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Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival Winners; J&J Bourbon Bar & Grill Quietly Opens

The Atlanta restaurant info you need to start your day on Wednesday, July 22.

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Erik Meadows photo

— The seventh-annual Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival was held Sunday at JCT. Kitchen & Bar, celebrating all things tomato and raising more than $80,000 for Georgia Organics and The Giving Kitchen. Chefs and mixologists from all over town put their tomato concoctions up for judgement, and the winners are:

  • Judges' choice for best cocktail — David Durnell (Bocado/Amer) with the Cherry Bomb: Olmeca blanco tequila, cherry tomatoes, pineapple, lime, jalapeno, and sea salt
  • People's choice for best cocktail — Eduardo Guzman (JCT. Kitchen & Bar/The Optimist/Marcel) with the Cherokee Purple: Farmers gin, Mtn Song farm tomatoes, Georgia strawberries, citrus, basil, balsamic syrup, salt
  • Judges' choice for best dish — EJ Hodgkinson (King + Duke) and Jason Zygmont (5 & 10) with a smoked tomato tartine
  • People's choice for best dish — Adam Waller (Bocado) with Acapulco tomato and rock shrimp cocktail

— J&J Bourbon Bar & Grill, which replaces Belly General Store in Virginia-Highland, has quietly opened at 772 North Highland Avenue NE. J&J offers the odd combination of breakfast items in the morning and an extensive list of whiskeys in the evening. There's no website or Facebook page because the restaurant apparently wants to spread buzz only  by word of mouth.

— A new pop-up produce market is hitting the West End MARTA station every Friday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. The Atlanta Community Food Bank, Food Oasis, Community Farmers Markets, and Southwest Atlanta Growers Cooperative have partnered to create the pilot program, and hope a successful model can be duplicated at all 37 MARTA stations across Atlanta.

— Marcel, Ford Fry's latest restaurant, opened a couple of weeks ago, and it boasts the priciest cuts of steak in town. But, those prices are coming down a bit. Fry tells Atlanta Magazine he thinks the opening costs were so high because there was a spike in the beef market.

— Business Insider Indonesia has named Proof & Provision one of "30 iconic American hotel bars everyone should have a drink at." The bar quenches guests' thirst at The Georgian Terrace in Midtown.

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