Bites and Flights

Here’s more information from the SunDial’s website:

“Buckhead? Downtown? Turner Field? Why not see them all at the tallest hotel in the Western Hemisphere? Widely acclaimed for its fine cuisine, excellent service & spectacular views, The Sundial Restaurant Bar & View presents: Picnic in the Pods on the View Level.

Adults $40/person Children 6-12 years $20/person, 5 years and younger complimentary. Food will be available from 7-10pm. Cash bar available 7-11pm

Menu Includes: Assorted Cold Finger Sandwiches, Grilled Vegetable Antipasto, Potato Salad, Coleslaw, Fruit Platter, Chicken Tenders, BBQ Beef Sliders, House made potato chips, Vidalia onion dip Grilled Bratwurst and Hot Dogs, Selection of Brownies and Pies Iced Tea & Lemonade

This is a standing reception with very limited seating and a buffet setup. Cash Bar Tickets Include: Food, and entrance to the View Level to watch the Fire Works!

If you prefer a more formal dining experience, The Restaurant level will serve a three-course prix fixe menu for $65 from 5:30-10 p.m.

If jazz is more your forte, the lounge will feature live music from Mose Davis Trio from 7-11 p.m. and a full bar open from 2p.m.-close. Cover charge of $15 begins at 4p.m.”

Click here for tickets and more information.

Dr. John Ezzard, master grape grower at northeast Georgia's Tiger Mountain Vineyards, gives us a reason to test out Georgia’s new direct shipping laws:

"We local grape growers are thrilled with the drought in Georgia, which causes stressed vines and more intense juice. You can expect outstanding 2007 and 2008 Georgia vintages,” Ezzard says.

Tiger’s 2007 white wines—the Viognier ($20) and Petit Manseng ($35)—are available now. Their 2007 reds will be out in late 2008 (they are barrel-aged for at least sixteen months).

To order, visit tigerwine.com or call 706-782-4777.

For a list of other Georgia vineyards and wineries, visit The Winegrower's Association of Georgia and GeorgiaWineCountry.com.

As of today, Georgians may now purchase wine online or by phone from any winery in the United States—and that includes wineries in Georgia.

Under previous state law, Georgia wineries could ship to residents of other states (depending on their wine distribution laws) but not to residents of Georgia.

Plus, restaurant patrons may now take half-finished bottles of wine home with them, as long as the bottle is resealed.

There's an interesting Wine Spectator story on the new direct shipping law—read it here.

Wine lovers and Georgia vineyards and wineries have been waiting a long time for this to happen. What do you think? Is Georgia finally making its way out of the dark ages? Should alcohol sales on Sunday be next?

I'm not sure there's any space left (it's early in the restaurant world so no one's answering the phone yet) but this sounds like an exciting event that Belgian beer lovers won't want to miss.

Here's more info from an e-mail sent by chef/owner Billy Allin:

"Cakes & Ale will hold its first beer tasting dinner on Monday, July 7th at 7 p.m.  Huyghe Brewery, who makes the delicious Delirium Tremens beer, will showcase five of their beers for pairing with a five-course dinner prepared by Cakes & Ale. The cost is $48/person. Seating is limited for this event, so contact us soon to reserve at table.  

The Huyghe-Melle brewery is a family-owned, independent Belgian brewery and is the only active brewery situated close to the city of Ghent. The brewery has been in existence since 1654. Huyghe brews Delirium Tremens which was voted "Best Beer in the World" by specialists in 1997."  

Cakes & Ale, 254 West Ponce de Leon Avenue, Decatur, 404-377-7994  

Atlanta is one of the six featured cities in today's USA Today travel story on getaways that won't break the bank. 

"Staycations may be the travel buzzword du jour, but who really wants to pitch a tent in their backyard and call it a getaway? Not us. Still, with the economy slumping and gas prices soaring, we're all looking for diversions that won't break the bank. USA TODAY asked six travel journalists based in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington to pick places no more than a tank of gas away.

Downtown Atlanta
Recommended by: Jennifer Senator, dining and travel editor for Atlanta magazine
Why: Hip, luxurious hotels are luring suburbanites into the various parts of the city..." Read the rest of the story here. 

Last night, as I was settling into my long-awaited seat in the bar area at Holeman and Finch—soooo ready for some pancetta carbonara—and talking to my husband, Ryan, about the blog topic I was originally going to post today (It involves pickles. But now you’ll have to wait.), I looked up and, there, in a light purple shirt and brownish hipster specs, was Dale Talde, from Top Chef.

Okay, so I used to stalk celebrities for this magazine (perhaps you remember my column on Bow Wow’s 16th birthday party, at Cascade Roller Rink? I believe that event was when he officially lost the “Lil’”), and I realized tonight, those instincts don’t just disappear. When I saw Dale, I kicked into stalker-reporter mode. “Oh my gosh, that’s Dale from Top Chef,” I told Ryan. Then, for some reason, I said it again: “Oh my gosh, that’s Dale from Top Chef.” Next, in a moment of cosmic culinary world alignment, I saw one of Atlanta magazine’s contributing writers, Jennifer Zyman (who also has an Atlanta dining blog, The Blissful Glutton). I ran over to say hello, we remarked on the Dale sighting and turned around to see him…talking to my husband???

So of course we beelined over there.

Turns out Dale had just eaten a meal prepared by his pal/Top Chef roommate/partner in “bro-mance,” Richard Blais at Home. “I had a baby gift for his daughter,” Dale said. So after dinner, Tom Catherall, the Atlanta restaurateur who owns Home (as well as Lola, Noche, Twist, Prime…), decided to take Dale on a tour of other Atlanta restaurants.

“He’s got a $200,000 Jag parked out front. This is crazy,” Dale told us. Again referring to Catherall, he said, “He’s been showing me around, we’ve been driving all over. He’s like, ‘That’s Ludacris’s house’…and now, we're going to his restaurant.”

Yes, Straits was next on the list. But Dale, Catherall, and the leggy (and I am sure, perfectly lovely) blonde who was with them first spent around half an hour at Holeman and Finch. Dale sipped red wine (I didn't see him eat anything, but one of the chefs did show him the Gentleman's Relish plate as he brought it out to a guest at the bar) and stood just behind me—close enough that I could hear maybe every fourth word he said. I definitely heard, “customer…dessert…course…you know?” as I texted my Top Chef–obsessed friends and co-workers. One response, from Miss Pop-o-matic, came back, “Ack! No! You must talk to him!” Another, from our creative director Hector Sanchez, was, “Don’t make him mad!”
 
Now, I don’t know if Hector was referring to how I ticked off Cee-Lo at the opening of the W Midtown a few weeks ago (if you ever get the chance to talk to Cee-Lo, don’t ask where he lives—not even which side of town. Jeez, I was just making conversation…) or to Dale’s famous temper on the show… but when we told Dale we were infuriated when he got booted, we hated to see him go, etc., he seemed genuinely surprised. “Really?” he asked. “I am glad to hear it because I thought I was a jerk.”

Dale told us that he heard this season of Top Chef was the highest-rated season so far, and that the “Wedding Wars” episode was the most-watched ever...or something like that. It was loud. 

He’s still at Buddakan, in Manhattan, and is about to embark on the Top Chef tour in New York this weekend. “Because I work in New York, I’m doing the Northeast leg with Nikki, and since I’m from Chicago, I’m also doing the Midwest leg with Stephanie,” he explained. He said he’s pretty sure Blais will be doing the Southeastern part of the tour with Spike, who is from Florida. The Atlanta tour date is September 27. 

I leave you with my favorite Dale scene of the season. His temper flares, but I believe this was also the episode when Lisa won that trip to Italy. So, we understand.

According to restaurant reps, the westside restaurant will convert to a full-time event space as of July 19.

But before they close, the restaurant is offering a special summer three-course menu for $26.95 from July 7 through July 19. Other Fifth Group Restaurants, which include South City Kitchen, La Tavola, and Ecco, are also offering this deal. To reserve one last meal at Food Studio, call 404-815-6677 or visit fifthgroup.com.

Here's more from a press release:

From marriage proposals to wedding anniversaries, birthday celebrations to holiday parties, first dates to Mother's Day, Food Studio®, a Fifth Group Restaurant®, has been one of Atlanta’s favorite restaurants and top choices for celebrating special occasions for more than 12 years.

But, as times change, so do the needs of Fifth Group Restaurants’ guests. That is why Fifth Group Restaurant Partners Robby Kukler, Steve Simon and Kris Reinhard are announcing that as of Saturday, July 19, Food Studio will convert to a full-time event space managed by the company’s award-winning catering division, Bold American® Catering.

“We’ve truly enjoyed operating Food Studio for the past twelve years, as it has been one of Atlanta’s most beloved restaurants, but I feel by closing the restaurant’s doors we are in turn opening many others” says Kukler. “Our patrons have always been passionate about Food Studio’s unique space and will still be able to appreciate the restaurant’s atmosphere in this new capacity,” he adds.

Although it will no longer function as a traditional restaurant, this stunning space in the historic King Plow Arts Center will be available for corporate and social events such as parties, rehearsal dinners, wedding receptions and business meetings, and will feature customized chef-driven menus from Bold American Catering Executive Chef Todd Annis, flexible seating options and one of the most unique dining rooms in the city. Those interested in booking the space for an upcoming event can get additional details by calling 404.815.1178.