It’s paradise for food nerds.
Thousands of them will fill Taste’s new permanent home — Historic Fourth Ward Park near the Atlanta BeltLine — this Friday, Saturday and Sunday for what can best be described as the Super Bowl of Atlanta food festivals. Among its features:
- Live cooking demos and conversations at the Chef’s Table stage, with chefs from Establishment, 1Kept and DaVinci’s, along with the Food Network’s Rusty Hamlin.
- Classes for the skilled and unskilled in the Kitchen Workshop, which has 20 hands-on cooking stations overseen by chefs from 5Church, RA Sushi and Davio’s, among others.
- The Home Plate Stage with interactive cooking demonstrations and hands-on activities for families, overseen by chefs from Open Hand Atlanta, the Georgia Peanut Commission, Sprouts and Andretti Grill.
- The weekend-long ninth annual Barcraft Competition, with quarterfinal winners convening with cocktail shakers in hand for semifinal and final competitions.
- The Grand Tasting Experience (formerly the VIP Experience) with craft beer, wine and cocktails (only for ticket holders who are at least 21).
The main attraction, however, is the collection of restaurant kiosks that serve wildly diverse bites. Save your appetites for the more than 200 nibbles, sips and samples from neighborhood favorites and citywide hot spots, Taste organizers say. Participants this year include Bezoria (chicken pita sandwiches), Better Half (pork shoulder tostados), Le Bilboquet (avocado and crab salad), the Halal Guys (falafel and gyros), Hampton + Hudson (mini bee’s knees burgers) and Hattie B’s (chicken tenders with your choice of heat level), among, oh, some 85 others.
Expected noshes also include grilled pork loin, chicken curry and rice, apple cider doughnuts, paella, butter beer ice cream, whole broiled octopus, chocolate fondue, Maine lobster cakes, bangers and mash, chorizo mac and cheese, and s’mores brick toast.
Single-day general admission tickets are $25 in advance, $35 at the gate; VIP Grand Tasting Experience tickets are $75 in advance, $95 at the gate. Tickets to the all-inclusive Friday-night kickoff party are $85. Get all your ticket details HERE.
Taste is a cashless event, with all sales handled through wristbands. Advance wristbands can be purchased online and picked up during office hours through Friday (Oct. 20) at Cook’s Warehouse locations in Ansley Mall (Midtown), Chamblee and Marietta; and Hop City shops at Krog Street Market and in West Midtown.
Wristbands let you bypass ticketing tents on-site to enter. Taste points can be added online before the event or at Taste Point pop-up tents throughout the fest grounds.
For up-to-the-minute information go HERE. Follow updates on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well.
