Best Bets: Atlanta Food & Wine Festival 2017

This year’s event features gas station cuisine, rare bourbons, swamp cabbage and the ultimate breakfast experience

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Food and drink lovers, assemble! The Atlanta Food & Wine Festival prepares for its seventh annual run celebrating the food and beverage traditions of the South. Tickets go on sale one week from today (Fri., March 24) and we have the scoop.

Launched in 2010 by cofounders Dominique Love and Elizabeth Feichter, the festival is in its seventh incarnation with the Loews Atlanta Hotel in Midtown as its home base. This year it runs from Thurs., June 1 through Sun., June 4, a long weekend packed with learning experiences, tasting tents, dinners and events.

A tale of many Souths: An Advisory Council of 91 award-winning Southern food and beverage professionals, including chefs, barkeeps and sommeliers, digs deep into the flavors of the South — from Texas to the District of Columbia as well as southern regions around the globe (South Africa, Southern Europe, South America…) — to curate tastings and classes. There are 80 classes this year with a few new themes.

All about breakfast: The most important meal of the day will play a big part in the conversation at this year’s event. The new “Designer Diner” is a Sunday brunch in partnership with Atlanta Decorative Arts Center (ADAC) featuring vignettes of different types built out by designers so that attendees can experience brunches of all kinds, from greasy spoons to international street huts.

Tastes in tents: AFWF’s famous tasting tents remain at Piedmont Park’s Greensward Promenade but take place Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoon. There will be more live music, and the fun-filled cocktail garden expands this year. The Live Fire area — think meat cooked over fire, giant pans of paella, and plenty of Big Green Eggs — curated by Fox Bros Bar-B-Q is back.

Food on the go: Slim Jims anyone? Another focus for 2017 is street food, from southern regions around the globe as well as gas station and road trip food. “Destination Delicious, our ‘roadtrip through the South’ kickoff party on Thursday night … represents each state in the region, and ‘gas station wonders’ fit perfectly serving as pit-stops throughout the layout of the event,” says AFWF team member Tara Murphy of 360 Media. “From the infamous fried chicken from a gas station in Nashville to the homemade hand pies at a roadside joint in Alabama to the ‘must-have’ breakfast sandwiches that chef Todd Richards recommends from a Citgo in Mississippi.” 

Swampy spotlights: Each year of the festival highlights different ingredients. Themes like seafood, Latin flavors, bourbon, and street carts have filled weekend schedules, and who can forget last year’s vineyard installation? This year, look for a spotlight on these: crab fat, peanuts, black peppercorns, alligator and something called “swamp cabbage.” The new “Louisiana Lunch,” celebrates food and drink from the Creole state, complete with a traditional second line parade to the event.

“Our passion is bringing together food enthusiasts, chefs, and beverage experts for a decadent weekend eating, drinking, and celebrating the South,” says Love.

And of course, fancy booze: Speaking of decadent, a couple of Master classes look quite fancy. “Rare Breeds: Part II” ($250) on Friday takes a look at uncommon and limited-quantity bourbons paired with country hams with James Beard Award winning chef (McCrady’s, Husk, Minero), acclaimed cookbook author and chef Sean Brock and distillers Drew Kulveen (Willett) and Preston Van Winkle (Old Rip Van Winkle). For $500 a ticket, you can explore the famous 1982 Bordeaux vintage with tastings of rare beauties like Chateau Lafite Rothschild, Chateau Latour, and Chateau Mouton Rothschild. But do they taste good with Slim Jims? This is the place to find out.

Tasting Tents: $85 daily, Day Passes: $150, Weekend Passes: $370, Connoisseur Experiences: $500-$1500), June 1-4. 404-474-7330. www.atlfoodandwinefestival.com. Tickets here. Note: Ticket prices increases after April 7.