Meet The New Confections

We are delighted to announce that Aaron Russell has joined the team at Restaurant Eugene and is premiering his new dessert menu tonight.  Aaron's bio reads like who's who of Atlanta culinary achievement:  Johannes Klapdohr, Bruno Menard, Guenter Seeger... 

An even better read is the actual menu.  Here's a preview.  Come see for yourself soon.

green apple sorbet

       buckwheat streusel, goat cheese mousse, tarragon honey  

beet gelée

yogurt and chocolate “snow,” peppermint

 

warm poached pear

red wine, gingersnap crisp, brown butter ice cream

The Blur of Late Summer

Those long summer days really keep us moving. We’ve been so busy, we haven’t blogged since July. Now, tis Thanksgiving Eve, we’ve just received a very special delivery: a gorgeous box of oyster mushrooms, freshly foraged by our favorite forest food sleuth, Michael from Indian Ridge Farm, and we really want to share the joy of this special delivery with you. We want to tell you about Michael, and Ed Taylor, the biodynamic farmer who owns the farm where Michael works and forages. We want to share something of the treasures from the woods that are going on to the menu tonight, and this weekend. 

We also want to say Happy Thanksgiving. We are thankful for Ed, and Michael and all of our farmer friends.

Michael with his latest find.

 

Here is a list of a few of the things we’re thankful for from the past three months:

• Best table display at the Attack of the Killer Tomato Festival to benefit Georgia Organics.

 • Lovely new tableware for Chef to plate on and play with.

 

• Recognition from Travel & Leisure Magazine for the Best Fried Chicken in the Country.

• Our amazing Executive Sous Chef, Jason Paolini

Chef Jason schooling the staff Holeman & Finch line-up.

• Our inaugural Eugene Author Dinner, with the delightful Susan Rebecca White.

• Recognition from Creative Loafing for our vegetable plate. You must try this dish!

• Our friends at Pollen.

• The Southern Foodways Alliance and its brilliant programming.

• Kat Kinsman’s Eatocracy.  Thanks, Kat.  That was great fun!

• Mark Kurlansky, and everything he’s written on food, history and humanity.

• Feeding our guests and even sometimes our heroes. What an honor to serve you all, especially you, Mr. Ali.

Thanks Y’all. Look for more good things here soon.

The Art of The Vegetable

At Restaurant Eugene, our focus is on food --- obviously. But let it be known that food at RE is all inclusive and doesn't mean just porcine protein. These days the focus on all things swine is sometimes seemingly ubiquitous. This is not to say that we don't appreciate the pig here. We most certainly do. We'd just like to make the humble point that vegetables are astoundingly delicious too. Additionally, veggies are nearly limitless in the breadth of their flavor offerings. This is why we devote an entire section of our menu to vegetables every single night. Our vegetable plate changes nightly based on what the farmers deliver earlier in the day. And, honestly, it's more than a plate. It is bundle of fresh amazing flavor served reverently in a copper pannikin featuring eight vegetables and eight techniques.

Summer is one of the most exciting seasons for vegetables (and fruits, technically speaking). July's menus have read like a roll-call of summer's bounty:

• sweet corn agnolotti with bacon, chanterelles, and baby tomatoes
  
• heirloom tomato salad with arugula balsamic gelee and parmesan
  
• mixed gem lettuces with sorghum, smoked peanuts, clabbered cream and tumbleweed
• chilled butterbean & buttermilk soup with pickled shrimp, crisp onion and parsley-pecan puree
• butter glazed baby carrots with carrot puree, opal basil, blackberry farm's brebis, melon and smoked lardo
  

And every night, there's the vegetable plate featuring the likes of glazed turnips, eggplant fondant, roasted potatoes, delicata squash gratin, dressed cherry tomatoes, spigarello, tempura squash blossom, sweet and sour eggplant, creamed peas, roasted peppers and more!

Vegetables, or course, find their way on to all sections of our menu. Even sometimes desert. Join us soon to celebrate Chef Linton Hopkins love of vegetables.

Peach Pit Amaretto is Ready

Barkeep Nick Hearin's amazing house-made Peach Pit Amaretto is ready to taste after a month of incorporation.


The process is a house secret, but here's a hint: roasted peach pits, rum, sugar, orange zest, cinnamon and clove. The results are a perfectly delicious, nutty, sweet, smooth aromatic cordial that is as unique as its maker. Come see for yourself, and sample one of Nick's other house-made palliatives: fennel bitter and lemoncello.

Putting Up Blueberries

Blueberry season is here and it looks to be a good one. Blueberries rolled through the door today from Deep South Growers, in Douglas Georgia. They were big, sweet and bountiful. Soon, they'll be at local farmers market throughout the state.

What to do with a bounty of blueberries? Ice cream, parfaits, pies, pickles (yes!), and of course preserves. In preparation for the opening of Drovers Market, partner Kirsten Hindes (right) has been perfecting our recipes for all of the above. Try this at home.

Blueberry Preserves
1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 qt. blueberries, rinsed

Combine vinegar and sugar in a medium saucepan. Cook on medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

Add blueberries and continue to simmer, stirring constantly, until the berries pop and begin to break down.

Turn heat to low and cook until the fruit is completely broken down and the mixture is think and syrupy.

Allow preserves to cool, slightly, and pour into 2 pint jars. When jars have cooled completely, cover and refrigerate. Use within 3 weeks. Yields 2 pts.

An Historic Day

Today, First Lady Michelle Obama launched her "Chefs Move to Schools" initiative at the Whitehouse. As part of her effort to turn policies into practical solutions for America’s families, Mrs. Obama is calling on chefs to get involved by adopting a school and working with teachers, parents, school nutritionists and administrators to help educate kids about food and nutrition. By creating healthy dishes that taste good, chefs have a unique ability to deliver these messages in a fun and appealing way to the larger audience, particularly children. This is exactly the work that Chef Linton Hopkins, and Gina Hopkins have been doing, along with friend Jenna Schuh, through their Culinary Kids Club at E. Rivers Elementary. The Hopkins were honored to be invited to join leader chefs from around the country live for the launching of this historic campaign. Gina, pictured here in the Whitehouse Organic Garden, donned her E. Rivers Elementary Chef's Whites and her Georgia Organics apron, noting that she was there representing a much larger good food community. Chef Linton Hopkins is rumored to have harvested and prepared food from the garden this afternoon. More good things to come...

Photos from the Beard House Dinner

We just received the photos from the James Beard House Dinner. Thanks to Geoff Mottram for these beautiful shots. What a night to remember.