I love finding new things (in general). I truly love finding new foodie things. I absolutely love a new discovery that much more when it’s right under my nose! This was my reaction to Serenbe, a self-sustained food ‘village’ located about 40 minutes South of Atlanta. “I had no idea this existed!” I chirped to my good friend ‘Sous’ (an elaborately derived nickname stemming from being my partner in foodie shenanigans). “Well, you don’t know Atlanta and haven’t ever tried to” she replied. “Valid point” was my only response.

If I had even thought there was something like this buried in the obscure Southern counties of Atlanta, I would have been scouring the maps and roads since my arrival a few years back. As it stands, it took an event (run in order to raise money for the Atlanta chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier) and a good friend’s chiding to get me to Serenbe. It is what it is.

The festival was a collection of ALL the top restaurants from the city, each with a booth, each trying to impress the hordes of strolling diners with their ‘best foot forward’. My friend and I were simply handed a wine glass upon entering the gates of this bustling food bazaar, ‘please enjoy’ served as our only guidance, though we didn’t need the prompting. In describing the culinary chaos, I would be remiss to even begin to list the dining establishments represented at Serenbe, though I can say that there were no conspicuous absences from Atlanta’s creme de la creme. I would also be remiss if I were to ignore the list of standouts amongst the handouts, as we sampled EVERYTHING (all food and wine are free once inside the festival – tickets were charitable and running about $90).

My first mission was to go to work on my empty vessel. I quickly found a local wine distributor promoting their line of Trimbach reislings & gewurztraminers, and with my glass now full, was ready to taste anything; finding myself immediately rewarded with a succulent pulled pork slider to accompany (a surprising pairing even by my wacky tastes). Truffle mushroom risotto, foie gras pate atop artisan raisin bread and Parmesan cheesecake followed in decadent ascendancy with a sampling of LAMB prosciutto finally taking my vote for the most interesting choice of the day. The food was amazing (there are few other words to describe such a gathering of culinary talent) and Serenbe is a wonder to itself, with rolling crop-covered hills bordered by the autumn-shaded Georgia woods acting as a truly perfect backdrop for this unforgettable gathering.

We walked the ‘town’s’ main street on our way out, looking in on a renowned restaurant, The Hil, before heading home. The menu seemed divine, but a useless endeavor considering our experience just minutes before with over 100 other of Atlanta’s finest. Serenbe taught me a few things (who makes prosciutto from lamb?!), but most importantly that we cannot forget to search in our own backyards, no matter how well we thought we may have or how little we expect to find..

Please give Serenbe a visit if you’re in the Atlanta area and next time you’ve given up on finding anything new in your neighborhood… look again.

-bryan