Last week, a group of Atlanta food fans gathered in the top floor loft of one of the city's newest (and most talked about) developments, White Provision. Initially, our purpose here was unclear - the invites were very hush-hush. However, with one of Holeman & Finch mixologist Greg Best's incredible cocktails in our hand and a spectacular view of downtown, we knew it had to be good. One good look at the signs around the room gave it away - our fine city was finally going to get it's culinary credit: The Atlanta Food & Wine Festival.
The brainchild of Dominique Love and Elizabeth Feichter, they've modeled the festival after those happening in Aspen and South Beach. Atlanta is a town with incredible chefs...and they've assembled them into the Founder's Council, whose food we were lucky enough to sample throughout the evening. Chefs such as Anne Quatrano (Bacchanalia), Linton Hopkins (Restaurant Eugene), Hugh Acheson (Five & Ten), Kevin Rathbun (Rathbun's), and Shaun Doty (Shaun's) will be helping steer the direction of the festival. The event's focus on Old and New Traditions - as well as warm welcome to those things from across the region - should prove to be spectacular.
Spectacular only begins to describe the food we tasted that night: a slightly curry flavored pulled duck slider with dried fig relish from One Flew South (an Atlanta airport culinary destination without question), Alabama white BBQ sauce on the burgers from Yeah! Burger, Miller Union's sublime smoked trout salad, and Anne Quatrano's blueberry & Meyer lemon semifreddo were only just a few of the many highlights.
The Atlanta Food and Wine Festival takes place in Atlanta, Georgia on May 19-22, 2011. There will be tastings, demos, and seminars that span those 4 days. Go ahead - mark your calendars. For more information, you can visit the event's website at http://atlfoodandwinefestival.com/.
