Recent Episodes

 

Dwight Furrow, the author of American Foodie: Taste, Art, and the Cultural Revolution, talks about the philosophy of food. We discuss everything the impact of everything from automobile to Alice Waters to the Slow Food movement have shaped the way Americans think about food.
 
 
 
 

 

Inbal Baum, the Founder of Delicious Israel, joins us to talk about where foodies should eat when they travel to her country.

• Shakshouka is a popular dish in Israel
• Israeli Breakfast is a distinct and important meal
• The modern cherry tomato has roots in Israel
• Tel Aviv and Jerusalem top the list of cities you should visit
• Beach season runs from April to October
• Rosh Hashana is a great time to visit Israel
• When you visit Tel Aviv, go to the Carmel Market, the Levinsky Market
• Try the date syrup, Silan

 

 

Food for Thought

• Q: After pita bread, what is the most common food used to “wipe” humus?
• A: Raw onion.

 
 

Out of the Frying Pan

• Favorite Spot for Outdoor Dining: Milgo & Milbar
• Favorite Place to Buy Spices: Cafe Arma in Levinsky Market
• Herbs to Try: Za’atar and Hawaij (in Yemenite Coffee)
• Favorite Winery: Sphera
• Favorite Place for Dessert: The Malabia
• Favorite Food Experience for Kids: Max Brenner
• Chef to Watch: Eyal Shani
• Dish to Try at Different Places: Shakshouka and sabich

Bennet Jacobstein, author of The Joy of Ballpark Food: From Hot Dogs to Haute Cuisine, talks to us about what foodies can find at different baseball stadiums around the country.

• Hot dogs and sausages are not the same thing.
• The quality of ballpark food was elevated in the 90s as new stadiums were built and food television shows took off.
• Stadiums have highlighted regional foods.
• Gordon Biersch‘s founder Dan Gordon introduced garlic fries at Candlestick Park in 1994.
• The song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” was written in 1908.
• The Yankees replaced Cracker Jacks at one point, but brought it back after a public outcry.
• 

  San Francisco Giant Gordon Biersch Garlic Fries

  Veggie Happy spearheaded the movement to get veggie dogs sold at ballpark stadiums.

• Andrew Zimmern has a stand in the Minnesota ballpark.
• Rocky Mountain Oysters are bull testicles.
• “The Big Six” are the food companies that service the major ballparks.
• As you go from ballpark to ballpark, try the hot dogs at each to see how they’re done differently.
• Proceeds from Bennett’s book go to Second Harvest Food Bank.

 

Food for Thought

• Q: In what year were Cracker Jacks first served at a baseball game?
• A: 1896 in Atlantic City.

 

Out of the Frying Pan

Here’s what Bennet recommends you try at each ballpark:

• Yankees Stadium in New York City: Chicken and Waffles.
• Fenway Park in Boston: Lobster Roll and a cuban sandwich.
• Wrigley Field in Chicago: Chicago-style hot dog with Vienna beef.
• Turner Field in Atlanta: Boiled peanuts.
• Marlins Park in Miami: Cuban dishes.
• Safeco Field in Seattle: The Ivar’s hot dog (with fish) and cream cheese hot dog.
• Nationals Park in Washington D.C.: A cauliflower hot dog and presidential cupcakes.
• 

  Chicago White Sox Chicago-Style Hot Dog

  Busch Stadium in St. Louis: The BBQ.

• Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles: Tommy Lasorda Spumoni ice cream.
• AT&T Park in San Francisco: Crab salad, lamb sausages, and Gordon Biersch garlic fries.

Try a Food Tour

More in this City

Atlanta Street Food Festival
July 12, 2014
Piedmont Park, 1320 Monroe Drive NE, Atlanta, Georgia
Buy Tickets

 
It’s been called, “One of the Top 5 latest and greatest things to hit the South” by Southern Living magazine. For the third year, Atlanta’s food truck fanatics can experience a day dedicated to the city’s finest food truck fare when the Atlanta Street Food Festival rolls into Piedmont Park. The event is presented by MARTA and supported by numerous other exciting and generous sponsors. This festival offers foodie fans a full day of Atlanta’s favorite street food cuisine and fun.
 
 

1. Piedmont Park is a beautiful location with a long and rich history.

Piedmont Park’s Atlanta Street Food Festival provides food truck fans with an entire day dedicated to the city’s finest food truck fare at one of the Southeast’s most beautiful public parks. Piedmont Park has a rich history that spans over the course of nearly two centuries. Since 1822, Piedmont Park has continuously evolved, changing hands in the process, and going through several phases – first from a forest to a farm, then to a fairground and suburban park, and finally to the urban park that it is today. It is the perfect spot to join neighborhoods together to enjoy delicious street food and fun!
 

RELATED: Five Unique Barbecue Experiences in Atlanta.

 
 

2. We help The Giving Kitchen support the local restaurant community.

Renowned as Atlanta’s first and only event dedicated to street cuisine, the festival is proud to announce that a portion of this year’s proceeds will support The Giving Kitchen, the beloved culinary charity with the unique mission of providing crisis grants to members of Atlanta’s restaurant community facing unanticipated hardship.
 
 

3. You won’t find more food trucks in one spot anywhere in the Southeast.

The Atlanta Street Food Festival represents the largest gathering of food trucks in the Southeast. More than 40 food trucks, including Champion Cheesesteaks, Yumbii, Ibiza Bites, Mix’d Up, Viet-Nomies, Angel Fire7 BBQ and Masala Fresh will gather for the occasion for guests to partake in more food and fun.
 
 

4. We’ve got music, merchants, beer, and more.

Not only does Atlanta Street Food Festival give event goers access to the city’s finest street food cuisine, but the festival also features some of Atlanta’s most highly regarded craft brews, local merchants and artisans, and live musical entertainment from the area’s favorite performers. In between bites, patrons can receive complimentary Red Bull samples from the Wings Team while supplies last, shop around various local vendors, and experience a variety of amusement rides for children and adults.
 

RELATED: Everything You Want to Know About Food Trucks.

 
 

5. We’ve got an app for that!

New this year, the Atlanta Street Food Festival app is available through the Apple App Store and Google Play. Once downloaded, smart phone users can view featured menus, peruse the entertainment schedule and upload photos of their favorite food truck fare. Additionally, festival goers can stay up-to-date with the event’s latest details on Facebook or by following @StreetFestATL on Twitter, and by using the event’s official hashtag: #ASFF14.
 

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By Julia Ott of the Atlanta Street Food Festival

Taste of Atlanta
10/24/2014
Midtown at Tech Square, Fifth Street & Spring Street, GA
Buy tickets

 
Taste of Atlanta returns to Midtown at Tech Square on October 24 – 26 to satisfy palates with a stellar lineup of local and nationally-renowned chefs, insider cooking demos, throwdown competitions and over 90 of the city’s most delicious restaurants. From exploring new neighborhood dining spots to mastering gourmet culinary creations, food lovers of all ages will get their fill of Atlanta’s fervent foodie culture!
 
 

1. Taste of Atlanta is the only place to sample over 100 Atlanta-area restaurants all at once!

Taste of Atlanta offers guests a chance to sample from over 100 restaurants representing neighborhoods inside and outside of the perimeter. Over the span of three days, attendees can enjoy tastings from old favorites, up and coming eateries and the restaurant from across the city they’ve heard mouth-watering tales about.
 
 

2. The Friday night kick-off party themed Culinary Matrimony will be the tastiest, most edible celebration of the season.

Keeping with tradition, the festival’s Friday night festival kickoff is an all-inclusive block party with exclusive bites from select restaurants, bountiful booze and rockin’ live music. To help food lovers say “I do” to the smorgasbord of flavors and fun offered at the 13th annual Taste of Atlanta, the festival has invited them to eat, drink and ‘be married’ with new gastronomic combinations! The event, themed Culinary Matrimony, will unite unlikely, yet harmonious pairings, as local celebrity chefs lift the veil to match-made-in-heaven recipes, libations and more.
 

RELATED: The Top 5 Burgers in Atlanta

 
 

3. Taste of Atlanta’s festival layout is a walk through Atlanta’s tastiest neighborhoods.

This year’s Taste of Atlanta takes festival-goers on a culinary adventure through the city’s many diverse neighborhoods. The new festival format reflects the individual neighborhoods comprising the Metro-Atlanta area by featuring chef-driven eateries that give these communities their true personality and flavor. Each street will be set up by neighborhood, and menu boards will highlight the location each restaurant calls home.
 

RELATED: Five Unique Barbecue Experiences in Atlanta

 
 

4. Cook alongside Top Chefs, literally – Top Chef season 10 winner Kristen Kish will lead cooking classes and demos.

Hosted by Holly Firfer, The Kitchen Workshop schools attendees in the culinary arts with hands-on cooking tutorials for any level of cooking expertise. With step-by-step instruction from local and nationally-acclaimed chefs – including Bravo’s Top Chef Season 10 winner Kristen Kish and renowned restaurateur Ron Eyester – each class leaves with a recipe they can make at home and a feather in their toque!
 
 

5. Witness the ultimate food fight in the Throwdown Tent as chefs go head-to-head in cook-off competitions!

New this year! Hosted by Mara Davis, the Throwdown Tent features “food face-off” competitions (think Meat Brawl, Sandwich Smackdown, Fried Chicken Throwdown and Taco Takedown). Leading restaurants – representing three popular neighborhoods – will compete head-to-head for the ultimate bragging rights. For five taste coupons, patrons can enter the Throwdown Tent, taste all the competitors’ dishes and place their vote.
 

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About Taste of Atlanta

Taste of Atlanta packs the bold flavors, colorful personalities and vibrant energy of an entire city into 10 blocks in Midtown Atlanta. The three-day festival explores the city’s unique neighborhoods by sampling tastes from the chefs and bartenders that give each area its own creative energy. Since its inception in 2002, Taste of Atlanta has become an annual pilgrimage for thousands of food, wine, beer and cocktail lovers from across the country. Festival attendees bring their adventurous appetites and experience a full range of flavors, from time-honored Southern classics to innovative dishes that are destined to be the next culinary trend. Patrons also enjoy interactive cooking demonstrations on four main stages, live entertainment and family-friendly activities for food lovers of all ages. Taste of Atlanta supports several Atlanta non-profit groups, including Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters, Atlanta’s Table, Georgia Organics and Hospitality Education Foundation of Georgia and ProStart®. Indulge in the city’s flavors Friday through Sunday, October 24-26 in Midtown at Tech Square to truly savor what makes Atlanta the food capital of the South. For more information, visit www.tasteofatlanta.com.

 

Atlanta is rapidly becoming the craft beer capital of the south. From Sweetwater downtown to Red Hare, Jailhouse and Strawn in the suburbs, there is a brewery in almost every part of town. Lucky folks in some areas have more than one. Sure, you can go to a brewery and do a tasting and a tour (suggestion: bring some snacks and a lawn chair so you don’t have to stand for two hours), but most of them are located in drab industrial warehouses that are a good place to start a date, but then what do you do?
 
Don’t worry, the writers of Friday Date Night have some ideas. Here are the top five “beer dates” in Atlanta that include two of our favorite things: beer and food.
 
 

1. Der Biergarten and SkyView Atlanta

Der Biergarten was recently named one of the top 10 beer gardens in the United States by USA Today. Just one visit will tell you why. Walk up the stairs to the open patio and the long picnic tables. You may be a stranger to the people at the table next to you, but by the time you have a liter stein of Spaten Marzen, you will be the best of friends.
 
There are twenty beers on tap here, all of them German. You can’t go wrong with anything on the beer list. While you are sampling the beer, get a Riesenbretzel or two. The giant pretzel comes with three kinds of mustard. And speaking of giant, don’t miss the Schweinshaxe, the colossal rotisserie pork shank. Share it with a friend. We witnessed two guys trying to eat their own. They didn’t succeed.
 
If you are with a big group, try the Konig Ludwig Platte. It’s $96, but the pictures you will get are worth it. It’s got schnitzels, sausages, and that huge pork shank. You will want to walk after this heavy dinner, so walk a few blocks to Centennial Olympic Park and buy a ticket for SkyView Atlanta.
 
In a short amount of time, this ferris wheel has become an Atlanta landmark. It’s all about the view, and what a view it is. Tickets are $13.50. You can order them in advance online, or buy them onsite if you are worried about the weather. For $50, you can ride in the black VIP car with a glass floor and leather seats.
 

$$
300 Marietta Street, Atlanta, GA
(404) 521-2728

 

 

RELATED: Five Unique Barbecue Experiences in Atlanta.

 
 

2. Six Feet Under and Oakland Cemetery

Outdoor dining in Atlanta is perfect for about four months a year. In the late spring and early fall, Atlantans flock to restaurants that have decks and patios. The best decks have the best view, and the deck at Six Feet Under overlooks the historic Oakland Cemetery.
 
Before you walk upstairs to the deck, look around and notice the large collection of beer memorabilia throughout the restaurant. Once you get upstairs, order a local Atlanta beer, like the Eventide Kolsch that’s made just a few blocks away. Or try the Wild Heaven Ode to Mercy that’s brewed in Avondale Estates, just down the road. At 8.2% ABV, this brown ale is not for the meek.
 
Six Feet Under’s specialty is seafood. Get it raw, fried or get it steamed. For a date, try the steamer sampler. For $43 you get oysters, shrimp, crab legs, mussels, sausage, corn and potatoes. It’s a good way to get a taste of everything on the menu.
 
After dinner, cross the street to Oakland Cemetery, the burial place of Atlanta’s rich and famous. “Gone With The Wind” author Margaret Mitchell is here. So is golfing legend Bobby Jones as well as 24 ex-mayors of the city. You can pick up a self-guided tour book at the visitor’s center or you can take a guided tour. Stay with the beer theme and try the “Malts and Vaults” tour, where beer meets history. On this tour, you will visit the resting places of brewers and bartenders. Tickets are $10, but you get a $5 discount at Six Feet Under, which makes this tour quite the bargain.
 

$$
437 Memorial Drive, Atlanta, GA
(404) 523-6664

 

 
 

3. Three Taverns Brewery and The Decatur Square

Three Taverns is the only brewery in the south that brews Belgian-style beers. If you like your Belgians like we do, this is the place to visit in Decatur. For $12, you get six five-ounce pours, and you get to keep the glass. Try the Single Intent, a single that you can drink all day. Hop-heads will love the Night in Brussels IPA and White Hops, a white IPA with a grapefruit finish.
 
The beers that really shine for us are the tripel and the quad, which are not always available. If you visit in the spring or summer, Quasimodo will be on tap, a big quad with 10% ABV. This beer will make you want to “slap your mama” as they say in the south. The tasting room has two levels and it’s decorated in chic recycled wood. Bring a chair because seating is limited. Pack some snacks too as you don’t want to drink all of this high-alcohol beer on an empty stomach.
 
It’s a mile walk to the Decatur Square after Three Taverns closes. You don’t want to drive as it’s hard to find a place to park, and you just had all of that beer. For foodies, the square offers something for all tastes and wallets. Victory Sandwich Bar has amazing sandwiches. They are small. Order two. Try their signature Jack and Coke slushies. Check out Victory’s “secret room”, the Paper Plane. It’s a little more upscale, and finding it is half the fun.
 
If you need more beer, go to The Brick Store, which is the best beer bar in the state of Georgia. The food is fabulous too. The chicken pot pie is a comfort food favorite. If you can, sit upstairs in the Belgian Bar, a special treat. Want dessert? Cakes and Ale has what you need. We loved our dinner here–the Vermont burrata could be the best appetizer ever, and paired with the trout for two, this is a great date restaurant. We are especially fond of the peanut butter and chocolate cake. Moist cake with peanut butter icing is like eating a peanut butter cup on your plate.
 

$$$
121 New Street, Decatur, GA
(404) 600-3355

 

 
 

4. Hop City and Antico Pizza

Pizza and beer is the best combination you can make on a date. How would you like to visit the best beer store in Atlanta and the best pizza place on the same night? Antico Pizza lets you bring your own beverages into the restaurant, and there is no better place to get those beverages than Hop City, about two miles away. At Hop City you will find 64 beers on tap. Fill up a growler and enjoy. Or walk down the aisles of bottled beer until you find something that interests you.
 
It’s a little intimidating for first-timers, but the staff is very knowledgeable and will set you up with exactly what you like. After buying the beer, drive on over to Antico. Go early or you will never get in. Antico is the brainchild of Giovanni Di Palma, who is often seen working in the restaurant. The pizzas at Antico are made in three wood-fired ovens that cook them at over 700 degrees. On one visit, our pizza made it out before we got to a table. There are nine pizzas on the menu and no substitutions, because as Di Palma explains, “they are perfect just the way they are.” He will get no argument from us.
 
If Antico is too crowded, take your beer growler and go next door to Gio’s Chicken Amalfitano. This is the best chicken in Atlanta that’s not fried. Di Palma uses his family’s recipes from Italy. The lemon chicken is the specialty. This chicken will become the chicken you compare all others to for the rest of your life. Wherever you wind up eating, leave room for gelato at Gio’s Café, which is located behind the chicken restaurant. It’s rich, and decadent, and a great way to end your date at Di Palma’s “Little Italy”.
 

$$
1000 Marietta Street, Atlanta, GA
(404) 350-9998

 

 

RELATED: Where to Eat in Atlanta.

 
 

5. Monday Night Brewing and Bone Lick BBQ

We’ll end our list at another brewery, Monday Night. This place was designed with the public in mind—there’s plenty of parking, seating, and space in their tasting room. Start off with the Fu Manbrew, a Belgian-style wheat. You will smell the ginger that’s in this beer before you taste it.
 
Move to something hoppier with the Eye Patch Ale. It’s a balanced IPA that does not blow you away with bitter hops. The Blind Pirate is their double IPA that’s for adventurous beer drinkers. And at 8.2% ABV, it’s an adventure worth taking. Our favorite is the Drafty Kilt, a Scotch ale. It’s dark, it’s malty, and it has nice hints of chocolate. Save this one for last and leave the brewery with a smile.
 
Someone will have to watch what they are drinking as you must drive over to Bone Lick BBQ for dinner. Sit at a vintage video game table while you eat some of the best BBQ in the area. Try the Fat Ass sampler, not just because it has a little of everything, but because with a name like “Fat Ass”, you want to say it to your server. You will be glad you did. With ribs, sausage, chicken, pork, brisket and a side, it’s the perfect way to try everything in the place. If you are lucky, there will be leftovers for lunch.
 
Before dessert, play a few games of skee-ball and remember what it’s like to play a non-electronic game. It’s free, just don’t sit near the machine because it’s really loud on that side of the room. Save some room for the fried bread pudding. We love bread pudding, and Bone Lick has figured out a way to make it even better. It’s certainly a unique way to finish your meal.
 

$$
670 Trabert Avenue, Atlanta, GA

 

 

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About Roger Strauss

Along with his partner-in-crime Eve Kofsky, Roger Strauss has been blogging about dates and food in Atlanta since 2011 through his blog Date Night Friday. When they aren’t drinking good beer and eating fine food, Roger and Eve pedal away the calories on their tandem bicycle.