Restaurant of the Week

My friend and self-proclaimed stalker, Amelia, is as easy to talk to as anyone I know and just as likely to sniff out a drink special. So it didn't surprise me when she became best friends with the owner of a new Atlanta restaurant that is offering $1.00 Ketel One drinks (ALL DAY EVERY DAY ALL SUMMER). She didn't let up until I agreed to review the restaurant. Alex and I attended the opening of Zaya a few months back, and it's hard to get a feel for a restaurant at its opening party. So I went back with Amelia and Alex to sample the Mediterranean cuisine.

After a few Ketel and sodas (that are conveniently priced at $1.00) we had a huge sampling of appetizers (still 1/2 price until 7:00 pm M-F). My favorite were the cheese fingers and the drunken halloumi (cheese flambe on a tomato with garlic sauce). We also had a huge bowl of yogurt salad and a totally new (to me) dish called stuffed kibbeh. It is lean beef and onions surrounded by lamb and cracked wheat. It's an item I'm sure Ill order again and again.
For the main course we had a series of kabobs and lamp chops. TRY THE LAMB CHOPS! They were tasty meat lollipops!

Finally, Tarek, brought out not one, not two but four desserts: progressive, flavored Crème brûlée, cheesecake flan and the heavenly molten chocolate cake. The absolute winner was the ashta. it is his twist on a traditional eggless custard. They make it with rose water and orange blossom, wrap it in a filo purse and bake it. It comes topped with homemade syrum and sprinkled with pistachios. If I hadn't eaten so much already, I would have finished it myself.
We left the restaurant stuffed just as the gays started filing in. It was really busy (especially for a Tuesday), so I'd call ahead for a reservation. It doesn't look like things are going to slow down this summer.

In summary, the service is about the only thing that can beat the great food (and $1.00 Ketel One drinks). Get your table before the place is too booked.

Zaya Restaurant
240 N. Highland, Atlanta, GA 30307
404.477.0050
www.zayarestaurant.com

What's Going On?

Premiere Party

· Georgia Freight Depot

· Sunday, June 29, 5:00pm – 9:00pm

· $35 in advance, $45 at the door

· 100% of the ticket sales go to help LGBT homeless youth (CHRIS Kids)

· Eat, drink and dance the night away

· www.premiereparty.org

They Had it Coming: The Music of Kander & Ebb

· Alliance Theatre at the Woodruff Arts Center

· Friday @ 8:00 pm, Saturday @ 2:00pm & 8:00 pm

· $25, $35 and $45 (matinee are $15, $25 and $35)

· Enjoy the music from the duo who brought us Chicago, Cabaret and Kiss of the Spider Woman

· www.agmchorus.org

Corndog-a-Rama

· All weekend (see site for times)

· Lenny’s (468 Decatur Street)

· $20 per day (multi-day passes available)

· Three stages, one bar and tons of corndogs

· Live music all weekend with new and established bands

· 404-577-7721

· www.corndogorama.com

DukesFest and Hazzard County Fair

· Atlanta Motor Speedway

· Saturday 9:00am – 10:00 pm, Sunday 9:00 am – 5:30pm

· $20, $35 for both days, <12>

· Meet the people on your lunchbox

· Get autographs from the cast, see hundreds of 1969 General Lees, stunt shows and Daisy Dukes contests

· 770-946-4211

· www.dukesfest.com

Peachtree Road Race Block Party

· Tap (14^th St. and Peachtree St.)

· Friday, July 4 @ 6:30 am

· FREE to sit (but you gotta buy your own beer!)

· Watch the healthy people run by and you eat cotton candy & hot dogs washed down with a beer

· Water for the runners both in bottles and squirt guns

· Brunch, lunch & dinner served all day

· 404.347.2220

· www.tapat1180.com

Atlanta Gay Pride

· Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center

· July 4 – 6 (see site for times and calendar)

· FREE (but your donations keep it that way)

· Parade on Sunday, booths, festival food, march, run, so much to do so little time

· Want to know my favorites, visit my blog for details on HGJ’s Pride Picks

· 770.491.8633

· www.atlantapride.org

Restaurant of the Week – Zaya

· Inman Park (240 N. Highland)

· Lunch, dinner and brunch

· Mediterranean classics (baba ghanuj and kibbeh) and some new twists (cheese fingers, yogurt salad and drunken halloumi)

· If you don’t have dessert, you are missing out – the Ashta is an amazing eggless custard wrapped in philo and drizzled with a homemade syrup and pistachios

· Don’t forget, $1.00 Ketel One drinks ALL DAY ALL SUMMER

· 404.477.0050

· www.zayarestaurant.com

Be sure to check back for all the juicy details and pictures!

Diana DeGarmo @ WetBar

Diane DeGarmo is performing @ WetBar this Saturday to benefit Atlanta Cotillion. Give me a reason you shouldn't go. Click the link for a larger image. Your $10.00 cover helps provide housing for people in Atlanta living with HIV/AIDS.

Don't have TOO much fun.

Movies Under The Stars

This Saturday @ 9:00 pm Star 94 is coming to your neighborhood with FREE Movies on Saturday nights this summer! Movies start at sundown, around 8:30pm. This time will change as the sun sets later. It's Star 94's Movies Under the Stars. We'll bring our giant 40-foot screen to a park near you. Bring your blanket, lawn chairs, a picnic basket and your kids for Bee Movie at McCurry Park in Fayetteville. More info @ www.Star94.com.

Screen on the Green

This week is your last chance for Screen on the Green at its new (and hopefully temporary) home, Centennial Olympic Park. If you are interested, pack some goodies and leave early - MARTA is your best bet. There are two stops: the GA Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center station on the East-West line and the Peachtree Center station on the North-South. More event info below.

• Show starts @ sundown (usually 9:00 p.m.)
• NO pets, NO glass and NO booze (but they do sell it there)
• NO high-back chairs, NO grills (as if), and NO umbrellas

Set a Record

"I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV, and while I'm surfing the interwebs, I only use Firefox. It's cleaner, faster and leaves no oily residue."

OK, that's not totally true, but it is faster and cleaner - you have to take care of the oily residue yourself. I do use Firefox because it allows me to add on helpful scripts or plug-ins that make browsing easier and less time-consuming, it is more secure and easier to mersonalize that some other, un-named browsers. Plus it doesn't hurt to stick it to the big guy every once in a while.

Today is Firefox Download Day. You can get in on the action by downloading the latest version of Firefox to your computer while setting a world record for the most downloads in a single day! Some other crazy records are included here. Are you ready to try? I promise it won't hurt!

Screen on the Green

Take a flight with ET. This week Screen on the Green returns to Centennial Olympic Park, as it will every Thursday evening Through June. If you are interested, pack some goodies and leave early - MARTA is your best bet. There are two stops: the GA Dome/GWCC/Philips Arena/CNN Center station on the East-West line and the Peachtree Center station on the North-South. More event info below.

• Show starts @ sundown (usually 9:00 p.m.)
• NO pets, NO glass and NO booze (but they do sell it there)
• NO high-back chairs, NO grills (as if), and NO umbrellas

What's Going on?

Friday, June 13, 2008 – Thursday, June 19, 2008
Coming out with Hot Gay Joe

Mamma Mia!

• Fox Theatre
• Nightly through Sunday
• $35.00 - $64.00
• ABBA’s best songs told on the big stage
• 404-817-8700
• www.FoxTheatre.org

True Colors

• Chastain Park Amphitheatre
• Monday, June 16 @ 7:00 p.m. (doors @ 5:30 p.m.)
• $39.50 - $79.50
• Time to drop names, Cyndi Lauper, B-52’s, Rosie O’Donnell and Carson Kressley
• A great show that also benefits the Human Rights Campaign (www.HRC.org)
• www.turecolorstour.com

Vietnam Traveling Memorial Wall

• Ball fields at Heritage Park (101 Lake Dow Road in McDonough)
• All weekend (see website for times)
• FREE
• Regardless of your political views on the current wall, this is a powerful memorial
• 3/5 scale of the monument in Washington, D.C.
• https://hcwebb.boca.co.henry.ga.us/news/articles.aspx#924

Summer @ Zaya

• 240 Highland
• $1.00 Ketle One Drinks ALL SUMMER (I didn’t stutter)
• 1/2 price appetizers during the week
• Stay tuned for a review of the food
• 404.477.0050
• www.zayarestaurant.com

Taste of Brookhaven

• Oglethorpe University
• Saturday, June 14, 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.
• $40.00 in advance, $50.00 @ the door ($350 gets you a table for six)
• Food and wine from Bones, Hudson Grille, Nava, Four Seasons Hotel, Repast, Spice Market, W Hotel and more
• Live jazz music, silent and live aution and chef demonstrations
• http://www.brookhavenartsalliance.com/tob/tobMain.html

Where in the World is Hot Gay Joe?
Martinis & Imax

• Fernbank Museum
• Fridays 5:30 – 10:00 p.m.
• $15.00, $10.00 for members
• What is there to explain – drink a martini and watch an Imax
• This week is Antarctica
• 404.929.6400
• www.fernbankmuseum.org

Restaurant of the Week – Parish

• 240 N. Highland (in Inman Park)
• I had the duck (and about three martinis)
• Alex had the (amazing) gumbo
• 404.681.4434
• www.parishatl.com

Think you know what is hot in Atlanta? Have a favorite restaurant for me to try? Submit it here or send me an e-mail and let me know about your upcoming event or favorite restaurant @ HotGayJoe@gmail.com.
Want to know what’s going on when I am not on the air? Check out my blog at http://lifesabechely.blogspot.com – leave me a voicemail, send me a message or make me your homepage.

Movies Under The Stars

This Saturday @ 9:00 pm Star 94 is coming to your neighborhood with FREE Movies on Saturday nights this summer! Movies start at sundown, around 8:30pm. This time will change as the sun sets later. It's Star 94's Movies Under the Stars. We'll bring our giant 40-foot screen to a park near you. Bring your blanket, lawn chairs, a picnic basket and your kids for Shrek The Third at Hobgood Park in Woodstock. More info @ www.Star94.com.

D-Lister on the A-List

When I saw Mamma Mia! on Tuesday, I noticed Kathy Griffin was coming to the Fox on Friday, September 5 for two shows (7:30 and 10:30). I'm getting my tickets, and you should, too! Don't forget to watch her tonight on Bravo as she hosts the A-List Awards.