Get Real With Authentique Vin And Thomas Meunier At Dunwoody Alon's French Wine Tasting On April 11

Thomas Meunier spent six years working at a Loire Valley winery under the tutelage of a venerable vigneron before setting out on his own to start up Authentique Vin Imports. His mission:  to find true winegrowers who make no concessions and whose distinctive personalities are reflected in their wine. Taste a selection of his wines at an Authentique Vin French wine tasting at Alon's Bakery & Market in Dunwoody on Wednesday, April 7.  The 7 - 8 p.m. tasting is $20 per person and includes light hors d'oeuvre. As Meunier believes, "authentic people make authentic wine in a sustainable way, revealing the identity of a soil, a grape and a climate - the notion of Terroir." 

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar "Small Plates, Big Pours" Special Pleases
Winers and Diners

As days and nights warm up, we're finding ourselves craving lighter meals and thirsting for a taller glass. Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar is right there for us with their new "Small Plates, Big Pours" pairing through May 10. Select one of the steakhouse's seven innovative Small Plates and pair it with an oversized wine pour from a selection of seven premium wines from the Fleming's 100 collection -- for just $24.95. Generous on flavor, small plates include sliced or skewered filet mignon, jumbo shrimp scampi skewers, New Zealand petite lamb chops, seared ahi tuna, New Bedford scallops and Fleming's lobster tempura. Big Pour choices include Penley Gryphon Merlot, Paco & Lola Albariño, Cline Cashmere Red Blend, A to Z Wineworks Pinot Noir, Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc, Silverado Chardonnay and Chateau Ste. Michelle Cabernet.

Join Atlanta Restaurants At Taste Of The Nation On April 12 And Help End Childhood Hunger

Hunger pangs are one thing, the constant gnawing and nutritional deficiency of childhood hunger is totally different and can cause children to fall behind in many aspects of living, growing and learning. Taste of the Nation took root in 1988 to raise funds to help end childhood hunger throughout the U.S. On Thursday, April 12, chefs from 50 of Atlanta's top restaurants - including Aqua blue, Aria, Kaleidoscope, Marlow's Tavern and Woodfire Grill - will gather at the Georgia Aquarium for Atlanta's own Taste of the Nation event. The night holds cuisine samples, wine tastings and live entertainment along with live, silent and wine auctions crammed with luxurious goods and experiences (sneak peek here). NYC-based chef, cookbook author and "Top Chef Masters" 2011 winner Floyd Cardoz serves as honorary chef, and The Cook's Warehouse is one of the event sponsors. Purchase tickets online. A $350 VIP ticket buys more time to taste and shop from 6:30 - 10 p.m. General admission is $250 per person for entry from 7:30 p.m. - 10 p.m.

Braves Opening Day Tradition Continues. Atkins Park - Smyrna Runs Pre-Game Party And Game Bus For Braves Vs. Brewers

"Ballpark, Frank!" We don't know if that's the bus driver's name, but we do know the Atkins Park Tavern - Smyrna bus is the one to ride to the Atlanta Braves vs. Milwaukee Brewers season opener on April 13. The evening's lineup includes pre-game brews, Jägermeister and a buffet at Atkins Park Tavern - Smyrna PLUS a carefree roundtrip bus ride to Turner Field and game tickets. Sure beats burning your own gas then waiting at the ballpark concession stand when you could be watching the game. Buffet begins at 5 p.m., and bus leaves Atkins Park Tavern - Smyrna promptly at 6:15 p.m. Purchase tickets for $55 each at the restaurant. Run fast. There are only as many tickets as there are seats on the bus.

Last Week For Aqua blue Crabfest - Miss It And You'll Be Crabby

Stone crabs rule the Crabfest menu through Monday, April 16 at Aqua blue, conveniently located a half mile east of Georgia 400 on Holcomb Bridge Road in Roswell. These seasonally harvested, succulent crustaceans live in ocean waters from Connecticut to Belize, and Aqua blue obtains theirs from sustainably managed wild fisheries. The Crabfest menu reveals dishes such as she-crab soup with spiced hominy frite ($7); jumbo lump crab cakes with avocado, mango, chili aioli, rice wine vinegar and wasabi honey mustard ($15); soft-shell crab rolls made with thin asparagus, crab cake, sweet herb, futomaki, soy paper and red tobiko served with wasabi honey mustard and fresh lemon ($14); chilled Florida stone crab claws served with traditional mustard sauce (MP); Drunken Crab Legs, a combo of king and snow crabs ($30); and large Florida stone crab claws served with green peppercorn cocktail and traditional mustard sauce (MP). Crab-ulous this week; gone with the tide on Monday. 

Marlow's Tavern Checks New Menu Items, New Facebook Page Off Of Spring To-Do List

Spring de-cluttering at Marlow's Tavern involves saying so long to cold weather fare and welcoming the sunny seasons with exciting new menu tastes ($3.50-$19.50). Three new Start/Snack/Share items include burrata mozzarella and fried green tomato in a balsamic reduction on grilled ciabatta; big bowl long beans with applewood smoked bacon; crispy crimini mushrooms and a Szechwan sauce; and nutty Marlow's Cracker Jack. Packed with protein and veggies, chopped chicken salad piles on grilled chicken, hard-boiled egg, bacon, cheese, crunchy romaine, veggies, garbanzo beans, green olives and champagne vinaigrette. Big Bar additions are "The" Pita Club; open-faced tenderloin steak with garlic kale pesto and gorgonzola; a grilled chicken panini; and a burger lettuce wrap served with house-made tomato bacon jam. New Tavern Favorites include a grilled chicken stack with spinach, oven-dried tomato, fresh buffalo mozzarella, roasted cauliflower, tiny asparagus, onion confit and Parmesan farro; grilled center-cut filet with crispy wild mushroom potato cake, baby broccolini and garlic tomato fondue; and grilled Atlantic salmon with a succotash of Burbank potato, zucchini, yellow squash, bacon and scallion and tomato beurre blanc. Warm chocolate Tollhouse pie with chocolate, pretzels, Oreos, chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream is a sure-fire sweet/salty dessert hit. The Soon-To-Be-Classic cocktails ($8.50-$9.50) and libations list heralds the coming of the Blueberry Buck, Spiced "Back-Porch" Punch, Cucumber Basil Cooler, Southern Peach Coupe and fresh fruit juices. Quite the incentive to do a little spring cleaning at home then appease your appetite with these newbies at Marlow's Tavern.

Like this. Marlow's Tavern is streamlining its Facebook presence, uniting all eight locations on one central Facebook page. Easier social networking allows more time to enjoy living the life at your favorite Marlow's Tavern location.

Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Food Pours Savings By The Bottle, Glass And Pitcher

Set the GPS to Sandy Springs on Wednesdays for "2, 4, 6 Hump-Day Hook-Up" at Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Food. Every Wednesday, all day and into the night, guests can chill out sipping Corona and Corona Light for $2 a bottle. Frozen 'ritas - swirl, frozen sangria, frozen margarita and frozen strawberry margaritas - are only $4 each. Patrón Silver margarita on-the-rocks, Patrón cosmo-ritas and Patrón skinny margaritas are $6 each (excludes Patrón classic margarita).

"Lettuce Turnip The Beet" At "This Is Market" For Georgia Organics

"Bean" looking for local produce and goods? You have to know where to shop. Farmers markets are beginning to leaf out all over the Atlanta area, giving lots of farm-to-outdoor booth shopping opportunities to those who've been rooted to inside-the-box stores over the winter. Georgia Organics is celebrating their own kind of season opener with "This Is Market," a local brew, chew, music party and fundraiser at SweetWater Brewing Company on Thursday, April 12 from 7 - 10 p.m. "Local" is the prefix for everything included in the ticket price:  food prepared by chefs, SweetWater brews, "Two Friends Imports" wine, Smokey's Farmland Band, and farmers markets in Decatur, East Atlanta Village, East Lake, Grant Park, Morningside, Peachtree Road as well as Farm Mobile and Truly Living Well. Tickets are $45 each for Georgia Organics members and $55 for non-members (includes one-year membership to Georgia Organics). No tickets will be sold at the door. 

Chef Shaun Doty Demos At 2^nd Annual High Meadows School Farmers Market On April 14

The 2^nd Annual High Meadows School Farmers Market is a one-day festival of local edibles featuring organic and sustainably grown foods from more than 40 local farmers and food vendors, garden and cooking demonstrations, live music and family activities. This year's festival, sponsored by Whole Foods Market at Merchants Walk shopping center in East Cobb, is slated for Saturday, April 14 from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on the grounds of High Meadows School in Roswell. At 11 a.m., Chef Shaun Doty will lead cooking lessons featuring Heritage Farms chicken donated by Will Harris and White Oak Pastures. Last year, more than 1,000 visitors attended this event, and this year's event promises to be even bigger. 

Eat It And Tweep: The Low Down on Low Country Tweep Marion Sullivan    

Sample Tweet:  Lucky folks in Charleston with citrus trees might find this worth tagging: "Homemade Citrus Liqueurs to Prime Summer": http://nyti.ms/Hjn7wV