It’s Not All Business in Commerce: As NMCA’s All-Star Nationals Prepares to Smoke Atlanta Dragway, Coast Packing Serves Up ‘Take-out or Delivery’ #FatMap762 (and Screaming Camaro)
View Taste the Difference – Atlanta (Takeout) Edition in a full screen map
Summer’s here and the time is right for drag racing on the strip, as the Atlanta Dragway in Commerce hosts the Scoggin-Dickey Parts Center NMRA/NMCA All-Star Nationals, welcoming competitors like Coast Packing Company’s CEO Eric R. “Goose”Gustafson and his ’69 Noonan Hemi ProCharger Pro Mod Camaro – this time waving the banner of “Takeout or Delivery” #FatMap762.
Known as “Georgia’s House of Speed,” Atlanta Dragway is cheek-by-jowl with some of the area’s best purveyors of traditional Southern fare. For the occasion, Coast has whipped up its special online gastronomic #FatMap762, showcasing local spots where fans can “Taste the Difference” that lard and beef tallow make in popular dishes – dishes available by delivery or on a take-out basis (explore the #FatMap). The 36 locations across 25 cities on #FatMap762 all feature dishes prepared with lard and/or beef tallow.
The combined NMRA/NMCA All-Stars event features VP Racing Fuels Xtreme Pro Mod cars, among other classes. Said Steve Wolcott, founder, and CEO of ProMedia Events & Publishing, the group behind All-Star Nationals, “thanks to our incredible track partners, we moved pieces around to give our country more time to recover from the pandemic and ensure a full schedule for racers, sponsors, and fans.” The turbocharged, supercharged, nitrous-powered monsters in Pro Mod will once again put their cars on the ragged edge in search of All-Star Nationals glory – all of which is more than enough to work up an appetite.
On that score, All-Star Nationals isn’t likely to disappoint. The Spotted Trotter, an Atlanta mainstay, offers lard, fatback, beef tallow and chicharrones – and mobile diners can preorder for pickup. The Spotted Trotter also supplies Grant Park Farmers’ Market, including its pandemic-aware virtual farmers market, and Peachtree Road Farmers’ Market, where curbside pickup is also available. For some of the best beef fat fries in the area, Atlanta’s FLIP Burger Boutique is the place to go. On the menu at Atlanta’s Marcel: salad with maple and bacon vinaigrette, oysters with bacon and spinach, and butter and beef-fat basting on some cuts of meat – all available via takeout.
Down the road in Buford, Praise the Lard BBQ strives to live up to its name, or you can buy chicharrónes by the pound at the Buford Highway Farmers Market in Doraville. Farmview Market in Madison offers lard, beef tallow and beef/pork suet, carryout and curbside, and limited dine-in is now open. In Marietta, Heywood’s Provision Company is a go-to source for leaf lard, tallow and other house-rendered fats. At White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, lard and grass-fed beef fat and beef suet are on offer. The Farmers Table restaurant, behind the General Store, serves up a unique selection of burgers each weekend, plus a seasonal farm special that changes week to week. Takeout is available at Rodeo Mexican Restaurant in Valdosta, but if you can’t decide how to dine, Las Delicias De La Abuela in Doraville does takeout, curbside pickup, home delivery and limited dine-in.
“These days, dining options abound, giving everyone the opportunity to sample authentic, flavorful regional cuisine wherever they happen to be most comfortable,” Gustafson said. “I’m especially encouraged to see so many restaurants back in business. Diners may be socially distanced, but more and more people are getting up close and personal with the food they love.”