FESTIVAL IN ST. SIMONS
The second annual St. Simons Food & Spirits Festival is planned for Oct. 1-6 and includes more than 20 events, ranging from a casual tasting to formal feasting, along with a market, a cooking class for kids and a bartending class for adults. Most events take place on St. Simons, but event venues also include Sea Island and Brunswick. For a full schedule of events, locations and other details, see www.saintsimonsfoodandspirits.com.
Top talent from Atlanta’s cuisine scene is going coastal. A number of notables from Atlanta’s food and wine community will be featured at the second annual St. Simons Food & Spirits Festival, planned for Oct. 1-6.
“This is a celebration of farm-to-table, ocean-to-table and vineyard-to-table,” said food journalist, cookbook author and registered dietitian Carolyn O’Neil, who will participate in a number of events during the festival. “What I’m looking forward to is being in the company of food and wine professionals who care about every single glass and dish. What’s fun is, it just shows that appreciation of quality food has blossomed in so many areas. You can have a great time closer to home.”
Other local foodies heading east bound and down include:
- James Beard Award-winning chef Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene, Holeman & Finch Public House, H & F Bottle Shop and H & F Bread, not to mention Turner Field. Starting this season, the Atlanta Braves added Holeman & Finch's coveted burgers to the ballpark menu.
- Justin and Jonathan Fox of Fox Bros. BBQ.
- Mixologists Linda Torres Alarcon of the Ritz-Carlton Buckhead and Arianne Fielder of Article 14.
The festival benefits Hospice of the Golden Isles.
“This is such an amazing, supportive community and Hospice of the Golden Isles is a testament to that fact,” Griffin Bufkin, a proprietor of Southern Soul Barbeque and one of the founders of the festival, said in a statement. “By continuing to raise money and awareness for this program, we support all residents of the Golden Isles.”
Incidentally, the cast of “Anchorman 2,” which was filmed almost entirely in Atlanta, took a side trip to St. Simons this spring for some beach scenes. The gang including Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Dave Koechner and Paul Rudd dined at Southern Soul while they were there.
The festival, with something for every budget and timetable, kicks off with a Tuesday evening “Pier Village Sip, Taste and Tour” event from 5 to 9 p.m. Oct. 1 in the St. Simons Pier Village. Tickets to that event are $25 and are available online or on-site. Atlantans headed down for a long weekend may want to check out the Maker’s Mark BBQ Pro-Am presented by Sea Island and Southern Soul Barbeque, planned for 6 p.m. Oct. 3 and featuring pitmasters from Charleston and Boston along with les frères Fox of Atlanta. Tickets for that event are $85.
If you can’t get down there until the weekend begins, consider the Friday Night Festival Feast, planned for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 4 at Halyards Restaurant. A team of chefs including Hopkins will prepare a five-course feast following a cocktail and hors d’oeuvres reception. O’Neil, who writes a weekly Eating Out column for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, will serve as emcee. Tickets to that event are $200.
The hottest ticket during the weekend might be the Saturday night “Dine Around With Sea Island,” where guests can enjoy the $30 festival menu at Tavola, River Bar, Southern Tide, Oak Room and Davis Love Grill or the $40 festival menu at the Georgian Room and Colt & Alison. Reservations required. Call 912-638-3611 and be sure to mention the festival.
If you’re more interested in drop-in dining than in scheduled events, check out the Local Flavors Tasting Tent from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 5 at Gascoigne Bluff Park for all sorts of sips and nibbles. Tickets are $45 for those 21 and older and $25 for those ages 6 to 20. No one underaged will be allowed near the booze.
Things wrap up with the “SPIRITual Sunday Brunch” from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Oct. 6 at the Delegal Room at the King & Prince Resort. Fielder will be on the mixology team to ensure everyone’s mimosa or bloody mary glass is tended to. Tickets to that event are $75.
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