Last night we traveled to nearby Oxford, Alabama to have dinner with friends at a newly opened restaurant. Before I go into the delicious details of our evening, you need the background story of this unique establishment. Here's the scoop directly from their website:
First National Bank of Oxford was founded in 1903 by Davis. C. Cooper. The bank was built in 1883 at the corners of Main and Choccolocco Streets. In 1911, Cooper oversaw a renovation and expansion of the building. The facade was altered to the way it appears today with white marble added. D.D. Draper & Sons established the first bank in Oxford in 1879. In 1888, Draper merged to create the Bank of Oxford.
Here's a picture of the building in years gone by.
In January of this year, Gary and Laura Humphreys realized there was a need for a cozy spot for couples for date nights or for friends to gather for unique drink concoctions and amazing charcuterie boards. The Bank is the result of their vision and it fills the void perfectly.
As you step through the door, you're transported to a 1920's speakeasy. Everything from the decor, the "tellers," (servers), and the menu is based on Prohibition-era details. Trust me when I tell you that sets the stage for a fun evening!
Now let's begin our culinary journey through the beverage menu! Please don't come in planning on having a margarita or a cosmo or some such. Come here with the mindset that you're going to a 1920's semi-hidden spot where maybe a password is needed to enter. That's part of the fun!
As you can see, the menu is divided into three categories of liquor: Gin, Bourbon, and Vodka. For example, the Bee's Knees is made with honey, lemonade, simple syrup, and GIN. If you go over one column, it's the same basic ingredients, but with Bourbon and is now known as the Yellow Jacket. One more column over, you have Vodka as the liquor and it's now called The Big O.
Here are our drink selections (for the first round!):
We all tried each other's drinks and each one was absolutely delicious! There are so many special details in each glass. The syrups are house made. Who would have thought to have rosemary syrup in an Old Fashioned? Another option was a brown sugar syrup. I'll file that one away to try next time!
Another great thing about sharing these boards is you can mix and match and choose which suits your groups tastes. You can choose two boards and four drinks which is The Bonnie and Clyde or four boards and eight drinks which is The Al Capone.
We decided on The Al Capone and still ordered extra boards! We couldn't decide which we wanted most so we went big.
From the "Savings" section, we selected the Bread and Butter and The Big Cheese.
The bread and butter included a regular butter, a garlic butter, and a brown sugar butter. They were all delicious (because it's BUTTER!), but I did everything I could to sneak as much of the brown sugar over to my side of the board.
The Big Cheese included four different cheeses (gouda, brie, goat) with a variety of toppings. Look at all the textures in the bread!
Now on to the Money Markets! We discussed, debated, and discussed some more. There was no way we could eliminate any of these boards. Seriously, could you?
Let's start with The Garbo which features hummus as the main item, but additional items included pickled okra, naan, olives, blueberries, prosciutto, whole grain mustard, cheeses, peppers, cured meat and more!
The Chaplin which has chicken salad as the anchors of this board. There's two versions: one made with rotisserie chicken and the other made with grapes. Raw carrots, rolls, sweet peppers, pickles, cured meats, cheddar, grapes, crackers, and apple butter complete the board.
By now it was time for round two of drinks!
Now, back to the boards!
The Valentino has two varieties of pimento cheese: a traditional version and one with jalapenos for a little zip! Dried apricots, olives, maple bourbon pickles, seeded crackers, bread slices, cheeses, and goat cheese. So many amazing choices.
I did snap a picture of two of the boards side by side. I wish I had remembered to get all three together! Next time, I'll do better for y'all.
For our "Retirement Plan" dessert board, we selected the Coco Chanel Chocolate Board.
Two caramel chocolate brownies, two slices of chocolate cake, white chocolate covered pretzels on top of espresso hummus, blueberries, and cinnamon graham crackers with chocolate whipped cream. Trust me when I tell you that this board was the PERFECT ending to this meal.
Service was outstanding with gentle suggestions made and options given in a clear manner. The drinks were some of the best I've ever enjoyed. The atmosphere was fun, unique, and cozy. The food...well, the presentation, as you can see, was impeccable and the contrast of flavors and textures was superb.
We had a wonderful evening and I can assure you that you will as well!
So very nice!
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