Dining Out Southeast: Ray's at Killer Creek, Alpharetta, GA

We had an overnight stay in Alpharetta, Georgia this weekend. A quick review of various dining review sites on the internet provided a plethora of dining choices. We had narrowed it down to three restaurants. Sweet Harold made the final choice and, thank goodness, he chose Ray's at Killer Creek. My taste buds and senses will be thanking him for some time to come.

Above is a picture of the exterior of the restaurant. It was a glimpse of the wonderful evening we were to enjoy! Here's the link for further information. http://www.raysrestaurants.com/raysatkillercreek/menu

Even though we didn't have reservations, we were promptly seated. The ambiance of the restaurant was warm and inviting. There's an open viewing area into the kitchen area. We passed a case filled with ice and fresh oysters ready for shucking.

Kenrick was our server for the evening. He was extremely personable, very prepared to answer any questions we had regarding the menu choices and was patient with my inability to make up my mind on what I wanted to order!

While we pondered the extensive menu, we sipped on our drinks for the evening: Sweet Harold selected a Long Island Iced Tea. He reported it was extremely smooth with no artificial mixer taste.  $12

I chose The Stampede:  Buffalo Trace Bourbon, cucumber liqueur, peach liqueur, simple syrup, fresh lemon juice, fresh basil, shaken and served on the rocks.  $12.  What was there for me not to love? These are some of my favorite flavors all mixed together!

A fresh basket of bread with crusty white bread slices along with a cinnamon-raisin type bread. At Ray's, they know how to serve bread and butter correctly. Warm bread and room temperature butter. One of my strongest pet peeves is restaurants which serve rock hard, cold butter alongside soft, warm bread.

There were so many delicious sounding appetizers to choose from on the menu. How could we only choose one? We didn't. We chose two.  

How about these gorgeous Goat Cheese Pimento Fritters? Yes, how about them?!? Did I mention the house-made pepper jelly? These were served, thankfully, piping hot. As you can see for yourself, the plating is absolutely beautiful. There was just enough heat in the jelly. The fritters were fried perfectly, not overdone at all. A win / win in that they tasted as great as they looked.  $10

Our other appetizer was a jumbo lump crab cake served with a Creole mustard beurre blanc, roasted corn relish $16.  Kenrick explained that the crab cake was 99% crab with 1% filler. Yes, you read that correctly. If you're accustomed to dry, pre-formed, filler filled crab cakes, rejoice! There is an alternative and Ray's has it on the menu!

Look at the crab!

With Kenrick's expert assistance, we began to narrow down our entree choices. Sweet Harold chose the red snapper served over butternut squash risotto.  $35. The fish was perfectly cooked. The risotto was prepared to the perfect consistency. Gordon Ramsey would have approved!

I was torn between two choices. I know regular readers of the blog are NOT surprised. Once again, under Kenrick's expert guidance, I finally chose the Parmesan Scallops served over LOBSTER risotto. $34.

Let that sink in for a moment.  Three colossal day boat scallops which once again would have been Gordon Ramsey approved. The risotto was lightly seasoned and perfectly complemented the delicate flavors of both the scallops and lobster. A balsamic reduction and basil oil finished the plating. The Parmesan crisp was wonderful!

Now, if you're thinking that there's no way anyone could have dessert after this meal. You'd be correct. But, as always, we're willing to take one for the Fleur de Lolly team!

Kenrick magically appeared at all the "just right" times with gentle suggestions. We did request two spoons and shared!

Butter Cake served with vanilla ice cream and blueberries. $8

The cake was served warm. It was very tender, had a heavy butter taste (of course!), and was the perfect size to share!

I cannot recommend this restaurant highly enough. Kenrick, if you read this review, know you were a large part of the enjoyment of the evening. It takes many things working together to make a dining experience memorable.

The greeting at the front door can make or break it for me. We were warmly greeted and felt very welcome. The ambiance was perfect for this type of restaurant with the soft lighting, well-trained staff, and really, really cool music choices. During our meal, we enjoyed selections from Michael Jackson, Earth, Wind and Fire, Barry White, etc. Just loud enough to make your brain register the songs and smile, but no loud enough to be intrusive.

Take my word on this one. If you're anywhere near Alpharetta, Georgia, drop in and enjoy a wonderful evening at Ray's at Killer Creek.  You can thank me later.