I got to do all sorts of fun foodie research for this issue, the most significant of which is my feature on the inaugural Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, which takes place May 19 - 22. A celebration of Southern food, the festival promises to be the ultimate epicurean experience with tasting tents, a street cart pavilion, food seminars, cooking demonstrations, special dinners and more with some of the greatest tastemakers in the South.
Not only did I get to visit festival headquarters (aka, “the war zone”) to meet with co-founder Elizabeth Feichter, but I also had the opportunity to chat with a few of the fantastic chefs and sommeliers who serve on the festival's Founders Council. I spoke with Chef Steven Satterfield of Miller Union, which has recently garnered a great deal of acclaim for Atlanta with nods in national magazines like Bon Appetit and Food & Wine; Chef Ford Fry of JCT Kitchen & Bar, who will be hosting “Pig Out, Texas Style,” one of the most highly anticipated festival fetes; and Gina Hopkins, sommelier and co-owner of Holeman & Finch Public House, H&F Bread Co. and Restaurant Eugene. Perhaps Hopkins summed it up best: “It’s one big bite of the South,” she said, and personally, I can’t wait for a taste.
I also had plenty of opportunities to indulge my sweet tooth this month in the name of research for our “Save Room for Dessert” feature in Food 4 Thought.
The chocolate lava cake at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse in Dunwoody was the perfect culmination to what Hunter called “the best meal we’ve ever had.” Our primary reason for dining at Fleming’s was to sample their newest private label wine, the 46 Diamonds Cabernet Sauvignon, a Bordeaux-style blend from Napa Valley, which pairs perfectly with several of the restaurant’s succulent steaks. It was quite a treat indeed, as was everything we tasted that evening – the cajun barbecue shrimp appetizer, a porcini-rubbed filet mignon, chipotle cheddar macaroni and cheese, and, of course, that decadently delicious lava cake.
Having heard about all the sugary options that await at Alpine Bakery & Trattoria in Alpharetta, I enlisted the help of a fellow sweet tooth sweetie for this one – my mom. We’re both also big fans of Italian food, so we opted to split the Pollo Milano (grilled chicken, cremini mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, roasted garlic cream sauce with bowtie pasta) to make saving room for dessert a bit easier – a good call, as the portions here are huge. When it came time for dessert, though, we didn’t hold back. After laboring over the extensive list of cakes, pies, cheesecakes, pastries and cookies, we finally settled on a “slice” (more like a mini cake in itself) of coconut cake and the cheesecake truffle sampler, which came with six different flavors of cheesecake dipped in chocolate, and we took one bite of each and every one.
I popped into Aqua Terra Bistro in Buford one afternoon on a whim, and boy, am I glad I did. Their peanut butter cup is incredibly elegant, and the ultimate combination of everything I love in a dessert – smooth chocolate, sweetened peanut butter, caramelized bananas, thick caramel sauce and a dollop of creamy vanilla ice cream to balance it all out.
Got a favorite dessert that didn’t make it into our article? Let me know – perhaps a sweet tooth tour sequel is in order.
