As you probably know by now, I am a lover of food. I love making it and I love eating it (maybe even more!). So, it was very fun times for me when I got join a couple members of the Atlanta Food Bloggers Alliance at a tasting event at Blue Ridge Grill to sample new items on their seasonal menu prepared by Chef Joe Brown.
The first thing I noticed when I arrived: the Atmosphere. Wooden interiors and leather booths were only a few of the interior design that gave this place a warm and cozy feel. I believe a picture is worth a thousand words, so get ready for THOUSANDS of words:
See that? The cozy lookin’ porch area? That was where the tasting event was held! Super cute.
So let’s get on to the most important part of this post. The awesome food:
We started out with their Hot Smoked Salmon. This is one of the seasonal dishes on the menu. Here’s the description of the Salmon: “Atlantic salmon smoked with pecan wood, served over a salad of julienne jicama and thin sliced European cucumber and avocado, tossed with honey-lime vinaigrette.” Umm, drool, right?
The next dish was my second favorite dish of the night: Golden Lump Crab Salad. Another seasonal dish! This was “Gulf coast lump crab meat tossed with tarragon, chives and Dukes mayonnaise, served with celery root puree, French radishes and an orange salad tossed in vanilla oil“. One of the best Crab Salad I’ve ever had. Many of the other bloggers also agreed.
Next up, we had the Pecan-stuffed Springer Mountain Chicken. This dish was seasonal and I also would like to note that it’s local! The Chicken is sourced from Springer Mountain Farms in Blue Ridge, Georgia! About this dish: “Butter-roasted chicken breast stuffed with Georgia pecans, corn, sourdough bread, cream and parmesan, served over sautéed corn, Patak Andouille sausage and roasted globe artichokes”
After the Chicken, came the Grilled Berkshire Pork Chop: “A grilled, brined pork chop served over sautéed mustard greens, Comeaux’s Tasso ham, cherry tomatoes and zest of lemon.”
I am SO excited to talk about this next dish. My personal favorite of the night! This Corn Soufflé. In short, it’s basically sweet corn baked in to a rich custard. But in really short can be described as “Heavenly.” (You can quote me on that.)
We also had these Seared Diver Scallops with Low Country Red Peas and Rice. The grains and peas are sourced from Anson Mills in Columbia, SC. These Seared scallops were served with Sea Island red peas and Carolina golden rice garnished with an Edwards bacon and mustard seed vinaigrette. This was also a very memorable dish for me!
After this, assorted signature cookies were presented to us. Most of us ate them, but as a mostly Paleo eater and at this point of the night… a ‘way too full’ eater, I only had the Rasberry “Linzer” Cookies which were served with fresh raspberries.
So overall, I thought that the food was delish and the atmosphere was great! I do recommend this location, and I think if you pay a visit (which you should), definitely try the the crab salad, the scallops, and the corn soufflé!