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Why the Magnolia Open is special to Atlanta figure skaters

The Magnolia Open is one of two local U.S. Figure Skating qualifier events that the Atlanta Figure Skating Club hosts. Every March at Alpharetta’s rink, the Cooler, more than 150 skaters—most of them under 18—participate in the Magnolia Open in categories like European waltz, hoedown variation, and, of course, free skate.

This adventure-seeker’s destination is an 800-acre wonder

An important gathering place for more than 10,000 years, Great Falls Park is an 800-acre wonder along the banks of the Potomac River in McLean, Virginia. Today, this adventure-seeker’s destination is a National Park Service site with recreational offerings as varied as the terrain.
A love letter to the Emory Gamelan Ensemble

A love letter to the Emory Gamelan Ensemble

No one listens to classical gamelan music for the first time and thinks, “I’ve heard something like this before.” There’s nothing like it.
Trevor Shankman Maria

Dining at Trevor Shankman’s Maria feels like coming home

Dining out can be an experience, a work of art, or a show with a story that deserves our full attention. This is why underground supper clubs are becoming popular in Atlanta. One of them is Maria, by 21-year-old chef Trevor Shankman. It is so popular that it is sold out through mid-May, and here’s why.
Culinary travel: Where to eat while visiting Dallas/Fort Worth

Culinary travel: Where to eat while visiting Dallas/Fort Worth

The buzziest restaurants in DFW often cater to the affluent and exist mainly for being seen. But beneath the region’s soulless tangle, however, a homegrown dining scene shaped by its diverse local communities is quietly thriving. Much like a teenager finding their way in the world, Dallas does best when it stops trying to emulate others.
Culinary travel: Where to eat while visiting Miami

Culinary travel: Where to eat while visiting Miami

Miami is America’s modern-day melting pot, where immigrants from South and Central America, the Caribbean, and Europe all exert a profound effect on the city’s culture. The restaurant scene might be the most tangible evidence. Family restaurants offer every type of Latin American and Afro-Caribbean fare, and there are fine-dining establishments that represent these eclectic cuisines. This mix of food is hard to find anywhere else in the U.S. and makes Miami a can’t-miss food destination.
Culinary travel: Where to eat while visiting Charleston

Culinary travel: Where to eat while visiting Charleston

In 2023, Charleston's restaurant scene rebounded from a pandemic hangover, energized by longtime members of the culinary community pursuing passion projects, and new arrivals offering fresh perspectives. The growth is grounded in the essential components of Lowcountry cuisine, which occupies a unique spot in place and time.
Culinary Travel: Where to eat while visiting Asheville

Culinary travel: Where to eat while visiting Asheville

Asheville—the little mountain town that could—has leveled up. Long a quirky haven for artsy farmers (and farming artists), the North Carolina city has in the last few decades developed a cultural scene all its own. Nearly everything in Asheville, from food to music, art to beer, is touched by the Appalachian roots that run deep ’round these parts, but a playful approach to old traditions abounds in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

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11 places to get incredible French fries in metro Atlanta

11 places to get incredible French fries in metro Atlanta

The carby, greasy fried potatoes that sop up all your troubles get the respect they deserve around here. Head to one of these Atlanta restaurants and bars for your next French fry fix.
Remembering Atlanta drag legend Charlie Brown

Remembering Atlanta drag legend Charlie Brown

Mr. Charlie Brown, the reigning queen of Atlanta drag queens, has taken her final bow. The performer died Thursday night at Piedmont Hospital from complications following heart valve replacement surgery. He was 74. For 50 years, the self-proclaimed “Bitch of the South” entertained Atlantans with his bawdy brand of comedy, withering audience monologues, and risqué musical numbers on stage at Lips Atlanta, the Atlanta Eagle, Underground Atlanta, Illusions, and dozens of other nightlight spots.

The Balloon Museum at Pullman Yards will blow you away. What to know before you go.

Designed to be immersive, the family-friendly museum takes about an hour and a half to fully experience. Each exhibit is different, with art ranging from black-lit, anime-style punching bags to bubbles that emit smoke when they pop to humongous suspended inner tubes that change height. It’s a series of captivating displays that use sound and movement, as well as texture and color, to garner attention. Here's what to know before you go.
5 things you might not have known about Freaknik, from the new Hulu documentary

5 things you might not have known about Freaknik, from the new Hulu documentary

Hulu’s new original documentary Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told tells the story of how a 1983 picnic for Atlanta HBCU students in the meadow at Piedmont Park became, by the mid-1990s, a national Spring Break destination for hundreds of thousands of young people each April. Here’s five things highlighted in the new Hulu doc that even long-time Atlantans might not know about Freaknik’s enduring legacy.
Christiane Lauterbach 40 years as Atlanta magazine critic

The Dining Diva: Christiane Lauterbach dishes on her 40 years as Atlanta magazine’s dining critic

For 40 years, Christiane Lauterbach has been a dining critic for Atlanta magazine. A Parisian by birth, and a single mom raising two daughters, Christiane was tapped by Atlanta to take over dining coverage and reviewing duties soon after she and a group of friends debuted the monthly dining newsletter Knife & Fork in the early 1980s.
Trevor Shankman Maria

Dining at Trevor Shankman’s Maria feels like coming home

Dining out can be an experience, a work of art, or a show with a story that deserves our full attention. This is why underground supper clubs are becoming popular in Atlanta. One of them is Maria, by 21-year-old chef Trevor Shankman. It is so popular that it is sold out through mid-May, and here’s why.

48 secret destinations in the South to add to your travel list

These hidden gems, undisclosed attractions, and lesser-known events are waiting to be discovered—you just have to know where to look.

News & Culture

Remembering Atlanta drag legend Charlie Brown

Mr. Charlie Brown, the reigning queen of Atlanta drag queens, has taken her final bow. The performer died Thursday night at Piedmont Hospital from complications following heart valve replacement surgery. He was 74. For 50 years, the self-proclaimed “Bitch of the South” entertained Atlantans with his bawdy brand of comedy, withering audience monologues, and risqué musical numbers on stage at Lips Atlanta, the Atlanta Eagle, Underground Atlanta, Illusions, and dozens of other nightlight spots.

The Southeastern Center for Conservation works to preserve native orchids and other endangered species

While the labs of the Southeastern Center for Conservation may lack the dazzle of the Atlanta Botanical Garden's orchid show nearby, they are bursting with life, home to thousands of species of orchids and other plants—many of them endangered—native to the Southeastern United States, the Caribbean, and Central America. Growing in sealed plastic containers or tucked away in temperature-controlled seed banks, these species are an insurance policy against catastrophic climate change and human-propelled biodiversity loss—keys to the plant ecology of the entire Southeastern region.

5 things you might not have known about Freaknik, from the new Hulu documentary

Hulu’s new original documentary Freaknik: The Wildest Party Never Told tells the story of how a 1983 picnic for Atlanta HBCU students in the meadow at Piedmont Park became, by the mid-1990s, a national Spring Break destination for hundreds of thousands of young people each April. Here’s five things highlighted in the new Hulu doc that even long-time Atlantans might not know about Freaknik’s enduring legacy.

Food & Drink

11 places to get incredible French fries in metro Atlanta

The carby, greasy fried potatoes that sop up all your troubles get the respect they deserve around here. Head to one of these Atlanta restaurants and bars for your next French fry fix.

With the Chai Box, Monica Sunny carries on important traditions

Monica Sunny’s life revolves around the tea. “It was the first thing my mom taught me how to make in India,” she says. “From that moment, I started experimenting on my own and combining different teas and spices to come up with my own custom blends.”

Things we like: A play on Dunkaroos at the Loews Atlanta Hotel

The Loews Atlanta Hotel’s prime Midtown location gives it a businesslike aura, with corporate guests milling about the lobby. The desserts served within, however, are far from serious. “My approach to desserts, really, is a big kid that’s all grown up,” says Allison Poirier, the hotel’s pastry chef. “I think people nowadays want something nostalgic that tastes good, that looks good, and you obviously eat with your eyes first.”

ATLANTA MAGAZINE'S HOME

Room Envy: A cool kids’ room in Virginia-Highland

This multipurpose kids’ room in a Virginia-Highland addition has good ideas for all ages, thanks to the creativity of designers at Copper Sky Design + Remodel.

Room Envy: A soft and serene home office

Keeping it simple but elegant, interior designer Shawn Amtower relied on two winning surfaces for this soft and serene office: white oak and gold/brass tone.

Room Envy: Statement art and floor-to-ceiling windows elevate this Buckhead high-rise

“We focused the design of this living room around a special commission of Marilyn Monroe by Atlanta artist Steve Penley,” says interior designer Gabriela Eisenhart. Homeowner Jessica Alexander loves the way Penley painted the movie star, as it reminds her of her mom, whom she lost as a child.

RECENT ISSUES

Atlanta Magazine March 2024 cover - Culinary Travel
Atlanta Magazine February 2024 cover - Our Favorite Neighborhoods
Atlanta Magazine January 2024 cover - Sleepless in Atlanta

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