Atlanta Food & Wine Festival Off to a Great Start

This weekend I attended the inaugural Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, which was billed as a celebration of authentic Southern cuisine, wine and spirits. And that it was. This four-day event included a wide array of dinners, cooking demos, a food cart pavilion, panel discussions, and my particular favorite, some very impressive tasting tents.

The heart and soul of any food and wine event are the tasting tents, and while Atlanta's don't yet meet the scale of an Aspen or South Beach, they more than made up for it with a truly inspired variety of well executed tastes.

My favorite was this pork cheek fritter with chow chow and spicy sweet peppers. It was tasting tent cuisine at it's finest. Served by Farm Burger, this crispy patty cracked open to reveal a wonderfully moist, flavorful center of shredded cheek meat. The sweet heat of the colorful garnish made for a memorable bite. In fact, I'm remembering it right now, and kind of sad I don't know when I'll taste it next.

It's not that easy to produce world-class food in those portable conditions, but everywhere I looked there was something very tasty and enticing staring back. From the simple yet amazing braised pork belly, to the iconic pimento cheese, to ultra modern takes on classic southern.

As I grazed from table to table I became more and more convinced that this was one of the best grand tastings I'd ever attended. Just the fried chicken alone was worth the trip for me. I lost count at seven different presentations. This was one of my favs; and nice crispy chuck of tender chicken, on some stewed red beans, topped with a spicy mayo.

There was fried chicken on waffles, on biscuits with local honey, on rice with ham gravy, on mashed potatoes with coleslaw, on...well, you get the idea. It was fried chicken heaven. Is there a thing as too much fried chicken? No.

Another highlight was a "spirited" demo by John Besh. After doing a pre-show shot of bourbon with his assistants and Kate Krader, Restaurant Editor from Food & Wine Magazine, Besh half-jokingly instructed his staff to pour the entire room a shot. Minutes later, much to the delight of the venerable New Orleans chef, shots of tequila were distributed throughout the room

That alone would have made for an amusing anecdote, but things only got more festive. By the time the demo ended 45 minutes later, we had enjoyed five rounds of drinks, with Besh and his sous chef easily keeping pace. It was pure food festival fun and frivolity. Remarkably, when the demo ended, the well-oiled chef managed to produce a seriously delicious looking shrimp bisque and dumplings.

All in all, this inaugural Atlanta Food & Wine Festival has to be considered a great success. Organizers were wise to keep things relatively small and manageable, yet there was plenty to do, see, and most importantly eat. Because of the area's collection of talented chefs, and an equally impressive array of local products, I predict this event will soon grow to rival America's other premier food and wine festivals.