Dining Out - Southeast: Garfrerick's Cafe, Oxford, AL

 

Now that I have your attention with that gorgeous picture of my salad, I'll give you the background scoop!

Last Friday night, we had the opportunity to make the short drive to Oxford to enjoy a concert by the Atlanta Pops Orchestra. I know, right?  It was a wonderful concert, btw. 

For our before-show dinner, we followed our daughter's recommendation to enjoy a meal at Garfrerick's Cafe.  Garfrerick's is a chef-owned, farm-to-table restaurant.  Their farm is actually THEIR farm located in Talladega County. You can definitely taste the freshness in every dish.

The dining area is open and welcoming.  Tabitha was our server for the evening.  She was extremely helpful in menu selections and made sure that we had everything we needed.

The bread basket was filled with hot, freshly baked bread...and the butter?  Yes, definitely a spreadable consistency!  

Sweet Harold selected a Caesar for his salad option:  romaine lettuce, shave parmesan cheese, house-made Caesar dressing, and seasoned croutons.  His only critique?  A little more of that delicious dressing.

Now ... my pick!  This is Garfrerick's Signature Tomato Salad:  fresh heirloom tomato slices, sweet corn, purple-hull peas, balsamic vinaigrette, house-made basil aioli, goat cheese, and basil chiffonade.  

Heirloom tomatoes are night and day different from your grocery store tomatoes.  There's so much flavor in each slice.  Y'all know how I love basil.  When I read that menu description and spied "house-made basil aioli," I was hooked. The tangy goat cheese complemented the sweetness of the corn and peas.  As gorgeous as this salad is, it tasted even better!

Sweet Harold's entree choice was, of course, grouper.  Not just grouper, but pecan encrusted grouper:  pecan encrusted grouper filet in fennel cream sauce over vegetable hoppin' John (basmati rice, peas, yellow squash, zucchini, and diced red peppers).  He gave this dish two thumbs up.

I was torn between the Pasta Puttanesca with grilled shrimp and the scallops.  I'll definitely try the pasta in the future, but I'm very glad I selected the scallops:  Scallops with green pea puree, roasted red bell pepper sauce and roasted corn succotash.  Where to begin?  How about the scallops because they were definitely the star of this plate.  The seasoning was subtle and they were perfectly cooked.  I mean, seriously, perfectly cooked. The red bell pepper sauce had a slight sweetness and the green pea puree was sublime.  The roasted corn succotash added an ideal texture contrast to the silkiness of the scallops.

This meal wasn't finished yet! We decided to order dessert.

Here is Sweet Harold's strawberry cheesecake.  I had a few bites and everything from the graham cracker crust to the creamy cheesecake, to the delectable strawberry glaze was perfection.

I opted for the Chocolate Pot de Crème: a rich creamy chocolate custard with house made vanilla bean whipped cream.  This one is definitely for the chocolate lovers. The whipped cream was light and airy.  These were perfect desserts to end a fabulous meal.

Garfrerick's is definitely a special occasion destination. There are so many menu items that everyone is sure to find something they'll enjoy.