Literally.
The first day of the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival ended with a party called “Pig Out” at local restaurant, JCT Kitchen.
We were greeted by a lovely lady from Delta who was handing out Mason jars for the special cocktails crafted for the event: the Island Mule and the Heritage Punch. Both were delish, but I settled on the slightly-less-sweet punch.
The outdoor space was decorated beautifully – lights were strung up every where and there were candles in Mason jars in every available nook. The hour-long line to get food was made more bearable by the gorgeous surroundings… and the guy walking around with a tray of tomato sandwiches.
Once we reached the buffet line, we were blown away. Everyone received 2 plates piled high with food!
I wish I’d written down everything… The top plate on the left in the pic below contained cole slaw, perfectly-crisp fried chicken, and a tamale covered with the best mole I’ve had in a long time. The boat of BBQ (top right) had brisket, ribs with a delicious sauce, and pulled pork. It was all very good, but I only had a bite of each meat. I was nervous about my stomach not being used to it and I was still full from the tasting tents!
Besides, I had to make room for the mini-desert pies! The chocolate with peanut butter icing was my favorite, followed closely by the key lime… and the crust from the coconut.
We pigged out under the stars while listening to music from a live band playing one well-timed cover after another. *Bliss*
Normally I am not a fan of buffets… or of any food prepared in mass quantity.
My hat goes off to everyone involved with this meal. There wasn’t one thing I wouldn’t have recommended to a friend! And I am picky.
Alas, gluttony has taken its toll on my body (not that I’m complaining… I made my bed!). The past couple of days there has been a lot quality time in the gym (bring it, Tony Horton!) and some awesomely-funky colored liquids going on:
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One… maybe two… more posts and then I’ll put this festival to rest. Until next year. 🙂
What are your thoughts on buffets/food prepared for the masses?
What are your go-to recovery foods/drinks when you need to reset?
I’m not a fan of buffets either. I’d rather order a dish or two and share with someone than have a ton of mediocre options. Luckily, your experience sounds different though. YUM.
And my recharge fuel of choice is a large smoothie with spinach. 🙂 Have a great day!
I am usually the same way – and I warn anyone I’m diving with that I will be eating from their plate. 🙂
I just try to eat normally after a pig out and it helps. I think it’s too much to try to eat super clean and I can never do it.
Bliss indeed, my dear! Sounds great. You’ll work it off in no time, and it sounds 100% worth it!
Oh, it was totally worth it! 🙂
The event sounds so fun. I’m not huge on buffets unless they’re put together by quality catering or something similar and have lots of unique/delicious options.
I certainly “pigged out” a bit this weekend with Mother’s Day. I usually just go back to normal because otherwise it ends up a bad cycle for me.
Looks like a great night of eats! I’ll read as many recaps as you post. 🙂 I like buffets in terms of sampling lots of dishes, but it’s hard when you’re not sure what’s in each item!
Wow- all of that food sounds/looks incredible.
I’m not a buffet fan either- I just see it as a free for all. That being said- I AM a big fan of a salad bar. 🙂
I’ve been pigging out for like, months. Good thing I’m doing fitmixer bootcamp. Time to kick my butt into gear!
You would have been in heaven! I am with you on the salad bar – that doesn’t count as a buffet to me.
I am really excited to hear about the boot camp!
Wow that’s a lot of food! When I pig out, I just try forget about it and focus on eating normally
i don’t usually love buffet style food unless it’s at one of our family potlucks! then bring it on. 🙂
Ohhhh… family potlucks definitely don’t count as a buffet. You know all that food is going to be good!
It looked like you had such an awesome time at this last weekend! Sounds like fun.
My recovery drinks are: the famous green monster, and also if I over indulge one day, usually I will have a big celery & apple juice for breakfast! At the buffets I usually go for the veggies, mashed potatoes and mac&cheese!
that’s my recovery too. There’s nothing better than greens after a lot of heavy food!
I’m not usually a fan of buffets either… I’ve learned way too much about the food safety problems associated with buffets in my nutrition classes! 😛 But if the food looks fresh and healthy (like at Whole Foods!), I’ll make an exception haha. The buffet you went to sounds like it was good too!
ewwwww… that does freak me out when there are a lot of children near. i’ve seen too many little hand dipping in bowl without a utensil!
I’m not much of a buffet girl either, but there are exceptions. I have to admit that these type of events are one of the downsides of a plant-based diet. Catered meals are certainly trickier.
As a female who can’t make up her mind, I rather like buffets and places like Sweet Tomatoes. You get to try a teeny bit of everything.
LOL! That’s my philosophy with the WF hot bar. My plate always looks like a crazy mish-mash.
When I need to “reset” I just usually go back to my normal routine 😉 I am loving your recaps by the way 🙂
That would be my typical method… but I was literally full for 3 days after. So bad… yet so good.. 😉
JCT has the best fried chicken- and that’s coming from a real south Georgia girl. Love that place and sounds like they really amped up the atmosphere!
right?! even buffet-style it was perfection!
have you ever been to the tomato fest there? same sort of atmosphere (and a bit cheaper!).
Nice! Looks like you had a fabulous time!
Growing up as a kid, I was in love with buffets. O grew up in a small town with hardly any restaurants so on Sundays after church we would drive 1hr to get to Shoneys, Ryan’s, or a family owned buffet place. We pigged out!! However, now as an adult, I hate buffets. One bug reason is because I teach 1st graders and I see WAY too much grossness! Also, I HATE seeing people waste food!!! I can’t stand it! I hate people eating toll they are about to pop too. With all that said, buffets can be a good thing. You can get what you want and don’t have to wait. Everyone should indulge every now and then and buffets can be a treat! 🙂
My parent used to love to drag me to Po’ Folks! All I would eat is the skin off the fried chicken… and dessert. LOL!
2 plates piled high with food? GET IN MA BELLLYYYYYYYYY!
Go big or go home!