Although I received media credentials for attending the 2017 Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, all opinions expressed in this post are my own.
On June 2nd I attended the 2017 Atlanta Food & Wine Festival. This was my third time attending the festival and it may just have been my favorite. The theme and hashtag used was #KnowTheSouth. This truly represented what the festival was about. Unlike other Atlanta food festivals, the 2017 Atlanta Food & Wine Festival had chefs from all over the South. I enjoyed dishes from South Carolina to Alabama to Tennessee to Louisiana. The 2017 Atlanta Food & Wine Festival consists of learning experiences, tasting experiences, dinner and events over a 3 day period in Midtown Atlanta. Here is a recap of my attendance this year.
Learning Experiences: The learning experiences at the 2017 Atlanta Food & Wine Festival consisted of classes of 30-140 people. They included cocktail and cooking demonstrations, tasting seminars, panel discussions and pairing sessions.
My first event was the South African Wine Safari led by Atlanta Restaurateur-Justin Anthony. Justin Anthony is South African and has several successful restaurants in Atlanta including Yebo Beach Haus, 10 Degrees South, Biltong Bar and Cape Dutch.
Along with South African wine distributor and expert-Alister Glen and the Ken Forrester wine representative-Marthinus van der Vyver, we were treated to several varietals of South African wine. They discussed the wines along with pairing suggestions. I have been to South Africa twice and these wines rivaled anything I have had there! As you can tell by the picture below, my media friends and I definitely enjoyed this tasting!
Cooking Demonstration: Next up was the Louisiana Seafood cooking demonstration. Husband and wife team Cody and Samantha Carroll discussed all the influences of Louisiana cuisine including French, Spanish, African and Caribbean. They own 2 restaurants in Louisiana, Hot Tails in Baton Rouge and Sac-A-Lait in New Orleans. Our mouths watered as we waited for the sautéed grouper with alligator Tasso. It was spicy goodness!
On my way out of the Loews Hotel, which is the headquarters for the festival, I sampled a Sublime Doughnut thanks to Delta perks!
Tasting Tents: On Friday evening I attended the Tasting Tents at Piedmont Park. This is an all you can eat and drink extravaganza! The tasting tents in Piedmont Park at sunset made for the perfect setting to indulge in all the good food the South has to offer! The Tasting Tents were held Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I have to agree with the winner of “best of the fest”. Festival attendees were able to vote on their favorite dish in the tasting tents all weekend. Bistro 217 took home the award for their stellar Pawleys Island Shrimp and Grits! Below are a few of my favorite dishes:
DESSERTS! ( My favorite)
Have you ever attended the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival? If so share your thoughts with us below and don’t miss the festival next year!
Everything looks soooo good!! I am definitely putting this on my calendar to attend next year.
Yes you definitely should! It is a lot of fun with great Southern food and wine!
This is making me hungry! Everything looks delicious. I am going to check next time I am in Atlanta to see if any such events are going on because they look great!
There are always food and wine events going in Atlanta but mark your calendar for this one!