Restaurants are considered essential businesses in this pandemic-stricken time because, quite simply, so many people rely on them to meet their basic food needs. Large swaths of the population either don’t have the means to cook at home, can’t easily access fresh groceries or simply aren’t interested in cooking for themselves. But there’s an ever-growing number of food lovers and hobbyists for whom dining out is a form of entertainment, a favorite pursuit of pleasure. These people tend to cook at home, too - passionately and often.
For the people who are food fanatics, quarantining has been a time to experiment in the kitchen and take on more complicated cooking projects like making sourdough starter, Dalgona coffee and noodles from scratch. But after a few weeks, the absence of restaurants has become a bare patch in our food lives that is beginning to itch. Restaurants are a source of inspiration, education and new experiences that inform and shape cooking habits. Takeout is great, but it’s not the same as a dine-in experience.
Watching food TV isn’t the same, either, but there’s a lot to be learned about cooking from video content. Serious gourmands have probably already watched, or are at least aware of the whole Food Network lineup, Netflix shows like “Chef’s Table” and “Ugly Delicious,” and network shows like “Top Chef.”
Here is a list of video content with a local, regional, interesting or offbeat premise that will entertain the most ardent among Atlanta foodies.
Epicurious Basic Skills Challenge
Alternately hilarious, enraging or just perplexing, every video in this series will have a good cook's jaw on the floor. For this series, Epicurious rounds up 50 different people off the street to perform a single kitchen task. Some are actually a bit technical or downright difficult, like making sushi or tossing pizza dough. The majority of skills, though, are basic, and some of the attempts are breathtaking. People fail miserably at scrambling eggs, dicing onions, peeling potatoes, opening a bottle of wine - actually, some home cooks may need a little wine themselves to get through these videos. At the end of each video, a professional shows the viewer how it's done, and this part can be illuminating even for experienced cooks. Who hasn't had the experience of watching someone else's technique and thinking, "So that's how it's done?" Even though you might learn something in the end, the delight really stems from the journey in these videos. You might be watching through your fingers, but you won't be able to look away. Watch the videos at epicurious.com.
Somewhere South
Chef Vivian Howard has a new show on PBS intended to educate and entertain called "Somewhere South." Howard is known for her previous show, "A Chef's Life," set against the backdrop of Chef & The Farmer, the restaurant she runs with her husband in Kinston, North Carolina. In the six-part series Somewhere South, Howard visits well-known and unknown cooks across the Southeast to learn about specific dishes and locale. The show focuses on the interconnectedness of culture, history, race and class that manifests itself in food, from hand pies to porridge to pickles. Watch the full series at pbs.org.
Virtual Ferment Fest
As spring blooms, one of the major distractions we're missing in Atlanta is the rhythm of weekend food festivals. Many have mourned the postponement or cancellation of major events like the High Museum Wine Auction and Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, but plenty of smaller, more focused events have gotten the axe, too. There's hope this weekend, especially if you're one of the people who has annoyed friends and family experimenting with sourdough, beer brewing, homemade hot sauces and more. This Sunday, tune into the Virtual Florida Ferment Fest via Instagram Live. The festival will bring together what it's website calls "the world's most passionate fermentation educators" for live demonstrations from 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Learn more at flfermentfest.com.
Montaluce Virtual Wine Tasting
For something closer to home, check out this virtual wine tasting with winemaker Craig Boyd of Montaluce Winery and Restaurant in North Georgia. Boyd tastes through the winery's 2017 cabernet sauvignon, 2017 merlot, 2018 chardonnay and 2018 sauvignon blanc, giving his tasting notes along the way. Montaluce is open for curbside pickup of food and wine orders, so if you like what you see, you can purchase these wines for your own at-home tasting. Watch the video at facebook.com/montaluce and visit the winery's website at montaluce.com.
Be The Chef ATL
This short but well-produced video is the first in a series featuring Atlanta's best chefs cooking their favorite meals at home. In "Be The Chef ATL," chef Linton Hopkins, who with his wife Gina owns the Hopkins & Co. restaurant group, visits the Peachtree Road Farmers Market and cooks an off-the-cuff meal inspired by his findings. The video is available for free on YouTube, with more chefs and dinners planned. Read more and watch the video for free at bethechefatl.com.
A Chef’s Voyage
If you'd like to support the restaurant industry without leaving your couch, consider renting "A Chef's Voyage" from Somm Films. Part rock doc, part "Chef's Table," "A Chef's Voyage" documents a journey to France for three collaborative dinners cooked by chef David Kinch and his team from Manresa, the three-Michelin Star restaurant in Los Gatos, California. The cameras go behind the scenes on the team's high-octane 10-day trip in which they prepare dinners at legendary French restaurants in Paris, Provence and Marseille. The film costs $4.99 to rent, but 100% of proceeds go to the LEE Initiative, a charitable effort that provides groceries and other necessities to displaced restaurant industry employees, including those in Atlanta. Donate and watch the film at sommfilms.com/a-chefs-voyage.
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