In only its second year, the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival is already regarded as a premier culinary gathering, combining serious consideration of the culture of the South with the kind of joyful eating, drinking and hospitality the region has always celebrated.
At the inaugural 2011 festival, co-founders Dominique Love and Elizabeth Feichter offered an embarrassment of Southern riches.
Festival-goers could choose from 124 chef demos, tasting seminars and panel discussions, with items such as pork belly, oysters, peanuts and bean-to-bar chocolate on the bill of fare. Foodies could nibble fried chicken, sip bourbon and visit with renowned chefs as they wandered among tasting tents, then keep the party going at nightly events.
Version 2012 has been slimmed down just a bit, with 84 “learning experiences” scheduled at the Loews Atlanta Hotel in Midtown. But overall, the weekend has been fine-tuned and enhanced, Love and Feichter say.
“Last year, we put a lot out on the table,” Love said. “But one of the reasons we had so many classes was because we found so many chefs across the region so excited to be able to talk about what’s going on with Southern food and drink. This year, we’ve gotten those chefs to team up together, so you’ll see some classes with four or five chefs and a mixologist.”
Feichter said visitors to last year's festival “really enjoyed some of the hands-on and up-close and personal experiences.”
“We’ve tried to enhance those kinds of experiences," she said. "We’re doing several technique labs, like the one with biscuits and corn bread, where you can get up close with Virginia Willis or Nathalie Dupree as they’re showing how those long-standing Southern traditions have been passed down.”
Event preview
Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, May 11-13. $100-$500. Loews Atlanta Hotel,1065 Peachtree St., Atlanta, 404-745-5000. Welcome center at 11th and Juniper streets. Tasting tents at 11th Street and Peachtree Walk. atlfoodandwinefestival.com
Atlanta Food & Wine Festival four ways
This year, there are plenty of al a carte options, including a one-day pass, an afternoon tasting tent ticket, or a ticket to an evening dinner or event. Buy online (atlfoodandwinefestival.com/tickets) or take your chances grabbing a walk-up ticket at the welcome center, open every day at 9 a.m. at 11th and Juniper streets.
Dinners and events -- From the $65 Pig-Out: Southern Style party at JCT Kitchen on Friday to the $250 Blackberry Farm dinner at a private estate on Saturday, there's a little something for everyone.
Tasting tents -- For $100, you can spend three hours sipping and snacking your way around the tasting "trails," celebrating the likes of bourbon, craft beer, seafood, whole pig and Southern snacks.
Day pass -- A $180 day pass includes three learning experiences, such as a panel discussion, tasting or chef demo, and one tasting tent session.
Three-day pass -- At $500, you get three days of festival fun, with nine learning experiences, three tasting tent sessions and a ticket to the Pig Out: Southern Style party.
Food & Wine memories and insider tips
To dig a little deeper into the flavors of the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, we asked the co-founders and some of the presenters to share favorite memories of 2011 and insider tips for 2012.
Dominique Love, Atlanta Food & Wine Festival co-founder
2011 memory: "When I walked outside and saw so much talent gathering before the festival, there was this energy, like the stars were arriving before the Oscars. There was this moment of wow and the feeling that something big was about to happen. That feeling didn't stop. It stayed all weekend."
2012 insider tip: "On Sunday, we have a cool chef's demo called 'Is Soul Food Food?' with Duane Nutter, Todd Richards and Edward Lee. The point is, a lot of chefs would say that soul isn't really a type of cuisine. It's more about defining a moment in history when comfort food was born. It will be an interesting and exciting demonstration."
Elizabeth Feichter, Atlanta Food & Wine Festival co-founder
2011 memory: "When it was all over, I was proud of us. I was proud of our city. I was proud of the South. I was proud to be a part of a region that has such long-standing traditions that we can celebrate a whole weekend in this way."
2012 insider tip: "I birthed two children last year. I had my own little boy and then the festival. As a mom, I think the perfect Mother's Day gift would be a Sunday pass to the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival. Even if I didn't work here, I think it would be an awesome way to treat your mom and celebrate the day."
Ted Lee of the Lee Bros., Charleston, S.C., food writers and cookbook authors
2011 memory: "Around midnight on Saturday, I went to the food truck court, which had been banging every day. But suddenly, it was kind of calm right there in the middle of Midtown Atlanta, and you could talk to the chefs. I remember Eli Kirshtein was there and we had a lot of great little tastes and good conversation."
2012 insider tip: "The Buford Highway tour on Saturday afternoon is something I want to send everyone on because that is so much a portrait of where food in the South is going. To me, that international flavor is so much a part of Southern culture now, and it's such a compelling part of what makes Atlanta such a great food town."
John Currence, Oxford, Miss., chef/owner of City Grocery Restaurant Group
2011 memory: "There were some great moments of camaraderie with chefs I don't get to see very often. I remember stealing away for a quiet lunch at Miller Union with Ben and Karen Barker and Andrea Reusing, then returning to the chaos of the lobby of the Loews, where there was this tequila circus led by John Besh, which could not have been any more entertaining."
2012 insider tip: "John Besh and I are doing a dinner on Saturday evening with several other chefs to explore international influences on the food of New Orleans. We'll have something to represent African, French, German, Italian and even Vietnamese traditions. I'm always interested in hearing my chef friends talk, and I always come away having learned a tremendous amount."
Anne Quatrano, Atlanta, chef/owner of Abattoir, Bacchanalia, Floataway Cafe, Quinones, and Star Provisions
2011 memory: "I liked the extracurricular activities. I thought the barbecue party at JCT Kitchen was really fun, and then some of the after hours pop-ups and food trucks. Those are things we all could do, because, otherwise, we're really busy. The festival brings a lot of people into Atlanta, and they come to our restaurants, which is fantastic."
2012 insider tip: "On Saturday, I'm doing a demonstration called 'Poetic Greens.' Kevin Young, the poet from Emory, has a poem, 'Ode to Collard Greens,' that I just love. Kevin is going to be there with me, reading a few of his poems. Nicolas Donck from Crystal Organic Farm will talk about growing greens in the South, and I'll demo three dishes. It will be a lot of fun."
Greg Best, Atlanta, partner of Holeman & Finch Public House, H&F Bread Co., H&F Bottle Shop
2011 memory: "Last year was a huge testament to the fact that so many chefs and bartenders in the Southeast know and support each other. One of my favorite moments was at the little Loews hotel bar, where I ran into chef Edward Lee. Then Sean Brock came by and then a bunch of other chefs and bartenders, who were all just drinking and jiving and giving high-fives. When I went to leave, I realized a gaggle of spectators had gathered in a circle around us."
2012 insider tip: "On Saturday, there's this big Southern cocktail hour, where we'll have tables with bartenders from different cities slinging drinks for an hour or two. On Sunday, Andy Minchow and I will be doing a seminar on building a home bar. The rest of the time, I'm going to be shaking hands around the tents and helping out some of the visiting bartenders."
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