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A Roadtrip through South Carolina with Atlanta Food & Wine

How to spend 24 hours in Greenville, South Carolina
March 15, 2017
Story By: Mandy Kellogg Rye
Filed Under > Everyday

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We recently had the most amazing time in South Carolina, as I’m sure you can recall from our posts on Instagram and Snapchat (username WAITINGONMARTHA).  Coming back from the whirlwind of a trip (we were gone 10 days in total), I was officially convinced that South Carolina is probably my (second) favorite state.  With its incredible geographical delights, drool-worthy food and great drivability from us here in the A, it makes for a wonderful getaway and worthwhile trip – however long you can go.  

Atlanta Food & Wine Festival teamed up with our friends at Discover South Carolina and Lexus to send us on a food-and-drink filled 3 days-2 night road trip.  And man, the itinerary was GOOD.  There’s a lot to cover, but in today’s post, we’re talking about where to visit in Greenville. 

First on our itinerary was Six & Twenty Distillery, where founders David Raad and Robert “Farmer” Redmond welcomed us with open arms after a morning of road tripping north from Atlanta.  David and Farmer’s passion for their craft was apparent from the second we walked through their doors; we had a wonderful time hearing about their unique process in making a variety of handcraft whiskies, bourbon gin and vodka. The homemade touch was obvious with everything we saw (and tasted!); every bottle was meticulously filled, hand corked and labeled on site, and the batches of bottles were numbered and personally signed. The team left with t-shirts and bottles of Six & Twenty’s crowd favorite, Carolina Cream, in tow. 

We were enamored with the story behind the Six and Twenty name too.  Legend has it that before the Revolutionary War, a Choctaw woman was captured by the Cherokee and made a slave. She overheard the Cherokee’s attack plans for the trading post where her British lover lived. She escaped captivity to warn him of the looming danger, and traveled 96 miles to save him. She set geographical points along the way, based on her distance from the Cherokee village.  The distillery is located approximately 26 miles from the original village, giving it its name! Check out more on this love story that made history (and one heck of a great name for a distillery). 

Next on the itinerary: lunch at Grits & Groceries, which is located at Saylors Crossroads at the junction of 185 and 284.  Its closest town is a little place called Belton, about 30 minutes away. As we pulled up, we found cars lining both of th roads, seemingly at the only establishment around.  We knew we were in for a treat seeing how busy it was in the middle of the day.  We grabbed Bloody Mary’s at the outside bar and eagerly waited what we knew would be a feast to remember.  And we were right; Chef Heidi Trull sent out her fried country ham balls with homemade pepper jelly (AMAZING) and we scarfed them down in practically one bite.  When the place cleared up a bit, Chef Heidi sat us right at the bar so we could have a front-and-center view of the kitchen.  She then went and served us the royal treatment, bringing out samplings of all of her mainstays on the menu: her famous praline bacon, “Eggs Elizabeth”, fried cheese grits with tomato jam, “Three Little Piggies” sandwiches, shrimp and grits, the Palmetto Burger (possibly the best grassfed beef burger we’ve ever had with a big ole scoop of homemade pimento cheese on top), and of course (somehow we found room) for her husband Joe’s homemade fried apple pies.  I mean they had to roll us out of there, but not before they sent us on our way with more fried apple pies for later and plenty of homemade pepper jelly. 

Happy food comas set in, and we headed back to Greenville to check into the Westin Poinsett, which has a great central location in the downtown. We took a bit of a breather to reset, explore the town and gear up for dinner at the wildly popular Willy Taco Feed & Seed.  With two locations (the other in Spartanburg, SC), the “Willy” of Willy Taco, William Cribb, has knocked it out of the park with this full-service, upcycled cantina concept.  This location in particular is inside a renovated, historic Feed & Seed building that’s had a special place in Greenville residents’ hearts.  The owners did a fantastic job staying true to the historical details, while ushering in cool, modern details that fit the funky vibe. And on the menu: a great mix of conceptual tacos, burgers, sandwiches, salads, house-made chips and fresh juice margaritas. The vibe was electric and funky; people everywhere happy to be there, joining friends for a few drinks at the bar and noshing on some impressive taco creations at the tables. 

 This wasn’t our first time in Greenville, and it certainly won’t be our last.  We absolutely adored having this chance to see more of this great town, and highly suggest these spots if you’re wondering where to visit in Greenville.  A big thanks to AFWF, Discover SC and Lexus for showing us a few more must-visit gems, and introducing us to new faces and friends that we’ll be sure to seek out come June at the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival!  Stay tuned for our recap of Day 2 and 3, where we stopped in Columbia, Beaufort and Hilton Head.  Amazing lineup, right?!  Truly, MKR

P.S. Next time in Greenville and Traveller’s Rest, we’re hoping to check these off the list: Dark Corner Moonshine, Copperhead Mountain Distillery, Quest Brewing, Brewery 85, Grape and Grains of Greenville, Swamp Rabbit Trail Brewery and Blue Ridge Brewing Company.  Spread out, in moderation, of course! xo 

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Photography, Kathryn McCrary for Waiting on Martha | This post is in collaboration with Atlanta Food & Wine Festival, Discover South Carolina and Lexus.  All opinions are 100% our own. 

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Atlanta Food & Wine Festival: In the Vineyard

Setting the Scene for Magical Memories in Midtown
June 24, 2016
Story By: Mandy Kellogg Rye
Filed Under > Holiday Entertaining

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2016-06-23_00132016-06-23_00162016-06-23_00172016-06-23_00192016-06-23_0023© Kathryn McCrary Photography Atlanta Food Photographer AFWF-92016-06-23_00292016-06-23_0027 2016-06-23_00142016-06-23_0018 2016-06-23_00152016-06-23_0021   2016-06-23_00282016-06-23_0026 2016-06-23_0010

When I first heard the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival crew was scheming to create a real-life pop-up vineyard in the heart of midtown, I immediately started imagining the dreamiest-of-dreamy setups for each and every event.  Think long farm tables between the vines with romantic, sweeping greenery and rustic, simple place settings.  And of course plenty of twinkle lights once the sun went down!  Think of all of this with some of Atlanta’s tallest skyscrapers in view.  I died at just the thought of being part of such a magical installation (the first in the US), so too see my dreams come to life was just beyond. 

We set the scene at the Grapes A to Z Sommelier Wine Lunch with Jason Tesauro from The Modern Gent, with said farm tables and the most amazing live garland by Blooms of Dunwoody. Candlesticks of varying heights added a little interest to the tablescape, but otherwise we kept things super simple with the natural vibe created by the farm tables, garland, and grape vines really allowing the 26 wines poured to shine.  And like our Powerful & Delicious dinner, we added informational #knowthesouth cards—placed into each fork—with a few basic definitions and terms related to wine to our little daytime vineyard party. 

The vineyard, I must tell you, was hot.  “…hotter than a billy goat with a blow torch” to be exact.  We knew our guests would be a little toasty throughout the day and well into the evening, so we supplied palmetto fans with entertaining phrases about the heat attached.  My personal favorite might have been “It’s Hotter than Hell’s Pepper Patch” but it was really too hard to decide.  These fun details played perfectly into Atlanta Food & Wine Festival‘s #KnowTheSouth theme this year, and I know guests were grateful for the chance to cool off with them. 

The rest of the evening events (6 in total) were just as magical as you can imagine with a backdrop of twinkle lights and sky scrapers.  Guests mingled between the vines, stopped at chef stations to savor some of the best bites in the South, sipped award-winning wines, and even played a little bocce ball. It’s safe to say that it was a huge treat for me to see this space make the transformation from city lot to dreamy urban vineyard and grounds for two gorgeous events during one of my favorite weekends of the entire year.  Truly, MKR

P.S. The pop-up vineyard will remain open through June 30 for community use and private events. Be sure to check it out for yourself across from the Four Seasons on 14th street and follow along on social with #VineyardInTheCity. xo

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Photography, Kathryn McCrary for Waiting on Martha | Florals, Blooms of Dunwoody

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Wine & Cheese 101 with Bellina Alimentari

An Irresistible, Interesting Afternoon of Wine, Cheese & Conversation
October 28, 2016
Story By: Mandy Kellogg Rye
Filed Under > Worth Noting

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(C) www.haleysheffield.comblog-bella1blog-bella3blog-bella2

Food and wine that tells a story.  Now that’s something we’re all about here at WOM.  And when you invite us to a place that boasts a good food philosophy (and sourcing approach) alongside a simply stunning bar and dining room, not to mention drool-worthy menu items…well, you don’t have to twist our arm to show up.  MKR recently called up the team to meet at Bellina Alimentari at Ponce City Market for a little mid-week wine tasting class, and oh, was it legendary. 

We basically got an insider’s peek at the magic that is Bellina Alimentari‘s Culinary Club; a collection of intimate cooking classes, tastings and workshops in its back room. Whether you’re there to learn how to make pasta, enjoy a wine tasting or simply revel in a private dinner, the place is quite the gem.  Bellina Alimentari‘s goal is to “create a community of food lovers and bring back to the table the conversation of good food,” and that they have.  Check out this recent blog post by them regarding October’s wine harvest…they’re the real deal. 

Naturally, we were delighted to gather around that table for a few hours to test and taste our way through a course of three natural Italian wines, each with its perfect cheese pairing.  (Seriously, I had no idea wine and cheese could play off each other so well!)  But thanks to Bellina‘s Bethany Thompson, we learned all about the makings of pure, inventive wines from the region, and a little about why they tasted so wonderful with a slice (or two or three) of cheese that was equally irresistibly authentic.

I was utterly fascinated to learn about this wine.  Besides of course that it was a few glasses of vino in front of me on a Tuesday afternoon, the backstory was so interesting. All of the wine at Bellina Alimentari was hand-selected to showcase the diversity of Italy’s land, welcoming a peek (or taste!) into each region’s unique identity.  We learned that—like in other regions—the land, soil and grape all play a part to create the flavors in your glass.  But with these wines in particular, all you’ll taste is true, honest flavors with no additives.  None of them have had technological manipulations in the cellar either.  We all couldn’t believe that many winemakers add dozens of ingredients to wine to standardize the flavor and correct mistakes (a bottle can have up to something like 80 ingredients before needing to list them on the label!).  

We enjoyed a 3-course flight of wines, all rich in flavor and incredibly unique from the rest. My favorite perhaps was the orange wine (?!) from a small vineyard in Slovenia.  Orange wine, I learned, is most definitely a thing; the one we tried had a bold, almost vinegar-y taste and was quite literally bright, bold orange in color.  It’s basically a white wine that’s made like a red wine, but the grape skins are left in contact during fermentation.  I had never seen or tasted anything like it.  I was unsure how I felt about it until I popped a crumble of the cheese pairing (some of the best parmesan reggiano) into my mouth after a sip.  The pair played off each other beautifully, opening up the depth of flavor that much more.  Amazing, I’m telling you! 

A big thanks to the Bellina Alimentari team for welcoming us into the back room for an afternoon of irresistible cheeses, intriguing wines and great conversation…we didn’t want to leave (but we’ll most certainly be back).  And in the credits below, I share the exact wine + cheese pairings we enjoyed!  Cheers, Kat

P.S. If you can, I’d highly suggest checking out the lineup of classes at Bellina Alimentari (think pasta making, wine + cheese pairings, all about vinegars and more).  Priced anywhere from $28-45 a person, the classes are a fun way to share the magic behind a meaningful gathering with great food.  xo

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Photography, Haley Sheffield for Waiting on Martha | This post is in collaboration with Bellina Alimentari, a brand we love and adore.  All opinions are 100% our own. 

Wine & Cheese Pairings
No. 1…Verdicchio, Le Salse, Marche (100% Chardonnay) with Decimal Place’s fresh Feta
No. 2…Monica di Sardegna, Praja, Sardegna (Orange wine) with aged (at least 18 months) Parmesan Reggiano
No. 3…Chardonnay+ Radikon, Friuli-Venezia Giulia 2011 with Sweetgrass Dairy’s Asher Blue

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