Taste of Atlanta
70-plus eateries offer taste of city
For AccessAtlanta
Thursday, October 09, 2008
We can hear foodies reaching for their forks already. More than 70 Atlanta restaurants will be gathering in the streets of Atlantic Station for Taste of Atlanta, two days of noshing and cooking demonstrations starring celebrity chefs.
ELISSA EUBANKS/STAFF
People line the streets of Atlantic Station downtown during the Taste of Atlanta with over 70 local restuarants featured.
HAVE A TASTE
Ticket holders receive taste coupons. General admission tickets come with 10 coupons; VIP tickets include 20. Guests use these tickets to sample the fare of participating restaurants. These run the gamut, including Rathbun’s, Trader Vic’s, Sweet Auburn Bread Co., Imperial Fez and Food 101. Tastes will cost one to three tickets each. Still hungry? Additional taste coupons will be sold at the event in packs of five ($5) and 10 ($10).
STAR GRAZING
Taste of Atlanta’s celebrity docket includes five culinary personalities. On Oct. 11, Ted Allen, former “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” star and host of the new Food Network show “Food Detectives,” will be cooking tandoori chicken and grilled pork tenderloin. Author and “Ham on the Street” star George Duran has some cooking surprises for kids and country star Trisha Yearwood won’t be talking music, but rather the secret behind recipes from her cookbook “Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen.” On Oct. 12, local faux-hawked Chef Richard Blais, seen on “Top Chef: Chicago,” whips up barbecued beef brisket with candied apples and cauliflower dumplings and Atlanta native Chef G. Garvin, star of “Turn up the Heat,” will be cooking Pan-Seared Japanese Snapper and whipped potatoes.
PARTY LIKE A VIP
VIP ticket holders age 21 and older are invited to the Wine Experience event, which takes place 12:30-6 p.m. Oct. 11 and 12. Wine tastings and artisan cheeses will be on hand, and wine seminars take place, too. Wine guru and AJC contributor Gil Kulers will be pouring on out vino knowledge. VIP guests are allowed to register for one tasting class, which will be held inside the Twelve Hotel ballroom.
VIPs also can roll over to plush bowling spot Ten Pin Alley for the Bowling & Brews event. This beer tasting allows guests to bowl, chill in the lounge and keep track of football scores courtesy of massive plasma TVs. It runs 12:30-6 p.m. Oct. 11 and 12.
COOKING FOR KIDS
Kids are welcome to cook up their own brand of fun at Taste of Atlanta. The Amica Insurance Kid’s Avenue section hosts tot-related events. Lizzie Marie, an 8-year-old Atlanta cooking prodigy, can be seen creating her take on green eggs and ham. And kids can get in on the act by decorating chef hats and crowns from Medieval Times in Gwinnett County.
THE 411: General admission $25 advance; $35 at the gate. VIP admission $75 advance; $95 at the gate. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Oct. 11 and Oct. 12. Atlantic Station, 17th Street and Market Street, Atlanta. 404-875-4434, www.tasteofatlanta.net
