Blog Topic: Foodie Fun

Grub Notes: Newtown Has a New Bakery

By Hillary Brown | March 22, 2019 12:10pm

Photo Credit: Baked via Facebook.

Baked might sound like the name of an entirely different sort of business, but this collective of three ladies, operating out of Newtown, is into croissants, not kush.

Faith Rocchio, RaeAnne Sturgill and Crissy Dobson all say they love to bake, but each of them has a different specialty. Sturgill says she prefers "difficult things like croissants, and I'm trying my hand at baklava; mainly flaky and buttery. Faith is all about cupcakes and fresh breads. Her lavender cookies are heavenly. Crissy is doing 4-inch and 9-inch pies that I'm betting are going to be as beautiful as they are tasty."

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Grub Notes: 86 Hate Pop-Up, Bug-Eating Conference and More Food Events

By Hillary Brown | June 18, 2018 1:37pm

Local nonprofit 86 Hate is hosting a pop-up dinner/benefit tonight (Monday, June 18) at 7 p.m. at The Old Pal, which is also launching its summer cocktail menu. 86 Hate focuses on helping service industry workers in Athens advocate for their rights, fight sexual assault and sexual harassment, deal with mental health issues and more. This pop-up specifically raises money for the organization's efforts to support service workers dealing with sexual assault and harassment in the workplace. Chef Garrett MacFalda (of Heirloom) is offering six small plates of local produce and ingredients priced at $7–$12.

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Grub Notes: Photo Gallery: Athens Restaurants Compete in School Lunch Challenge

By Blake Aued and Jessica Silverman | March 27, 2018 4:30pm

A student judges a dish.

Local restaurants competed Saturday for the chance to have a dish added to the Clarke County School District's 2018–2019 menu, with Dondero's Kitchen coming out on top.

Dondero's won the annual School Lunch Challenge with its chicken fajitas and roasted sweet potatoes. The Food Bank of Northeast Georgia's turkey, cheese and veggie panini with steamed broccoli and lemon zest finished second in the student vote, while Taziki's Mediterranean Café's entry, a "pizzadilla" with chopped salad won the silver medal among adults. The Last Resort Grill also competed.

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In the Loop: Another Sewage Spill in Oconee County

By Lee Becker | February 7, 2018 11:51am

Oconee County late Tuesday reported its second major spill in less than a month from its Calls Creek wastewater treatment plant outside Watkinsville.

According to the county, an estimated 72,000 gallons of partially treated wastewater was released on Monday and Tuesday into Calls Creek from the plant, which is located at 1100 Durhams Mill Way, on the north side of Watkisville.

The wastewater release exceeded permit limits for total suspended solids.

The county said it notified the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, which classified the discharge as a major spill, and the Oconee County Environmental Health Department.

On Jan. 9, the county reported a major spill of an estimated 24,000 gallons of wastewater that exceeded permit limits for total suspended solids from the Calls Creek plant.

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Grub Notes: The Lil' Ice Cream Dude Is Getting His Own Store

By Hillary Brown | November 22, 2017 3:10pm

Photo Credit: file

Beau Shell in 2014.

Unlike most kids, who tend to be interested in something for about five minutes after you've paid for it, Beau Shell (aka the Lil' Ice Cream Dude) has spent the past five-and-a-half years building his small business.

He started off with a little cart, out of which he sold popsicles and frozen novelties at events around town, eventually becoming the youngest member of the Athens Chamber of Commerce. More recently, he upgraded to a heavy-duty food-truck-style trailer after a successful crowd-funding campaign. He works nearly every weekend in the hot months and fairly frequently even in the cold ones. He's also only 13 years old.

On Small Business Saturday, he'll open Cool World, a proper brick-and-mortar store, in the Shops of Ansonborough, on Gaines School Road on the Eastside.

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Grub Notes: Eat Food and Help People at home.made Sept. 18

By Hillary Brown | September 11, 2017 11:02am

Trying to figure out how to feel less helpless and alone these days? Here is a thing you can do that will also make your belly and your tastebuds happy. home.made, on Baxter Street, will host Comida de los Nuevos Sureños, a dinner benefiting immigrants' rights causes in Athens, on Monday, Sept. 18 at 5:30 p.m.

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Grub Notes: Avid Bookshop Has Three Food Book Events Coming Up, Starting Saturday

By Hillary Brown | April 28, 2017 11:17am

Photo Credit: Bill Miles

Mary Kay Andrews

Hopefully not buried among the many things Avid Bookshop has going on tomorrow (Saturday, Apr. 29) for Independent Bookstore Day—which include local art for sale, free Ike & Jane doughnuts at the Prince Avenue location, free Independent Baking Co. pastries at the Five Points location, face painting, sidewalk chalk and poetry readings—is a meet-and-greet and book signing with Mary Kay Andrews for her brand-new The Beach House Cookbook. That's at the Prince Avid, starting at 11 a.m. and going until noon. Andrews is better known for her novels, but she also likes to cook—hence, the book.

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Homedrone: Widespread Panic Collabs With Jittery Joe's on New Coffee Blend

By Gabe Vodicka | April 19, 2017 4:33pm

Athens-based coffee roaster Jittery Joe's has announced it will continue its series of collaborations with local musicians with Up All Night, a blend created in partnership with local jam legends Widespread Panic.

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Grub Notes: 15-cent Pizza, Burgers and Brews, a Flagpole Fundraiser and More Food Events

By Hillary Brown | April 17, 2017 3:52pm

For tax day tomorrow (Apr. 18), pizza chain Hungry Howie’s, on Baxter, is offering a medium one-topping pizza for a mere 15 cents if you buy a large one-topping pizza at regular menu price (promo code TAXDAY) online.

Kristie Middleton, senior director of food policy for the Humane Society of the United States and author of MeatLess: Transform the Way you Eat and Live—One Meal at a Time, will be signing her book at Avid on Prince at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow (still Apr. 18). Middleton isn't trying to get people to commit to vegetarianism immediately. Rather, her book tries to encourage people to incorporate vegetable-based meals into their diets more often. Also: Paul McCartney liked it.

Thursday, Apr. 20 from 8–11 p.m., Heirloom Cafe will host a pop-up cocktail event with T Silva from Hi-Lo to benefit the Boybutante AIDS foundation (which gets 10 percent of sales for the day). Bar snacks by Heirloom chef Joel Penn.

The same night, from 6-8 p.m. (so you can totally go to both), White Tiger hosts a fundraiser for Stranger Danger, Flagpole's band in the Athens Business Rocks competition, feature "Stranger Things"-themed music, food and drinks. Proceeds will benefit Nuci's Space.

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Grub Notes: The National Is Catering an Oscar-Themed Fundraiser for Ciné

By Hillary Brown | February 23, 2017 1:47pm

As y'all know (or should know), Ciné, our only art-house theater, is also a nonprofit, and like all nonprofits, it needs to raise money apart from ticket sales. It's partnering with My Athens to throw a three-course benefit catered by The National, with beers from Wild Heaven, this Saturday, Feb. 25, at 6:15 p.m. in the CinéLab.

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