Atlanta Food & Wine Festival 2011

The brainchild of charming Southern entrepreneurs Dominique Love and Elizabeth Feichter, the inaugural Atlanta Food & Wine Festival has set out to celebrate Southern food, drink, and way of life. It's a great opportunity to talk with great chefs, taste some great food and drink, and experience the first year of an exciting new festival. For more about the festival, read an interview with the founders, and some participating chefs including: John Currence, Michael Paley, and Tim Love.

Follow the play-by-play on Twitter, and check in here regularly for updates on demos, chef sightings, food notes, a slideshow with scenes of the festival, and more. Let's go Atlanta!

Click here for scenes from the 2011 Atlanta Food & Wine Festival.

DAY ONE: FRIDAY, 5/20

1:55 a.m. A twice-delayed flight leaving from New York meant hanging in LaGuardia's Delta terminal. It should be noted there are worse terminals to be stuck in. Best terminal for food in the tri-state? Is it really a question? There's the DiFara spin-off Tagliare, Bisoux, Lomonaco's Prime Tavern, LaFrieda burgers... rumors among employees at the terminal are that LaFrieda's fried chicken sandwich is the terminal's best grub. This segues into arriving in Atlanta.

Chick-fil-A got started and the original Chick-fil-A Dwarf House is open 24 hours a day. So the trip kicked off with a visit for my first Chick-fil-A at the place where it all started. Crunchy fried chicken with mustard, pickles, Pepper Jack cheese, lettuce and tomato on a sweet bun whose bottom gets pretty thin. Tight post-midnight meal.

Read about The Dwarf House visit.

Buckhead was jumping... already seeing some great food truck action including a New Orleans po' boy truck!

10:45 a.m. One of the amazing things about this festival is all the seminars — an embarrassment of riches. You end up in the dilemma of "I'd love to stick around after the Cathal Armstrong demo and interview Chris Lilly about barbeque, but gee, I have to go run to talk with Linton Hopkins at Restaurant Eugene to discuss, oh, I don't know, the state of the culinary world and his much-discussed burger." Impressive.

Restaurant Eve in Alexandria, Va., did a demo called "Egg Three Ways." He and his mixologist Todd Thrasher did a bang-up job serving omelets with gribiche and pisco sours. In a one-on-one interview afterwards, Cathal noted some of the D.C. ingredients that distinguish it and give it a signature culinary profile — among them, asparagus. "When it's in season we use it by the boatloads," noted Cathal. "And when it's over, that's it. We're done."'

Other tidbits? Cathal said Baltimore crab cakes are good, but D.C.'s are just as good, and could perhaps be called the city's signature dish. Also, he's opening a new restaurant in Alexandria next month. A pub on the water where you'll be able to watch the game, and get a great pint of Guinness. It will be called Virtue. Look out for the pig trotters.

Interviewed chef Linton Hopkins at Restaurant Eugene about the state of the culinary world, nourishing cooks, and of course, his storied Holeman & Finch burger. Did you know he is a cancer survivor? Linton noted that when he was going through treatment and lost his taste for food, the one thing he never lost his palate for was cheeseburgers. The Holeman & Finch burger is the burger he would make for himself. Tips for making a great burger at home? "Use a griddle." Also, he doesn't use pepper. Just salt. And Kraft cheese. Eating this burger this weekend, by the way (or on any trip to Atlanta) is a huge priority. It must happen. Been hearing about it since last November at the Barbados Food & Wine and Rum Festival.

The Bourbon, Bluegrass, and BBQ lunch on the terrace at the Four Seasons had great atmosphere with live music, cocktails made with Four Roses, and several tasty dishes. One of the cooks there noted how hot the girls were at the events and how much fun he was having. Party on single chefs! As for the food, there were some delicious barbeque boiled peanuts mixed with slow-cooked pork belly and topped with gratin. It's hot! In the high 80s, low 90s. Strawberry shaved ice with tequila and micro basil leaves helped refresh and tasted like summer.

1:56 p.m. Next big event is the tasting tents, which starts at 3 p.m. Taking the break in the action as an opportunity to hit The Varsity for the first time. Atlanta's drive-in burger and chili cheese dog institution.

Finally, The Varsity. The one I hit was a huge complex. Huge. Been hearing about The Varsity since Frank Bruni did his epic cross-country fast food eating tour in 2006 for The Times (if you haven't read it, check it out). Along with Culver's, The Varsity was one of Frank's two favorite stops in all of the country. I wouldn't go that far, but the burgers are pretty idiosyncratic. Why? There's something going on with the buns 'round these parts — they get condensed and sweeter. This is a greasy cheeseburger. Tasty, though more chili and cheese wouldn't hurt. Hey, if you're going to go messy, go all the way. Prefer the chili cheese slaw dog. Frank's right about the onion rings though — they rock. So does the chocolate milkshake, which is more like an icier Wendy's Frosty. "You ordered the mother lode," said the drive-in guy.

The Street Cart Pavilion preview meant that it was possible to get a glance inside one of the trucks. Jamie and Sean Dietrich of Dietrichs Fine Foods discussed what to serve surfers, an expertise they've built up by working Santa Rosa Beach, Fla. "With people coming off the beach, they've often done a lot of drinking, so you really need to fill them up." Also, when she first started consulting local government about setting up shop, there was a lot of "Shh, just do what you want to do, let's not complicate matters with government."

4:00 p.m. Back at the tasting tents the fact that it's Friday and not yet time to blow the whistle hasn't kept people from congregating around the whole spit-roasted lamb and drinking lots of wine. There's Chef Tim Love hanging with festival co-founder Dominique Love. A Bakon Vodka bloody Mary, Biltmore wine, Becker viognier, a great dish from Top Chef Masters contestant Suvir Saran (chicken with peanuts) was being served by his fellow competitor, Hugh Acheson. But straight moonshine might have been one of the most fun things to taste. The cherry moonshine with some Coke? Nice. There's some fun being had here at Atlanta Food & Wine.

6:30 p.m. Multiple dinners going on sound exciting. I'm hitting Pig Out Texas-Style at Ford Fry's JCT with Chef Tim Love of Lonesome Dove.

9:00 p.m. OK, here's the deal. This is fun, and Food & Wine folks are here, but not that many food options and it's not a sit-down dinner. Chef Tim Love previewed fare for his upcoming new restaurant, a global taqueria (read more). A good taco with bourbon and Coke roasted pork with pickled chiles was on the offer, but they ran out of margaritas, and Abattoir is across the train tracks. Supposedly the after party is at JCT so this will have to be quick.

DAY TWO: SATURDAY, 5/21

Long story short (too late) Abattoir's food was great, though the service suffered a bit, perhaps from it being a Friday and the first day of the festival. Smooth chicken liver, crispy fried head cheese fritters, and a refreshing tomato and cucumber salad. Back at JCT there were more margaritas — a lot of them. There was mesquite smoke in the air from a just-kept-from-dying fire and an amazing breeze cooling the night. All seemed right with the world. Plus the Cochon 555 guys and wine expert Anthony Giglio were holding court. Spotted: Bryan Caswell, Tim Love, Kate Krader, Chris Grdovic, John Currence, Kat Kinsman, and more.

About last night, let's put it this way, when you wake up and you have a hunk of face bacon in your room you know you had a good night (gift from the Cochon 555 guys). This morning meant attending Anthony Giglio's wine seminar, the Great Grenache Smackdown, followed by a one-on-one interview with him. A few tips? Anthony on developing your palate: "People ask me, how do I learn to speak about wine? 'How do I get your palate?' It's very simple. Do your homework, drink wine every day." Also, during the summer, when you're outside and trying to keep your wine chilled, freeze some grapes and then pop them in your glass. "They're nature's ice cubes for wine."

 

2:15 p.m. A quick lunch outside at Hugh Acheson's Empire State South. Dude is funny. Came out to say hello, and claim his title of Top Chef Masters' king of the one-liners. Food was good too. The Vidalia onion soup, chicken liver, and shrimp and grits were all very good. He also noted that he would be doing a dish at the tasting tents that would feature boiled peanuts (a personal favorite, going to have to return).

4:45 p.m. Jumped between three seminar/demos: "Putting Up" by Chris Hastings, "Gulf on the Grill" with Adolfo Garcia, and "Sommelier Round Table." In terms of learning things, and access to chefs, the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival has been truly great. The only problem is there's too much to attend and no way to get to it all. The seminar, "Southern 101: Where Next," is happening at the same time as "The Growing Popularity of Goat." It's a tough call what to pass on. In terms of learning something though, there are so many great opportunities.

Chris Hasting talked about putting up shrimp and said that his nickname as a kid was "Creekboy" because he used to be the one crabbing, clamming, and shrimping. He also gave a shout-out to Farmer Lee Jones, "If you want to know how farming should be done go look up the Chef's Garden. Lee Jones is one of the all-time greatest American farmers." Adolfo Garcia of Rio Mar in New Orleans talked oysters on the terrace, saying, "Gulf oysters have had a good year." And in the Sommelier Round Table, Virginia Philip, M.S., Heather Porter, Clint Stone, and Stephen Satterfield featured a delicious South African Syrah, a sparkling rosé, a sherry, and a Chateau Musar from Lebanon.

9:00 p.m. Invited to the dinner at chef Kevin Rathbun's house. Other participating chefs included Stephen Pyles, Kent Rathbun, and Jeff Tunks. Beautiful house, gorgeous outdoor kitchen, juicy duck, and delicious plate of boiled barbeque peanuts. But a moist fish tamale by Stephen Pyles might have been the best dish there. What's chef Stephan Pyles' advice on how to make a good tamale? "The key to great tamales other than buying my book is to make them in the Oaxacan-style. And to use more stock than you'd think."

9:15 p.m. Several people headed over to Holeman & Finch to try to snag the burger. Going to grab it for lunch tomorrow so stopping by the Street Carts Pavilion instead.

Some trucks at the pavilion were taken over by other chefs. Eli Kirshetin, Katsuya Fukushima, Adam Sobel, Whitney Otawka, Plinio Sadalio, and Dan Latham were listed on the schedule. Jeremy Fox was said to be around too. The buzzed about item was Kats and Eli's "Karaoke Tots," tater tots with Kewpie mayo and bonito flakes, which were really good. But Whiney Otawka's oxtail posole was delicious too. The party moves to Empire State South.

DAY THREE: SUNDAY, 5/22

Punch, charcuterie, outdoor bocce, and chef Hugh Acheson wearing his "Monobrow Preservation Society" T-shirt. Chefs from the pavilion discussed their sous-chefs' travails, "Listen, man, you can leave, but you'll never get a shot at a job as a chef," and discussed the possibility of heading over to The Varsity for chili cheeseburgers.

10:45 a.m.  Chef Ashley Christensen of Poole's in Raleigh, N.C., demonstrated her take on her mother's fried chicken. She touted imperfections, the darker bits for example, places where there is more and less caramelization that really make the dish special. Check out the basics of her recipe, which includes tossing the buttermilk-dipped thighs in a grocery store bag filled with flour and salt. The chefs said she'd be opening a new restaurant soon that would center around her fried chicken and honey.

1:35 p.m. OK, the tasting tents and the Street Cart Pavilion are still going, but the seminars have come to a close. If there's one certain way to close out the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, it's to have the storied Holeman & Finch burger. At noon there was a half-hour wait for a table, people milling about outside, a packed bar, and most diners were eating the burger. Chef Hopkins noted that they usually do about 200 of them for brunch. The open kitchen reveals a veritable burger assembly line — a pass filled with gently-stacked double-patty cheeseburgers. It's a tasty burger — but the condiments are some of its most distinctive attributes. Homemade ketchup and mustard with more aroma and texture than you're used to. 

This young festival shone a great spotilight on some exciting things going on in restaurants in Atlanta and across the South. Several things made it particuarly enjoyable for festivalgoers. It was convenient (most of the events and seminars were within a five block radius), there was great talent (and they were accessible), and there was some great subject matter to go along with the good food and drink, something that gets lost at a festival like South Beach, but that can be found at the next big festival on the horizon, the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen. Until then...

Check back for upcoming interviews from the festival.