In This Issue

Buy Your Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival Tickets

Chick-a-Biddy Opens July 11

And the Winners Are...

The Mill Kitchen & Bar Terrapin Beer Dinner

Milton's Fork & Screen on the Green

Chef Ford Fry Names New Restaurant

#foodgram: @gunshowatl

Appetizing Aperture: Bhojanic

What's New on Pinterest? Party in Your Garden

ABOUT THE DISH

Looking for the latest restaurant openings, weekly wine tastings and drink specials or other culinary happenings? Whatever makes your mouth water, Melissa Libby & Associates will point you in the right direction.

up-to-date on new and ongoing restaurant events around Atlanta!

Better "Ketchup" and Buy Tickets to the July 21 Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival

Fried green with envy that your friends already have tickets to the fifth annual Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival going down at JCT. Kitchen & Bar on Sunday, July 21 from 1-5 p.m.? Well then, salsa your finger to the ticket click-it pronto and pick some for $70 apiece. The event benefits Georgia Organics, and your taste buds will benefit from fierce and friendly chef and mixologist competitions judged by culinary authors, editors and other food-famous forces. Tickets are selling fast so get 'em while they last. Also, check out the latest issue of the Westside Provisions District News and their festival article quoting our very own Melissa Libby!

BurgerFi to Serve Burgers, Beer, Custards and More in Kennesaw Beginning July 10

From the city to the mountains, BurgerFication of the Nation is spreading across the metro area. BurgerFi opens July 10 in Kennesaw at 2844 South Main Street. Serving lunch and dinner seven days a week, BurgerFi satiates those craving all-natural, farm-raised Angus beef burgers, Wagyu Kobe beef hot dogs, VegeFi quinoa burgers and hand-cut french fries and onion rings. Beat the heat with their frozen custards, floats and cones, or relax with a cold cane soda, craft beer or a glass of wine. Bite into the juicy details on our Atlanta Dish blog.

Drum(stick) Roll Please -- Chick-a-Biddy Opens July 11 in Atlantic Station

What fun for Atlantic Station shoppers, moviegoers and those looking for farm-fresh chicken served up in an energetic modern diner! Shaun Doty and Lance Gummere, co-owners of Bantam + Biddy in Ansley Mall, will open Chick-a-Biddy on Thursday, July 11 in the space that formerly housed The Grape. What a transformation of space -- and a healthy menu full of chicken dishes, simple sides and cocktails to cackle about. And this just scratches the surface. Read more on our Atlanta Dish blog.

And the Winners are . . .

Kudos to our award-winning friends in the restaurant industry. Jezebel's 100 Best Restaurants recognizes King + Duke with several nods including Best New Restaurant, Best Patio and Best Atmosphere, and chef Joe Schafer graces the magazine's cover as Best Rising Chef. The Optimist takes the number-one Best Restaurant spot along with Best Oysters and Best Celeb Spotting, while JCT. Kitchen & Bar rocks the list with Best Live Music. Aria is among the top 10 Best Restaurants in the city, Marlow's Tavern takes Best Neighborhood Pub and STATS scores with Best Sports Pub. Seven Lamps in the Shops Around Lenox garners Best Foodie Fix, and the restaurant's mixologist Arianne Fielder pours it on to be named Best Barkeep. Thrillist salutes Gunshow's Kevin Gillespie for creating the Most America-est Hot Dog, and chef Rob Phillip of Hearth Pizza Tavern in Sandy Springs wins Perimeter North Lifestyle magazine's mac 'n cheese throw down. Congratulations to this winning bunch!

The Mill Kitchen & Bar is Rockin' Roswell with a Terrapin Beer and Barbecue Dinner, LLS Fundraiser and Clear Channel Broadcasting

on July 11

Fireworks are so last week. This Thursday, July 11, The Mill Kitchen & Bar is joining the third annual Rockin' Roswell for a CURE and is hosting a "Light the Night" Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) fundraiser that will have eyes lighting up over a Terrapin beer dinner and Vixen Vodka drinks. Terrapin staff will be in house pouring four beers, including the newly released Recreational ale and their double chocolate porter. What a dynamic duo when teamed up with The Mill Kitchen & Bar executive chef Benjamin Castro's three-course "Picnic BBQ" dinner. All in all, 20 percent of the night's sales and 100 percent of Vixen Vodka specialty cocktail sales will head off to LLS and blood cancer research. Clear Channel broadcasts from the patio, adding another "Light the Night" dimension.

Opa! Milton's Fork & Screen on the Green Shows "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" on July 17

Gus Portokalos' go-to remedy was Windex. None needed to see the humor in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" on the big outdoor screen at Milton's Fork & Screen on the Green at Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails on Wednesday, July 17. This PG-13 movie became the highest-grossing romantic comedy of all time and spurred oft-repeated lines such as Gus Portokalos' "Give me a word, any word, and I show you that the root of that word is Greek." And then there's Maria Portokalos' Bundt cake revelation of "There's a hole in this cake!" Bring your comfy lawn chairs or blanket and take a seat on the lawn for the sunset showing. Leave the rest to Milton's: buy a boxed chef dinner for $25 per person and visit the cash bar for Vixen Vodka cocktails and FIJI Water. (Sorry, no outside food or drinks permitted.) Movie begins at dusk; no advance reservation needed. Planning for a group of eight or more? Contact Heather Testerman at 678-431-8753. Follow Milton's on Twitter and Facebook for updates. Call 770-817-0161 for more information.

Music to Our Ears: Chef Ford Fry Names

New Restaurant St. Cecilia

It shouldn't come as a surprise that music-loving chef Ford Fry is naming his new seafood-heavy Mediterranean restaurant St. Cecilia, after the patron saint of musicians. After all, the man has serious guitar skills that he showcases with local chef band Five Bone Rack! Opening this fall in Buckhead's former Bluepointe space, Ford describes St. Cecilia as a combination of No. 246 and The Optimist, his popular Italian spot in Decatur and his critically acclaimed West Midtown sustainable seafood restaurant. Sounds like a hit to us! Look forward to a menu featuring locally sourced ingredients and grilled seafood cooked in a wood-burning oven. Also, make plans to check out the "dramatic" crudo bar Fry is installing, since we're sure it'll top the charts as Buckhead's new go-to meeting spot in no time.

#foodgram: @gunshowatl

Instagram slice of life for Gunshow: outside window looking in, ingredients, team entity, tidy kitchen line, multitude of small plates, Kevin Gillespie napping on a carry-out box. Thrown into the mix, a philosophical quote from James Joyce: "God made food; the devil the cooks." Chew on that, click a photo and order another plate.

Appetizing Aperture

Eggplants are revealing their purple orbs in Southern veggie gardens and farmers markets about now, coinciding with summer's nightly grill glow around the ATL. Bhojanic's eggplant dip double dips, hitting both garden and grill. Give it a go at home (plenty of places in Atlanta to pick up exotic ingredients) or visit the authentic Indian restaurant in Decatur or in Buckhead's Shops Around Lenox.

Roasted Eggplant Dip with Naan Toasts

2 fancy eggplants

2.5 pounds plain nonfat yogurt

1 ounce salt

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon brown mustard seeds

20 curry leaves

5 whole dry red chilies

1 cup milk

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 ounce oil

2 green chilis, chopped

1 pinch asafetida

Cilantro to garnish

Grill the eggplants, whole, until each is soft and falls flat. Clean and mash the eggplants into a paste. Beat the yogurt and milk together until smooth. Combine the eggplant and the yogurt mixture. Add the diced bell pepper, sugar and salt and mix well. Heat the oil and add the asafetida, mustard seeds, curry leaves and the red and green chills. Combine the hot topping and the eggplant mixture. Garnish with cilantro. Toast store-bought naan with butter and serve with the dip.

Pinterest: Party in Your Garden

Photo from Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails

Repurpose your kids' wagon (or flea market find) as a transport vehicle from house to yard. Buy a case of Mason jars, and you're set to decorate, keep the bugs out and make Mason jar sippers. Whip out the peach salsa that you made, toss together some chipotle shrimp salad bowls, plate up fresh corn and jalape�o griddle cakes and set out Key lime parfaits. Dig our Pinterest board, and you won't even need to clean house. Well, maybe the powder room.