I rarely have time to check Facebook while at work. Well, okay, it goes in phases and usually just involves me checking it on my phone while walking between meetings. Last Friday, just before Josh left for the weekend, I saw some luscious white truffles posted on 246's facebook page. Since he would be back Sunday, I called to see if they had seats open for the chef's table and if they could save us some white truffles. Score! We got both.
When we arrived for our reservation, the couple with the other two seats for the chef's table had already arrived. They turned out to be a very nice couple from Vinings on their first trip to 246. They were fun to sit with.
This was our view for the night. I love watching the action of the kitchen. 246 stayed pretty busy all night so there was a lot to watch. I couldn't see much about finished dishes, but it was fun nonetheless.
We started off with a parsnip soup in a small pot. It was smooth, creamy, rich, and HOT! I missed what came with the soup. =\
Then we moved on to charcuterie. I missed the name of the semi-hard cheese, but the soft was a delicious Cypress Grove humboldt fog. I actually got the humboldt fog again the other night and it wasn't quite as good. Maybe it needed to be more room temperature.
For the meats, we had a Pine St coppa and La Quercia prosciutto. Yum. There were also muscadines and some honeycomb.
From there we moved on to a prosciutto-wrapped scallop which has one of the most beautiful sears ever. The couple next to us got trout. Perhaps they don't eat shellfish. Under the scallop was a smoooooth cauliflower puree and braised romaine in a Caesar-like style. It was garlicky, lemony, and incredibly peppery.
White truffles stored in rice. They saved us all of these 8 grams. The couple sitting next to us opted in for white truffles (so lucky they were!) so we got 2 grams each. Yum yum.
Mushroom risotto with some of Ken's (a local forager, I believe) wild mushrooms and a generous shaving of white truffles. Very good, though I have to admit that I prefer my risotto with just truffles and nothing extra.
The lady next to us had never had a 246 meatball, since it was her first visit. We told her how great it was, so she asked if one could be worked into the menu. So here's our solo meatball. The guy of the couple said that he rarely ate meatballs out because his grandmother's meatball was so perfect. It's high praise indeed that he said it was nearly identical, though his grandmother's was not so spicy. I did clear that up that it's not normally so peppery. Apparently, someone in the prep kitchen that night had a heavy hand with the pepper.
Butternut squash agnolotti, a signature dish at 246. It was served with steak (flatiron? hanger?) on more butternut puree with New York honey crisp apples and chopped hazelnuts. I have to admit that I thought putting it on the butternut puree was a mistake. It was too sweet. A pasta filling is usually bolder in taste because it is inside a relatively bland pasta.
Muscadine sorbet. Light, delicious. A nice palate cleanser.
A plum brown butter tart in the style of Zuni by pastry chef Laila.
Soon after 246 had opened, there was an heirloom tomato salad on the menu (a tasty one) and it noted Laila's backyard garden. I can't remember if it was for tomatoes or basil. I had asked Drew about it and he had told me that Laila was their pastry chef. So when the tart showed up from Laila, I asked her if she was the Laila with the backyard garden. Josh got quite a laugh from our awkward encounter in which she thought I was a stalker. Apparently it doesn't pay to be so knowledgeable about the little things.
The tart was a bit dry and the pickled plums were a bit tart. The creme fraiche semifreddo was pretty awesome.
We had intended to grab a dessert manhattan at the bar with Michelle, a bartender whom we often see when we go for lunch. However, as we were finishing up the tart, Michelle was just leaving. After we turned back to the bar, Andy told us not to go anywhere and then gave us a zeppole from the batch he had just fried up. Awesome!
What a great dinner. The chef's table is certainly worth it, though it's hard for us because it usually takes a reservation and the seating times are 6.30 and 9. 6.30 is early and 9 too late. Perhaps it will work out.
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