Coming to Atlanta, I'd promised myself the experience of a tasting menu at some expensive Michelin ranked restaurant. To my surprise, Atlanta's three-day food, wine, beer, and cocktail festival, Taste of Atlanta was truly the tasting menu to end all tasting menus (just the cheaper version).
Short Rib Mac & Cheese
The perfect way to start off the Taste of Atlanta Festival. The plate included slow-cooked short rib, aged cheddar cream, and pickled chilies from the Cine Bistro booth. The mac and cheese and short rib duo were amazing and I can only imagine it combined with a movie.
The Lobster Roll
It comes from the Crab 404, an amazing seafood and oyster bar in the Buckhead area, was by far my favorite salty item at Taste of Atlanta. The main lobster was cooked perfectly with chives and lemon aioli, but the buttery soft bun definitely sealed the deal.
Mac & Cheese Burger
The burger comes from Grub, which stands for "Good People, Real Food, Unique Vibe, and Big Flavors." A bold name that they honestly lived up to... The creamy mac and cheese with pork chorizo queso provided the most notable taste I'd ever experienced in a burger.
Then came dessert...
At this point, we had probably consumed enough variations of food to last us a week but we really couldn't resist the over 90 signature Atlanta restaurants providing hundreds of desserts from gelato to every variation of pie you can think of.
Bubble Waffle with Vanilla Ice Cream
I'd highly recommend this treat from from Sweet Spot. It included fruits like Kiwi and strawberries along with oreos and a chocolate drizzle. The Hong Kong style black sesame milkshake was also on the menu and in high demand.
Pumpkin Pie
It comes from the Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop which was remarkably close to a fresh homemade pie, something I wasn't expecting from a famous national pie chain. Their shop carries nine different flavors including Chocolate Cream, Peanut Butter Cream, and Chewy Chocolate chip, just to list a few of my favorites.
Apple Pie & Buttermilk Pie
Personally, my favorite dessert item came at the end from the same Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop stand. The Apple Pie was truly what their website crazes the "Granny's Apple" flavor to be a homemade delicious pie with an all-time crunchy crust.
With over 90 different booths, a VIP tasting experience, cooking workshops, and bartending competitions, Taste of Atlanta exceeded all of my expectations.