Start Using Your Dinner & A Cause Card This Week

Cause an effect of extending dinner options and educating children by purchasing and using a Dinner & A Cause card from Children of Conservation. Savor 20 percent savings on your dinner tab at some of the ATL's top restaurants in July and August. The list of participating restaurants is long and includes Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub in Brookhaven, No. 246 in Decatur, JCT. Kitchen & Bar on Atlanta's Westside and Chicken and the Egg in Marietta. Purchase cards online; $25 for July 1-31, $25 for August 1-31 or $45 when buying both months at the same time. Use it as many times as you wish during the permitted timeframe. Your card purchase helps provide an education for children of wildlife sanctuary workers in Africa.  

Come Closer, My Pretty, And See Chef Action Up Close At Kaleidoscope Bistro Chef's Counter
On June 28

It's chef showtime at 7 p.m. this Thursday night, June 28, at Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub in Brookhaven. Six guests will have front-row seats at the counter for Chef Joey Riley's spellbinding culinary action accompanied by a four-course dinner. The night's dinner plan involves scallops, pork belly, peaches and cherrywood-smoked duck a l'orange. Alcohol is not included in the $50-per-person price; pairings are available at $25 per person. Bring your own bottle of wine for a $15 corkage fee. Dinner with a chef's counter view only happens on the last Thursday of the month at Kaleidoscope. Book now by calling 404-474-9600.

Dogfish Head Pours "Off-Centered Ales For Off-Centered People" At Woodfire Grill Beer Dinner

Road tripping down from the Delaware brewery near Rehoboth Beach, Dogfish Head Craft Beers are pulling into Woodfire Grill for a five-course beer dinner this Thursday, June 28 at 6:30 p.m. Dogfish is proud to call its ales "off-centered" because challenging beer perceptions is one of their goals. Pair these unique ales with Woodfire Grill's special menu centered around fresh, seasonal ingredients for a dining event that will set you straight. Cocktails and appetizers come out at 6:30 p.m. Dinner starts at 7 p.m. The $90 dinner excludes tax and gratuity. Only 20 seats are available. Call 404-347-9055 to make your reservation. More on Facebook.

RA Sushi Keeps Watermelon-Kiwi Pairings Rolling Through July

Were you melon-choly, thinking the watermelon-kiwi cocktails and entrées at RA Sushi Bar Restaurant would exit with June? All those good vibes emitting from guests prompted the Midtown restaurant and bar to extend the popular Watermelon Kiwi Shrimp and Melon-Kiwi-Tini pairing through July 31. There's an instant chill factor with each bite of Watermelon Kiwi Shrimp layered with watermelon, kiwi, orange slices and lychee and topped with shrimp. Melon-Kiwi-Tini muddles Monin Watermelon, Svedka Citron, shochu and a splash of citrus soda and dolls it up with watermelon and kiwi slices. Order the pairing for $18 -- less than a bikini and one size fits all.

That's A Whole Lotta Pizza For A Little Dough At Alon's In Dunwoody 

Given Alon's prowess in the bakery department and range of gourmet toppings, every pizza peeling out of their oven is going to be amazing. Get ready to discover your ideal pizza at Alon's Bakery and Market in Park Place Dunwoody. On Monday, July 2, diners can enjoy all of the pizza they care to eat for $12 per person. You never know which of Alon's masterpieces will be next out for slicing. Try them all: 4 cheese with pecorino, mozzarella, ricotta and gorgonzola; Margherita with fresh basil and crushed tomato; and Tallegio with mozzarella, fig balsamic, truffled honey and Marcona almonds, to name a few. Special pricing begins at 5 p.m. and lasts until 8 p.m.  

Go Forth On The Fourth -- A Parade Of Independence Day Activities And Hours At Atlanta Restaurants

The Peachtree Road Race, parades, concerts and fireworks will work up a July 4th appetite. Atlanta's restaurants have some firecracker ideas for your Independence Day holiday, and not a one involves firing up your own kitchen appliances. We salute these eating out options!  

Start celebrating early with Woodfire Grill's annual "BBQ & Beer" event on July 3 from 5:30-11 p.m. Executive Chef Kevin Gillespie's three-course, all-American menu includes an appetizer, main course of BBQ, Brunswick stew and sides, and banana pudding for dessert. Beer from Atlanta's own SweetWater Brewery will star alongside the food, and all proceeds from SweetWater beer sales will benefit the brewery's campaign to "Save the Hooch." Dinner cost is $38 per person (plus tax and gratuity). Reservations are required as seating is limited. Call 404-347-9055.

Come to Atkins Park Tavern in Virginia Highland prepared to "Go Whole Hog or Go Home" over their July 4th lunch and dinner special. A meat-and-three-sides menu is the food of champions for $15 per person (excluding beverage, tax and gratuity). Cheer for beer and a chance to win some of the $500 in prizes at the tavern's Backyard Beer Olympics beginning at 4 p.m.

Baseball-bound Atkins Park Tavern in Smyrna and Ormsby's are running their hit ballpark bus trip to the Atlanta Braves versus Chicago Cubs game. Get the whole shebang for $55 per person: beer, Jäger, hot dogs, roundtrip bus ride, ticket to the 7:10 p.m. game and plenty of time to watch the post-game fireworks show. Sure to sell out so call Atkins Park Tavern in Smyrna at 770-435-1887 or Ormsby's at 404-968-2033 to reserve your ticket(s).

Open for you on the Fourth are:

*  Alon's Bakery and Market in Virginia Highland and Dunwoody, open from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

*  Atkins Park Tavern in Virginia Highland and Smyrna

*  Ecco, European-inspired bistro, open for dinner in Midtown

*  Fleming's Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar in Dunwoody

*  La Tavola Trattoria for an Italian dinner in Virginia Highland

*  All eight Marlow's Tavern locations

*  No. 246 for Italian in Decatur

*  The Original El Taco in Virginia Highland

*  Ormsby's on Atlanta's Westside, dinner only

*  RA Sushi Bar Restaurant for Japanese fusion, sushi and fun drinks in Midtown

*  Ray's in the City, Ray's at Killer Creek and Ray's on the River open from 4 - 9 p.m.

*  Smashburger, all five Atlanta-area locations will be open

*  South City Kitchen Vinings for Southern fare in Vinings

*  Uncle Julio's Fine Mexican Food for a July 4th fiesta in Buckhead and Sandy Springs

Who's taking the day off?  Closed for the holiday are: Alma Cocina, Aqua blue, Aria, Chicken and the Egg, JCT. Kitchen & Bar, Kaleidoscope Bistro & Pub, The Optimist, South City Kitchen Midtown and Woodfire Grill. 

School's In For Summer At The Cook's Warehouse

Culinary enthusiasts don't put learning new skills on the back burner over summer and neither does The Cook's Warehouse. Cooking school is, well, cooking with the posting of classes for the next three months. See what's scheduled at each of the four stores here.

Entering Marlow's Tavern "Red, White & Brew + You" Sweepstakes Might Win Dinner For You And Friends

The patriotic plates of "Red, White & Brew" are strong on American summer eats and proud to be offered at all eight Marlow's Tavern locations. Try your hand at winning a "Red, White & Brew" dinner for you and five friends when you enter their "Red, White & Brew + You" sweepstakes on Facebook.

What's New On Pinterest: Frozen, Chosen Popsicles 

Zoku Quick Pop Maker at The Cook's Warehouse

Summer's hot. Popsicles are not. Check out our Pinterest board for ideas to beat the heat.  

July 1st Pops The Top On National Canned Luncheon Meat Month 

As we were cruisin' the aisles of a gas station convenience store, we saw them. Right there with the Slim Jims were Vienna sausages. Regular and jalapeño. Tex-Mex Viennas? That got us talking and before you could say "Google it," we uncovered another foodie holiday. July, the month of road trips, sunscreen and beach sand in your sandwiches is officially "National Canned Luncheon Meat Month." Uncanny how we discover these things, isn't it? We're just food magnets.

Eat It And Tweep:  ATLurbanist Lives American Dream Downtown

Darin and family reside in downtown Atlanta. The urban steward walks, scooters and takes Marta around town, which lends itself to many in-town epiphanies and some nice leg muscles. Locate Darin on Twitter (@ATLurbanist) -- no tweeting while scootering -- or open up his blog and peruse after you've hoofed it to your local Wi-Fi café.

Sample Tweet:  Woot! @clatlanta published my Walton Street entry in "Readers Favorite Places." Downtown ATL, represent! http://clatl.com/atlanta/reader ...

MLA On The Town

Here we are, cutting up with the stars. Erica, Mandy, Suong and Tuan saw what Atlanta's culinary Rising Stars can do at the recent Star Chefs awards and tasting gala at The Goat Farm.