Author Dinner, Volume Eight: John T. Edge

Last night, Restaurant Eugene, was positively pleased to host Southern Foodways Alliance Executive Director, John T. Edge for our Eighth Author Dinner.  The series, which has featured authors as diverse as Mark Kurlansky, Rajat Parr, Gabrielle Hamilton and Bill Shore, is an expression of Chef Linton Hopkins love of books, learning and, of course, food.  With the Author Dinner Series, Chef Hopkins aims to clearly demonstrate the relationship between fine dining and the cultural life of a city.   To have a strong sense of identity, a city needs fine restaurants, as it needs fine art, music and literature.  Restaurant Eugene Author Dinners are the synthesis of this idea.

Blair Hobbs' Cheese Boxes

Author Dinners, limited to about sixty people, begin with a reception.  In this case, since the book was the Southern Foodways Alliance Community Cookbook, we served Blair Hobbs' cheese boxes, Ari Weinzeig's benedictine spread and Jared Richardson's fried chicken livers with Brian Caswell's Sriracha and citrus remoulade --- all from the book, and paired with our own Coca-Cola cocktails.   Chef Hopkins noted with delight that one of the things that makes this particular community cookbook so special is that the recipes really work. 

Linton Hopkins Cheese Straws on the line.

Guests mingle and chat with Author and Chef until being seated, communally in the elegant dining room, where they are greeted with a little bite of something delicious.  Last night, Linton Hopkins' spiced pecans and cheese straws, David Sweeney's spicy fermented cabbage and Eugene Holeman's beaten biscuits with Allan Benton's country ham and sorghum.

Oven-bound Billy Reid's Tomato Pies.

The room had the feel of a family reunion of sorts as the author and chef shared a few words about the menu and the theme of the night. Then dinner proper begins:  Billy Reid's tomato pie; Greg Sonnier's bbq shrimp and Tankie's cornbread, Austin Leslie's fried chicken with Madge Castle's killed lettuce.  Each course brilliantly paired by our Director of Wine & Spirits.

After the main course, there is pause for a few more words from John T.  He read from a piece he'd written for Gourmet Magazine on Austin Leslie, whose creole fried chicken had just been savored.  (See above link or the article.)  Then, one final bite: Dana Logsdon's banana pudding.  Guests depart with a signed copy of the book in hand, glowing a bit, and certainly enriched from an evening of delicious discussion.


We hope you will join us for our next Author Dinner, August 23 with the legendary Vertamae Smart Grosvenor.

Mt. Valley Spring Water

At Restaurant Eugene, we pay extraordinary attention to our source ingredients.  From the pantry items, most all of which are homemade, to the vegetables, the grains, the seafood and meats.  Right down to the water we pour table-side.  We want to showcase the absolute best of everything the south has to offer.

Mt. Valley Spring Water was first bottled in 1871.  Chef Linton Hopkins remembers drinking this Arkansas quencher as a young boy on hot days touring farms with his grandfather, Eugene Holeman, the restaurant's eponym.   But nostalgia alone wouldn't place it on the menu at Restaurant Eugene.  The product has long been appreciated and even celebrated for its good taste.  It has twice won the title of “Best Tasting Non-Carbonated Bottled Water in the World” at the prestigious Berkley Springs International Water Tasting Competition.  

Bottled at the source near Hot Springs, where it is scrutinized and tested daily, the water is guarded like a museum-quality antiquity.  The spring site and the 2000 acres surrounding it have been carefully protected for over 140 years.  It really is a precious, ancient thing.  Geologists have determined that the cycle beginning with rain water falling on and filtering through the rocks and soil of Cedar Mountain into a deep subterranean aquifer and up again into the spring takes 3,500 years. Along the way, the water collects minerals and special qualities.  Some believe it has healing properties.  It's relatively low in sodium.  High in calcium and magnesium, and even naturally contains fluoride.  See for yourself.   Perhaps what's most outstanding about this water is that it has a naturally high pH.  The alkalinity gives it a wonderful mouth feel and is a great compliment to food and wine which are typically more acidic.

Mt. Valley Spring Water has been served in the United States Senate and enjoyed by multiple U.S. presidents.  Calvin Coolidge was the first American president to serve Mountain Valley Spring Water in the White House. Following a heart attack in 1955, President Dwight Eisenhower drank the water on the advice of his physician. Bill Clinton enjoyed the water, and even spoke at the re-dedication of historic company headquarters and visitor center. 

Other notable connoisseurs of the water included Elvis Presley and boxing champions Joe Louis, Gene Tunney, and Sugar Ray Robinson. Rodney Dangerfield even sang it's praises on Larry King Live. Consumption of the water has not been limited to humans: thoroughbreds such as Secretariat, Nashua, Kelso, Bold Ruler, and Sunday Silence were trained on this famous spring water. 

Most importantly, this water really is a southern treasure --- a taste of the place and the land, which is the most compelling reason of all to include it on the list of fine products we serve to our guests.

Madame President

When you care about good food, and you're Gina Hopkins, you want everyone to have good food --- from the children in the elementary school down the street, where you not only deliver five hundred servings of fresh, seasonal, local food every month for the "Celebrity Fruit and Vegetable of the Month", but also help to found a culinary garden in the school's courtyard and additionally sponsor a kid's culinary club to teach children how to prepare fresh healthy food for their families at home --- to the families who now have more access to good food at the farmers markets through the Wholesome Wave of Georgia, a program Ms. Hopkins founded --- to, of course, the guests and patrons of her restaurants and businesses: Eugene and Holeman and Finch Public House, H&F Bread Co. and H&F Bottle Shop.

For the last three years, Ms. Hopkins has also contributed her time to the good food movement by serving on the board of Georgia Organics, a statewide organization working to integrate healthy, sustainable and locally grown food into the lives of all Georgians.  Georgia Organics asserts that food "should be community-based, not commodity based," and believes that there should be good food for all.  The work with Georgia Organics is so important to Ms. Hopkins that she upped the ante on the commitment and is now serving as President of the Board.  May there truly be Good Food For All. 

 

We salute you, Madame, President!

Lucky Seven!

Restaurant Eugene celebrates its seven year anniversary April 2nd.  The restaurant exists due to the vision and leadership of Linton and Gina Hopkins.  As a young couple, the Hopkins hatched a dream to open and run one of the finest restaurants in the United States --- one that would honor the traditional foodways of the southeastern United States, while celebrating everything  urbane and creative of the capital of the south; one that would deeply communicate a sense of place and reflect the values and ethics of the owners.   Amazing things happen when you pour your passion and belief into a project.  Since opening seven years ago, Restaurant Eugene has received numerous accolades.  Most recently, Chef Linton Hopkins was nominated (for the fourth year in a row) to receive the James Beard Award for Best Chef Southeast.

Everyone in the organization is extremely proud to see Chef Hopkins on such an esteemed list, which includes colleagues Hugh Acheson of the Five and Ten in Athens, GA; Craig Deihl from Cypress in

Charleston, SC; John Fleer, Canyon Kitchen at Lonesome Valley, Cashiers, NC;  Edward Lee, 610 Magnolia, Louisville, KY; and Andrea Reusing, Lantern, Chapel Hill, NC. 

Congratulations to all Chefs, and to our chef, Happy Anniversary!

Who is Rajat Parr?

That's what we wanted to know!  Our friend, the delightful Harry Root from Grassroots Wine called to ask us to host Mr. Parr for a dinner at Restaurant Eugene.  Harry was arranging a tour for Raj (as he's know to his friends) to explore the southern food scene, and Restaurant Eugene, Harry said, was the perfect destination point between Birmingham and Charleston.

Our curiosity piqued, we began an earnest Internet inquiry and discovered someone who we are only too thrilled to get to know more.  Rajat Parr is a sommelier and wine director for Mina Group and its' some eighteen restaurants, including RN74 and Michael Mina.  Originally from Calcutta, Parr's story is based on a magical mix of luck, talent and hard work.  Parr knew from a young age that he loved food and wanted to work with it.  An opportunity to study at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park was the lucky part.  Parr's passion took it from there.  At the CIA, Parr developed a serious interest in wine, and knew it was his calling.  After graduation, he found that his culinary training limited him to food (not wine) positions, so he accepted a job as a food runner at San Francisco's Rubicon, where he helped the sommelier staff whenever possible.  Parr quickly worked his way up to assistant sommelier, apprenticing under Master Sommelier Larry Stone.  Since then, Parr has been featured in wine geek publications as well as more mainstream media, including the New York Times and Food & Wine Magazine.  In fact, Parr was Food & Wine's Sommelier of the Year 2009.

When he's not managing the 2500 deep list for the Mina Group, or making wine for his own label, Parr Selection, Rajat Parr writes and educates about wine.  Says our friend Harry, "Raj is amazing.  People feel like they've always known what he's just told them.  He is one of the greatest."  Parr will be at Restaurant Eugene on March 22nd for a wine and author dinner.  Oh yeah, he's just published a book: The Secrets of the Sommeliers.  We are pleased to introduce him to you and grateful to Harry Root for our own introduction.

Call the restaurant for details.  404.355.0321

Let's Hear it for Team Eugene

We are so proud of the team we have in place at Restaurant Eugene. As the saying goes, a chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and right now, we feel like our chain is titanium.  We're not trying to be boastful at all, but we do want to take a moment to acknowledge some of the extraordinary people who bring their hearts, minds and dedication to the job every day, starting with Rob Ochotnicky.

Rob has been with the team for a year.  Starting with us as server, he then moved Assistant Maitre d', and most recently serves as our Guest Services & Event Coordinator.  Rob is the man you want to talk to if you plan to bring a large group (more than 8) to dine at Restaurant Eugene or if you'd like to bring Restaurant Eugene's celebrated food and hospitality to your next party or event.  Yes, by the way, Catering Eugene is back.  Rob is a natural hospitalitarian, a hard worker, a stickler for details and one of our many valued team members, so we wanted to give him a little shout-out here and let you know who to reach out to regarding large party and catering request.

Look for more team member profiles here soon.

Satsuma Season - Abundance and Good Fortune

In the winter months, we give thanks for citrus.  We like to think that the fabled "Orange Blossom Special" isn't just a passenger train delivering sun-sick snowbirds to Florida, but also the freight train that brings fruit starved citizens of northern climes a little taste of the tropics (or at least the sub-tropics).  So, in winter, we also give thanks for our Floridian neighbors to the south and their latest delivery of vitamin C infused deliciousness: Satsumas.

The Satsuma mandarin is many things:  an oblate spheroid (flat & round, as opposed to prolate, like an egg); an easy-to-peel, sweet, seedless variety of orange; a cold-tolerant citrus crop important to growers in Florida, Alabama, Louisiana and Texas (in each of which state, incidentally, you'll find the  homonymous town).   In the late 19th century the Satsuma was first brought to Florida from Japan where it had been cultivated for some half a millennium.  It is in season now throughout the sub-tropics, which is probably why it's a customary gift for the lunar (aka Chinese) new year, thought to symbolize abundance and good fortune.  We are so grateful for the good fortune of having them in abundance right now, and as per usual, we're putting some up for that inevitable day, when Satsumas are no longer abundant and we find ourselves craving one last sweet, aromatic, sunshiney bite with some shrimp or lettuces.  Look for the beautiful golden jars at the top of the bar while they last.