What’s New on Pinterest: Berry Delicious

Have you noticed? Berries are front and center at the grocery stores right now. You could stop at strawberry shortcake. Or, you could opt for these Berry Delicious ideas. Bakers, mix berries into triple berry scones to smear with homemade raspberry butter, fix a pan of banana-berry baked oatmeal for breakfast or wow the dinner club with a multi-layer lemon blueberry cake. Drinks on the deck or potent potables for the pool? Mix up berry sangria, blackberry whiskey lemonade, blueberry mojitos, thyme berry sparklers or skinny berry smoothies. Counter rising temperatures with strawberry lime sorbet, blueberry popsicles and raspberry rose sundaes. Bottom line, bury your cart in berries and rejoice.

HOBNOB, Jefe’s, Drinks, Demos, Music and More Headline Taste of Town Brookhaven

Taste of Town Brookhaven, this weekend’s best food fest, sprawls over the Town Brookhaven green space on Saturday, May 20 from 3-7 p.m. Anticipating all the tastes from neighborhood restaurants like HOBNOB Neighborhood Tavern and Jefe’s Tacos & Tequila, plus beer, wine, music, chef demos, prizes and more, motivates completing that to-do list in the morning thus leaving the afternoon open for appetizing abandon. Prepping for the upcoming opening of its new Town Brookhaven location, HOBNOB’s Midtown chefs will prepare their popular New Generation duck nachos during a festival cooking demonstration. Plan ahead and save: buy tickets online through May 19 for $20 per person (plus service fee) or fork over $30 per person at the festival. Ticket price includes five food tasting tickets; purchase additional tasting and drink tickets at the event. Proceeds benefit LifeLine Animal Project.

Midtown Takorea & Ssam Bar Takes the City by Storm with Atlanta Eats Episode Airing May 20 and 28

Tune in this weekend to see Midtown Takorea & Ssam Bar featured on an episode of Atlanta Eats! Hear from the masters of Mexican and Korean street eats as they share a behind-the-scenes look at one of Midtown's coolest restaurants. The episode will air on Peachtree TV (WPCH) on Saturday, May 20 from 7-8 p.m. and again on Sunday, May 28 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Set your DVR or iPhone alarm because you won't want to miss this!

Kudos for a Sunday Afternoon KUDU Safari Braai Cookout with Kevin Gillespie and Justin Anthony at Yebo Beach Haus May 21

Surfin’ safari? We’re game! Celebrity chef, restaurateur and author Kevin Gillespie and Atlanta restaurateur Justin Anthony ignite a KUDU Braai Cookout on the Yebo Beach Haus patio Sunday, May 21 from 3-6 p.m. “Braai Masters” Gillespie (Gunshow, Revival, Communion Cantina and Terminus City) and South African native Anthony (10 Degrees South, Yebo Beach Haus, Cape Dutch and Biltong Bar) will man four custom KUDU Grills in a celebration of South African culture. Along with libations and chef chat time, enjoy passed plates of hot-off-the-grill South African bites including shrimp kabobs, boerewors rolls, sosaties, peri-peri chicken and vegetable kabobs. Alcohol will be available for purchase. Buy tickets online, $30 per person plus small service fee.

Sip What’s Near and Dear – Limited Edition 25-Year Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon at The Southern Gentleman

One bottle. That’s all. Be one of the lucky diners at The Southern Gentleman to indulge in limited edition 25-year Pappy Van Winkle bourbon. Bourbon connoisseurs know this elixir is to be savored and rolled across the palate. The Van Winkle family distillery produced fewer than 1000 bottles and just 710 bottles have been filled and sold – which works out to fewer than 15 bottles per state. A one-ounce neat pour carries a $350 price tag. Impressive? You bet. But then, so is The Southern Gentleman -- and its notable bourbon program -- in the Shops Buckhead Atlanta.

Milton’s Garden Dinners Open Vining and Dining Season May 21

Behind Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails about 90 different varieties of heirloom fruits, vegetables and herbs thrive in Milton’s Acre garden, just hanging out, growing profusely and destined for dining pleasure. Your plate is their fantastic seed-to-table fate. Share straight-from-the-vine dining experiences at Milton’s first Garden Dinner of the 2017 season on Sunday, May 21. Mosey in for passed hors d’oeuvre, libations and a Milton’s Acre tour at 6 p.m. A cellist’s soothing notes call guests to the long communal tables, set amid garden rows, for a four-course meal of inspired comfort foods served family style and accompanied by wine pairings. Chef Derek Dollar’s menu items will include an arugula and pickled strawberry salad with Marcona almonds, roasted beets, vanilla bean vinaigrette, aged balsamic syrup and goat cheese hushpuppy croutons; and smoked bacon confit rabbit leg with sweet pea, carrot and summer squash succotash, roasted fingerling potatoes, vinegar-poached red pearl onion and cracked honey mustard. Tickets are $125 per person (plus service fee) and include hors d’oeuvre, cocktail reception, dinner with wine pairings, tax and gratuity. Tickets are nonrefundable within 48 hours of the event and are not transferable to another date. Purchase tickets here. Dinner’s over around 9 p.m.; up to you if you want to stay until the cows come home. Looking ahead, dinners on June 4, Sept. 24 and Oct. 15 round out the year.

Food 101 Summer Concert Picnic Baskets are Music to Your Lips

We’re anticipating an exciting outdoor concert season, and convenient Food 101 picnic baskets assure concert fare won’t play second fiddle. The Sandy Springs restaurant packs picnic meals with 24-hour notice so concertgoers can swing by and grab their al fresco feast on the way to shows at Chastain Park Amphitheatre and Heritage Sandy Springs. Food 101 covers food, flatware and baskets for all concerts without “no tables, no outside coolers” designation. Executive chef Ryan Smith offers encore-worthy nibbles and mains such as pimento cheese, $8/cup and $15/pint; deviled eggs, $12/half dozen; smoked wings, $15 per dozen; mini biscuits and blueberry muffins, $8/four each (eight pieces total); smoked ham and pimento cheese or smoked salmon and cream cheese tea sandwiches, $5 per whole sandwich (cut in quarters); seasonal fruit, $5/cup and $9/pint; fried chicken with whipped potatoes, green beans, slaw and chicken gravy, $16 per person; grilled chicken salad, $14 per person; meatloaf with whipped potatoes, collard greens and red wine demi, $14/person; and desserts of chocolate cake for $7 per piece/$35 for whole cake and bourbon pecan pie for $6 per piece/$25 per pie. To place an order, call 404-497-9700.

Ride a Tempting Tide to The Big Ketch for New Half-Off Seafood and Wine Specials

Your boat to succulent savings has come in! The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill Buckhead and Canton Street launched two new daily deals in addition to their regular weekly specials.

Mondays: On the new “Double-Up Peel ‘n Eat” Mondays, pay the half-pound price for a pound of peel-and-eat shrimp to dunk into zesty house-made cocktail sauce.

Tuesdays: Enjoy half-priced bottles of wine, the perfect pairing to The Big Ketch’s fresh seafood selections.

The Big Ketch will continue to offer fan favorite specials like half the price for a half-dozen oysters during Oyster Happy Hour Monday-Friday from 4-6 p.m. and the $1.99 menu special for kids 12 and under from 4-6 p.m. every Monday-Wednesday. For more information visit thebigketch.com.

Carve Out Time to see American Cut Chef Demo at Ponce City Market May 16

Want to eat fresh but can’t squeeze farmers market shopping in on weekends? Shop the weekly Ponce City Farmers Market Tuesday nights from 4-8 p.m. American Cut Executive Chef John Adamson will be sharing tips and recipes May 16. The rain-or-shine market featuring local produce and goods spreads throughout The Shed covered area just off the Atlanta BeltLine. Auto pilots, take advantage of one hour of complimentary parking for farmers market shoppers during market hours. Details online.

What’s New on Pinterest: Indulgent Eats

National “Eat What You Want Day,” on May 11, counterpoints clean eating with happy-go-lucky Indulgent Eats. Say, “Yes!” to brown sugar bacon breakfast sandwiches with chipotle mayo, baked BLT dip, pizza waffle fries, bacon-wrapped cheese hot dogs, and a double-carb dose in grilled mac and cheese sandwiches. Grilled Nutella and marshmallow sandwiches, a brownie-cookie unifying “Brookie” pie, and a peanut butter cup cookie skillet sweeten the diet caution-to-the-wind holiday.

#Foodgram: The Whole Food Diary

The Whole Food Diary documents a California-based husband, wife and baby team’s journey through the world of good-for-you foods. Rustic pizza with sprouted spelt pizza crust, a homemade tortilla and Hawaiian-style short rib taco bar and an iced mocha refresher boasting creamy homemade oat milk turn clean house in gratifying, satisfying ways.

Appetizing Aperture: Smokebelly's Smoked Benny

Faced with the Smokebelly BBQ brunch menu, one can easily be a traitor to the usual morning meal of cereal or a protein bar on the go. Smoked Benny, a.k.a. eggs Benedict, Smokebelly-style, plops two poached farm-fresh eggs over two grilled biscuit halves with bacon and chipotle hollandaise and is served with brunch potatoes or creamy cheese grits ($13). Fashion an accomplice from Tito’s Bloody Mary Bar ($10) during Sunday brunch, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.

Snap Up Half-Priced Apps at Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub from 5-6 p.m. Monday-Thursday

Save big with a steal of a deal on appetizers at Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub in Brookhaven. The entire “First Impressions” appetizer menu is half price from 5-6 p.m. Monday through Thursday each week. One-hour pricing includes K-Pub’s special duck fat pub fries with bacon mayo ($2.50), Springer Mountain Farms wings ($5), ahi tuna tartare with avocado ($6), Indian curry chicken spring rolls ($3), Baja chicken tacos or Korean BBQ pork sliders ($3.50) and loads more. Full price kicks in again at 6 p.m.

“Rize” and Shine for Sunday Brunch at Rize Artisan Pizza + Salads Poncey-Highland

A wake-up call of scratch-made biscuits, breads and artisan pizza dough, the sound of cracking eggs and the tantalizing aroma of sizzling fennel sausage draws sleepyheads out of bed and over to Sunday brunch at Rize Artisan Pizza + Salads in Poncey-Highland. Ease into the day sipping French press coffee, mimosas ($5 glass/$20 carafe) or handcrafted white or red sangria ($7 glass/$35 carafe). More challenging decisions involve choosing a frittata ($10) encompassing roasted vegetables or Peppadew and sausage rounded out with dressed greens and a biscuit; poached egg-topped breakfast pizzas ($10) topped with bacon, egg and cheese or carne brasata; or fried egg/kale/arugula plumped breakfast sandwiches ($6) like The Ponce, which adds fennel sausage, roasted red peppers and Asiago, or The Highland sporting roasted tomato, house-made maple bacon and onion jam. Indulge biscuit cravings with a small or large order of hot, fresh-baked biscuits served with fig butter and maple bacon jam ($3/$7). Brunch hours span 11 a.m.-2 p.m. so relax, you can still sleep in, work out, worship or tackle whatever awaits before or after “Rize”-ing. Plus, you can settle the tab from your phone using the Rize app and park for free in the 675 N. Highland parking garage.

New Faces, New Menu for Food 101 in Sandy Springs

Food 101, a Sandy Springs neighborhood staple and trailblazer in the metro area’s Southern restaurant scene, welcomes new senior operations director Jimmy Prince and executive chef Ryan Smith. Prince brings to the table 35 years of experience owning more than 20 restaurants and a passion for interacting with staff and diners as he focuses on revamping menus and making key hires to better serve the neighborhood gathering spot and bastion for comfort food. Executive chef Ryan Smith, formerly the chef de cuisine at 101 Steak, has developed his own culinary style over years at three different 101 Concepts restaurants (Food 101, Cibo e Beve and 101 Steak) as well as Watershed on Peachtree and Southbound in Chamblee. His penchant for clean-eating and Southern-inspired flavors freshens the menu in new dishes like pan-roasted Alaskan halibut with braised endive and ruby grapefruit ($36); grilled skirt steak with smashed potato, oyster mushroom and herb and garlic sauce ($28); smoked pulled pork enchilada ($19); sea scallop salad with avocado, grapefruit, sweet onion and citrus vinaigrette ($17); fried NC catfish and grits with green tomato chutney ($13); kale and mushroom farrotto with spring veggies, lemon and Parmigiano ($12); fried SMF chicken biscuit with garlic aioli and cheddar ($13); and house-cured and smoked salmon board served with bagel and traditional toppings ($14). Guests continue to enjoy the prominent bourbon program at the Barrel Bar, weekly Wine Down Wednesdays and weekday happy hour specials as well as counting on the restaurant’s private event capabilities. Food 101 serves lunch Monday through Saturday, dinner nightly and Sunday brunch.

Love Ya, Mom! Let’s Eat Out! Mother’s Day is May 14

Six words moms crave. Show your appreciation -- whether she’s your mom or the mother of your children -- by treating your gal to one of the bounteous brunches, buffets and spectacular specials planned in her honor on May 14. One last word: reservations. Head over to Atlanta Food News for the Mother’s Day scoop.

Taco Mac Taps into McDonough Brew and Buffalo Wing Scene, Opens May 15

Best-in-class wings, best crafts on draft and the best sports viewing environment around are perks all coming to McDonough in one spirited and saucy package. Taco Mac opens its newest free-standing restaurant in the South Point Shopping Center on Monday, May 15. The restaurant’s first location in Henry County seamlessly blends family friendly dining and sports bar viewing with 120 taps and multiple viewing options. The McDonough location shows off a new state-of-the-art prototype for Taco Mac. Industrial-chic elements include an exterior wall made from beer kegs and reclaimed barn wood as well as an advanced audio-visual system featuring Harman Kardon speakers, 12” Sunfire subwoofers, 72 HDTVs and a video wall. The newest Taco Mac is planning Brewniversity specials, beer events with local brewery partners and special tappings to tie in with the opening. Founded in Atlanta in 1979, the Southeast’s original Buffalo wings restaurant has grown to 30 popular locations for sports viewing and food and beverage enjoyment in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee.

Kevin Gillespie Plants Chef Demo and Cookbook Signing at Peachtree Road Farmers Market May 13

Chef Kevin Gillespie always has new ideas up his sleeve (in addition to his famously colorful tats). Gillespie, of Gunshow, Revival, Communion Cantina, Terminus City and Gamechanger, opening soon at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, leads the 10 a.m. chef demo at the Saturday, May 13 Peachtree Road Farmers Market. His culinary excitement will set mouths watering for more cooking tips to go. No ‘cue quandary here. Buy one of his cookbooks that morning and snag a signature and maybe a splash of barbecue sauce to mark the page. Shop from 8:30 a.m.-noon and enjoy live music by Bailey Diamond.

Catch King Salmon and Soft Shell Crab Specials at Ray’s Restaurants, Limited Time Only

King salmon is on the run, and Ray’s Restaurants marks the finish line for this prized flavorful, omega-3 rich fish. The chefs showcase this limited-time catch in location-specific special dishes at Ray’s in the City, Ray’s on the River and Ray’s at Killer Creek. Additionally, the chefs have an in on seasonal soft shell crabs. Savor their succulence, claws and all. Time is of the essence with delicacies such as these. Swim fast or risk missing the boat. 

HBF Partners with Delta Air Lines Day of Hope to Benefit American Cancer Society May 10

Hojeij Branded Foods (HBF) takes flight with Delta Air Lines as the official food and beverage partner for Wednesday’s annual Delta Day of Hope supporting the American Cancer Society. When flying into or out of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport on Wednesday, May 10, visit any of the HBF restaurants to donate to the cause. Donating is fast and simple, unlike fighting cancer, and every dollar helps. Look for HBF employees wearing special Day of Hope shirts. Dip your credit card into the donation jar at checkout at these quick food options to donate $1 to the cause: Arby’s, Boar’s Head/Piece of Cake, Chick-fil-A, E Piano Bar, Freshens Yogurt, Goldberg’s, Great Wraps, LowCountry, Nathan’s, Qdoba Grill and Villa Pizza. HBF restaurants that are donating a percentage at Hartsfield include Atlanta Hawk’s Bar & Grill, Cat Cora’s Kitchen, Gordon Biersch, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, TAP and Varasano’s Pizzeria. Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport will be the site of a Relay for Life event this year -- although not on the runways!