A review that wasn’t, but a restaurant and a chef to watch out for
You can find my review of Firebirds in today’s relish. But originally I had planned to write about the Kitchen at Elkin Creek. I was rubbing my hands about this review, yes indeed. I love sharing truly wonderful restaurants with you all, even more than I enjoy warning you about terrible ones (contrary to popular belief, I take no pleasure in that - but someone has to do it).
A trip to France got in the way. Then, I came back. For some reason I was poking around on Elkin Creek’s website - probably looking for their phone number, or directions to the little winery (down a gravel road, and through a rusty farm gate. There’s a teepee near the winery and restaurant proper, and some signs welcoming you in Spanish, and maybe Chinese? - it’s truly a charming place). In any case, the chef’s profile was noticeably missing. It turns out Jesse Williams and Elkin Creek parted ways sometime in April (that’s according to Jesse). So, Susan Gilmor, my wise relish editor, put the kibosh on an Elkin Creek review, at least for the time being. It wouldn’t have been fair to the restaurant. It wouldn’t have been fair to you.
I just got out my notes from my last meal at Elkin Creek. It was sometime in late March. I remember a salad of pear, Gorgonzola, charred croutons and red leaf and romaine lettuces infused with the smoky taste of the kitchen’s wood oven. I remember the best rendition of oysters Rockefeller that I have ever had. Spaghetti with chorizo, fennel, tomato and clams. These weren’t wild dishes, but oh, did they taste good.
To be fair, I also remember some weird touches, such as the fake votive candles flickering their orange light, and bread served with a shallow dish of olive oil so light it was nearly yellow. “If anything, would like to see something more extraordinary, more innovative. Push boundaries more. Have seen this place do better,“ the last lines of my scrawl read.
I read about saffron macaroni and cheese gratin, and crab and coddled egg salad with fennel when I was scouting out Elkin Creek. I saw the menus for the beer dinners the restaurant once held with Spencer Davis of City Beverage, and squealed in my seat about a shucked oyster shooter with lemon sorbet; braised pork belly with apple strudel; and clever twists on sandwiches such as duck pastrami and cherry chutney, and a club made with foie gras, apple chutney and bacon. Nice, but too tame, is what I thought as I drove home after that dinner in March.
All of this is why you should keep an eye on Sanders Ridge Vineyards and Winery in Boonville, where Jesse has landed next. He’s a chef to watch out for. Sometime later this year, Williams will open Homeplace 1847. The winery and restaurant have been thrown off by off-again, on-again construction but Williams wants to open in September. He has ambitious plans to make the restaurant a homage to local food (in season, he’ll get a lot of his produce from Sanders Ridge’s organic farm), and a trendsetter across the state. He’s working on the menu right now, and when I talked to him earlier this week, he called it “nostalgic comfort food.“
What does this mean? Williams has got his eye on a grilled watermelon salad, for example, and shredded barbecued rabbit on sourdough. This past weekend, Williams says he made mint lemonade with watermelon foam for the non-drinkers at the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival. It’s comfort food, but probably like nothing you had in your momma’s kitchen.
Williams also wants to set up a farm stand at the restaurant, so after your barbecued rabbit sandwich and bottle of wine, you’ll drift through the fresh produce. You will become powerless as you reach for a tomato to take home. And remember what kind of economy he is doing this in. “People love good food,“ he says.
I can’t wait to see if he’s right.
