If Atlanta seems even tastier than usual this weekend, it's because the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival is in full swing.
Thousands are gathering in Midtown and environs for the four-day nom-a-thon, which kicked off Thursday night with a private reception at the Loews Atlanta Hotel and concludes Sunday with bursting vests and happy groans.
"I want to see a trail of little buttons on the ground as we clean up," said co-organizer Dominique Love.
Some of the glittering chef-hosted dinners, with their multiple courses and multiple wines, are sold out; others have tickets available.
For Friday's lunch crowd, Love recommended the "Bluegrass, Bourbon and Barbecue" event at the Four Season ($65), which serves up to 300 revelers. Another tip: the "Basque in the South" dinner Saturday night, featuring American chefs (Micah Willix and Adolfo Garcia), local ingredients and wines and recipes from the Basque region of Spain. It commences at the fashionably late European hour of 10 p.m. at Ecco. Single event tickets are $125.
Other events are more flexible at accommodating late-comers. Two-and-a-half hour sessions at the tasting tents and street carts for $75 remain available and tickets for late night noshing at street carts manned by visiting chefs are $65 ($50 through the Sweet Jack promotion; blog.sweetjack.com/).
These food trucks will go far beyond the common hand-held experience, featuring such chefs as Roberto Santibanez and his pineapple-cucumber guacamole at the "Taste The Wow" truck.
For information: 404-474-7330; www.atlfoodandwinefestival.com
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