We had a late reservation for the brown derby which was good as breakfast was quite filling and also we walked in just as it was starting to downpour. This happened to us over and over again throughout the week. It was wonderful!
We sat down and started with
rolls and butter dusted with sea salt. This was standard at all the signitures. Accross the board the breads were excellent, fresh and warm except I would say flying fish, we didn't care for their newly added potato scallion bread.
My son started with the veggies
I ordered the andouille encrusted prawn
This was interesting. The flavor was good and the shrimp cooked perfectly. The crust was very crusty (unlike the pastry crusts) which was different...
This had a nice bed of grits under it. They had an excelelnt tartness from the cheddar that offset their richness. The problem was this dish was heavily salted. I love salt. I salt everything so this dish was still edible to me. If I was not a huge saltaholic I imagine this dish would border on inedible. This was a recurring theme at the BD. It also had no spice to it which was unfortunate. I see andouille and I would like a little bit of heat, this had none.
At this point I would like to say that our service was nowhere close to what we recieved at California grill. It seemed as soon as the waiter realised I would not be ordering wine (like the other tables surrounding us) he lost interest. The other tables received more attentive service.
I also asked for his recommendation for lunch (I always do this just to see what they say and decide whether or not I agree) He made a big deal about the filet and said it was "famous!" I asked him what it was famous for and he was rendered speechless. Than I felt like I had to order it since it was mysteriously "famous!" for something.
Charred Filet of Beef over a Brentwood Corn and Pancetta Risotto, Arugula Pesto, and Pickled Rainbow Carrots
Guess what! It was "famous!" for being unbelievably salty. The meat was perfectly cooked to my request however it was totally overseasoned. The risotto was unremarkable but the pesto was an delicious, spicy and unusual addition. The carrots were nothing more than a garnish.
My son got the kids fish sticks which was a tempura style batter.
He enjoyed the fish and ate it all, the fries were left behind so he was either full from two mickey waffles 5 hours before or they weren't that great.
on to desert
I ordered Citrus Honey Nest filled with Candied Ginger Blueberries over a Lemon Cheesecake
Mostly because I had no idea what a honey nest was
It was gorgeous. And really awful. Now I will say that the gingered blueberries were spectacular, inspired! I ate them off the top. They had a true berry flavor unlike the gigantic sweet and tasteless berries the supermarket carries. The ginger addition was a suprising element and just fantastic. The rest was pretty disasterous but like I said desert is not really my thing and the bluberries were enough to satisfy me.
I dont know what my son had but the kid selections were pretty uninspired.
I wouldnt choose this restaurant again though mostly because our experience was so good at other signature restaurants, not because this one was bad. It was interesting and the chef that day could have just been heavy handed with the salt. The lunch service was lacking but that could have just been because it was lunch. At other signature dining my son was served in a real glass. Here we had a paper cup with plastic top.
This place is also pitch dark which I think would be nice as a cozy element but not really my thing.
They served a local grouper which would have normally been what I would have ordered but it was served with a cheese and watermellon salad (?!) which I thought was just bizarre so I didnt order it.
