The season for habanero peach salsa at Willy's Mexicana Grill is short, hot and sweet, just like orchard peach season. Visit your favorite Willy's location and add summer's peachy-keen kick to a burrito, salad or dipping chips. Limited time only -- better get there before the last peach meets a habanero.
A tantalizing triangle of West African flavor, Caribbean influence and NYC edge point to chef Kevin Gillespie's Gunshow for an intriguing "Hired Guns" dining event on Tuesday, August 11 and Wednesday, August 12. Chef Joseph "JJ" Johnson of award-winning The Cecil and Minton's in New York City's Harlem neighborhood travels south to the nationally recognized Glenwood Park restaurant for a two-night culinary adventure featuring dishes such as crispy porgy with coconut corn mash, strawberry curry and lychee. Johnson, a 2015 James Beard Award Rising Star semifinalist, cites several sources as kitchen muses: his grandmother's Caribbean influences, training at the Culinary Institute of America and a month-long stay in Ghana, where he cooked at a five-star restaurant, visited local markets and studied West African flavors. Gillespie's "Hired Guns" dining series brings nationally recognized chefs to Atlanta to share their talents and stories in Gunshow's open kitchen. Chef Johnson's accolade cupboard is well stocked, including a place on both Forbes’ and Zagat's "30 Under 30" lists, inclusion in Eater's Young Guns list, winning Rocco DiSpirito's Dinner Party competition and StarChef's Rising Star for Community in 2015, and having his restaurant The Cecil recognized by Esquire magazine as the Best New Restaurant in America in 2014. Sure to fill up quickly! Reservations: 404-380-1886.
Fall “Hired Guns” events include Jean-Paul Bourgeois of New York City's Blue Smoke, Sept. 29-30; and Colby and Megan Garrelts of Rye in Kansas City, Nov. 17-18. Reservations can be made one month in advance.
Join Ray's at Killer Creek executive chef Mike Fuller for a midday foray into Big Green Egg cooking on Saturday, August 8 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Fuller's special tasting menu features smoked, locally foraged wild mushroom flatbread with Capra Gia chevre, arugula pesto and charred lemon oil; low-and-slow smoked pork butt tacos with crunchy slaw, cilantro and lime; prime beef short rib with salsa verde and smoked Gruyere mac and cheese; and grilled Georgia peach sweet biscuit with freshly whipped cream and bourbon Coca-Cola reduction. $35 per person or $60 per couple (includes tax and gratuity) covers cooking demo, Big Green Egg tasting menu and beverage of iced tea, soda or coffee. Reservations required; call 770-649-0064. A credit card will be necessary to confirm the reservation and will be charged prior to the event.
Back to school sales are in full swing, reminding us it's time to buy pens, pencils, lunch boxes and...Thanksgiving turkeys. Save 20 percent off the price of a White Oak Pastures American Standard Bronze heritage breed turkey by placing an order for your bird between July 31-September 27. These hormone- and antibiotic-free birds are living the good life, pecking and foraging their way across the pasture lands of White Oak Pastures -- and developing the rich flavors industrial farm-raised ice-block turkeys lack -- before being humanely slaughtered in the on-farm USDA-inspected poultry abattoir. Prices before discount: $75 for small turkeys (8-12 lbs.), $100 for medium-sized (12.1-16 lbs.) and $125 for large (16.1 and heavier). Discount drops to 5 percent between September 28-November 1, and full pricing kicks in November 2. Order through White Oak Pastures’ online store. All Thanksgiving turkey orders will be shipped Monday, November 16-Friday, November 20 to ensure timely delivery. For savory savings, healthy birds and getting a jump on holiday planning, let us give thanks.
Only 33 guests will be able to sit down to "A Night in the Parlour" beer dinner featuring a trio of courses and beers at The Blind Pig Parlour Bar on Wednesday, July 29 at 7 p.m. Chef Nagib Sued of The Blind Pig and Smokebelly BBQ will be joined by Brian Purcell of Three Taverns Craft Brewery to guide guests through three courses paired with three different Three Taverns brews. Buy tickets in advance online, $33 per guest. The Blind Pig is located behind Smokebelly BBQ in Buckhead.
the 20th Anniversary Photo Contest at Willy's Mexicana Grill in less time than it takes to develop a Polaroid snapshot and show Willy's your #SummerOfWillys love! Before Saturday, August 1, sign up on Willy's Facebook page, snap a picture, tag your photo with "#SummerOfWillys" and upload on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. Grand prize winner receives a GoPro Hero4 and 20 free burrito cards; runner up wins 10 free burrito cards. Willy’s also heats up the last month of its anniversary celebration with a 20th anniversary sweepstakes destined to send some lucky folks on an Orlando resort vacation. Willy's is partnering with Coca-Cola to build a grand prize package for up to four people, including four airline vouchers, a three-night stay at an Orlando theme park hotel and 12 one-day park tickets. Enter August 1-31 at any Willy's location or online. Find rules at www.willys.com
5Church, which has an existing location in Charlotte and a second opening in Charleston, will open a Midtown Atlanta location in the first quarter of 2016. The newest venture from restaurateurs Patrick Whalen, Ayman Kamel, Alejandro Torio and Jamie Lynch will be located at 1197 Peachtree Street, NE and will serve lunch and dinner daily along with weekend brunch. Partner and executive chef Jamie Lynch boasts an impressive background -- Le Cirque, Aureole and Café Boulud as well as Blue and Barrington's in Charlotte. His menu will feature some 5Church favorites that have garnered him recognition as Charlotte Magazine's Best Chef for three consecutive years. Look for "60 second" NY strip steak, 5Church lamb burger with red onion marmalade and Gorgonzola fondue as well as locally sourced dishes original to the Atlanta location. A 200-bottle curated wine list and a selection of specialty cocktails and craft beers will complement Lynch's menu. What's in a name? 5Church derives its nomenclature from the location of the group's first restaurant on the corner of 5th and Church in Uptown Charlotte.
According to a CBS News report, 85 percent of all tea consumed in the United States is iced -- that's about three billion gallons of iced tea every year. No drop in the bucket figure for sure. Now iced tea drinkers can rock their own porches by sipping the same Blue Durango signature proprietary blend of iced tea served at Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails, MAX's Wine Dive, Bantam + Biddy and many other popular restaurants. Shop the Lakehouse Coffee online store where Blue Durango "Classic" iced tea now comes in packages containing eight single-use filter packs for $8. Steep one pack in one pot of boiling water, and you're good to go with a pitcher of summer's ultimate refresher. Sweet or unsweet, well, whatever's your cup of tea.
Two scoops of ice cream celebrations this week!
National Vanilla Ice Cream Day rolls in July 23 with National Hot Fudge Sundae
Day hot on its trail July 25. We Scream for Ice Cream, wishing these days were
national holidays but appeasing our desires with hot fudge poke cake, salted
caramel ice cream, a chocolate stout brownie sundae, snowman shooters, Vitamix
green apple ice cream, rainbow soft serve and a “healthy” sundae thrown in for
good measure.
Hard to say, but in the photo, the seasonal ice
cream sandwich appears to be five-inches tall. See this marvel and other
gastronomical delights, including the restaurant’s Pastured Poultry Week pick,
on The Southern Gentleman Instagram page.
Zoom in on zodiac cocktails at G’s Midtown -- light years closer than a
Pluto flyby. Twelve star-struck sippers, priced at $10 each, embody the
unique characteristics of each sign. Cancer, the nurturing traditionalist, is
true blue to Stoli Blueberry, lemon juice, simple syrup and blue curaçao. Leo
is loyal to a generous blend of SweetWater 420, Absolut Peach vodka, peach
puree and orange juice. Time for a lunar landing in Midtown.
Scratch chicken feed, big clucks and bucks are
on the line. Enter the Menu Mania sweepstakes, presented by Farm Star Living and Springer Mountain Farms for a chance to win a
$100 gift card to a farm-to-table restaurant. Two runners-up will receive $50
gift cards to buy Springer Mountain Farms chicken. Could be you, feeding your
flock -- if you enter before July 31. Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub in Brookhaven and MAX’s Wine Dive in Midtown are two Georgia
restaurants featuring all-natural Springer Mountain Farms chicken on its menus.
Tin Lizzy’s Cantina
is open in The Mall at Peachtree Center, just a quick salsa away from the
College Football Hall of Fame, the Georgia World Congress Center, convention
hotels, marts and offices. Now downtown visitors can easily enjoy FlexMex
favorites at the 10th location of Atlanta’s hometown cantina, and the extensive
margarita list gives the starched shirt set an incentive to loosen up a bit. A
menu boasting shareable dips, signature tacos, salads and sensational cast-iron
skillets, as well as multiple TVs for sports viewing, keep everyone happy. The
over-21 crowd will find clever cocktails and more than 30 beer selections to
temper the heat of summer’s city streets. Tin Lizzy’s downtown is open daily
for lunch, dinner and late-night dining. For information, call 404-671-9450 or
visit the downtown cantina’s Facebook page.
The August debut of Cotton Calf Kitchen in the 111-year-old Braselton Brothers Department Store building
circles the storefront back to its origins as a community hub satisfying
appetites for good taste and providing attentive service. This time, however,
groceries and dry goods give way to a classic American steakhouse where
dry-aged steaks sizzle and cocktails and conversation flow. Partners Matt
Ruppel, Hudson Tang and Cindy Green want Cotton Calf Kitchen to become an
integral part of Braselton’s balance of historic preservation and a
live/work/play/dine environment. To this point, the restaurant sits across
Davis Street from a turn-of-the-century cotton gin building yet the patio will
overlook the town’s anticipated new amphitheater. Open daily for cocktails and
dinner from 4-11 p.m., Cotton Calf Kitchen will feature quality dry-aged beef,
heirloom vegetables and tapas-style appetizers. Watch the progress unfold on Facebook.
Ray’s Rio Bravo is
back with its famous tortilla press and beloved Mexican cuisine. The Powers
Ferry Road icon is raising the roof and mucho dinero in honor of Make-A-Wish Georgia
on Thursday, July 30 from 7-10 p.m. Buy a ticket, $25 and up, to take in mariachi music
and a fiesta buffet of tasty tacos and fajitas with all the trimmings, chips
and salsa, chili con queso, tamales and non-alcoholic beverages. Cash bar and
drink specials will be available. Georgia’s Make-A-Wish chapter founder Debbie
Tillman shares “wish” stories more heartwarming than salsa. 100 percent of
ticket sales goes to Make-A-Wish Georgia. Complimentary valet parking. No can
go? Donations are mucho encouraged.
Lovin’ local, four area chefs are banding
together with Skylight Farm founder Justin Aiello to host
“Skylight Supper,” a five-course farm-to-table feast benefitting Westside Provisions District Farmers Market
(WPDFM), on Thursday, July 30 at Skylight Farm in Douglasville, Georgia. Chefs
Nick Leahy (Saltyard), Jarrett Stieber (Eat Me Speak Me),
Jason Assenmacher (Dine With Jason) and Kenan Hill (Kitchen
1204) cull a local larder for the fundraising dinner, including organic produce
from WPDFM purveyors and Skylight Farm, Riverview Farm pork, craft brews from
Atlanta’s own Monday Night Brewing, and MOSCAI all-natural craft cocktails.
Farm tour and five-course dinner follow 5 p.m. cocktail hour, all for $80 per
person (plus tax and gratuity). A limited number of tickets are available here.
This weekend, MAX’s Wine Dive chef Patric Bell-Good does the
demo honors at the Westside Provisions District Farmers Market
going on from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, July 26. Bell-Good is a finalist in the
Georgia Voice “Best of Atlanta 2015” competition (winners will
be announced July 24) -- and a key component in MAX’s Wine Dive nominations in
the “Best Restaurant,” “Best New Restaurant,” “Lunch Spot” and “Bar Spot.” The
market is about two miles away from MAX’s Wine Dive at 12th and Crescent in
Midtown.
Halfway to Christmas Day 2015, and there’s
trending news about an anticipated Santa sighting at this Saturday’s Christmas in July party at Atkins Park Restaurant & Bar in
Virginia-Highland. Santa’s summer hangout glows with spiked eggnog, a gift
giveaway, SweetWater Festive ale and a secret Santa you won’t want to miss.
Starts at 9 p.m. on July 25 -- six months ‘til the big day, but who’s counting?
The Ice Bucket Challenge has run its course, but you can have a splash or two of your favorite beverages and raise money for the Atlanta ALS Association at STATS on Thursday, July 23. Join Cook’s Crew, a non-profit group honoring Alphonso "Prune" Cook, who lost his battle with ALS, for drinks, appetizers or dinner at the Luckie Marietta District restaurant and sports bar between 6-9 p.m. when 10 percent of sales goes to ALS research.
Saltwood Charcuterie & Bar will host a “Frenchman in Thailand” reception and four-course dinner with champagne pairings on Wednesday, July 22. Why Thai? In May, Saltwood executive chef and Master Chef of France Olivier Gaupin honeymooned in Thailand. Returning enamored with Thai cuisine (and his bride), Gaupin called upon Saltwood sous chef Chris Espanol, award-winning Thai chef Dee Dee Niyomkul (Tuk Tuk Thai Food Loft) and Nicolas Feuillatte Champagne expert Olivier Zorel to create an intriguing cuisine and French Champagne pairing melding Thai flavors with the tastes and techniques of his own native France. $75 per person (excluding tax and gratuity). Limited seating. Reservations: 404-745-5745. Complimentary valet parking.
