Is “luck” real?
If we create our own fate, then nothing is really sheer luck…
Whatever the case may be, I felt pretty lucky this weekend. Â To start it out right, I was lucky to be invited to a preview lunch for the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival. Â It is far and away my favorite food event of the year.
From the delicious food they served to the sneak preview of the class schedule, the organizers, Dominique Love and Elizabeth Feichter, are going to put on the best one yet! Â If you haven’t been before, this is the year to try it out! Â One of my favorite things about this festival is that in addition to the amazing tasting tents, there are a ton of courses you can attend. Â I always learn something and meet new friends.
The food luck continued with a fabulous meal at one of Atlanta’s best new restaurants, Better Half (349 14th St. Bldg C Atlanta, GA 30318; 404-695-4547).  It was started by Zach and Cristina Meloy after spending a few years growing and learning with Push Start Kitchen (my favorite underground supper club).  Even cooler is that they funded the restaurant with  Kickstarter campaign!  The story behind this place alone makes you want to support it!
The menu changes daily, but I trust anything Zach makes will be amazing. Â My friend and I split several items and left perfectly sated:
Apps: roasted garlic panisse (chickpea flour cake) with preserved lemon mayonnaise, candied fennel, and pickled shallot and 2Â crispy pork belly pieces with black bean puree and cucumber pico de gallo
Mains: striped bass, rice grits, chile pudding, spinach, and shallot rings, and an 18 hour lamb neck, tacu- tacu (bean cake), crispy plantain, and cilantro puree
Desserts: vanilla cremeux, butterscotch, cocoa crumb, and orange puree, and a cocoa sponge with cajeta and smoked chocolate ice cream
The panisse may have been my favorite. Â The chickpea cake was perfectly crisped on the outside, but the inside was light and creamy. Â I loved the texture contrast in each bite, and the bright lemon mayo was the perfect flavor accent.
This last item really was lucky. Â Jennifer Nettles was playing at my favorite venue in Atlanta Saturday night. Â I had a giant brain fart and forgot to get tickets. Â With nothing else to do, I decided to walk down to the show and see if anyone was scalping tickets. Â They were not.
I almost turned away, but saw a lone guy standing at the Kicks 101.5 (our local country radio station) booth.  It was a long shot, but I had nothing to lose… I asked if they happened to have an extra ticket.  He had TWO!  And he gave them to me for FREE.  It was unreal.  I thanked him over and over and then called my mamma.  I’m a good kid. 😉
Naturally, I enjoyed a celebration cocktail and a sandwich while I waited for Mom to get there.
We’ve been listening to Jennifer since way before her Sugarland days (she started solo and with a non-country band, Soul Miner’s daughter).  I was a little sad she didn’t play her old stuff, but it was still an amazing show.
That woman’s voice fills a room like no other!
***
Luck or not, it was a great weekend!  I bet Katie would call it marvelous. 😉
Do you believe in luck? Â When was your last “lucky” occurrence?
Do you like Sugarland/Jennifer Nettles? Â Did you know she had a career before country?
So many amazing things!! That’s pretty amazing that Better Half started with a Kickstarter campaign and the food looks amazing. I believe in luck to a certain degree but that you have to act on it to make it happen. Like with the Jennifer Nettles tickets. Luck may have brought you and the tickets together in one place but you needed to walk over to the booth and ask for them.
It is amazing! They are such a talented couple… totally deserving!
oh man… did you buy a lotto ticket? Congrats.
Damn – I didn’t even think of that!
That is awesome! I love when things like that happen. You get energized and renewed and look at the world differently.
Oh wow, that’s so cool!! Sounds like such a great weekend.
I believe that when you focus on luck it will come to you. Positive thinking. My BF is the perfect example. Always joyful and smiley and he is a truly lucky guy. Sometimes it gets on my nerves, really. LOL.
I want to come to Atlanta to EAT and to hang out with you!!
Ok, so the above comment is from me….LOL
Your BF sounds awesome; ) And YES come to ATL and eat with me!
That is lucky! It reminds me of the time Rob and I got free tickets to the All Blacks (our team!) semi final at the world cup 2 years ago. We desperately wanted to go and a woman in our hotel elevator just happened to have two tickets to spare.
That’s so cool! Wasn’t there a movie like that? Sliding Door?
That is so cool! Sounds like you had a wonderful weekend! I do agree in fate….well maybe not fate so much, but that everything happens for a reason. The things you think about the most, you will put yourself in a position to be able to reach that desire. My races always go as I plan them too….sometimes I think about things that I do not want in races, and that comes true too. Like they say, be careful what you wish for!
That’s the truth! What we believe, we manifest!
to my eyes it seems you live that adage about LUCK BEING WHEN HARD ASS WORK MEETS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY (ok I may have mangled a bit :-)).
you seem SO LUCKY–you always be ready for the opportunities.
LOL! I love your interpretation of that quote.
luck like that is just the best feeling, couldn’t have asked for a better weekend with that kind of luck
lucky eats and night out! you deserve it all!! wish i was there
Me too!!! Must plan a trip.
Wow – that is lucky, I’m glad that you and your mom enjoyed yourselves! And I definitely believe in luck at least to some extent….which would explain why I have a four-leaf clover tattoo behind my ear 😉
That’s such a cool place for a tattoo.
Awesome times! I LOVE Jennifer Nettles…have liked her since there were 3 members in Sugarland, but had no idea about her career before this. Thanks to you, I have learned something new today! 🙂
Awwww… when Kristin was in the band. They were awesome. How about the girl drummer that was there in the beginning too? You have to check out her old solo stuff – it’s powerful!
I believe in a little mix of both… you had to have the guts and desire to ask for the tickets…but I think life had them waiting for whoever was willing to do just that. Sounds like a seriously great weekend!!
Awesome! Don’t you just want to pinch yourself when everything falls into place like that?
girl… I have no luck. Unless it comes to flying, then I have BAD luck. I’m coming to hang out with you… I love me some good food and Jennifer Nettles!
Whatever! You area lucky mamma with that beautiful baby!
Such a lucky weekend! I believe in both- you can get lucky (he he) and be destined for awesome things in life.
What a wonderful weekend & LUCK too!!!! I love Jennifer Nettles – her voice is amazing!!!
Not sure I believe in luck cause in my family – it tends to be bad.. :O so hard to say… 😉
Did you know her before? If not, you should check it out. I bet you’d love!
Luck, fate, call it what you want, I call it awesome. 🙂 Sounds like a great weekend too!
Congrats on scoring those 2 tickets to Jennifer Nettles!
Any chance you could smuggle me in incase you were invited back for a post prview of the Atlanta Food & Wine Festival? 🙂
Have a great week Laura!
You should come to the festival! You can apply for a media pass on their website. 🙂
That meal looks so good! I win tickets a lot through the radio it’s kinda crazy.
Really?! I always wondered if real people won those.
You ARE lucky! So much good food.
Personally, I think a little luck + a lot of hard work = great opportunities.
That’s so true – I hate when people bitch about being unlucky but they are so clearly getting in their own way.
Fantastic – I am looking forward to having you guide me through my first “ATL food and wine festival”
I forgot about Soul Miner’s Daughter. I used to really love one of their songs, now I’ve forgotten what it is though!
It’s this one. Thanks for reminding me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXJUwxcGdn8
I listened to this on repeat at work after you posted it. Thanks. 🙂
I don’t believe in luck, I believe in fate. It sounds like you were destined to see that concert. What an awesome experience!
That wasn’t luck, that was chutzpah! Do you know how many people would’ve lazily given up before even walking to look for scalpers, let alone asking a random radio dude? Almost everyone, me included. You’re awesome.
You wouldn’t have if you’d been with ME! 🙂
Since you asked, I got lucky just yesterday. 😉 The Hubby was in town.
Anything involving Atlanta’s food festival would be a winning weekend in my book. You could happily roll me home or to a Jennifer Nettles concert. It sounds pretty perfect. Glad you got to enjoy it.
Pervert. (JK… it’s really jealousy talking.)
What a great weekend! Hope you had fun! 🙂
Luck or fate, whatever it is, all I see is delicious food!
I don’t believe in luck and I’m not superstitious either. I believe that things happen for a reason. 🙂 And I also really enjoy Jennifer Nettles, I remember her from SMD too! 🙂
Why am I not surprised by this? 🙂
Did you see her in Athens??? I miss those days.