News You Can Eat Pimento Cheese, Please!

Sun In My Belly

Fried green tomatoes with smoky pimento cheese, $8.95. 2161 College Ave NE. suninmybelly.com.

Sweet Auburn BBQ

Pimento cheese wontons with bacon marmalade served with sweet Thai chili sauce, $8. 656 N. Highland Ave. NE. sweetauburnbbq.com.

By Isadora Pennington

I’m going to take a firm stand: cheese is one of the best things that has ever happened to humanity. Cheese can be many things, and comes in a variety of forms. Growing up, I mostly had cheese in the form of a grilled cheese sandwich, with the cheese acting as a great unifier between two pieces of buttery bread. It was, and still is, one of the only meals that I have actually mastered making on my own, save for that one time that I forgot I was making a grilled cheese sandwich at my grandparents’ house and nearly burned the house down (sorry, Granny).

And yet, despite my lifelong love affair with cheese, somehow I had never even heard of pimento cheese until I moved to Atlanta as a young adult. In the years since, I’ve come to know and absolutely adore this bizarre, gooey cheese concoction as served in a variety of meals. The classic, a pimento cheese sandwich on white bread, is one of the most pervasive dishes to be found at weddings, church events and family gatherings.

But where, you ask, did this delectable cheese product come from? Surely, the South had a hand in its origins, right? I mean, look at its popularity here. It may surprise you, as it did me, that pimento cheese was actually invented in the Northeast. Farmers in the 1870s in New York started making a soft cheese akin to French Neufchâtel, which evolved into cream cheese

Little’s Food Store

A carton of house-made pimento cheese, $4.99. 198 Carroll St. SE. littlesfoodstore.com. when mixed with cream. This newly available product was instantly popular, and chefs in the Northeast started experimenting with using it in a variety of dishes. Around that same time, sweet red peppers started being imported en masse from Spain, and the Domestic Science (also known as Home Economics) women-led social reform movement began incorporating these two delicacies into plenty of creative concoctions, including the dish that we now know as pimento cheese.

So there you have it, the true origins of a Southern staple. New York farmers seeking to emulate French cheese manufacturers, imports of sweet peppers from Europe, and a bunch of highly creative and curious women seeking new combinations of foods with a scientific slant in their home kitchens. The dish has exploded in popularity since then, and can be seen incorporated into many different meals around this great city of ours. In this month’s article, I’ve sought out some of my favorite, most tasty pimento cheese dishes from around town and documented them here for your review.

The Midway Pub

Pimento cheese fritters served with jalapeno bacon jam, $8. 552 Flat Shoals Ave. SE. themidwaypub.com.

By Megan Volpert

The menu at Hampton + Hudson does not only list wine pairings for everything, but also beer and cocktail pairings, and you can find all three types of beverages here on tap. There are several vegan options, plus gluten-free items in every section of the menu. A neighborhood place should allow enough kinds of food and drink to suit all the neighbors, and even still, Hampton + Hudson asks patrons to reach inside themselves for a more optimistic interpretation of comfort food than the traditional expectation of lowest common denominators at a local dive.

The menu touches all the bases: small plates for sharing, classic diner entrees, delicatessen faves, side and salads, a couple of items that can pass for breakfast. If you’re in the mood for Southern comforts, go for the hot chicken biscuit sliders nestled in cast iron. If you’re still trying to sneak in something like brunch, go for the lox toast, which is actually on an everything bagel. If you just want to stay on trend, order the avocado toast that actually foregrounds ricotta and radishes or order the charred octopus. If you have the kids with you, order some mac and cheese that’s normal enough for a toddler to eat but interesting enough for you to finish whatever is left when the kid is through. The only thing I ordered that was boring and predictable turned out to be the fish and chips, but on a Tuesday night after a meeting runs too long, even that has its place. All the dishes were fresh, locally sourced, properly cooked, put together and plated with care, and of above average deliciousness for a neighborhood place. There were three dishes that really stood out as excellent. One was the waygu pastrami and kraut, a delicate, salty stack of goodness that warmed the heart and taste-buds of my wife, who grew up on Long Island deli sandwiches. Another was the steak tartare tacos with potato chip shell. It sounds like a gimmick, but the shell is really very sturdy and the total effect was delicious. I could’ve eaten a dozen of those and gone home happy. The last was a dessert called a Tennessee tea cake that came with a heavy coconut crust and a generous helping of fresh blueberries alongside a scoop from Queen of Cream.

Billy and Jenn Streck have once again gambled well in asking us to elevate our daily selves an inch, just as they did with Cypress Street Pint and Plate.

Hampton + Hudson is located at 299 N. Highland Ave. hamptonandhudson.com.

Grant Park favorite Stone Soup Kitchen will close Aug. 23 after 11 years in business. The restaurant was unable to negotiate a new lease for its space. Owner Sarah Rick had been planning to sell the restaurant, but she said she was looking for a potential new space for Stone Soup Kitchen.

Atlanta’s best restaurants and bands are teaming up for an evening of food, drinks, music and more, donating all of their services to raise money for two Atlanta nonprofits. The fifth annual Eats & Beats event will take place Aug. 11 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Buckhead Theatre, with 100 percent of proceeds benefiting Children of Conservation and The Giving Kitchen. Guests will enjoy an open bar, live entertainment and tastings from 30 of Atlanta’s top restaurants. Participating restaurants include Local Three, Davio’s, Cibo e Beve, Common Quarter, Paces & Vine, Doraku Sushi, Gypsy Kitchen, The Southern Gentleman, Dennis Dean Catering, The Big Ketch, Epic Events, Farm Burger, Venkman’s, Wrecking Bar Brewpub, Cook Hall, Horseradish Grill and more. Yacht Rock Revue will keep the party sailing along with performances from local chefs and their bands. Tickets, which range from $55 to $135, are available through xorbia.com.

A classic 1953 Chevy truck is being fully customized with Moore and Giles leather, reclaimed wood siding and outfitted with a wood-fired Mugaini pizza oven for Southern Crust catering’s debut in Atlanta. The truck will be able to handle any event – from a backyard soiree to a full-blown wedding. The menu features snacks like marinated olives, burrata and pancettawrapped figs alongside a healthy selection of fresh green salads. Pizza ranges from classics like margherita and pepperoni to specialties like pistachio pesto and butternut. For more information, visit southerncrustcatering.com.

The Decatur BBQ Blues & Bluegrass Festival will take place Aug. 13 from noon to 8 p.m. at 630 East Lake Drive. There will be barbecue from local restaurants and vendors along with live music from Sydney Rhame, Lockdown Blues Band, Jeff Mosier, Mudcat, Dianne Durrett & Soul Saga and many more. For tickets and the full lineup, visit decaturbbqfestival.com.

Double Zero, Castellucci Hospitality

Group’s Southern Italian concept, will host its last day of service in Sandy Springs on Aug. 6 before moving into its new location in Emory Village the first week of September.

Doughnut shop Bon Glaze has opened its second location in Buckhead in the Powers Ferry Square shopping center next door to Bar Taco. The new shop will be walk-up only, but will feature 24 flavors of shaved ice to go along with its sweet treats. To mark the 1996 Summer Olympics anniversary, Bon Glaze will have special “ring colored” doughnuts available. For more information, visit bonglaze.com.

The Farmer Fund - an Atlanta nonprofit founded in 2015 to serve metro Atlanta farmers in the face of natural disaster - will host the release party for its muchanticipated 2017 calendar on Aug. 22 at The Cathedral of St. Philip, 2744 Peachtree Road. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., festivities will include lots of local food and beer, courtesy of Atlanta chefs and breweries, a chance to meet and mingle with local farmers, and live music. The organization will reveal The Farmer Fund 2017 Calendar at the event, featuring Atlanta chefs in nothing but Hedley & Bennett aprons with the farmers who grow their food. For tickets visit 2017calendar. bpt.me.

Jonathan Elwell, executive chef and the Southern Regional National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS) champion, competed for the National NACUFS title on July 14 in Anaheim, Calif., and brought home the silver medal for Georgia Tech. On Aug. 28, Taqueria del Sol and Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q are joining forces again to celebrate the arrival of the annual shipment of chiles from New Mexico with the Foxeria del Sol Hatch Chile Festival. Held at the Howell Mill location of Taqueria del Sol, the block-party style event will take place in the parking lot from 4 to 8 p.m. Chef Eddie Hernandez of Taqueria del Sol and Pitmasters Jonathan and Justin Fox of Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q have teamed up to create a Hatch Chileinspired menu with a variety of dishes, both savory and sweet. Tickets are available through xorbia.com. French-inspired bakery St. Germain, has opened at Ponce City Market. Named after the upscale Parisian neighborhood, the bakery outpost will be helmed by Christine and Jean-Marc Metairie, the owners behind Morningside’s Atmosphere restaurant, alongside the duo’s business partner Heather Jourdan-Gassin. Offerings include artisan French pastries, specialty breads, sandwiches and classics such as macarons and croque monsieur. For more information, visit poncecitymarket.com.

Libby Stovall has been named beverage director at TAP in Midtown. She is currently one of only six women in Georgia to hold the title of certified Cicerone, the industry standard for identifying those with significant knowledge and professional skills in beer sales and service.

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