Atlanta’s Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival celebrates some of the South’s best chefs, farmers and mixologists. Created by Top Tomato Ford Fry, the one-day event now in its third year is held at Fry’s West Midtown restaurant JCT Kitchen & Bar, which readers might remember I took quite a shine to back in November. Benefiting Georgia Organics – a non-profit organization working to integrate sustainable and locally grown foods into daily diets – a roster of noted area chefs like Canoe’s Carvel Gould (whom I also featured back in November) and Top Chef-winner Kevin Gillespie of Woodfire Grill will pair up with local farmers to create unique tomato dishes for festivalgoers to sample, while the featured mixologists will stir up signature tomato-based cocktails. A couple of highlights from last year included Pimiento cheese profiteroles with tomato jam by West Egg Café‘s Patric Bell and a Tomato Mai Tai from Stuart White of Miller Union. High profile judges from Food & Wine, Bon Appétit, and CNN sample it all then cherry-pick their favorites, bestowing awards for best tasting dish, most creative dish, best booth and best beverage. Attendees get to vote for their favorite dishes, too – then everyone waves goodbye as nearly 1,000 pounds of compostable matter gets shipped off to begin the cycle again (as worm food) courtesy of Greenco Environmental. The Attack is back July 17 – it’s as good a reason as any to ditch The Big Apple for a visit to The Hot Tomato.
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