Sip, Sample & Savor! Participating Restaurants Announced for Folklife Fest Kick-Off

Each year, the Atlanta History Center ushers in the autumn season with the Fall Folklife Festival. Traditional crafts, southern foodways, and environmental sustainability are at the center of the festivities. This year, the festival expands with the introduction of a new Friday night kick-off event.

Join the Atlanta History Center on Friday, September 21 from 7:00 to 10:00 pm for Folklife Fest Kick-Off, an evening foodie affair that celebrates southern culture and food with an emphasis on Atlanta's unique cuisine.

Sample delicious food from Atlanta restaurants and businesses committed to serving local and sustainable ingredients. Stop by one of three bars to enjoy a specialized punchbowl cocktail created by area mixologists. Meet with a sommelier from Restaurant Eugene who curates Georgia wines. Stroll through the museum's award-winning exhibitions. Enjoy live music from Georgia’s own Little Country Giants. Learn about the evolution of Atlanta dining with a panel discussion featuring some of Atlanta's most beloved chefs including, Steve and Marie Nygren, founders of Serenbe; Linton Hopkins, Executive Chef and Co-owner of several Atlanta restaurants, including Restaurant Eugene;  and Duane Nutter, Chef and Owner of One Flew South and Rolling Bones.          

Folklife Fest Kick-Off tickets are $60 for members; $75 for nonmembers and includes food and beverage. Purchase tickets online at AtlantaHistoryCenter.com/Festival.

The traditional Fall Folklife Festival occurs on Saturday, September 22 from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm at the Atlanta History Center's Smith Family Farm. For more information or schedule of festival activities, visit online at AtlantaHistoryCenter.com/Folklife. Admission to the Saturday festival is free to members and included in the price of general admission for nonmembers. Purchase tickets online and save at AtlantaHistoryCenter.com/Visit.

The Atlanta History Center's Fall Folklife Festival is supported by the Fulton County Arts Council, Publix, and Macy's.

PARTICIPATING RESTAURANTS INCLUDE: 

• Chef Carvel, Canoe Restaurant
• Restaurant Eugene
• Archna Becker, Bhojanic
• Chef Shaun Doty, Bantam and Biddy  
• Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q
• Taziki’s Mediterrean Grill

FAVORITE MIXOLOGISTS FROM: 

• H.Harper Station
• One Flew South
• Restaurant Eugene

ABOUT PANEL DISCUSSION PARTICIPANTS:

Chef Duane Nutter delivers chef-driven “southernational’ cuisine at One Flew South.  Nutter has truly come into his own as one of Atlanta’s most innovative chefs, impressing diners and critics with his signature modern spins on classic dishes for more than 15 years.  Chef Nutter began his culinary career in 1994, studying under well-respected Chef Daryl Evans at the Four Seasons Hotel in Atlanta.  Chef Nutter went on to work at the Ritz Carlton in Palm Beach, Florida before making

his next big move in 2004 to Louisville, Kentucky's Seelbach Hilton’s 48 AAA Five-Diamond restaurant, Oakroom. Nutter received incredible reviews as chef de cuisine. In 2006, Nutter was invited to compete on the Food Network’s Iron Chef America and he cooked at the prestigious James Beard House in New York City the following year. In 2008, Nutter became the Executive Chef at One Flew South. He blends Southern ingredients with world influences into the dishes for the first upscale travel-dining restaurant in the world’s busiest airport.

Stephan D. Nygren’s early career was in the hospitality industry, founding the Peasant Restaurant Group.  Steve and his wife, Marie, retired to a farm just outside Atlanta with their three daughters in 1994 and six years later, he became concerned about urban sprawl invading their adopted country paradise.  In 2004, the Nygrens began Serenbe to demonstrate an environmental concept for community development interlaced with agriculture activity and a range of housing choices mixed with shops, galleries, restaurants and an Inn located in the historic farm compound. The result is reminiscent of century-old communities. 

Marie Nygren is the co-founder of Serenbe, Proprietress of The Farmhouse Restaurant, and Director of Serenbe Southern Chefs workshop. Her mother, Margaret Lupo was the owner of the famed Mary Mac’s Tea Room. Marie attended Florida State School of Hospitality and Restaurant Administration.

Chef Linton Hopkins is an Atlanta native with a deep passion for Southern food and beverage traditions. His commitment to celebrating the rich bounty of Georgia farms is evidenced in each meticulously and lovingly created meal. Chef's house-made preparations of natural meats and fresh, local product have garnered him national acclaim. Teaming with his wife, Sommelier Gina Hopkins, Chef also shares his passion for local ingredients with his hometown through the Peachtree Road Farmer’s Market, which he founded. Chef Hopkins is president of the board of the Southern Foodways Alliance and the founder of the Fellowship of Country Ham Slicers and was recently awarded the James Beard Foundation Award for Excellence for Best Chef Southeast 2012.

Panel Moderator- Judith Winfrey has devoted her life and career to the advocacy of good food since 2003. She and her sweetheart Joe Reynolds co-own Love is Love organic farm and manage Small Farms CSA, a cooperative local farm distribution system with more than 100 members. Judith is Director of Hospitality and Fruition for Linton and Gina Hopkins at their businesses: Restaurant Eugene, Holeman & Finch Public House, H&F Bread Co. and H&F Bottle Shop.  Judith also leads the Atlanta chapter of Slow Food International, and is co-founder of Wholesome Wave Georgia.  She serves on the advisory committee of both the East Atlanta Village and the Grant Park Farmers Markets, and is a founding board member of Community Farmers Markets. For the last 10 years, she has been Chairperson of the Live Auction Wine Committee for the High Museum Wine Auction, Atlanta’s most successful wine event. She is also the former Membership and Administrative Coordinator for Georgia Organics.

ABOUT LITTLE COUNTRY GIANTS: 

With three albums under their belt and a growing local following, they have marked themselves as perhaps the finest new purveyors of Southern acoustic roots music in the Appalachian, country, and folk traditions. Delivering pure, simple, and timeless rustic songs touching on country, bluegrass, and even rural blues, husband-and-wife duo Cameron Federal and Russell Cook produce artful work on par with the finest of the expansive genre. Learn more at www.neatstripe.com/lcg.

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