Southern Foodways Symposium, Day Four

Started off Saturday with a lunch that included pork cheeks from Five and Ten's Hugh Acheson:

Had a pork sandwich from B's BBQ at the Shell station. Oxford serves some fantastic food at their gas stations:

After another stop at City Grocery, we headed to the Saturday night extravaganza, featuring Boudin Balls:

A tree in the 'Bacon Forest:'

Ryan from Herbsaint:

Stephen from Cochon:

Ed Mitchell's pork and cracklins:

Frank Stitt of Highlands Bar and Grill serves pig ears:

The Rising Star Drum & Fife Band in the Bacon Forest:

Southern Foodways Symposium, Day Three

Ate a fantastic lunch consisting of:

Boudin with Saltines / T-Boy Berzas, Ville Platte, Louisiana

Hot Guts / Bryan Bracewell, Southside Market, Elgin, Texas

Various Sides / Steven Barber, Napa, California

Succotash of Rancho Gordo Butter Beans w/Benton's Country Ham

Potato Salad with Garnett Yams, Benton's Bacon, and Katz Apple Cider Vinegar:For mid-day snacks, it was back to L & M's for yet more chicken liver.

We then took the double-decker to Taylor Grocery for the best catfish on the planet, accompanied by one of the best bands on the planet, Blue Mountain:


Capped it all off with an Oxford institution, 'Chicken On A Stick,' from the Chevron:

Southern Foodways Symposium, Day Two

Started out the day with a breakfast feast from the folks from Herbsaint & Cochon and Bruce Aidells. We had pork cracklins, ponce, tortilla, bacon, and a few more pig parts that I can't recall.

After a quick drive to Oxford, we stopped at L & M's for some charcuterie and chicken liver:

For the main event, Eddie Hernandez and Mike Klank from the peerless Taqueria del Sol treated us to a fine mexican feast, including Fried Chicken Tacos, 'Hoppin Juan,' and beer from Atlanta Brewing Co.:

It was back to L & M's for more meats, then over to City Grocery for beers:

Southern Foodways Symposium, Day One

We're in Mississippi for the 10th annual Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium. The trip through Alabama took us to Pop's Charburgers:

Then it was off to a barbecue shack with great pork sandwiches and a sign that should guarantee their success:

We arrived in Greenwood at the Viking Range headquarters, and broke down a pig with pork man Bruce Aidells:

Happy pig:

Jeff gets beard advice from Bruce:

Dinner featured more pig, courtesy of Donald Link and Stephen Stryjewski of Cochon. Link choppin' pig:

Another pig:

Alabama Eatin'

Ate some good food in Alabama this weekend - Highlands Bar and Grill had some fantastic Apalachicola oysters:

Also stopped by Pete's Famous Hot Dogs in Birmingham for a dog all the way - check out the beautiful sign:

Then it was off to Pop's Charburgers in Heflin, AL, home of delicious burgers, butterscotch shakes and "a cup of ice pellets for crunchin'" (it's on the menu) - only to be met with this devastating news:

Had to settle for a pork sandwich at Golden Rule in Pell City, which wasn't too shabby.

Benton's Bacon Dinner, Pt. II

We hosted Allan Benton for another dinner featuring his products last night, this one at Repast. We'll post the menu once we recover from the bacon hangover, but needless to say, the meal was fantastic. Allan seemed to enjoy his culinary tour of Atlanta, and was particularly impressed with the meat counter at Star Provisions and the fish tacos at Taqueria del Sol.

Repast Chef Joe Truex and Allan Benton:

Benton's Bacon Dinner at Food 101

We were proud to bring one of the great ham artisans of the modern era, Allan Benton, to Atlanta for a dinner featuring his products at Food 101. The seven-course menu consisted of:

Smoked Ham and Corn Risotto

Green Eggs & Ham
Twice Cooked Farm Egg, Shaved Country Ham & Cypress Grove Cheese

Stuffed Yukon Gold Potato
Crisp Bacon, Balsamic Roasted Mushrooms, Cowgirl Creamery Fromage Blanc & Trout Caviar

“The Other” Pork Ravioli
Allan’s Prosciutto, Braised Cabbage, Sweet Grass Dairy Goat Cheese & Gravenstein Apple Butter

Local Arugula
Grilled Pears, Oregonzola Cheese, Bacon Croutons & Buttermilk Bacon Dressing

Springer Mountain Chicken & Country Ham Wellington
Grain Mustard Potato Puree, Local Swiss Chard & Tomato-Pork Jus

Strawberry & Fennel Turnover

10x Sugar & Arugula Ice Cream

Green Eggs & Ham:

Kempten in the AJC!

Green Olive's Branding Director, Kempten Roberts, was featured in the AJC's Apartment Guide last week.


 

Green Olive Media Has Won the Lottery!!!

...The Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium lottery, that is! We're counting down the days until we can join all of our favorite Southerners and would-be Southerners (as Matt and Ted would say) down in Oxford, Mississippi, for great food, cold beers and lots of fantastic stories! See you there!

JOEL Reopening

Green Olive Media's Jeff Moore, Lindsey Graham, Sawyer Riley, Elizabeth Moore, and Kempten Roberts with Chef Joel AntunesMihoko Obunai of Repast and Elizabeth at the JOEL Evolution event
Kempten, Lindsey and Sawyer holding court (Hey, if this PR thing doesn't work out...y'all could try your hand as supermodels)
Kempten with family, friends and Justin (who will officially take her off the market April 2008)

Star Chefs Lunch - NYC

The folks from Bacchanalia, Quinones, Floataway Cafe and Star Provisions cooked a fine lunch for the attendees of the Star Chefs Congress yesterday. Here's the menu:

Chesapeake Bay Oyster and Confit Pork Belly Pilau with Georgia Okra:

Rougie Foie Gras and Chicken Liver Terrine with Amy's Organic Whole Wheat Baguette and Georgia Muscadine Preserve:

Pickled Wild American Georgia White Shrimp:

Dorothy's Biscuits with Benton's Country Ham and Preserved Peach:

Sweet Grass Dairy Goat's Cheese Cake with Pickled and Preserved Georgia Figs:

Scharffen Berger Dark Chocolate Tart with Delicato Squash, Pecan Brittle and Squash Foam:

Star Chefs Congress

We're in New York for the Star Chefs Congress, and are managing to eat well. So far:

Sunday:

Spotted Pig: chicken liver mousse, roll mops, duck eggs, pickle pot, burger, beef hash, smoked haddock chowder

Fatty Crab: tea sandwiches, pork buns (2 kinds), pork ribs, chicken wings, quail egg shooters, PBR

Momofuku: whole pork butt, pork buns, Owl Beer Hefeweizens

Chickalicious: various desserts

Blue Ribbon: manchego & honey toasts, tons of deviled eggs

Ray's Pizza: cheese pizza, pepperoni & bacon pizza

Fatty Crab quail egg shooters:

Owl beer hefeweizen at Momofuku:

Sneak Peek at JOEL's Rebranding

Here's the first of many pieces we've designed for JOEL Restaurant's rebranding...many more to come. The grand re-opening is this week...

Green Olive Cleans Up At American Graphic Design Awards

For the fifth year in a row, Green Olive has won American Graphic Design Awards - a record nine awards this year. Our winners are: Five and Ten, Atlanta Brewing Company, Home Free Foods, Repast, Mickey Lynn Designs, Learning Gurus, Meyer Closings, and Green Olive Media. According to the awards committee:
"Selected from a remarkable 10,000+ entries nationwide, these pieces - and their creators - represent the best and brightest in graphic design."
Congrats to Designer Alvin Diec, who was the mastermind behind the majority of the award-winning work.

The Vendys

Here's a competition we can get behind: The Vendy Awards, recognizing New York's finest street food chefs. This year's awards are on September 29 in Tompkins Square Park. Plus, you can stop by our pal Roscoe's bar right around the corner afterwards.

? ? ?

I saw these signs at the local Asian mega-mart last week...I have a good idea of what 'marrow guts' might be, but can anybody enlighten me about 'beef pizzly?'

Chapel Hill Recap

We had a great time at the Southern Foodways event in Chapel Hill, NC. We ate:

Magnolia Grill: Corn chowder, cheese grits souffle, socca with shrimp, crab & chickpea pancake, watermelon salad, local trout, osso buco, & chocolate cake. Thanks to pals Ben & Karen Barker for their hospitality.

Mama Dip's: Biscuits & gravy, sweet potato biscuits, pancakes, hash browns, sausage.

Foster's Market: Heirloom tomato BLT

Allen & Son Bar-B-Que: Pork sandwiches

Crook's Corner: Fried chicken, potato salad, corn on the cob, salad, and a bunch of desserts.

Taco truck next to Cliff's Meat Market - carnitas

We also stopped at Southern Season and located two varieties of the mysterious Owl Beer that we haven't had before:

Moillard Wine Dinner at Repast

I was lucky enough to attend the Moillard Wine Dinner at Repast last night and it was one of the best meals I've ever eaten. Jean Moillard was there, giggly and wide-eyed, pouring the best of what her 6th-generation vineyards had to offer. Chef Joe Truex sent plates out of the kitchen that could compete with any of the finest dining destinations. This was the menu:

Curried Winter Squash Bisque with Apple Foie Gras Dumplings

Macon-Villages, Brecot 2006

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Sweetbreads and Country Ham with Smoked Tomatoes and Capers

Chorey-Les-Beaune 2006

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Black Truffle Agnolotti

Meursault, Clos du Cromin 2005

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Duck a la Placha with Escargot and Red Wine Risotto

Crozes-Hermitage 2005

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Chocolate Pot Du Creme with Peanut Butter Mousse

Green Olive Pit Stop: NYC

September 16 – 18
Green Olive Invited to the StarChefs.com International Congress

Seeing as how we count 7 of the 14 Atlanta Rising Star Chefs as clients, we jumped when asked to weigh in on this conference. This year the StarChefs.com International Chefs Congress is proud to take on the school lunch program crisis as its cause. Programs like the Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School Edible Schoolyard are inspiring to not only likeminded individuals and chefs, but to the population at large that cares about real food and our connection to it.

Click here for more info.

Green Olive Pit Stop: Chapel Hill, NC

September 7 – 9
Green Olive Travels to Chapel Hill to celebrate the Culinary History of North Carolina

A celebration of the people who are the guardians of North Carolina's foodways traditions presented by the Southern Foodways Alliance. We have been training for this camp since the Big Apple BBQ Festival. We sure hope we’re ready.

Click here for more info.