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Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, day 1: We are drunk

Day one of the Atlanta Food & Wine Fest

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Day one has been boozy! And by boozy, I mean there have been way more opportunities for drankin’ than spankin’! I don’t even know what that means, but we’re having fun. Gravy Train writer Laura Horton and I have been on the scene since some ungodly hour, and here is what we have to report thus far:

Best taste: Both of us chose the lamb terrine that was served at the tasting tents this afternoon by Joseph Palma from the Westend Bistro By Eric Ripert. It was meaty, fatty, rich, and had a bite-worthy chutney that came alongside.

Best drink: Laura chose the dessert wine Sigalas Vinsanto 2003 from her “Escape To Greece” session with Pano Karatassos (of Buckhead Life fame). The session focused on the political and economic unrest that’s prevented Greek wine from being exposed to the rest of the world until recently.

I chose the Dry Dock, a Manhattan-esque cocktail made during Greg Best’s Coke-tails session, in which he described unusual ways to use the ubiquitous soda, including gastriques, vermouths made with the stuff, and other fun drinky thingies.

Most interesting thing we learned: Laura learned that if you wear two pairs of gloves, you can stand more heat! She also tried to find out (from her session with Delia Champion) why on earth you would ever made breakfast on the grill. Um...less dishes? OK.

I learned that chefs are magical beasts who are able to be suave and showmanlike even with bad hangovers and no sleep. It’s true!

Laura went to the “Where are all the African American Chefs?” session and got some cool questions/thinking points out of it , i.e.: The business side of running a restaurant doesn’t add up to good taste. Also: It’s irresponsible for culinary schools to charge $40K per year to turn out folks who will probably make $10/hour to start.

We’re having fun though! Follow us on @cl_atlantafood and @besharodell to keep up throughout the week.






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