The 2nd Annual Atlanta Cheese Festival was held this past Friday night at Atlanta’s beautiful Botanical Garden. The walk towards the entrance of the event almost felt like a cheese pilgrimage. The event was scheduled to start at 6pm and, like clockwork, masses of cheese lovers arrived timely enough to flood the gates as soon as they opened.
There were more than 100 cheese producers positioned throughout the venue making the event both a visual and culinary feast. Guests were able to sample a plethora of cheese varieties while strolling through the gardens’ Living Sculptures exhibition. Patrons also had the option to purchase a number of cheese products at the event if so inclined.
One of the more popular activities of the night was the Grilled Cheese Meltdown with local chefs participating. There were some pretty ingenious grilled cheese creations out there. A couple of them are on my bucket list to try and recreate at home unless my favorite from High Road Craft Ice Cream finds its way on a menu somewhere. I’m also a fan of the sandwich Cooks & Soldiers made. To note, they have a new restaurant opening in November on the Westside. Yes, another place to add to my Foodie Bucket List.
The energy of the festival was amplified with live music, cooking demonstrations, beer & wine cheese pairings, makers of cheese related goods explaining their products and chatty guests walking around in sheer cheesy blissdom. I know this because I was one of them.
The beneficiary of this event was The Giving Kitchen, whose mission is to “provide crisis grants to members of Atlanta’s restaurant community facing unanticipated hardship.” It’s a program built out of need and concern for others in the industry which is pretty inspiring. If you would like to lend your support, just visit their website to see how easy it is to DONATE.
If you missed the Atlanta Cheese Festival this year, go ahead and make a note in your calendars to stalk the scheduling of this event in 2015. Then the cheese lover in you will have something “gouda” to look forward to all year. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
Disclosure: My general admission to the Atlanta Cheese Festival was complimentary and included cheese and related product food samples. I was not compensated for this post. All opinions are my own and were not influenced in any way. You can view my full Disclosure Policy here.
