Recap | Atlanta Food & Wine Festival 2021 ~ Bites, Sips & Sights #AFWF2021 @ATLFoodandWine

September 13, 2021SobeSavvy 1 Comment

Atlanta Food and Wine Festival – Saturday Tasting Tents Recap by SobeSavvy.com

Atlanta Food and Wine Festival IS BACK! Sept. 9th-12th and I couldn’t be more happier to indulge and celebrate southern cuisine. The Atlanta Food and Wine Festival featured 250 restaurants, artisans, chefs and producers. Located in Midtown in the Historic Fourth Ward Park, the outdoor festival included unlimited food, cocktails, all-day entertainment and Yelp curators. Saturday/Sunday’s Tasting Tents started with VIP access from 1 – 2 p.m., followed by general admission from 2- 5 p.m. SobeSavvy.com attended Saturday’s event and here are some of my favorite highlights:

Grab your tasting cup and map and let the foodie fun begin!

BITES

There were endless food bite choices throughout the park. Truly a foodie heaven on earth! We tried pork belly, shrimp & grits, and sea scallops just to name a few! Saturday’s Tasting featured the festival’s first ever Barbecue Battle competition, where top chefs competed for the ‘Best Barbecue Bite’. This one was my fave because it had amazing flavor and it was melt in your mouth good!

SIPS

Sip, Sip,, Hooray for Unlimited Wine, Beer and Spirits available for sampling at the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival. My favorite rosé wine by Jean Luc Colombo was on tap and the Aperol Spritz definitely was the most colorful cocktail of the day. It literally was bright orange and also quite refreshing. Coca Cola was also onsite promoting their new zero sugar soda by using it in a few unique cocktails. White and Red Wine were available also by a number of wineries. Stella Artois had a great set up where guests were given a engraved classic beer glass. Black Owned Gladys Wine was on site promoting their delicious white wines from Hungary. Bourbon lovers enjoyed the Makers Mark Stand where they were making a signature cocktail called the “Gold Rush”. I plan to recreate the recipe as seen here at home!

Cocktail Recipe ~ Maker’s Mark Gold Rush. I tried it at the Atlanta Food and Wine Festival and enjoyed it!

SIGHTS

Atlanta being one of the most diverse cities in America, made for great people watching. The Publix Demo Stage doubled as a shady respite from the sun and heat. For the first time in this event’s history, the live demos were included with admission. Guests watched some of their favorite chefs show their expertise and talent on the elevated stage. There were yard games like jenga and cornhole to play as well as selfie / Instagram worthy moments thanks to the beautiful lounge setups and creative backdrops by Boxwood Event Rentals. Check out this shot by yours truly:

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In effort to curb hunger and reduce food waste, Atlanta Food & Wine Festival partnered with Second Helpings Atlanta to collect fresh, surplus food from the festival to donate to hunger relief agencies. In addition, they will support Children of Conservation, with proceeds dedicated to the conservation of endangered species through education, habitat preservation and wildlife sanctuary.

We had a great time and encourage you to mark your calendars for next year’s event happening June 2-5,2022. For more information, go to atlfoodandwinefestival.com

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Event Recap|Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival @drinkeatrelax @theyardsdc #oysters #beer #fun

October 24, 2017SobeSavvy 5 Comments

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival DC | Photo Credit: SobeSavvy.com

Hi, my name is Leslie and I am a seafood lover. Considering I was born in Maryland and lived there for 23 years of my life, seafood from the Chesapeake Bay is most likely in my DNA! So when I heard about the Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival, I knew this was going to be a shucking good time!

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival DC -Capitol Riverfront/The Yards DC

It all went down on October 21, 2017 from noon-6pm at the Capitol Riverfront, next to Nationals Stadium at The Yards Park in Washington,DC . It was the perfect day..sunny skies, high 70s..for an outdoor festival filled with seafood and libations. There were over 30 wines, beers, and spirits to sample along with over 15 types of oysters. The motto of the day was SHUCK. SLURP. REPEAT..oh and watch out for the Angry Mermaid!

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival DC “Shuck,Slurp,Repeat” ..and 1 Angry Mermaid

FOOD

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival DC | Oysters served Raw, Grilled, Steamed

Whether you like oysters raw, grilled, or steamed (or if you are like me and enjoy them in all ways), then this festival is for you! Some of the world’s best shuckers were there handling the 1000’s of bivalves with care at this All You Care To Taste event. If oysters are not your thing, there were food truck options, restaurant samplings and other types of seafood such as mussels, clams, shrimp and lobster*(if you were one of the lucky ones to get some).

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival | New England Clambake, Charleston Seafood Boil & Lobster Steam

Per the Oyster listing, these were served at the festival:

Double T’s ● Shore Things ● War Shore Oyster ● Battle Creek Oyster ● Rocky Shores ● Tatamaguche ● Malpeques ● Fire lakes ● Caribous ● Blues points ● Delaware Bays ● Shooting points ● Bullseye’s ● Salt ponds ● Well fleets ● Duxburys ● Naked cowboys ● Sugar shacks ● Arrow heads ● Caraquets

If I had to choose one (which is a blasphemy to a seafoodie like me) the Blue Points were my favorite served raw. There was a condiment station with lemons, cocktail sauce and horseradish to add to the taste of those briny beauties. The Grilled Oysters with Goat Cheese +BBQ and Garlic +Parmesean were also amazing! I hope to recreate those at home to serve sooner than later.

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival | Freshly shucked Blue Points and Oysters from the grill

DRINK

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival DC | Souvenir Glass

Upon arrival, VIPs and General Admission guests received a Souvenir Glass to taste over 30 Beers, Spirits and Wines. That’s right, the event is not all just beer. Included with the ticket price was access to the wine pavilion, where attendees could enjoy pairing with Champagne, Chablis, Rosé, Sauvignon Blanc and many more!

Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival | Wines,Spirits,Beers

FUN

Friends enjoying the Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival

If you have ever been to a Drink Eat Relax event or festival then you know their goal is to provide a fun, value -oriented experience that wows you and is worthy of your valuable weekend time. I can say after attending this one, between the games, music, drinks and flavorful seafood, I left feeling like the world was my oyster!

If you saw my Twitter, Instagram, Facebook , I shared more photos from this fun event! You can also click below to see the following:

Watch “2017 Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival” on YouTube

Fun Times at Chesapeake Oyster & Beer Festival

Be sure to follow Drink Eat Relax on Facebook , Twitter , Snapchat, Instagram and drinkeatrelax.com to find out where their next event on the East Coast (from NYC to Tampa) will be! You don’t want to miss it!

Photographs of the 6th Annual Chesapeake #Crab and #Beer #Festival #MDCRABFEST @drinkeatrelax @NationalHarbor~#soDMVsavvy Event Recap

August 21, 2015SobeSavvy Leave a comment

Summer’s end may be near ….but first, let’s celebrate with friends/family, crabs and beer at the 6th Annual Chesapeake Crab and Beer Festival!

SobeSavvy.Com joined others for the World’s Largest Crab Feast August 22, 2015 at National Harbor, MD

Guests chose between either SESSION ONE: 11am – 3pm or SESSION TWO: 5pm – 9pm to join this Maryland Tradition! The festival is an ALL-YOU-CARE-TO-TASTE extravaganza complete with over 60,000 crabs, lots of beer, arts & crafts, live music, family fun and so much more! Here is what over 20,000 people have come to enjoy:

• LOTS OF SUMMERTIME FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY!
• ALL YOU CARE TO TASTE Over 50 beers and wines and a few spirits. All of your favorite craft beers and some great wines were served to highlight the summer afternoon on-hand.
• ALL YOU CARE TO TASTE CRABS. Enjoy all the crabs you can handle during the four hours of the show. The crabs vary in size and was offered at 6 crabs at a time, per person.
• OTHER GREAT FOOD. There are Crabs and MORE CRABS and MORE CRABS and even MORE CRABS – but there was other great food options as well available for purchase. There are no vegetarian options available. Unless outlined – all food is sold ala carte.
• ALA CARTE CRABS OPTION WILL BE SOLD 6 CRABS (1/2 dozen) AT A TIME PER PERSON FOR $35 – CASH ONLY. (WHILE SUPPLIES LASTS)
• LIVE MUSIC. Enjoy fun summer sounds from area bands.
• THOUSANDS OF TABLES AND CHAIRS AND HUGE TENTS for crackin’ to your heart’s content. They have even ordered enough crab paper to stretch all the way across The Potomac and back.

All SHOW FEATURES are covered, so rain or shine – we were all fine!

VIP & PLATINUM GUESTS ENJOYED WATERMELON AT THE SHOW TO COOL THINGS DOWN ON A HOT SUMMER DAY!

Lastly, this event was for a good cause! A portion of event proceeds go to Spirit of Hope Children’s Foundation Visit:www.spiritofhopechildrensfoundation.org
Be sure to Follow on Facebook and Twitter to get information in real time @DrinkEatRelax.

We had a crackin’ good time at the festival. As a native of Baltimore, it gets no better than crabs in the summertime! Here are some of my fun event photos from the #mdcrabfest! Enjoy!

Photographs of #BeerBourbonBBQ @DrinkEatRelax @TownofCary @boothamp #soNCsavvy Event Recap

August 2, 2015SobeSavvy 1 Comment

http://www.beerandbourbon.com/cary/show-info

91 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. It’s the first day in August in the triangle. Let’s go to a festival. Not just ANY festival but the Beer Bourbon and BBQ Festival at the Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, Nc. Thousands showed up to enjoy the party. Samples and samples of beer and bourbon and even some free samples of BBQ were spread around the scenic acres of land. Upon entry we were greeted by a huge and very roasted whole pig being carved up to sample. It was so fresh, steam was still rising from it!

On the main stage they had a great band and also various contests like who had the biggest beer belly and which girl can drink the fastest beer with a straw!
Bean Bag throwing games were lakeside as were turtles and ducks frolicking. You could purchase BBQ throughout the venue from the famous and not so famous BBQ restaurants. All were serving up world class food to go with the world class drinks! If you missed it this year, put in in your calendar for next year !

All in all a great day for Beer, Bourbon and BBQ !

Enjoy the slide show and photos highlighting this fun event!

https://instagram.com/p/52sfikCXJ5/