The ins and outs of judging wings
Thursday, May 21— Hello, internet friends.
🔥 Last weekend I was a wings judge at Kirkwood Spring Fling. I learned some invaluable takeaways and was surrounded by a great panel of judges. (Chefs need to watch out for official kid judge Cece because she has a bright future as a food critic.) We nibbled, we laughed, and we trauma bonded after tasting a wing that left us judges with a bad taste in our mouths.
I promise judging wings in Kirkwood was a lot of fun. Keep reading for some of my sage wing wisdom after that experience.
😋 In this week’s Quick Bites, get the scoop on a doughnut shop coming to South Downtown, the newest restaurant stall serving crepes at Chattahoochee Food Works, and a rush hour-inspired happy hour in Dunwoody. Look for details on Georgia Tech’s next Food and Beverage Accelerator, the discontinuation of lunch at Lucian Books & Wine in Buckhead, and a Lao cooking class.
If elections took precedence in your inbox, you might have missed reading this week’s “Family Meal” from Beth. In it, she provides an update on the Mother’s Day fire in Chamblee that led to several restaurant closures, including The Alden. Beth also offers details on the new happy hour rules now in place for Atlanta restaurants and rounded up her favorite martinis from spring dining.
See y’all next week,
🍰 Sarra
QUICK BITES
Opening
🇯🇵 Harajuku-style crepe and “anti-caffeine” drinks shop Ori Ori opened at the Chattahoochee Food Works food hall in Underwood Hills.
Closing
🚒 All restaurants and businesses at the Windsor Parkview Apartments at Parkview on Peachtree are closed, following smoke damage from a fire earlier this month.
Reopening
🍪 Sweet Living Bakery in Marietta reopened following a temporary closure. Over the weekend, the restaurant endured damage from a thunderstorm.
Nominations and awards
🏅 Congratulations to Kimball House on the Best U.S. Restaurant Bar nomination in Tales of the Cocktail’s 2026 annual Spirited Awards!
🏅 Congratulations to local journalist and author Caroline Eubanks for her Spirited Awards nomination in the Best New Book on Drinks, Culture, History, or Spirits from Tales of the Cocktail! Her book, “A Boozy History of Atlanta: People, Places, & Drinks That Made a City” is available now.
🥇 And congratulations to Amasa Mexican Kitchen in Alpharetta for taking home Taste of Alpharetta’s Best Entree award! The upcoming restaurant will open in Alpharetta this summer.
Coming attractions
🍩 Local bakery Dough in the Box will open a fourth location at 237 Mitchell St. in South Downtown, What Now Atlanta reports.
🥢 Stix & Savor Asian Cuisine will open at 3102 Piedmont Road in Buckhead, Tomorrow’s News Today reports. The massive building has been vacant since Ocean Prime’s closure in 2015.
🥙 Alpharetta-based Mozaika Mezze will open in the former Buckhead Alma Cucina space, according to Tomorrow’s News Today.
Menu updates
📚 Lucian Books & Wine in Buckhead will discontinue lunch service. The last lunch service takes place on June 13. But the restaurant refreshed its dinner menu and just added valet parking service this week. Love reading? Lucian also launched a monthly book club called Bouquinistes, focused on art and cooking.
🥩 McKendrick’s Steak House in Dunwoody debuts its new rush hour menu today. Expect reduced prices on steakhouse classics like steak tartare, oysters Rockefeller, and McKendrick’s prime burger topped with applewood-smoked bacon and blue cheese. There’s also discounts on wine, the house Old Fashioned and martini, and the Lake Shore Drive cocktail, which combines Koval bourbon with Carpano Antica and Campari. A prix-fixe menu launches in June.
Add to your calendar
🐝 Georgia Tech is currently accepting applications for its second Food and Beverage accelerator. There is a $500 fee. Apply here.
🥭 Smorgasburg Atlanta will host the East Meets South AAPI market on May 23 from 4 p.m. to midnight. In addition to special food and drink menus, the event will feature a marketplace curated by Brown Girl Magazine, live music and performances, mahjong, and family-friendly activities. Entry is free.
🇱🇦 Chef Jan Hill will teach a Lao cooking class on May 28 from 6 to 8 p.m. at Exquisite Delites Catering in Decatur. Guests will make noodles for kow piek sen (Lao chicken noodle soup) and watch demonstrations on sticky rice and kow piek sen broth. The class will finish with pandan coconut sticky rice and mango. The event also includes a papaya salad tasting, featuring options from Estrellita, Khmer Bowl, and Exclusively Yours. A portion of proceeds from the event will go to the Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier International. Tickets are $85 for Les Dames members and $95 for non-members.
🥬 Miller Union will host a special installment of Slow Food’s Joyful Dinner Series on May 29. The evening will feature a four-course tasting menu celebrating peak seasonal produce, in addition to the regular menu. The event is not ticketed, but reservations are recommended.
Sip, savor, and celebrate!
SPONSORED BY FOOD THAT ROCKS
🥂 Food That Rocks 2026 returns to City Springs on June 4 as Sandy Springs’ all-inclusive tasting event, presented by Taste of Atlanta.
From 6–10 p.m. for VIP entry and starting at 7 p.m. for general admission, guests sample bites from more than 25 neighborhood restaurants alongside craft cocktails, beer, and wine tastings. The under-the-stars evening features live music from Band X, chef meet-and-greets, and interactive sponsor activations.
Celebrating Sandy Springs’ growing culinary scene, the event brings together local favorites and new spots for one high-energy night of food, drinks, and community.
WING WISDOM
5 key takeaways from judging wings
😵 You actually can’t ever have too many Pepto-Bismol tablets. Keep them on your person at all times.
🤠 Homemade ranch dressing is an easy way to win judges over in a wings contest.
🌶️ If you don’t like spicy food, it’s all in your head. Biting into spicy foods releases capsaicin, a chemical that pretty much signals your body is on fire. It is why, according to Pfizer, you “feel” spicy foods instead of tasting them. That did not, however, make the hottest wings we judged at Kirkwood Spring Fling this year hurt any less.
🧊 Ice is a valuable tool. So are freezer pops. Thanks for sharing those, Wing Fling team!
🥵 If the wing is spicy enough, people will not judge you for taking a shot of ranch dressing. So take the shot, people.
WEATHER CANCELS DINE AROUND DUNWOODY
May 21 Dine Around Dunwoody event takes a rain check
⛈️ Sadly, tonight’s Dine Around Dunwoody event is canceled due to rain and storms in the forecast. But you’ll get another chance on June 18, when it returns to the Spruill Center for the Arts.
Formerly called Food Truck Thursday, Dine Around Dunwoody is a monthly event that travels to different venues around the city and includes live music and other activities. These Thursday food events typically kick off at 5:30 p.m.
⏩ Read more about the event from Cathy Cobbs here.
AT THE MARKET
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMUNITY FARMERS MARKETS
Rough Draft Atlanta and Community Farmers Markets partner to bring you two recipes every week that you can make at home using fresh ingredients from your local farmers market. Turnips and grits are on the menu this week! Check out both recipes here.
THAT SLAPS
I am not a fan of tasting menus because I don’t enjoy the way I feel after eating that many courses. I do, however, promote thoughtfully curated tasting menus.
👍 I recently tasted my way through the new spring menu at Georgia Boy and really appreciated Chef Joey Ward’s creative approach to it. This season’s menu explores a lot of different flavor combinations. (Think caviar and banana pudding and a hearty tomato focaccia that’s almost like if soup were bread.)
Most of all, I appreciated the Neapolitan: Decimal Place Farm feta, strawberry and tomato, and black olive, basil, and local olive oil sorbets. It made for a really engaging palate-cleanser.
We’re always looking for recipes to highlight on Rough Draft. If you have a favorite dish from a restaurant you want the recipe for, please send me an email to sarra@roughdraftatlanta.com.
