ATL Food Chatter: June 28, 2010
(To receive the Chatter and other culinary tidbits directly in your
inbox, sign up for our weekly dining
newsletter)
The Southern Foodways Alliance, which held its field trip in Atlanta this past weekend to explore Buford Highway, has been working with filmmaker Joe York for seven years on short movies that celebrate Southern farmers and artisans. (The SFA site has York’s shorts collected on one page.)
Now York is embarking on a whopper of a project he’s calling “Southern Food: The Movie.” Over the next year, he’ll be trekking to each of the Southern states to capture, in one documentary, the current landscape of the region’s cooking traditions. In a smart piece on the Atlantic’s blog, York details how the Gulf oil spill has made filming some of the South’s coastal areas particularly urgent.
The film’s funding comes from the University of Mississippi’s Media and Documentary Projects Center and the Southern Foodways Alliance. John T. Edge, Southern food guru and the SFA’s director, told me over the phone that he feels the film has the potential to reach a very broad audience and is excited about the potential that the project has to broaden the awareness of the understanding of Southern cuisine and its impact on American culture. The hope is to air it simultaneously on PBS stations across the country. No exact release date has yet been announced; we’ll keep you posted.
NEWS AND NOTES:
Billy McKinnon, founder of McKinnon’s Louisiane, Atlanta’s longtime Cajun and Creole restaurant, died on June 15.
Buckhead. David Gross, formerly City Grill’s executive chef, has been appointed chef de Cuisine at Market.
Besha Rodell first reported that Jo
ël Brasserie closed this past week. Foodie Buddha first reported that the Muss & Turner team was taking the former Joël Brasserie space. Ryan Turner e-mailed me to say that they “we are going in the space Monday am [today] to assess, absorb and do our best to figure out what the hell we just got ourselves into.”
(And by the way, check out the website for Joël Antunes’ new self-named spot in London)
Decatur. Decatur Metro is reporting that chef Kevin Ouzts, former sous chef at Restaurant Eugene, has opened a company, the Spotted Trotter, that will produce charcuterie.
Downtown. Look for The Carnegie Bistro to open at 141 Carnegie Street this fall.
Rumor has it that Ciao Bocca Ristorante Italiano will open in The Sweet Auburn Curb Market this summer.
East Atlanta. Creative Loafing is reports on the frosty collaboration between Kevin Gillespie and Morelli’s Ice Cream that could lead to a retail spot.
Inman Park. Tomorrow’s News Today is reporting that Barcelona Wine Bar & Restaurant, a Spanish tapas restaurant from a Connecticut-based restaurant group, will open their first Southern location in the former Zaya space sometime within the next six to eight months.
Midtown. BakeShop is featuring a “Waffles & Ice Cream” special every Sunday from 3-7 p.m. in June, July and August. It includes a homemade waffle, a specialty topping and a scoop of house-made ice cream for $5.
Reynoldstown. Cliff Bostock writes about lunch at the newly opened Home Grown Ga, serving a Southern-themed breakfast and lunch menu, that has opened at 968 Memorial Drive.
Roswell. Celino’s Pizza and Wings has opened at 10971 Crabapple Road.
Serenbe. JCT Kitchen chef/owner Ford Fry will be the featured chef for this summer’s Serenbe Southern Chef Series culinary weekend, July 11 and 12.
Question of the Week: What local super-sommelier is rumored to be leaving town for the Far East?
P.S. The answer to last week’s QOTW—What metro area pub is celebrating its thirteenth anniversary with
thirteen straight days (beginning June 19th) of keg tapping and rare
beers?— is Brick Store Pub.