Thursday, November 6, 2008

Who doesn't want to ride dirty?!

...especially when riding dirty means that you challenge some of the best Atlanta restaurants to compete for the tastiest wine and food pairings under $25.


This is what makes the man behind the blog, Dirty South Wine, brilliant and the rest of us mere food mortals. Check it out:

"Dirty South Wine, Atlanta’s top wine blog, has announced
the 2008 “Riding Dirty” Atlanta Wine Pairing Challenge. Fifteen of Atlanta’s top
restaurants will prepare a wine and food pairing to be served at their bar for
under $25. The goal of the challenge is to showcase the restaurant’s skill and
creativity in wine pairing, while presenting incredible, affordable combinations for
the Atlanta dining public.

Restaurants must choose a glass of wine from their current list of by-the-glass
wines, and the food may be either a small plate or appetizer from their standard
menu. The pairings will be served to the judges at the participating restaurants
and will be evaluated based on three criteria: taste, creativity and value.

The judges are:
1. Matt Richardson (aka Rowdy Food)
2. Broderick Smylie (ATL photographer http://broderickphoto.wordpress.com/)
3. Hardy Wallace (publisher of www.dirtysouthwine.com).

All pairings will be chronicled and written up on Dirty South Wine. At the end of
the challenge, an overall winner will be named, and the 2008 “Riding Dirty” award
presented. Along with the overall winner, several subcategories will be
announced as well.

The following Atlanta restaurants have agreed to participate:
Holeman & Finch
Joel
ARIA
ENO
Woodfire Grill
Toulouse
VITA
Repast
La Tavola
Top FLR
VINE
Canoe
Dogwood
ONE. Midtown kitchen
And the ISAW charity (International Society of Africans in Wine)

The tastings will occur throughout the month of November, and winners
announced on December 3, 2008. Progress in the “Riding Dirty” Challenge can
be followed at www.dirtysouthwine.com, and updates and news can be followed
on Twitter under #dty (for Dirty)."


Snaps, people! I am drooling over this restaurant list. Why didn't I think of this first, damnit?!

If you want to participate, twitter your thoughts with a #dty tag. (My first tweet will either be, "drool #dty" or "completely jealous #dty" - maybe both.)