Afternoon in the Country, A Social Foodie's Paradise

The 17th Annual Afternoon in the Country—Atlanta's most delicious fundraiser—is this Sunday, November 5, 2017, at Foxhall Resort & Sporting Club!

Afternoon in the Country | LDEI-Atlanta | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

Your hosts are the 125 members of Les Dames d'Escoffier International-Atlanta Chapter, a non-profit organization of professional, magnificent women who are restaurateurs, chefs, caterers, public relations executives, event planners, fundraisers, culinary teachers, nutritionists, wine industry executives, hotel executives, retailers, and farmers!  

I've had the great honor of knowing members of Les Dames for nearly seven years and then I had the pleasure of working with all of them—as their Chapter Photographer—starting with a celebration of Julia Child's 100th birthday and for 4.5 years following that occasion. I'm eternally grateful for that experience and will always be an uber-fan and supporter of Les Dames.

This year will be my 5th Afternoon in the Country (AITC)! The photos I'm sharing in this post are from the last four years of Afternoon in the Country events and show some of the delicious fun you too can savor this Sunday!

Afternoon in the Country | LDEI-Atlanta | Chef Kevin Gillespie | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

Afternoon in the Country boasts celebrated chefs from many of Atlanta's top restaurants and fine beverages, too, all set up under festive big-top tents (it's a rain or shine event) on the pristine polo lawns at Foxhall, where another time you might enjoy horseback riding or any number of other adventures! 

The weather forecast for this Sunday is for a perfect partly-sunny 75° day!

Afternoon in the Country | LDEI-Atlanta | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

This highly anticipated event has grown from 200 attendees in 2000 to more than an expected 2,000 in 2017! Who are they? They're some of the region's most discerning food and wine and event goers, who are there not only to enjoy amazing food and delicious wines (and local beers and spirits), they're also there to support the philanthropic mission of Les Dames and its beneficiaries...and of course a great time with fellow enthusiasts.

Afternoon in the Country | LDEI-Atlanta | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

Among this year's 120+ stations, attendees will enjoy bites from The General Muir, Chai Pani, South Main Kitchen, The Optimist, O-Ku, Sweet Grass Dairy, The Woodsman & Wife, and Wrecking Barn Farm, and many other notable Atlanta dining destinations.

I can tell you from personal experience that this event is a brilliant way to expand your list of special occasion and regularly visited restaurants. Many times I've gone to a restaurant that I first tasted at Afternoon in the Country and was as delighted in-restaurant as I was at the Les Dames event. Taste your way to a litany of new culinary experiences in Atlanta!

Afternoon in the Country | LDEI-Atlanta | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

Proceeds from Afternoon in the Country benefit LDEI-Atlanta Chapter's scholarship and grant programs which support the dreams of Georgia women in the culinary, beverage, and hospitality arts. Les Dames/Atlanta raised and awarded $107,242 last year for those programs! 

That's incredibly impressive for an all-volunteer organization and I've had the awesome pleasure of hearing first-hand from many of the recipients the impact those scholarships and grants made in their lives. Quite moving. The money you contribute via your event ticket purchase, silent auction win, and cake raffle tickets really and truly do go to a great cause!

Afternoon in the Country | LDEI-Atlanta | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

Cakes, cakes, and more cakes!

Afternoon in the Country's Cake Raffle is indeed famous! These amazing creations, made by master pasty chefs, range from cakes that will remind you of the one's your mother made for birthdays and Sunday Dinner dessert to incredibly elaborate, complex, show-stopping masterpieces! 

Afternoon in the Country | LDEI-Atlanta | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

The rules for the Cake Raffle in the past have included a "must be present to win" stipulation—because the ecstatic winners get to take home their cakes that day! At least, those who don't eat them on the spot, that is. Yes, while totally salivating, I've seen that!

There's an extensive silent auction, too! Bid, bid, bid on the fabulous auction items ranging from wine baskets to original art to luxury cookwares to travel packages. There's something for every foodie, and then some! 

Afternoon in the Country | LDEI-Atlanta | Chef Anne Quatrano | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

I'm sure you've heard of some of the members of Les Dames, including Grande Dames Julia Child and M.F.K. Fisher. 

There are too many notable Atlanta Dames to list here, but a few whom I've known and admired for years include:

Mary Moore, founder and owner, The Cook's Warehouse;
Virginia Willis, television host, educator, and cookbook author;
Anne Quatrano, founder and owner, Bacchanalia;
Holly Wulfing Chute, executive chef, Georgia Grown;
Karen Bremer, executive director, Georgia Restaurant Association; and
Dale DeSena, founder, Taste of Atlanta.

If you're an Atlanta foodie, you're going to see familiar faces, either hosting, cooking, pouring, presenting scholarships, or selling tickets for the famous Cake Raffle!

Afternoon in the Country | LDEI-Atlanta | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

Although this is a grown-ups event, you'll likely see some young chefs, too! A regular at Afternoon in the Country, the daughter-of-a-chef young lady pictured above is perhaps the most photographed "chef" at the event. She totally gets the PR factor famous chefs around the world demonstrate. 

I've long been impressed, again and again, by how approachable Atlanta chefs are, beginning and well-seasoned alike. I'm proud to call many of them friends.

Afternoon in the Country | LDEI-Atlanta | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

The live music is phenomenal!

Afternoon in the Country veteran Theresa Hightower and her Jazz Band are returning for this year's event! Theresa is regarded as one of the great jazz and blues vocalists, actresses, and songwriters of her generation, and she's an AITC attendee favorite!

Afternoon in the Country | LDEI-Atlanta | Photo: Travis S. Taylor

Toward the end of the event there are official photos made of all attending Dames and another of all participating chefs. It's one of the most concentrated powerhouses of culinary talent you'll ever see in Atlanta!

Last year, as I'm sure she will this year, Theresa Hightower had this unlikely "chorus" singing like their karaoke prize was Executive Chef of the World! They enjoy the chef camaraderie as much as attendees enjoy everything the chefs prepare. Both fantastic to experience!

There's but a tiny glimpse into the fun awaiting you. Get your tickets to Afternoon in the Country and join me and 2,000 others this Sunday for Atlanta's most delicious fundraiser!

Farmers Markets = Celebrity Chefs

Atlanta has a vibrant local farmers market scene! And they regularly draw some of Atlanta's finest chefs. Last weekend I had the pleasure of seeing Chef Virginia Willis at the Grant Park Farmers Market. She's one of my favorite chefs and that's one of my favorite farmers markets...it was a great morning!

I've said it before, but allow me to share again. When I travel, I love it when I come across a farmers market or a festival featuring local farms. That's why I'm writing about something not on the standard tourist itinerary...but I think it's a wonderful way to experience some delightful Southern hospitality and some local fare!

Angie Mosier, Chef Virginia Willis | Grant Park Farmers Market

The first time I met Chef Virginia, in-person, was when she was a speaker at an event at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. She was then promoting her cookbook "Basic to Brilliant, Y'all". I've seen her at various events over the years, but last weekend was the first time I'd seen her do a cooking demonstration...I was super excited! 

This cooking demonstration was also a book signing. Chef Virginia is in the midst of a whirlwind tour promoting her cookbook "Lighten Up, Y'all". Pictured above with her is Angie Mosier, the photographer for "Lighten Up, Y'all". AND they're both members of Les Dames d'Escoffier International - Atlanta Chapter. More about that in a moment... 

Chef Virginia Willis | Cooking Demo | Grant Park Farmers Market

Before the cooking demonstration started Chef Virginia went around to the various vendors at the market and purchased the ingredients for her demo, so her "Southern Stir-fry" was fresh, fresh, fresh!

Grant Park Farmers Market has some awesome vendors, too many to write the full list here, but a few of my personal favorites are Preserving Place, Riverview Farms, Pearson Farm, Watsonia Farms, The Little Tart Bakeshop, King of Pops and Banner Butter!

Chef Virginia Willis | Cooking Demo | Grant Park Farmers Market

While Chef Virginia is entertaining—she's truly quite hilarious—she's also quite serious about knife safety. As she told us, "You only cut off your thumb once." She tucks in her thumb when chopping and slicing...and she still has two! Sage advice, evidently.

Chef Virginia Willis | Cooking Demo | Grant Park Farmers Market

On the day of Grant Park Farmers Market season opening it was raining, yet there was still an awesome turnout! On the day Chef Virginia was there, last Sunday, it was gorgeous. You saw, and regularly see, friends catching up, kids playing in the grass, young people on dates, others walking their canine companions and there there are awesome cooking demonstrations.

I love that many of our farmers markets have chef demos and that they feature such high-profile chefs. When I'm on the fence about visiting a market—and we all are at some point—it can be a celebrity chef like Chef Virginia that motivates me to go. And when I call Chef Virginia a celebrity chef, she truly is…she's worked on more than 1,000 episodes of television food shows—with the likes of Martha Stewart, Bobby Flay and Nathalie Dupree—as well as being a cookbook author, photographer, writer and so much more!

Chef Virginia Willis | Cooking Demo | Grant Park Farmers Market

I also was impressed with how much Chef Virginia engaged with her audience. She welcomed all questions, she walked around what she was working on so everyone could see, and she even came into the audience! Nice touch, Chef.

Of course I recommend picking up one, or more, of Chef Virginia's cookbooks, but also treat yourself to her blog, where she shares personal stories and amazing recipes.

Chef Virginia Willis | Cooking Demo | Grant Park Farmers Market

I mentioned that Chef Virginia is a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier International (LDEI) - Atlanta Chapter, and indeed she is. If you're local, you may know LDEI-Atlanta through the annual event Afternoon in the Country.

This huge event, which sells-out every year, features chefs from Atlanta's top restaurants, paired with some of the area's best farms, all set up in a tasting format alongside fine wines and premium micro-brews—all under festive big-top tents in the beautiful gardens surrounding The Inn at Serenbe.

In addition to the ample tasting and sipping there's live music, an awesome one-of-a-kind cake raffle (Seriously, it's awesome!), hayrides, children's activities and a silent auction. This event supports LDEI-Atlanta's philanthropic mission to further the careers of women in the culinary arts.  

LDEI is "a worldwide society of women dedicated to creating a culture in the community that fosters excellence and promotes the achievement of women in culinary professions through educational and charitable activities." This is one of the brightest, most engaged and absolutely delightful group of professional women you'll ever meet. I'm proud to say that several members of the Atlanta chapter are friends of mine.   

Chef Virginia Willis | Cooking Demo | Grant Park Farmers Market

Chef Virginia brought with her a big pot of a pulled chicken recipe from "Lighten Up, Y'all" and served it with tastes of her Southern Stir-fry, made from fresh veggies she'd just picked up from the day's market vendors...both dishes were incredibly delicious!

Chef Virginia Willis | Cooking Demo | Grant Park Farmers Market

So, while Chef Virginia is on a national book tour, promoting "Lighten Up, Y'all", you may not see much of her in Atlanta, unless you spy her at the airport—you can't miss her striking beauty or her signature deep red lipstick!

Chef Virginia will be at this year's Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, taking place May 28-31, 2015, in Midtown. And you can check out her Events page to see where else you can see her.

Grant Park Farmers Market

I truly do enjoy going to local farmers markets and each one in Atlanta has a unique vibe. I get around rather a lot, so I've enjoyed quite a few. It's extremely rare that I leave a farmers market empty-handed—which may have never happened at all—but there have been times that I've arrived home empty-handed! 

And you can enjoy breakfast and/or lunch at a lot of our farmers markets. When I shop at Grant Park Farmers Market it's usually for ingredients that I'm going to use that evening. When you're at this particular market, while you're shopping you can enjoy coffee, fresh-squeezed juices, pastries, crepes, burgers and popsicles! Oh, and there are vendors for your four-legged friends, too.

I mentioned that Grant Park Farmers Market is one of my favorites, and it is, and not just because The Little Tart Bakeshop is there either. The neighborhood locals are awesome, too! Every time I go, either on my own or with friends, it's always a great time! And the celebrity chef sightings, like Chef Virginia Willis, make the experience all the more fantastic!

So, whether you're visiting or you're a local, when you're out wanderlusting in Atlanta, check out some of our amazing farmers markets...they're a real treat!