy sushi AND have a cocktail or two.  The energizing Midtown hub for Asian-fusion specialties is introducing three "Skinny Cocktails" at $8 each with, most importantly, fewer than 200 calories apiece. The Lychee-teenie gives the traditional martini cause to quiver, delivering Voli Vodka with the lightly sweet addition of Asian lychee fruit and Monin agave nectar. The Skinny Ninja sneaks in a stealth punch with Voli Lyte Vodka mixed with fresh flavors of yuzu, pink grapefruit, Monin agave nectar and shiso, a basil-minty Japanese herb. For berry gingery goodness, order the Thin Ginger, which muddles fresh strawberries, citrus and ginger with Voli Lemon Vodka and Monin agave nectar.  Act quickly because these "Skinny Cocktails" are only available January 1 through February 29.

Our Appetizing Aperture of the Week: Alma Cocina

Speaking of Alma Cocina, if you haven't visited downtown yet, be sure to add it to your must-do list for 2012. You really have to try these sweet potato empanadas with horchata ice cream, cranberry compote and spiced pepitas. 

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

He's had a crazy, busy month, but he doesn't care. He's living his culinary dream. Jeffrey Gardner, known on Twitter as CheffreyG, is the sous chef at Alma Cocina in downtown Atlanta's 191 Peachtree Building. 

Gardner tweets (@CheffreyG) that this is the place for modern Mexican and Latin flavors -- and we concur. Between bites, dabble with his Cheffrey Eats Out blog.

Rise Up with "Next Food Network Star" Finalist Justin Balmes at the Falcons Game on New Year's Day

We know you've got New Year's Eve plans, but what about New Year's Day? Start 2012 with a winning combination: Falcons football and "Next Food Network Star" finalist, Chef Justin Balmes. 

Watch the playoff-bound Atlanta Falcons take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at 1 p.m. in the Georgia Dome on Sunday. At halftime, skip the usual concession fare and visit Balmes at the local chef stand at 2View Restaurant in the east end zone on the executive concourse (near the suites). He'll be serving up a lamb burger on potato bun with grilled onions, arugla, Manchego and lemon herb and black olive aioli and pulled pork with white cheddar mac and cheese and collard greens with Weiss Tasso ham.

The best part is you can grab a bite and chat up Balmes without missing a second of the action, thanks to the big screens nearby. So rise up and chow down!

I'll Have Black-Eyed Peas For New Year's, Please

It's a given that black-eyed peas will be somewhere on the Southern New Year's Day table. Legend has it that the Southern tradition has ties to the Civil War, when General William Tecumseh Sherman's Union troops carried off or destroyed all food, crops and livestock along their path, leaving only lowly, dried "field peas" behind because they were considered to be animal fodder. Guess they didn't count on Southern ingenuity, and luckily, folks found and cooked the dried peas to survive. The dried peas came to symbolize prosperity because they grew in size when cooked. Owner/Executive Chef Ford Fry of JCT. Kitchen & Bar loves everything about Southern regional food and takes the black-eyed pea tradition to a much tastier level. His recipe for deep-fried black-eyed peas with candied, crispy lemon makes a delish snack for the midnight hour on New Year's Eve.

Deep-Fried Black-Eyed Peas with Candied, Crispy Lemon

Serves 24 small portions

Ingredients

1 lb. dried black-eyed peas
1 stalk celery (cut in half)
1 carrot (peeled and cut in half)
½ yellow onion (peeled)
1 bay leaf

4 lemons
2 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbsp. Italian parsley (finely chopped)
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste


Method

Peas:

Soak the peas overnight in water. Strain the peas, place in appropriate-sized pot and cover with water by two inches. Add the carrot, celery, onion, and bay leaf. Simmer slowly until just cooked. Strain and chill. Discard the carrot, celery, onion and bay leaf.

Lemon:

With a peeler or small knife, peel off the yellow portion of the peel. Trim away any of the white. Slice into thin strips. Using a small pot, place in the water, sugar, salt and lemon strips. Simmer slowly for five minutes. Strain and chill.

Fry:

Set up your fryer at 350 degrees. If using a pot, fill half way with canola oil (or pork fat if you like). Place a candy thermometer into it to monitor the temperature. Start by frying the peas as is for one to two minutes or until crispy then place in a mixing bowl and season to taste with kosher salt. For the lemon, toss the strips in the flour and dust off excess flour. Fry lemon for 20-30 seconds. Add to the bowl of crispy peas with the parsley and toss. Fill small cups for individual servings and stick a tiny spoon into the peas.

Smashburger Comes to Sandy Springs Tomorrow

Smashburger has been spreading the better burger love all over metro Atlanta these past few months and now it is Sandy Springs' turn. Check it out - opening on Wednesday, Dec. 28 at 6080 Roswell Road. I'm a big fan of Smashburger's juicy burgers and those yummy thick Häagen-Dazs shakes! Smashburgers all begin with 100 percent fresh, never-frozen Certified Angus Beef smashed on a 400 degree flat grill to sear in flavorful juices. Try the Atlanta Smashburger with peach BBQ sauce, Wicked® Pimena cheese, grilled jalapeños and Vidalia coleslaw and served on an artisan egg bun - it's got quite a kick! And if you want something healthier, they have great chicken and huge salads. Plus wine and beer! See you in Sandy Springs!

Smashburger - Sandy Springs: 6080 Roswell Road; 404-257-1557.