In This Issue

Atlanta Restaurants Feed the Fire with Fireplaces & Fire Pits

Enter the Tin Lizzy's 5th Annual Taco Contest

Say Hello to Ford Fry's Newest - St. Cecilia

Appetizing Aperture: King + Duke Hot Toddy

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!

Baby, It's Cold Outside! Atlanta Restaurants Feed the Fire with Fireplaces and Fire Pits

King + Duke Patio

Usually when we talk about Atlanta's fired-up cuisine scene, we're referring to open-hearth cooking, coal-fired pizza ovens and smoking-hot Big Green Eggs. The advent of colder weather draws us closer to another kind of flame, that radiating from interior dining room fireplaces and heat-packing fire pits on restaurant patios and rooftops. Dine out and get it to glow.

At Buckhead's Seven Lamps, a courtyard fire pit warms hands as they tip a glass of Low Winter Sun or another handcrafted cocktail dispersing liquid sunshine. At nearby King + Duke, newly installed fire pits entice guests outside for a hot toddy or fiery spirits at the winter bar.

Midtowners can heat up as they eat up at HOBNOB Neighborhood Tavern. Outdoor dining is a go for breakfast, lunch or dinner as the fire pit evicts cold while welcoming friends to gather.

Sunsets come early in winter months, providing more time to soak in the twinkling cityscape from a rooftop perch at STATS located in downtown Atlanta's Luckie Marietta District. Cozy up near the blazing fire pit and stoke winter cravings with a hearty salad, sandwich, salmon or steak or a powerful libation from the fully stocked bar. Those fired up about a wedding, corporate party or private event will light into Ventanas where 360-degree views of the city below and stars above ignite a huge wow factor for guests seated fireside on the rooftop patio.

Traditionalists will love the two large fireplaces at Old Vinings Inn: one casts a welcoming warmth into the lobby as the other invites guests to settle into the Bear Room for comfort food or a feel-good cup of hot caramel apple cider. A towering stacked-stone fireplace anchors the patio at The Mill Kitchen & Bar in Roswell. Craft cocktails, warm desserts and regionally inspired favorites lift winter's gray cloud. In historic Crabapple, Milton's Cuisine & Cocktails' indoor fireplace casts a cheerful glow over the dining room.

Savor the contrast of windows on winter and dining by a crackling fire at Ray's on the Creek. The Alpharetta restaurant keeps Big Green Egg ribs and pulled pork on the menu as well as offering Ray's Restaurants' seafood favorites year round.

Free Play Game Week is Game On at

Game-X Through January 10

Outside, the thermometer plunges. Inside Game-X, the action is hotter than ever as Atlantans work hard at simulation play during free game play week, going on through Friday, January 10. From SnoCross to Deadstorm Pirates to Superbikes, there's a simulation game for everyone to master. Score the details on our blog then head downtown to Game-X in the Luckie Marietta District. Opens daily at 11 a.m. for lunch hour play time!

Tin Lizzy's to Shell Out Cash Prizes for

Top Tacos in 5th Annual Taco Contest

In a perfect world, how would you top your taco? Flex your Mex-ination and unleash your inner bean by jotting down your ideal taco components and submitting them in the fifth annual taco contest now underway at Tin Lizzy's Cantina locations. With six metro-Atlanta cantinas (and another on the 2014 calendar for Kennesaw), Tin Lizzy's credits fans with providing some of its most tantalizing taco combinations. Restaurant compadres are even stocking cantinas with contest notepads to encourage the flow of creative energy from pen to pad to pan. Here's how the taco timeline unfolds: finalists' tacos will be included on the menu in March; top seller wins $500, their taco on the menu and 10 VIP passes to the restaurant's Cinco de Mayo party; second place wins a $250 Tin Lizzy's gift card while third place will receive a $150 gift card. We crunch the details here.

Ford Fry's Newest -- St. Cecilia -- Sings of the Ligurian Sea and European Coast in Buckhead

The junction of Peachtree and Lenox roads and the European coast each have their own allures. Harmony comes at St. Cecilia, Ford Fry's newest restaurant scheduled to open January 13. Taking its name and cue from the patron saint of music, St. Cecilia marries flavors inspired by the Ligurian coast with the geographic draw of Buckhead's Pinnacle Building location bordered by Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza. Executive chef Brian Horn plans fresh, handmade pasta and wood-roasted fish; goes coastal with seafood dishes of bucatini with Jonah crab, Serrano chili and garlicky crumbs or fluke crudo with blood orange, pink grapefruit, Castelvetrano olive and EVOO; then travels inland for the likes of veal rib chop with cipollini onions, mushroom pancetta and Madeira. Interior-wise, elements such as reclaimed light wood, Romanesque-tiled columns and vintage accents create a timeless design and modern day atmosphere. Kitchen sightseeing reveals hot and cold from the wood-burning mini hearth to an icy trough filled with fish and shellfish. Pastry chef Chrysta Poulos directs dessert creation, and consultant Lara Creasy crafts a beverage program emphasizing wine and lighter-bodied cocktails. St. Cecilia serves dinner nightly and weekday lunch. Valet parking is available. Reservations: 404-554-9995.

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Appetizing Aperture

A hot shot of spirits, a spoon of sweetness and a squirt of lemon. The hot toddy is traditionally credited to the Scots, who have a bit of experience warming up cold nights. King + Duke heats up their own version of the hot toddy then adds that something extra...a seat by patio fire pits. Tradition perfected.

What's New on Pinterest?

Bowl us over, it's soup season! Plug in the Crock-Pot or put the stockpot on the back burner. Souper Meals simmer away, emitting enticing fragrances, promising warm comfort and perhaps even curing that sniffly nose.