Hot Dish Review

Dinner Party Atlanta did it again, hosting a dinner for nearly 40 guests at the Atlanta Ballet’s new space on Marietta Boulevard. BB and I arrived just as DC was lighting candles, placing them strategically along the mirrored wall of a rehearsal studio.

Dramatic lighting set the stage for an eventful evening, but there was plenty of drama on our way to the venue. BB and his driver, Warren, picked me up after a frenzied day at work. After a few moments enroute I realized the ribbon ties on my dress were loose. Numerous attempts to tighten it produced the opposite result, finally proving futile as the ribbon was broken. I re-laced it in the dark and secured it at the shoulder by turning my head nearly backwards, Linda Blair style. Disaster averted!

I breathed a sigh of relief, rummaging through my bag for my powder compact. It wasn’t there. Sonofabitch. Pulling into the venue’s parking lot, Warren dropped us off and sprang into action, memorizing the brand and color of powder I needed, then delivering it tout de suite.

Greeted with a deceptively light rum cocktail, KC showed us the space. One long table ran the length of the dark room, set with a black tablecloth, white napkins, and lots of glasses sparkling in the candlelight. Across the hall a group of little girls danced their hearts out.

In a perfectly choreographed dance of food and wine, the meal began with a shot of bright yellow pepper soup. Suspended by a spear of asparagus above the liquid was a crispy crab beignet. A glass of Schloss Gobelsburg Brut Reserve from Austria started the wine service, expertly chosen by sommelier John Dirga.

The second course was a tuna-less Nicoise salad constructed of haricots verts, fingerling potatoes confit, organic lettuces, and a tiny hard boiled quail egg, the salad paired nicely with a crisp white from France.

Third, we were served a dish of chilled pickled Georgia shrimp topped with ribbons of cucumber and daikon radish. There was a drizzle of egglant-miso puree beneath the shrimp and a couple of cubes of watermelon, making it seem more like a Summer dish. As a cucumber hater I quickly removed the offensive bits and proceed to enjoy the huge shrimp and the garlic croustini that was served alongside. Some folks do not care for sweet wines, but I loved the German spatlese riesling paired with this course. Blame it on my heritage!

Chef Shane Devereux doesn’t produce generous servings, but rather concise compositions, each component playing its roll providing texture, color, flavor. The main course on October 29th was a perfect example. Venison loin was first marinated in black mission fig puree and sherry vinegar, then cooked to a deep scarlet rare. The result was exceedingly tender meat, sliced into thin medallions and placed on a brightly hued carrot puree, accented with crispy chanterelle mushrooms (OK, I thought it was onions but the menu said mushrooms) and the odd addition of crunchy granola. A dish fit for Fall and the only course that merited a red wine, a dry blend from France.

Dessert was a rustic seckle pear tart accompanied by a dollop of salted creme, a fantastic contrast. A dessert white from Portugal finished the show.

Not only did we enjoy an amazing meal prepared by chef Shane Devereux, we were all part of the culinary rat pack’s pilot for a new reality series on NBC. Filming was so discrete that diners may have been unaware that it was taking place.

Afterwards, we all headed to The Sound Table where Dam Funk tore it up! I danced off the entire meal and then some.

After our enlightening educational tour of the winery with Bill, B and I chose to be seated on the beautiful deck outside at the restaurant, LeVigne, just next door to the tasting room. Views of the vineyard provided a stunning backdrop for our meal.

Chef Steven Hartman creates a special Sunday Supper menu each week. The restaurant serves lunch and its regular menu the rest of the week. On our visit the menu was a collection of small plates, ranging in price from $7 to $14.

Me and B are city chicks. We get the small plate concept. But this place is in Dahlonega. I don’t know if most diners here understand that a menu item described as short ribs at $14 isn’t a substantial entree. Maybe I’m just not giving them enough credit. Or perhaps Chef Steven Hartman is a touch out of his element here.

For a Sunday evening, the restaurant was far from packed, but there were quite a few tables occupied, especially outside.

We continued with more of the wine we had tried during the tasting, the Tormaresca from Italy, and proceeded to order two of the smaller plates to start. B was determined to try the Columbia River salmon tartar with chicharones, Meyer lemon, and red ribbon sorrel. Fancy sounding but when it came out B was perplexed about the sprinkling of crunchy stuff on top of the raw chopped salmon. It was the chicharones. They had no flavor but did provide textural interest. The dish was heavy on lemon for me, but I am not a salmon lover anyway.

Pea soup was a vibrant green matching the lush landscape of the vineyard. It’s flavor was unfortunately mediocre, the worst part being the mitake mushrooms on top. Seems like someone forgot to reconstitute these. Have you ever eaten dried mushrooms? I have. Difference is, these have no hallucinogenic effects. Too bad!

Chef Hartman does have my favorite, foie gras, on the menu but it is unfortunately prepared au torchon so I didn’t even go there. Instead we opted for the scallop, the Painted Hills beef short ribs, and the moulard duck breast.

The short rib was the most substantial of the trio. It’s hard to fuck up short ribs but I didn’t like the sauce on this dish and it was seriously salty. The sunchoke puree, asparagus, and morel mushrooms did little to balance it out. B really liked the scallop. I let her have most of it as it too was drowned in salt. The presentation was certainly beautiful, though, with its artichoke puree, bright radishes, and rainbow trout roe to garnish (maybe the roe added the extra saltiness?).

Cooked medium and served atop creamed leeks, fiddlehead ferns, and orange confit, the duck was my favorite dish of the three. Personally I wouldn’t pair citrus with duck but rather a sweeter fruit. What I really liked was the restraint used with the salt shaker.

After the cheese and charcuterie at the wine tasting followed by the five small plates, we still had enough room for a little dessert. We ordered the pear frangipane tart and the blueberry clafoutis. Both servings were huge compared to the savory dishes.

Served warm with vanilla ice cream, the rustic pear tart was absolutely delicious! I got turned on to clafoutis at Trader Joe’s. Somewhere between a custard and a cake, with fruit, they have a frozen cherry one that you bake at home. Although three times the size of the Trader Joe’s dessert, LeVigne’s version was fantastic, topped with sauce Romanoff and some whipped cream.

The two desserts turned out to be the best dishes of the meal. I needed the sugar-high to counteract the sleepy effects of a whole day of wine so I could find my way out of the Montaluce maze. And it was dark too. They don’t believe in street lights in small towns.

With B’s navigational assistance we made it back to GA400 and back to the city!