South City Kitchen is celebrating their 15th anniversary of the opening of the first South City Kitchen in Midtown and to everyone’s benefit, the sister restaurant in Ivy Walk is taking part.
So we decided to check it out on Friday night. Now through April 26th, South City Kitchen is offering a three-course prix fixe menu for $32.95. You can still order off the regular menu or order a la carte from the special anniversary menu, but where’s the fun in that.
Upon arriving, I noticed immediately what a big deal this anniversary celebration was going to be as a Hummer limo arrived filled with guests in fancy gowns and tuxedos. I certainly felt a little under dressed. But since these guests were probably 2 or 3 years old when the first South City Kitchen opened, I quickly came to the conclusion that young people just like to dress up (or perhaps there was a prom on Friday).
Anyway, we opted for a seat on the patio (and who wouldn’t with the fantastic weather this weekend). As we were presented with the anniversary menus, it included some interesting facts such as a gallon of gas cost $1.16, Jurrasic Park topped the movie charts and the World Wide Web was born, all in 2003. I also realized that I had the opportunity to dine at South City Kitchen in Midtown in 2003 while visiting Atlanta for the first time.
We opted to start round 1 with the Rock Shrimp & Scallion Beignets, served with a warm pepper jelly and the Vidalia Onion Tart which was served with a watercress salad, goat cheese and a spiced Georgia honey. The beignets were excellent, crisp on the outside, warm and delicate on the inside and the pepper jelly was the perfect accompaniment to the beignets. The Vidalia Onion Tart was very good as well, creamy and subtle in flavor which matched nicely with the salad.
Along the way, we also enjoyed the fresh corn bread and biscuits. Both absolutely fabulous as they just melt in your mouth. And best of all, it was was served with whipped butter. None of the rock hard frozen butter that so many restaurants serve and then you don’t know what to do with it since you certainly can’t spread it on anything. (Diner’s tip: I have found that if you hold frozen butter over a candle it does help to warm it up, but be careful as you can create a grease fire! Certainly not what you want to do while out on a date.)
For Round 2, we opted for the Pan-Seared Pork Chop served with mac and cheese, portobella mushroom fries and a red-pepper coulis along with South City Kitchen’s classic Sauteed Shrimp & Scallops over a bed of creamy stone-ground grits and garlic gravy. Round 2 was also a big winner. Can’t go wrong with the shrimp & grits and the pork chop was very well prepared. And the mac and cheese was superb, a true Southern comfort food.
The only disappointment was the portobella fries as they were so heavily battered, it wasn’t worth trying to get the to the portobella.
On to Round 3: dessert. We selected the Black Bottom Pie and the Lemon Chess Pie. The Black Bottom Pie provided just the chocolate fix my wife needed and I thoroughly enjoyed the Lemon Chess Pie as the fresh lemon taste was perfect.
I’d definitely recommend South City Kitchen. Go enjoy the special menu through Saturday, April 26th or stop by anytime to enjoy some excellent southern food. Also, be sure to ask for Andrew. He was our server for the evening and took great care of us. Always attentive, informative and funny. The three key attributes you want when out for a great dinner.
[tags]South City Kitchen, Vinings Restaurants, Smyrna Restaurants, Ivy Walk[/tags]
[where: 30080]