Happy holidays! I’ve been so blessed to spend this holiday season in Atlanta. The A truly is my second home. My sister lives there and my father, Ben Franklin (yes, that’s his real name), is from the ATL suburb of Marietta (now home to Food Network’s Alton Brown) and it has been a tradition to spend Christmas there.

Atlanta has an AWESOME food culture! Farm-to-table, contemporary Southern, celeb chef spots, Buford Highway’s ethnic trail…Atlanta has it all. A few of my ATL gastro habits:

COCKTAILS at RESTAURANT EUGENE
The bartenders do throwback cocktails right at Eugene. Really, those guys are 1920s chemists outfitted with forceps, stirring rods and pipets concocting beverages with depth and personality. Some even look like they walked off the set of Boardwalk Empire. My now husband and I were so blown away by one mixologist, Gabe, that we tried talking him into mixing drinks at our Palmetto Bluff wedding.

LATE NIGHT at R. THOMAS
There is something 100% okay about eating late night at a spot serving vegan/raw grub. The 24-hour establishment would make hippie-crunchy Berkeley, California proud, and has a few awesome greasy items to stave off an impending hangover. Colorful, live tropical birds outlining the building make R. Thomas quite entertaining at two in the morning.

LUNCH and SHOP at STAR PROVISIONS
I love spending the afternoon snacking on an inventive banh mi sandwiches and spending way too much on exotic salts at Star Provisions. It’s part gourmet market, part epicurean deli, part culinary gift store. Fun. Fun. Fun.

MY HOTLANTA WATERING HOLE is the WATERSHED
Lena, conveniently, calls an Indigo Girl ‘neighbour.’ This Indigo Girl, conveniently, own an awesome restaurant titled Watershed. Watershed, conveniently, occupies the first floor of Lena and said Indigo Girl’s condo building. Amazing cocktails and food, conveniently, can be found 90 seconds from the doorstep of Lena’s home. Sophisticated southern fare by chef Joe Trouex, exquisitely simple decor, warm people…my home away from home.