A TASTE OF VITA
Restaurant maven Tony LaRocco, owner of Vita in Buckhead, specializes in serious hospitality and Italian sustenance. He's proving it again with Vita's Tuesday Tastings. From 6-8 p.m. each week, vino lovers sample five to six wines. Each month spotlights a different collection of wine.
July 29 is the last chance to experience July's selection of six Italian wines, including Bucci Verdicchio and Santa Anastasia Passomaggio. LaRocco and staff pair the tasting with on-the-house appetizers including tomato and basil bruschetta, olive tapenade and homemade pizza.
And if you're looking for some Italian-style hair of the dog on Saturday and Sunday mornings, consider Vita's Bellini Brunch. Imported Italian bellinis made from white peaches are $6 each. Its sprawling Bloody Mary bar offers more than 30 ingredients and drinks at $5 a pop.
> THE 411: $15. 6 p.m. Tuesdays. Vita, 2110 Peachtree Road, Suite B, Atlanta. 404-367-8482, www.vitaatl.com.
GIVING BACK SOME AMORE
If you're going to give a little love to charity, might as well do it at Amore. The Mediterranean restaurant in Midtown hosts Mingling for a Cause. This extravagant happy hour benefits It's the Journey Inc. and the Atlanta 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer. Appetizers are gratis, select martinis and wine are $5 and $6, respectively. Watch belly dancers bump throughout the multi-level venue. Guitarist Adam Santillo will be plucking the strings, and DJ Scottie Canon is set to spin dance music. Some lucky folks will walk away with raffle prizes.
> THE 411: $10 advance online, $15 at the door. 6 p.m. July 24. Amore, 950 W. Peachtree St. N.W., Suite 220, Atlanta. 404-477-0404, www.minglinginatlanta.com/mingling4cause.html.
NUTS FOR KEVIN RATHBUN STEAK
Acclaimed steakhouse Kevin Rathbun Steak, helmed by the "Iron Chef America" winner, is offering more than just high-grade cuts of cow. It's currently pouring the Peanut Colada using Castries peanut-infused rum. The recipe calls for 2 1/2 ounces of Castries, a half-ounce each of top-shelf coconut rum and coconut cream, a splash of pineapple juice and three large ice cubes. If you want to make it at home, drop the ice and other ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth and garnish with some seasonal fruit of choice.
> THE 411: Kevin Rathbun Steak, 154 Krog St., Suite 200, Atlanta. 404-524-5600, www.kevinrathbunsteak.com.
COCKTAIL OF THE WEEK
Foodies rejoice. Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week and its 26 participating restaurants (City Grill, Maxim Prime, Trader Vic's and others) are offering three-course meals for $25 each through July 27. All of the restaurants will be serving the official signature cocktail, the Sapphire Collins. It takes 1 1/2 ounces of Bombay Sapphire gin, 1 ounce each of lemon juice and club soda and a drizzle of sugar syrup. Bartenders shake it with ice and pour it into a highball or double rocks glass and garnish with a cherry. The price of the cocktail ranges from $8-$10, depending upon the restaurant. Check the Web site for participating eateries.
> THE 411: Downtown Atlanta Restaurant Week. Now-July 27. 404-658-1877, www.atlantadowntown.com/HavingFun_RestaurantWeek.asp.
DO YOU HAVE AN EVENT to promote or know of club openings, closings and renovations? Please e-mail us at access@ajc.com.
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