REVIVAL IN DECATUR

A SYNTHESIS OF SOUTHERN FOOD

Our best-laid plans will yield to fate.
And we will say, “We lived. We ate.”

        From “Save Room for Pie: Food Songs and Chewy Ruminations”

                                                Roy Blount, Jr.

By Malika Bowling and Doc Lawrence

Located Near Agnes Scott College

DECATUR, GA-Esteemed cookbook author and fabled restaurateur Edna Lewis spent her final years in this high-energy city, a close neighbor to Atlanta and Emory University. Just a block from highly regarded Revival, Chef Kevin Gillispie’s popular restaurant, New York Times best-selling author and humorist Roy Blount, Jr. began his career after graduating from Decatur High School. Renowned Agnes Scott College is less than a block away and nearby is the historic home of Mary Gay, a feisty survivor of the Civil War and, according to legend, one of the influences that became Scarlett O’Hara.

Decatur’s exploding restaurant scene reflects its unique blending of the better elements of the Old and New South.

Revival features Gillispie’s take on Southern dishes and fits seamlessly into booming downtown Decatur. Located in a beautiful home transformed from a residence without radical alteration, lunch there on a cloudless Saturday combined food, cocktails and wine enjoyed among gentle ambience like high ceilings, beautiful windows, original hardwood floors and a front porch that invited rocking chairs.

More than just a popular restaurant, Revival is a showcase of modern Southern hospitality.

Joining me for a midday feast was one of my favorite restaurant critics, the accomplished author, writer and commentator Malika Bowling.

Ready for Pie-Sous Chef Darryl Boyd with Malika

“It doesn't get more Southern that Kevin Gillespie's Revival,” Malika observed. “Establishing roots in a refurbished elegant Southern home, great care was taken to keep elements the same like the original windows and hardwood flooring. Artwork on the walls and above the fireplace mantle were created by Kevin Gillespie’s grandmother.”

Doc favored wine, selecting the Austrian white Gruner Veltliner, [“perfect for daylight dining,”] to accompany his entrée of fried catfish. The beverage list prompted an observation from Malika: “I believe in cocktails with weekend meals, be that brunch, lunch or dinner and the Last Word. The gin cocktail with lemonade was light and refreshing, just the kind you want during a leisurely luncheon. However, the small wine list has been curated with fantastic choices and I enjoyed the Pinot Noir that followed my cocktail.”

Though portions are relatively the same, lunch is more affordable than dinner with blue plate specials offering a main and two sides for $16. We shared a lunchtime delight, the southern chowder. “If this is available,” Malika says, “go for it as it is rarely available at lunch. While the batter on the country fried steak was fabulous,” she added, “the steak was surprisingly ordinary.” Doc’s cornmeal-battered fried catfish accompanied by hickory-smoked collard greens and English peas with country ham earned the proclamation as “a Deep South winner.”

Beautiful Woodwork Magnifies the Ambience

Communion, the back yard beer garden, is open just in time for spring, serving an entirely different menu (think German sausages) out of a food truck parked in the back. There's a convivial atmosphere complete with darts and more for a fun afternoon.

Revival and Communion juxtapose pleasant indoor dining with the free-wheeling, joyous outdoor experience. The relaxed lunch (Southerners don’t rush daytime meals) was extremely pleasant, thanks in great part to our fabulous server and the personable sous chef, Darryl Boyd who provided a charming tutorial on St. Augustine, Florida’s legendary Datil pepper.

The pièce de résistance was the original recipe lemon icebox pie, a sweet finish to a memorable Decatur lunch experience. Roy Blount, Jr. might want to include it in his next book about Southern desserts.

Note: Revival and Communion are located at 129 Church Street in Decatur. They offer have valet parking, so you can forgo the parking for a fee lot up the street.

A TASTE OF WINES FROM SPAIN

FLORIDA’S SPANISH TRACE
                              
By Doc Lawrence

ST. AUGUSTINE, Florida-Our good friends at Kroger have been promoting “A Taste of Spain” recently and among the displays of olive oil, paella ingredients, smoked paprika and other staples one essential was missing: The wines of Spain.

Spanish Trace near Monticello

These European wines are the conceptual cousins of wines served today in Atlanta, Orlando, Miami Beach and throughout the South. You’ll recognize the names: Tempranillo, Garnacha, Albarino and Cava. They come from Spain’s wine regions like Rioja,  Navarra, Toro, Rueda, La Mancha and Ribera del Duero and while they represent Old World styles, they are popular in warm weather states like Florida and Georgia and enjoyed much in the same way as Franciscan monks, settlers and soldiers five centuries ago in the New World.

Tempranillo is a Regal Spanish Wine

Vestiges of ancient Spanish cellars in the New World and signs of Spanish wine’s influence are prominent today. Begin in St. Augustine, Florida’s wonderful vacation destination. It’s where the first trade route was established, the Spanish Trace. This coastal city has enough Old World influences to provide the feel of Spain, juxtaposed, however, with modern amenities. It is also home to the Datil pepper, another gift from Ponce de Leon’s explorers. Instead of Tabasco, try Datil pepper sauce in a Bloody Mary the next time you tailgate. Don’t be surprised if you dream of beautiful Flamenco dancers and hear Gypsy music.

Follow the Spanish Trace west from St. Augustine to Monticello, a strikingly beautiful North Florida city. Lovely Victorian homes, a stunning courthouse, venerable well-maintained churches and pedestrian friendly sidewalks. Full Moon Farm and Apiary is a major honey producer and Golden Acres Ranch is alive with Tennessee Fainting Goats, lamb, guineas and lots of love, perfect places to learn what “local grown” really means.You can walk with the ghosts of Spanish explorers on a major well-preserved portion of the Spanish Trace at Avalon, Ted Turner’s 14,000 acre plantation. Ruins of Spanish missions have been excavated and preserved along this part of the Spanish Trace.

Nearby is Dr. Cynthia Connelly’s Monticello Vineyards & Winery a 50-acre farm featuring wines made from native organic Muscadines. Dr. Connelly is an engaging conservationist and effective advocate of better living through organic farming. The beautifully maintained grounds offer a glimpse of Eden.

Near the Spanish Trace is the spring-fed Wacissa River, a state-designated Florida paddling trail, rich in wildlife, with a panorama of natural Florida featuring wading birds, alligators, otters, and raptors.

Mission San Luis Chapel

The Spanish explorers brought not only wines into St. Augustine but horses, pigs and fowl. These are the bedrock of Florida’s Cracker culture described in Marjorie Kinnan Rawling’s Cross Creek Cookery.

Going further west along the Trace takes you to Tallahassee’s Mission San Luis, a reconstructed fort, mission and farm that was once a major outpost in New Spain. Go to the monk’s quarters and there is a cellar that once shelved Spanish wines for communion and refreshment. Honored for successful restoration, Spanish settlers co-existed here with local Apalachee Indians. A replica of the tribe’s council house is just a few yards from the chapel and wine cellar.

Whether enjoying wines of Spain with tapas, paella, seafood or any kind of entrée, there should be a moment to ponder the ancient connection between these wines of Europe and today’s food. You might suspect that from the beginning these wines were forever destined for the Southern table.

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The Light In The Piazza-Reviewed

Theatrical Outfit Musical Asks, “Who Can Love?”

 By Doc Lawrence

Clara Finds Romance In Tuscany

ATLANTA. Am I normal? Why are some through no fault of their own who seem ever so slightly different from popular notions of acceptable speech and movement treated differently? Are those shackled with disability able to receive and give love? For those who have any doubts about love’s reach, revisit some of Leo Tolstoy’s works or the Beatles classic proclamation of love. It’s transcendent; a mighty force that heals wounds and builds bridges of understanding.

It’s all you need.

The Light in the Piazza tells the story of Meg Johnson and her daughter Clara who leave their Winston Salem, North Carolina home to visit Tuscany. Beautiful and vibrant Clara suffered a head injury as a child. According to doctors, her mental capacity is equivalent to that of a 12 year old. Now in her twenties, she is childlike but very appealing in demeanor and appearance.

Mom with Clara

Her parents hope for Clara to find a “normal” life, although their marriage is breaking apart, begging the question: who is normal? The parents or their daughter? Others would likely consider Clara’s developmental limitations as playful and joyous expressions.

Clara meets Fabrizio in Florence, sweeping the young man off his feet. Sheltered by her parents for so long, Clara, perhaps for the first time, experiences romance. Meg, who meets Fabrizio’s likeable family, begins to see that a marriage between the young lovers might work.

Fabrizio and Clara

Will Clara’s disability stand in the way of love?

Much of the answer is in the nearly operatic score by Adam Guettel, the grandson of Richard Rodgers. Richard Garner skillfully directs the production. Devon Hales as Clara is radiant and blessed with a sumptuous voice.

The Light in the Piazza incorporates themes of sacrifice, destiny and the effervescence of first love predicted to ripple through this lush period musical, winner of six Tony Awards. The New York Times lauded the production as “worth the trip for hopeful theatergoers still looking for love in a Broadway musical."

Two decades ago, Tom Key became Theatrical Outfit’s Executive Artistic Director, and brought to the downtown Atlanta stage works of many of the best writers of the American South: Truman Capote, Horton Foote, Harper Lee, Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, Hank Williams, Tennessee Williams, as well as the new dramatists Carlyle Brown, S.M. Shephard-Massat, Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder. All this as part of Theatrical Outfit’s dedication to the live stage as a catalyst to creating compassion, one story at a time.

More information: www.theatricaloutfit.org. (678) 528.1500

Images courtesy of BreeAnne Clowdus Photography

DINNER ON THE TITANIC

  Elegance and Tragedy   

I previously published this story. It never gets tired. The menu is accurate.

 

By Doc Lawrence

During the hours of April 14 and 15, 1912 the RMS Titanic sunk into the icy waters of the North Atlantic. On the evening of the 14^th, passengers on board who were booked in first class dined in luxury. Accompanied by the romantic music from a string orchestra, enjoying Dom Perignon, wines from Bordeaux, the Loire Valley, Burgundy and the Rhone, all paired with an amazing nine-course dinner, they were unaware that this was their last dinner.

A few years back, I walked through the touring Titanic Artifact Exhibition, covering an amazing 15,000 square feet. I could hardly add anything original to the stunning impact. Movies, books, folklore and the accounts of survivors actually make a good composite of the tragedy that still captivates us like no other disaster except 9/11. The artifacts brought from the floor of the Atlantic Ocean included china, wine bottles, dinnerware and many other implements of fine dining and wine enjoyment. Each cup, spoon, saucer, crystal wine glass and dish seemed to say that fine dining was not only a Titanic hallmark, but was the basis of a great and fascinating story.

The Ritz Restaurant (as it was called) on board the Titanic arguably was the finest restaurant in the world. It was for the exclusive use of first class passengers only. This restaurant was in addition to the already sumptuous first class dining saloon. The Ritz Restaurant was under the control of the Titanic’s corporate owner White Star Line, who appointed Luigi Gatti as manager who they hired from Oddenino's Restaurant one of the finest at the time in London. The rest of the staff came from Italy, France, England, Switzerland, Belgium, Holland and Spain.

The rich and famous queued up for the very expensive privilege of dining at the Ritz, and White Star granted passengers who booked a table for the entire voyage enjoyed a reduction on their fare. While meals were available from 8am until 11pm daily-tables were always fully booked-it was the seated dinner in the Ritz Restaurant that commands the most attention.

A glance through the list of occupations of some of the dining and kitchen staff brings back a world of opulence and luxury. In addition to the well-trained waiters, there was a roast cook, assistant roast cooks, pastry cooks, fish cooks, a soup cook, an iceman, entree cook, the very important sommelier, barman, glassman, carver, maitre d', platemen and of course a couple of page boys to take messages and do all the running about. In all, sixty-eight men and women were employed to give nothing but the best in service at all times. Added to the dining, cellar and kitchen staff were the musicians. Edwardian dining often had the added luxury of a string orchestra and the evening of April 14, 1912 on the Titanic was no exception.

The Ritz Titanic experience on that fateful evening can be replicated and many restaurants throughout the world are doing this throughout the spring. The archived menu is available in museums. The menu items (which I have been served at different restaurants that by necessity exercised some modifications) included an appetizer of Oysters a la Russe followed by Barley Soup. Poached Salmon, then and now, is always a favorite of the rich and famous and was served with Strawberry Sauce Mousseline.

There is much to be said about the wines. The Titanic carried in its vast cellars fine Champagne, primarily Dom Perignon, noble Bordeaux, whites and reds from Burgundy, wines from Alsace, the Loire and Rhone River Valley, Germany and Spain plus the wonderful dessert wines from Sauternes. I am always content to have Champagne with my oysters and the diners that night were no doubt served refreshing Cru Chablis from Burgundy for the delicious salmon.

The meat entrée was filet mignon, served with Beurre de Truffle. It was paired with  the magnificent Bordeaux legend, Margeaux.

Dessert consisted of Waldorf Pudding with French Vanilla Ice Cream. Coffee was quite appropriate, but I chose a glass of Madeira served cold. The acidity in the fortified wine just fits superbly with dessert.

Over 6,000 meals were served each day during the Titanic’s voyage. Tons of food was stored and it had one of the world’s largest and best stocked wine cellars. The Titanic took most of the kitchen staff and waiters into the icy waters of the Atlantic that fateful evening. The maitre ‘d survived.

Recreating the experience is tasty, cheerful and respectful. Each sip of wine and bite of Escoffier-inspired fare magically recalls the events of long ago when dining was elegant. I couldn’t help but wish to have something like this-well in the future, of course-as my last dinner with a group of treasured friends.

                                       THE FIRST CLASS MENU

                                               The Ritz Restaurant

                                       R.M.S. Titanic on April 14, 1912

                                                

Each course is from the actual menu. The wines were in the ship’s heralded cellar, perhaps the best on earth at the time. The pairings are by Doc Lawrence.

First Course: Hors D'Oeuvres Oysters-Dom Perignon Champagne

Second Course: Consommé Olga Cream of Barley-Sherry (Oloroso)

Third Course: Poached Salmon with Mousseline Sauce, Cucumbers-Cru Chablis

Fourth Course: Filet Mignons Lili Saute of Chicken, Lyonnaise Vegetable Marrow Farci-Margeaux

Fifth Course: Lamb, Mint Sauce Roast Duckling, Apple Sauce Sirloin of Beef, ChateauPotatoes Green PeaCreamed Carrots Boiled Rice Parmentier & Boiled New Potatoes- Gervey-Chambertin or Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Sixth Course: Punch Romaine-Sancerre

Seventh Course: Roast Squab & Cress-Moulin-A-Vent

Eighth Course: Cold Asparagus Vinaigrette-Pinot Gris

Ninth Course: Pate de Foie Gras Celery-Mosel Riesling Kabinett

Tenth Course: Waldorf Pudding Peaches in Chartreuse Jelly Chocolate & Vanilla Eclairs French Ice Cream-Madeira.

LIGHT OF LOVE IN ATLANTA

Music & Courage At Theatrical Outfit

By Doc Lawrence

ATLANTA-The Light in the Piazza concludes with well-deserved pomp and circumstance Theatrical Outfit’s amazing and appropriately titled Season of Courage.

Two decades ago, Tom Key became Theatrical Outfit’s  Executive Artistic Director, and brought to the downtown Atlanta stage works of many of the best writers of the American South: Truman Capote, Horton Foote, Harper Lee, Flannery O’Connor, Walker Percy, Hank Williams, Tennessee Williams, as well as the new dramatists Carlyle Brown, S.M. Shephard-Massat, Elyzabeth Gregory Wilder.All this as part of Theatrical Outfit’s dedication to the live stage as a catalyst to creating community.

The just announced 2016-2017 is themed A Season of Hope. “Hope,” says Key,  “is tough to achieve and even tougher to sustain. We all want it. We all need it. It’s impossible to have it or to keep it on our own.” An esteemed actor, playwright and director, Key sees hope as part of a better future, a vehicle to create a global community. “Hope for our world begins with the human longing for connection. When we gather in a theater to hear the story of our neighbor, of the stranger, of our lover, of our friend or of our enemy, and, in the end, understand better who we really are, then hope begins within us.” 

Directed by the renowned Richard Garner, the mainstay of Georgia Shakespeare, The Light in the Piazza incorporates themes of sacrifice, destiny and the effervescence of first love that, according to critics, ripple through this lush period musical, winner of six Tony Awards. The New York Times lauded the production as “worth the trip for hopeful theatergoers still looking for love in a Broadway musical."

I’ll be there Sunday to absorb all the magic and majesty. The word is out that the upcoming Season of Hope includes the piano styling and songs of jazz great and North Carolina native Nina Simone.

 

GEORGIA'S KOINONIA REFUGE

Sustainable Farming & Permaculture Bundled With Love

“I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink; I was a stranger and you took me in;  I was naked and you clothed me; I was sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to me.”

                  Matthew 25:31-33

By Doc Lawrence 

AMERICUS, Georgia. Sustainable agriculture and organic farm products necessarily suggest an ideal lifestyle. The one place I found this along with working permaculture in place is deep in Southwest Georgia, just a few miles down the road from Jimmy Carter’s home in Plains.

Koinonia Farms, the birthplace of Habitat for Humanity, is also a refuge like no other. Founded in 1942 with an open arms policy, it managed to survive violence fueled by mindless racism: bombings, cross burnings, boycotts, gun blasts in the night and unconscionable harassment from state and local politicians during a very sad era in Georgia. Today, the children and adults along with farm staff live in peace, welcoming visitors from throughout the country and world while maintaining their operation just as it was started by Reverend Clarence Jordan.

Peace in the Orchard

Tom Key and Harry Chapin’s fabulous musical, “Cotton Patch Gospel,” is based on Reverend Jordan’s work of the same name. I took my mother to see it on a beautiful Easter afternoon at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium. How proud I was that what began in rural Georgia brought such joy to her.

For those in need of refuge, victims of abuse or rejection, or find themselves hungry, unbearably lonely or otherwise helpless, Koinonia’s gates are open. This is a real deal, the working embodiment of the Sermon on the Mount. There’s no screening regarding gender, race, a troubled past or other unimportant things. Come and depart when you are ready. If you stay and are able to work, the farm needs you and in return you’ll get the shelter, exercise, fresh air, wholesome food and restored positive self-image to help you recover.

Koinonia has no mega church backing. They survive on what they produce. Pecans, baked goods, peanut butter, jellies, books, oils and more. Plus, contributions. I buy my gifts from them. They always deliver tossing in some extra love for good measure.

A Habitat Team At Work

The director is Bren Dubay, a wonderful person and a cancer survivor who works tirelessly to make ends meet for the farm and its missions. Join me in helping this wonderful operation by either buying from their mail order store or sending a contribution of any amount.

Plan to visit Koinonia. Enjoy lunch and spend the day walking the farm, petting the livestock, resting under the shade of the ancient pecan trees. Making new friends is easy here. Before you leave, load the trunk with reasonably priced farm products.

It’s a proven way to lose those big city blues.

Koinonia Farm

1324 GA Hwy 49 South

Americus, GA 31719

www.koinoniafarm.org

Joy at the Farm

A Georgia Evening With Merle Haggard

Magic Moments And Timeless Music

“Turn me loose, set me free
Somewhere in the middle of Montana

And give me all I've got coming to me
And keep your retirement and your
So called Social Security
Big city turn me loose and set me free.”

                     BIG CITY by Merle Haggard

By Doc Lawrence

He told me that the Beatles were “our second best country band.” The Strangers, his legendary band, embodied solid country music and yes, Merle Haggard had a high opinion of the boys from Liverpool. I was blessed with a couple of hours with him before a concert performance at the fabled North Georgia amphitheater, Lanierland Country Music Park. He took the stage very late before a sellout crowd and opened with one of his biggest hits “If We Make it through December,” that told of a joyless Christmas when a good father just lost his factory job. 

The lyrics sting: “I don’t mean to hate December.”

Merle Haggard was as authentic as his heroes Lefty Frizzell, Hank Williams and Bob Wills.  I asked him about “new” country singers. “Nothing against them,” he replied, “but the music doesn’t have much melody.” His favorite place in America? “Lafayette [Louisiana] has great honky tonks where families come to have fun.” He expressed disdain for what he perceived as needless nightlife regulation: “Those people don’t need rules or laws. They have a good time and don’t hurt anybody.”

Stereotyped by early hits, Haggard would show another side in his later years, singing “Jesus Christ,” by Woody Guthrie on the soundtrack for “Capitalism: A Love Story,” a Michael Moore movie. He recorded  “Hillary,” a musical endorsement for Hillary Clinton in 2008. ”What we need is a big switch of gender. Let's put a woman in charge,” the song advised. Haggard’s recording of “Don’t Be Cruel,” is worthy of Elvis, another performer Haggard respected.

I asked him why there was no movie about his life. “They’d need James Dean to play me,” he replied, “and he was dead before I was a star.” Actually, Haggard in his early years bore a resemblance to Dean.

“The band bet me this morning when we left Pennsylvania,” Haggard told the audience, “that I couldn’t get drunk twice in one day. Well, I showed ‘em.” It didn’t matter if this was true because he performed a long set, singing many of his hits while flawlessly playing his custom Fender, accompanied, as always, by The Strangers.

On the road during a 50-mile drive home to Atlanta late on a fairy tale Saturday night, I was happy, unaware that I would never see Merle Haggard again.

A man whose early life was too often interrupted with jail time and prison, he rose above his past to become a singer and songwriter with huge influence on American popular culture, transcending Nashville and Bakersfield boundaries. One of his most enduring songs proclaimed that he was sick of dirty old cities and longed to be turned loose and set free. His melancholy song, “If I could only Fly,” played in my mind after I heard the sad news that Merle Haggard left this world on his birthday.

Atlanta Welcomes A Family of Wines

Rich, Bold & Luscious

        Napa Comes To Georgia      

A Lush Chardonnay

By Doc Lawrence

ATLANTA-Michele and John Truchard set a goal to become successful wine producers by 15 years from the commitment. “We accomplished this,” John revealed during an intimate wine luncheon during the hectic schedule demands of the High Museum of Atlanta’s Wine Auction. The Truchards, blessed with electric good looks and sparkling personalities, poured from an array of  several bottles, pairing Sauvignon Blanc, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon from their Napa operation with duck confit, catfish, and other menu items.

Accompanied by two of Georgia’s top writers and wine commentators, Jane Garvey and Greg McCluny, we met at White Oak restaurant on historic Peachtree Street for a session that included baseball talk (Michele and John are devoted San Francisco Giants fans), family ancestry and their wines. Was there a showstopper among the wines sampled?

Talking Baseball and Wines

Butter-that’s the label-proved to be a California Chardonnay that lived up to the name. Made in the great tradition of Californian wine, it’s 100% Chardonnay that melts in your mouth. “We cold ferment the grapes,” Michele said, “to create a rich, creamy texture that complements their juicy, ripe notes of stone fruits and baked lemons. Aging in a proprietary blend of oak adds a long, lovely vanilla finish.” She added that “everything’s better with butter!”

JaM Cabernet Sauvignon was introduced as Butter’s little brother. Made from 100% Cab it was loaded with ripe, dark berries and plums, sporting a rich, velvety mouth feel. This easy-drinking Cab doesn’t need to wait for a gourmet meal, according to John. “It’s right at home in the sunshine, at sunset with a backyard burger or Georgia barbecue.”

In 1890 John's great grandfather Jean-Marie Truchard arrived in America from France through Ellis Island. The long journey took several generations of the family to Texas and then Nevada. finishing the trek in California. Wine making was always a family goal and partnered with Michele, the 15-year benchmark was reached long before joining us here in the Deep South.

The Family in the Vineyard

“We enjoy,” Michele said, “making wines that are rich, bold, luscious and easy.” That’s very near to what most Atlanta wine enthusiasts might describe as their own hoped-for experience as they uncork a bottle.

Atlanta High Wine Auction

Meet at the 24^th Fundraiser Event

By Doc Lawrence

The High Museum Atlanta Wine Auction is the largest fundraising event for the High Museum of Art, the leading art museum in the southeastern United States. Netting over $1.7 million in 2015, with more to come this year, the Wine Auction is the top charity fundraising event in Atlanta, the tenth largest charity wine auction in the U.S., and the number one charity wine auction benefiting the arts. The Wine Auction has generated more than $23 million over the last 23 years.

Proceeds from the Auction are a vital part of the Museum’s exhibition and education plan, helping to make possible special exhibitions such as Habsburg Splendor: Masterpieces from Vienna’s Imperial Collections; Iris van Herpen: Transforming Fashion; and Seriously Silly! The Art & Whimsy of Mo Willems.

If you want to talk with the rock stars of the wine and food world while sipping and munching their best work before bidding on rare wines, original art, incredible trips, amazing dinners and more, then meet me at the Vintners' Reception and Live Auction beneath the auction tents at the Atlanta Braves' Turner Field, Saturday, April 2.