Hot Dish Review

Heart-warming news from McCall at Melissa Libby & Associates:

JCT. KITCHEN & BAR DONATES $30,875 TO GEORGIA ORGANICS IN 2010

Atlanta Chef/Restaurateur Ford Fry Serves as Biggest Restaurant Supporter of Non-Profit Organization Devoted to Community Based Food Systems

ATLANTA (December 20 , 2010) – On December 9, JCT. Kitchen & Bar hosted its final “Farm to Table and Back” guest chef dinner for 2010 and donated 100% of the dinner’s proceeds ($5,200) to Georgia Organics (GO), a non-profit organization working to integrate healthy, sustainable and locally grown food into the lives of all Georgians.

“Farm to Table and Back” is a series of guest chef dinners per year hosted at JCT. to provide diners with a special prix fixe menu created by the visiting chef in order to benefit GO. The previous Farm to Table and Back dinners this year resulted in an additional $8, 675 for GO, while JCT.’s Second Annual Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival, held on August 8, 2010, raised another $17,000 for the non-profit organization.

“JCT Kitchen and Ford Fry have been stalwart partners this year, contributing a total of more than $30,000 to Georgia Organics, co-chairing our Chef Advisory Team, dishing up sustainable food in the kitchen, and organizing the unbelievably delicious and fun Killer Tomato event with the chef community,” says GO Executive Director Alice Rolls. “They are really walking the walk in terms of sustainable foods and farms,” she adds.

Both the quarterly “Farm to Table and Back” dinners and the JCT. Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival feature some of the Southeast’s top chefs such as Mike Lata, Chris Hastings and Kevin Gillespie, who join forces to further the local food movement and the mission of GO. JCT.’s Owner/Chef Ford Fry created these events to educate diners about sustainable foods, to support the local farmers and producers in Georgia and to celebrate locally grown produce at its peak. Fry sources many of the ingredients used at his restaurant from local growers in Georgia, and GO is an organization that is very close to his heart.

The 2011 JCT. Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival is scheduled for July 17 and will provide another opportunity for chefs and attendees to meet local producers while enjoying innovative tomato dishes created by the top culinary talent in the Southeast. “Farm to Table and Back” will also continue in 2011.

Good news from Caryn Faulker at Melissa Libby & Associates:

PACCI RISTORANTE HOSTS “HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS” EVENT FOR THE ATLANTA HUMANE SOCIETY

Midtown Restaurant Helps Furry Friends Find a Home

ATLANTA (October 22, 2010) –Pacci Ristorante, a Kimpton Restaurant, is hosting a “Home for the Holidays” pet adoption party for the Atlanta Humane Society (AHS) on Saturday, November 13. From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., the AHS adoption bus (holding several lovable animals in need of a new home) will be parked in front of the Midtown restaurant. Event attendees will have the opportunity to enjoy lunch and interact with the adoptable pups both on the bus and upstairs at AltoRex Rooftop Lounge.

“We are so excited to be partnering with the Atlanta Humane Society again,” says Pacci Ristorante Executive Chef Keira Moritz. “This organization does so much for the city’s pet population, and we feel honored to host this event,” she adds.

AHS has always been a cause that is close to Chef Moritz’s heart, as she is the happy owner of an adorable Border collie named Magnolia. As part of the adoption party, Moritz will be grilling out at AltoRex and offering $5 lunches that include a hamburger, chips and a can of soda or bottled water. All lunch proceeds will go directly to AHS. There will also be coffee, hot chocolate and apple cider available. For those guests interested in bringing their four-legged friends, Pacci will provide water and “Pacci Pups” (Chef Moritz’s famous homemade dog biscuits) for all.

In addition to hosting “Home for the Holidays,” Pacci is sponsoring three different AHS pups during the months of October, November and December. The restaurant will be taking care of the adoption fees for those who would like to give these three featured furry friends a loving home. October’s Pacci-sponsored pooch has already been snatched up, but November’s adoptee is ready to find some friendly owners.

866 W. Peachtree Street 678-412-2402

PASTA & PETS! GOOD STUFF FROM MCCALL AT MELISSA LIBBY….BY THE WAY, PACCI KICKS ASS!!
PACCI RISTORANTE PARTNERS WITH ATLANTA HUMANE SOCIETY TO CELEBRATE ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Midtown Atlanta Restaurant Thanks Patrons and Staff by Supporting the Community

ATLANTA (May 6, 2010) – Pacci Ristorante, an Esquire magazine “Best New Restaurant of 2009,” opened in May 2009 and is celebrating the restaurant’s one year anniversary this month with a partnership with the Atlanta Humane Society (AHS). Throughout the month of May, Pacci will donate $1 from every order of its signature carpaccio, for which the restaurant is named, and $1 from every new spring cocktail that is ordered to AHS. Additionally, Pacci will be collecting items on the AHS Wish List to donate to the organization Guests can bring in anything off the list from newspapers to blankets to cat litter.

“We’ve had a very successful first year in business and want to take this opportunity to thank the Atlanta community for supporting us by giving something back,” says Pacci Ristorante’s General Manager Marc Taft. “Many of our guests and the staff members at Pacci are animal lovers, so the Atlanta Humane Society is a charity that is close to our hearts.”

Pacci’s Executive Chef Keira Moritz is a dog lover herself and has a Border Collie named Magnolia. Moritz even created a dessert menu item for dogs called Pacci Pups ($2), so guests could bring home gourmet dog biscuits for their pooches.

The restaurant’s carpaccio options include Kobe beef carpaccio with tapenade, rucola and parmesan for $12, and tuna carpaccio with caponata, rucola and parmesan for $11. The new spring cocktails ($11) that apply are:

1. El Diablo: Cuervo Traditional Reposado Tequila, crème de cassis, fresh lime, agave and ginger beer
2. Cherry Apple Sour: Bulleit Bourbon with black cherry jam, unfiltered apple and fresh lemon juices shaken
3. Grapefruit Spritz: Grey Goose Orange Vodka, Campari, fresh grapefruit juice and soda
4. Group Effort: Grey Goose Pear Vodka, Aperol, apple juice, agave nectar and fresh lime
5. Annie O:Grey Goose Orange Vodka, Citronage, Pernod with fresh lime and orange bitters

ABOUT PACCI RISTORANTE:

Pacci Ristorante is located at 866 West Peachtree Street NW, adjacent to Hotel Palomar in Midtown. The restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. Breakfast is served from 7 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.; lunch is served from 11a.m. to 2:30 p.m.; and dinner is served from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. The bar is open from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Reservations are accepted, and complimentary valet is available in front of the restaurant. Pacci accepts American Express®, Visa®, MasterCard®, and Discover®. For more information about Pacci, call 678-412-2402 or visit www.pacciatlanta.com.

ABOUT ATLANTA HUMANE SOCIETY:

Founded in 1873, the Atlanta Humane Society and Society For Prevention Of Cruelty To Animals, Inc. is the oldest private non-profit animal welfare organization in Atlanta and one of the oldest humane agencies in America. Services such as adoptions, charitable veterinary clinic, pet facilitated therapy, animal behavior hot-line, low cost spay/neuter services, pet food bank and canine play yards are possible by generous contributions of time and money from the public.

Our mission is to prevent neglect, abuse, cruelty and exploitation of animals and to assure that their interests and well-being are fully, effectively and humanely protected by an aware and caring society. For more information about the Atlanta Humane Society, visit www.atlantahumane.org or call 404-875-5331.