As mentioned, I attended the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival on Saturday, for just enough time to hit a few classes and the tasting tents for about an hour. My participation was less than years past, in part because I’m busy with family and we bought a new home on Friday. If all goes well we move at the end of the month. Having lived in a condo for almost three years, I am so excited about finally having the ability to grill out and smoke meats and generally enjoy the outdoors, I cannot stand it.
The festival – it was fun, though the Saturday tents are a zoo and being a hot natured and mildly claustrophobic person, it can be a bear. The classes are very good, though I missed a couple I hoped to catch, as they were filled with registered participants, which was a positive sign of interest. I remember the first year, there were a good number of classes with mild attendance.
I wish I had been able to participate in some of the dinners and late night fun, like lambs and clams at Empire State South, which is where the real debauchery occurs, under the cooler night sky and the haze of booze. I wish the festival were about a month earlier in the Atlanta heat cycle, but I imagine it would abut with the Charleston version, which has a good amount of talent crossover. Having attended both, they are quite good, and both different. As someone interested in food and Atlanta, I’m proud of our version and the showcase it creates for the industry. It must be fun for all the restaurant and service people to get together and cut loose a bit.
Some photos below. I didn’t sample everything. I really enjoyed all the BBQ, especially the Fox Brother’s spread, especially the sausage, as well as the ribs from Central BBQ in Memphis, a city that knows a thing or two about pork ribs. I also finally tried the beers from Orpheus on Piedmont Park – really good stuff, and glad to see someone doing things outside of IPA’s and lagers. Until next year…