NOWOPEN

GRILL & BUFFET

Norcross

2055 Beaver Ruin Rd Norcross, GA 30071

Tel: 470-395-3333

I-85; Exit 101

ChowKingNorcross.com

Smyrna

2400 Cobb Pkwy SE

Smyrna, GA 30080

Tel: 470-308-3333

Across from SunTrust Park

ChowKingCobb.com

Everybody Eats: Jeff Graham

Serving Chinese, Japanese, Korean & American

Serving Lunch From $8.49 (weekdays)

Creative Southwestern

& Award Winning Margaritas

By Megan Volpert

Welcome to the interview series where I discuss food with citizens of Atlanta who are prominent for non-food-related reasons. Let’s get to know our most high-profile residents a little more personally, shall we? For this installment, I spoke to Jeff Graham, Executive Director of the LGBT advocacy group Georgia Equality.

How do you like your eggs cooked?

► Sunny-side up, just like my attitude about politics.

What are your two favorite things to put in mac and cheese, other than the mac and the cheese?

► Mushrooms and lobster, though not together.

What are some of your favorite spots for brunch?

► Apres Diem is great to meet friends. We love to take our dog walking along the BeltLine and then have a late brunch at Park Tavern or Across the Street on Highland Avenue. The Georgia Equality offices are in the same building as Radial Cafe, so it’s the perfect spot for breakfast or brunch if I need to discuss business.

What’s your favorite food city, other than Atlanta?

► Washington, DC. It’s the first major city I visited as a kid and I was amazed to find out there was more to life than meat and potatoes.

Are you any good at gardening?

► I fantasize about being good at gardening, but the tomato plants I struggle to keep alive each year would probably argue with that notion.

Wine and beer, or the hard stuff, or none at all?

► White wine at a benefit, so I don’t have to worry if I spill. Otherwise it’s either bourbon or tequila.

What is your guilty pleasure snack food? Favorite food for a tailgate?

► Popcorn is the guilty pleasure. Peel and eat shrimp or veggie hot dogs for a tailgate.

What are your feelings about red velvet cake?

► It’s all a plot to sell red food coloring to the unsuspecting!

Is there any food so disgusting to you that you just won’t eat it?

► I’m pescatarian, but I draw the line at Rocky Mountain Oysters!

Who does most of the cooking in your house? Who cooked while you were growing up?

► I cook and my husband does the laundry. We divided those duties when we first moved in together 27 years ago. Back then, I was working at a costume shop and he worked at a deli, so we wanted to make sure the chores at home differed from the chores at work. My folks divorced when I was young, so I grew up with both of my parents cooking. Living with single parents, I also learned how to chip in and fix dinner by the time I was in my teens.

What is the most memorable food-related story you’ve got from your time with Georgia Equality?

► The most memorable fundraiser I ever attended was when the catering staff went on strike a couple of hours before the benefit started. The employees for the charity helped to prepare and serve the meal to the attendees. Naturally there was a very long delay from the time we were seated until the food arrived. It was an awards banquet and the guest of honor had too much to drink and gave a rambling speech that seemed to go on forever. Luckily all of the guests were very understanding when there was not enough food or utensils for everyone and we all had to share family style! I heard that the hotel ended up refunding all of the costs, so it ended up being the most profitable event that group had ever had.

LOCAL EXPERTISE | GLOBAL CONNECTIONS

NEW

BROWNSTONES AT CENTRAL PK, O4W 334 Brownstones Circle, $615,000 3BR/3fb/1hb. FMLS: 5844475

Connie Cousins-Baker 404-324-7973

ATLANTA NORTH 770-622-3081

EAST COBB 770-977-9500

ATLANTA PERIMETER 770-394-2131

FMLS: 5830339 Sarah Mock 404-683-9012 COMING

MIDTOWN 562 Greenwood Ave NE, $659,000 4BR/3fb/1hb.

C. Cousins-Baker 404-324-7973 Kim Orr 404-915-7668

BUCKHEAD 675 Norfleet Road, $1,174,000 5BR/4fb/1hb. FMLS: 5818032 Kathy Olmstead 404-550-5203

LAKE RABUN 904 Lake Rabun Road, $969,500 4BR/4fb/1hb. GAMLS: 8050993

Michael McGaughey 706-982-9030

HARRYNORMAN.COM

1531 PIEDMONT AVENUE NE, STE B | ATLANTA, GA 30324 | 404-897-5558

BIG CANOE - NORTH GEORGIA 770-893-2400

FORSYTH/LAKE LANIER 770-497-2000

HIAWASSEE 706-632-7211

BLUE RIDGE 706-632-7211

INTOWN 404-897-5558

BUCKHEAD 404-233-4142

BUCKHEAD CHASTAIN 404-233-1492

LUXURY LAKE & MOUNTAIN 706-212-0228

BUCKHEAD NORTH 404-814-9000

NORTH FULTON 678-461-8700

BROOKHAVEN 4555 Peachtree Dunwoody Road, $1,295,000 4BR/4fb/2hb. FMLS: 5813605

Sandy Abrams 404-281-0097

BUCKHEAD NORTHWEST 404-261-2700

PEACHTREE CITY 770-632-8526

COBB MARIETTA 770-422-6005

SANDY SPRINGS 404-250-9900 but is not warranted. Offer subject to errors, changes, omissions, prior sales and withdrawals without notice. www.HarryNorman.com

Big Al’s Butter Made Burgers now open in Buckhead!

Quick Bites

The ninth annual Atlanta Summer Beer Fest will be held on Saturday, June 17, from 4 to 9 p.m. at Historic Fourth Ward Park. There will be more than 200 beers, wines, live music and games, and food will be available for purchase. For tickets and information, visit atlantasummerbeerfest.com.

Family Food Fest Atlanta, a multicultural charitable food tasting celebration, will be held on Father’s Day, June 18 at the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot, 65 MLK Jr. Drive. One hundred men will prepare dishes from appetizers to main courses to desserts for attendees. There will also be a barbecue cook-off, kids fun zone, face painting, health pavilion and much more. Special guests this year will include Celebrity Chef Tregaye Fraser, Food Network Star champion for 2016, and Chef Will Boxx owner of restaurant SBK in Atlanta. Tickets are $25 for adults and $15 for children 12 and under in advance. For more information, visit familyfoodfestatlanta.com.

Old Fourth Ward’s Fetch Park and Ice House, Atlanta’s first restaurant and dog park bar concept, has launched a membership presale. Memberships are $240 annually or $20 monthly and include free entry to the park’s full calendar of events such as small concerts, holiday and theme parties along with standard membership perks. Located steps from the Atlanta BeltLine, the concept includes Fetch Ice House, a full-service Texasstyle eatery and bar, and Fetch Park, an off-leash dog park bar. For more information, visit fetchparkatl.com.

Midtown Alliance released a list of new restaurants that are opening soon in the district. The list includes:

- Neapolitan pizzeria MidiCi, 999 Peachtree St.

- Tacos & tapas restaurant Babalu, 33 Peachtree Pl.

- Persian restaurant and bar Molana, 915 W. Peachtree St.

- Miami staple Bulla Gastrobar, 60 11th St.

- Vietnamese restaurant Anh’s Kitchen, 855 Peachtree St.

- Craft tacos and taqueria restaurant Cactus House, 1020 Piedmont Ave.

100% All Natural certified Angus beef. No hormones or antibiotics. All burgers are fresh, never frozen and are cooked in our hand churned gourmet butter to give extra flavor and tenderness to the burger.

Paces Properties has announced that Firepit Pizza Tavern and Full Commission will join the tenant mix at its Larkin on Memorial development at 519 Memorial Drive in Grant Park. Firepit Pizza Tavern is a new concept developed by Leslie Cohen – local chef, restaurateur and winner of the Food Network show Cutthroat Kitchen. According to a media release, the restaurant will offer authentic brick oven pizza, along with appetizers, salads, sandwiches, craft beer, wine and specialty cocktails. Full Commission, created by David Traxler, will be an upscale restaurant and tap room serving southern fusion small plates, coffee and full bar.

With any burger, fries, and drink combo. Limited time only. Valid Monday-Thursday with coupon.

(404) 351-0450

2221 Peachtree Rd NE Ste G Atlanta, GA 30309

Housed in a former streetcar stop building at 332 Ormond Street in Grant Park, Mediterranea uses locally-sourced ingredients in its offerings. Founded by Gerard Nudo and Gary McElroy, who have led a gluten-free lifestyle for more than 12 years, dinner is served Wednesdays through Saturdays from 5 to 10 p.m. Brunch is available on weekends from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and freshly baked goods and coffee are available from the bakery counter seven days a week. For more details, visit mediterraneaatl.com.

CO restaurant, offering a modern take on traditional Southeast Asian cuisine, is open in the Poncey-Highland at 675 N. Highland Ave. Executive Chef Masanori Shiraishi will lead the kitchen, drawing inspiration from generationsold family dishes and popular dishes throughout Southeast Asia.

California-based Public School on Tap, a gastropub delivering an “education in the art of food and beer,” has opened Public School 404 at 930 Howell Mill Road at The Brady apartment building. Barbecue bison burgers, bacon cheddar tots, chorizo mac & cheese, eggs benedict pizza, fried chicken & waffles and Nutella cookie sandwiches are just some of the menu items along with a large selection of beers and cocktails. For more information, visit psontap.com.

Dallas-based Taverna, which serves a menu of northern Italian fare, is now open at The Shops Buckhead Atlanta, serving lunch and dinner on weekdays and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. For more information, visit tavernabylombardi.com.

The Flying Biscuit Café has opened at new outpost on the Westside at Howell Mill Village, 857 Collier Road, serving up its famous Love Cakes, shrimp and grits, pimento cheese sandwiches, chicken salad and those big fluffy biscuits. For more information, visit flyingbiscuit.com.

The 29th anniversary celebration of Atlanta’s Taste of the Nation for No Kid Hungry raised $795,000 to end childhood hunger in Atlanta and across America. More than 1,400 guests gathered at Southern Exchange at 200 Peachtree in April for a special evening featuring gourmet samplings of more than 50 of Atlanta’s most celebrated chefs, as well as live, silent and beverage auctions, wine tastings and live entertainment.

The Fresh MARTA Market is now open at several local stations, providing transit customers with a convenient shopping alternative for fresh, affordable and locally grown produce. Markets will be at the West End (Tuesdays), H.E. Holmes (Wednesdays), College Park (Thursdays) and Five Points (Fridays) stations through December. For more information, visit itsmarta.com.

Thanks to the strong demand for its IPAs and stouts, Scofflaw Brewing Company has taken delivery of three 90-barrel fermentation tanks and one 90-barrel bright tank. After just nine months of operation, the additional tanks will double the present capacity to around 14,000 barrels per year for the brewery located in the Bolton neighborhood of Atlanta’s Westside. For more information, visit scofflawbrewery.com.

Sixteen metro Atlanta nonprofits participated in Gas South’s sixth annual Charity Cornhole Challenge at SweetWater 420 Fest in April. The Giving Kitchen won in the championship showdown and received a $10,000 donation for its ongoing mission to provide emergency assistance grants to metro Atlanta restaurant workers facing unanticipated hardship.