In This Issue

Tin Lizzy's Tacos for Tatas Benefits It's the Journey

Stop by Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails at Crabapple Fest

Ray's on the Creek Big Green Egg Class

Peachtree Road Farmers Market Mash-Up

Sushi and Sake Socials at RA Sushi

Coast into National Seafood Month

No. 246 Backyard Ping-Pong Tournament

Alma Cocina Hosts Two Nights of Top-Shelf Tequila Experiences

White Oak Pastures Sausage of the Week

The Nature Conservancy's Nature's Plate Award Competition

#foodgram: @occupymyfamily

Appetizing Aperture: Blushing Geishas at RA Sushi

What's New on Pinterest? Pumped About Pumpkin

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!

Tin Lizzy's Tacos for Tatas Benefits

It's the Journey on October 4

Photo by: Jeremy Adamo

October is Breast Cancer Awareness month, and local sweetheart Tin Lizzy's invites you to fill up on Tacos for Tatas to benefit It's the Journey on Friday, October 4. Ten percent of the proceeds from all tacos sold at all locations on that day will walk right over to It's the Journey. The Atlanta-based nonprofit organizes the annual Atlanta 2-Day Walk for Breast Cancer, a fundraiser that helps women in metro Atlanta receive breast cancer screenings and treatment. Watch out for this year's walkers as they trek from downtown Decatur to Centennial Olympic Park on Saturday, October 5 and Sunday, October 6.

Stop by Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails at

Crabapple Fest on October 5

Two iconic events are coming together in historic Crabapple this Saturday, October 5, and Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails is right up in the mix. The Crabapple Community Association (CCA) Crossroads at Crabapple Antique and Arts Festival links up with the Milton Roundup to create Crabapple Fest, this weekend's best destination festival. It's all there: antique dealers, juried art, music and entertainment, games, rides, kids' activities and food trucks. Crabapple is home turf for Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails, and they'll have a food booth at the fest. Also, for the first time, beer and wine will be available on festival grounds. Admission is free. Festival hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; shuttles will transport guests from satellite parking lots continuously from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Click here for details.

Ray's on the Creek Big Green Egg Class Takes Tailgating beyond Burgers and Dogs

Gridiron chefs who want to move to the head of the tailgating curve will add the Ray's on the Creek Big Green Egg class to their October 5 calendar page. Block out the 11 a.m.-1 p.m. time slot (still plenty of time to watch the games afterward) and reserve a spot by calling 770-649-0064. Tuition is $15 per person. Find out what's cooking here.

Game day or not, it's open season for the Alpharetta restaurant's new raw bar and sushi and oyster offerings that are available for lunch, dinner and private dining. Set sights on the California roll, crunchy roll, volcano roll, sake nigiri, spicy tuna roll, bagel roll with smoked salmon and cream cheese, the Georgia roll of salmon, avocado, asparagus and crab and lots more, all within the $5-$13 range. On Thursday nights, Ray's on the Creek has added a free sushi plate in the bar for Ladies Night from 4-7 p.m. - nice with those $5 Absolut cocktails!

Shaun Doty of Bantam + Biddy and Chick-a-Biddy Thinks Fast at October 5

Peachtree Road Farmers Market Mash- Up

A farmers market requires produce and local wares. The city requires police presence. Cha-ching. To foot the police coverage, Peachtree Road Farmers Market is hosting a Market Mash-Up on Saturday, October 5 from 9 a.m.-noon. Four chefs, Shaun Doty of Bantam + Biddy and Chick-a-Biddy among them, will have 200 market dollars to create a dish that shows off the season and market ingredients. Ticket holders choose the Mash-Up Ruler during a 9:45 -10:45 a.m. tasting and can shop at the silent auction. All proceeds go toward cop coverage. $10 per ticket and only 200 tickets are available.

Hands Down Best Ice Breaker:

Sushi and Sake Socials at RA Sushi

Dinner and a movie sound so stationary once you consider the Sushi and Sake Socials at RA Sushi Bar Restaurant. They're so hands on. Guests learn sushi rolling and sake pairing and have the opportunity to create two different rolls during the private event. After class, guests enjoy a three-course meal starting off with an appetizer followed by guests' own sushi creations and ending with a mochi trio for dessert. Sake pairings accompany each course. Favors include a sushi rolling mat to keep and a card for one free appetizer or roll on another visit. All of the above is only $50 per person. Reservations must be made at least two weeks in advance by calling 404-267-0114, and a minimum group of 15 is required.

Coast into National Seafood Month and "Sea" What's on the Menu at Atlanta Restaurants

October is National Seafood Month, reminding us that a seafood-rich diet hauls in health benefits. Atlanta restaurants provide a treasure trove of delicious ways to enjoy the coastal catch. Dive in, or you'll be saying "Ah, shucks" at month's end.

Lure hooks guests with saltwater classics prepared fresh daily including shareable Blue Hill Bay mussels ($14), fried North Carolina catfish with Vidalia onion hushpuppies, coleslaw and corn on the cob ($19), grilled Block Island swordfish ($32) and other specialties prepared by executive chef David Bradley.

Casual dockside vibe flows as The Big Ketch Saltwater Grill dishes up fresh seafood and sides for lunch and dinner. Order oysters on the half shell, lump crab cake or calamari fries for starters before netting saltwater favorites like the shrimp and grits for $12.95 or the "dry pack" sea scallops for $20.95.

For sustainable seafood in west Midtown, tie up at The Optimist. Executive chef Adam Evans offers a variety of fresh catches such as East and West coast oysters or entr�es like the crispy whole black fish with fried shallots.

Flying fish? Ray's Restaurants flies in fish daily from Atlantic and Pacific fishing fleets and brings in the best from local mountain waters. Scan the Fresh Seafood Market menu category for grilled or blackened sustainable fish and shellfish selections including Georges Bank scallops, grouper and Georgia mountain trout. Visit Ray's in the City in downtown Atlanta, Ray's on the River in Sandy Springs and Ray's on the Creek in Alpharetta.

No. 246 Backyard Ping-Pong Tournament Prelims Bring Prizes, Sausages and Beer to the Table October 6

Our awesome autumnal weather spells backyard Ping-Pong perfection. So be it. The single-elimination preliminaries are going down in the backyard at Decatur's No. 246 this Sunday, October 6 and will continue each Sunday until the Oktoberfeast final four round on October 20. Sign up for Ping-Pong tournament preliminary #2 opens at 4 p.m., and tournament action flies beginning at 5 p.m. for a maximum of eight players. Housemade sausage ($10) and Red Hare beer ($5) specials satiate spectators and help players recover after intense rounds. All players are welcome. Red Hare doles out prizes including brewery tours to winners and a tournament grand prize VIP brewery tour for 10 people with a custom cask blending experience.

Alma Cocina Hosts Two Nights of Top-Shelf Tequila Experiences on October 10 and 11

Top shelf denotes the best, and Alma Cocina will pour the top of the top at two separate tequila appreciation events. On Thursday, October 10 from 7-10 p.m., "A Night of Tequila" will fill the atrium of 191 Peachtree Tower. "Latin-," "American-," and "Alternative-" themed cocktails will use Herradura and other prestigious tequilas. Executive chef Chad Clevenger and team are pairing delectables with each cocktail such as charred octopus al pastor, butternut squash and mushroom sopes, pork cheek mondongo tostadas and more. $50 per person and you must purchase tickets in advance online. On Friday, October 11 from 7-10 p.m., it's a "Dinner of the Seven Barrels" -- a four-course dinner and tequila tasting commemorating the seven custom barrels of Herradura tequila that were personally tasted, approved and brought back to Atlanta by Fifth Group Restaurants solely for Alma Cocina...and using a few bottles reserved especially for this one-of-a-kind event. Ruben Aceves, Herradura's global brand ambassador, will be on hand for tequila talk during the tasting. Clevenger's menu reveals a Latin and Mexican culinary heritage, right down to the decadent tres leches and pumpkin churros dessert. $65 per person and advance purchase online is a must.

Totally Tubular! Order White Oak Pastures Homemade Sausage of the Week Online Today

Pure artistry, link by link. Each week, White Oak Pastures makes up small batches of artisanal sausages from grass-fed beef, lamb, pork or pastured chicken. There's only one sausage offering each week so order early before your links to delicious eating are snatched by some other sausage lover. This week's feature is rosemary and citrus spiced pork sausage, sensational for grilling, smoking and saut�ing. Cost is $8.99/pack of five links, approximately one pound. Sign up here to be added to the weekly specials email update or check back each week on the Artisan Goods section of the website.

Being Green with Envy is a Good Thing in

The Nature Conservancy's Nature's Plate

Award Competition

How green is your favorite restaurant? Read up on what it takes to be a green restaurant and see which restaurants fill the bill and are worthy of being nominated into The Nature Conservancy's People's Choice Nature's Plate Award Competition. Green guidelines to consider include serving seasonal, organic produce grown regionally or locally and offering sustainable seafood and free-range and grass-fed meat and tap water rather than bottled water. Voting begins October 1. Definitely some information to chew on while evaluating your dinner plate!

#foodgram

For a quick link to free and inexpensive family fun in the metro-Atlanta area, touch base with @occupymyfamily on Instagram. More time? Head to the website.

Appetizing Aperture

Beautiful Blushing Geishas will be hanging out at the bar at Midtown's RA Sushi Bar Restaurant through October 31. Don't be shy. She's only $5 a glass, all dressed with SKYY Infusions Raspberry vodka, Chambord, fresh lemon sour and a splash of soda. Perhaps she's not as innocent as she looks.

Pinterest

We're Pumped About Pumpkin on our Pinterest board because, well, 'tis the season to select THE ONE at a Georgia pumpkin patch, farmers market or the local produce department. Let's not forget the virtues, ease and flexibility of canned pumpkin. We're covering it all, from pumpkin patches to pumpkin pie smoothies and pumpkin spice whoopies.