tastepicThe tally is in from Midtown’s annual Taste of Atlanta, proving again that this is one hungry city.

More than 45,000 foodies from throughout the Southeast sampled cuisine, wine and craft beers from 90 metro eateries, took in cooking classes and seminars, and generally, stuffed themselves with, um, knowledge during the three-day event in October. The icing on the cake: A silent auction raised $42,000 for Share Our Strength’s Cooking Matters No Kid Hungry program, one of Taste’s nonprofit partners.

The 12th annual Midtown event also yielded its “Festival Bests” list, as judged by an expert panel:

GENERAL

  • 2013 Barcraft Competition champion: One Flew South’s Tokiwa Sears
  • Overall People’s Choice: Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q

FRIDAY

  • Best Taste: Buttermilk Kitchen’ chef Suzanne Vizethann’s secret alphabet stew with grilled kale

SATURDAY

  • Best Taste: King + Duke’s grilled bacon, cornbread, maple onion jam
  • Best Presentation: Milton’s pan-seared scallops, cilantro corn spoon bread, jalapeño honey-lime vinaigrette
  • Best Dessert: Paschals’ lemon peach cobbler
  • Best Booth Décor: Chai Pani

 SUNDAY

  • Best Taste: Mi Cocina’s sweet corn tamale with grilled chicken and poblano cream sauce
  • Best Presentation: 1Kept’s deviled quail eggs with bacon jam
  • Best Dessert: Wrecking Bar Brew Pub’s Nutella, rice crispy and milk chocolate bar
  • Best Booth Décor: JCT. Kitchen, King + Duke, No. 246 and The Optimist

About Kathy Janich

Kathy Janich is a longtime arts journalist who has been seeing, working in or writing about the performing arts for most of her life. She's a member of the Theatre Communications Group, the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, Americans for the Arts and the National Arts Marketing Project. Full disclosure: She’s also an artistic associate at Synchronicity Theatre.

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