Last Saturday night my husband and I (being
Ford Fry devotees---well, who isn't?) decided to attend the 2013
Southern Food Tour - Launch Party. It was held at the Goat Farm (around the corner from JCT Kitchen).
The following is from their website:
Southern Food Tour, on Saturday, February 16th at the Goat Farm, celebrated an evening of food, drinks, film and music highlighting Southern Food heritage. A ticket will included a pig roast from chefs Ford Fry and Kevin Gillespie as well as other tastings of Southern classics from Adam Evans, E.J. Hodgkinson and Suzanne Vizethann. Beverages were beer from Monday Night Brewing and signature cocktails from American Spirit Whiskey. They showed a preview of our short film and music was provided by Blair Crimmins and the Hookers. Go to: southernfoodtour.com or our Facebook page at
www.facebook.com/SouthernFoodTour for more details.
Food: Highlighting the varying regions of the South – from barbecue to Cajun to the Classics.
1)
Pig roast done two different ways by chefs Ford Fry and Kevin Gillespie
2)
Gumbo by Adam Evans, Executive chef at The Optimist
3)
Tamales by E.J. Hodgkinson at JCT Kitchen
4)
Chicken Biscuit Sliders by Buttermilk Kitchen
Location: Goodson Yard at the Goat Farm
1200 Foster Street Northwest, Atlanta, GA 30318
***The Goat Farm Arts Center is a major visual & performing arts center in Atlanta. What was once an underutilized historic site went through a major expansion and was given new form in 2009. Part of the expansion opened up 20,000 square feet dedicated to five new performance and exhibition halls and spaces.The Center now hosts classical & contemporary music concerts, traditional and experimental theatrical performances, film screenings, contemporary dance performances and art exhibitions.
The venue was spectacular. They really created a wonderful ambiance for the evening.
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| Photo Credit: Atlanta Business Chronicle |
We had such a great time! When we entered the magnificent space, we turned right and the first table served up shots of whiskey with mini-fried apple pies. Hello! The combination of flavors was fabulous.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Next stop was Kevin Gillespie's Pork Barbeque topped with cole slaw - delish!
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Above, in the background, is
Chef Kevin Gillespie, busy chopping pork, who is opening a new restaurant this spring called
Gunshow.
Adam Evans and Kevin Gillespie
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| Photo Credit: Southern Food Tour |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
This dish was great (although I would have liked it to be slathered in more good bbq sauce - but that's just me!). Loved the cool cole slaw addition.
Beside the barbeque pork table was a table featuring little biscuit sliders from
Buttermilk Kitchen (on
Roswell Road
). These little gems were so good that as we were leaving, I snagged a 2nd bite. Just that good. And you can't have an event honoring Southern food without some fried chicken right?
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Photo Credit: Southern Food Tour
Suzanne Vizethann of Buttermilk Kitchen
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Next stop was Gumbo by Adam Evans of The Optimist.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Hard to tell from the pictures, but the gumbo was great. It was spicy with great andouille sausage, duck, shrimp and crab, and it was just what the doctor ordered on a cold February night! Served with oyster crackers naturally.
Serving collard greens. They were also fabulous!!!
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| Photo Credit: Southern Food Tour |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
.We then sampled tamales from JCT Kitchen's, E. J. Hodgkinson. E. J. told me they were "Mississippi Delta style." I loved these! My husband thought they were too hot, but I just loved them, and I easily could've (and should've!) gone back for seconds. It's not often you get great tamales in Atlanta, GA!
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Here's a shot of
E. J. Hodgkinson and
Ford Fry dishing out those tamales!
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
So excited to go to Fry's new restaurant, King + Duke (opening this spring in Buckhead in the old Nava location on Peachtree St.).
Two of the fellow foodie friends who went with us to the event - Sherry and Jason!
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
The final food table was pork from 3 different areas of the pig.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
All enhanced with chipotle butter....
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Our pork plate with saurkraut and a beer sampler from Monday Night Brewing.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
The locale was so fun. It was a packed house, and the guy who took the tickets and stamped our hand said 1000 tickets were sold. It was a sold out evening.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Then, ...we stumbled on the REAL treasure of the evening - the BAR! Ha! Seriously, it was something. They were featuring 4 different cocktails made with American Spirit Whiskey. It's a white (or clear) whiskey that makes it perfect for mixing. After we got ours, the line to get one of these babies in your hand was about 30 minutes! But, it was worth the wait.
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
Our group chose the bottom 3 cocktails to sample. The 2 favorites were the Horse's Neck (with Ginger Ale) and the Stone Fence (made with Apple Cider). Yum!
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| Photo Credit: Cate Bogue |
The Launch Party was a blast! We'll definitely try and go again next year. And it's events like these and food like this evening's that are solidifying Atlanta's place on the culinary map. Well done!
Their next event is scheduled for April 18th!!!! It will include chefs, Steven Satterfield from Miller Union and Ryan Smith of Empire State South. Yes!!!!! See you there...
***A cocktail recipe from American Spirit Whiskey (ASW) that I plan on sampling at home soon:
SOUTHERN MULE
2 oz ASW
Half a lime
2.5 oz. ginger beer
dash angostura bitters
Pour ASW in a tall cocktail glass. Squeeze in half a lime and drop it in the glass. Top with ice and add Ginger Beer. Add a dash angostura bitters and stir.
http://americanspiritwhiskey.com/
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