S.e. P.
Yelp
Interior- the entire place looks like a social media post with intention out behind creating memoeable moments of togetherness, laughter, and selfies. Lots of faux foliage and neon cursive isms on the walls. We sat at the bar, which gave a beautiful display of the spirits inventory. The menu gave so many good savory options for the Fall weather from pork to beef to seafood, and appeared to feature mushrooms in a lot of their dishes. The bartender said he just started, so we knew to expect novice service. We had to flag him down for every order with only 4 people at the bar and when another staff member came back to help, neither of them could answer questions about the menu items such as whether or not the risotto had mushroom chunks in it.
Fried green tomatoes - The plating speaks for itself, so I'll leave that to the readers' discretion. This a favorite for me wherever I go, but this was so bland, I was confused by the lack of flavor medley you usually get with this mixture. It appeared to have pepper seeds but I couldn't find any to determine what they were using for the heat component. They might have opted not to include a pepper. It was entirely watery and watered down. The tomatoes were breaded with more flour than cornmeal, which is fine, but we couldn't figure out what they were seasoned with. With the amount of water left around the slice causing a hard to cut, I stopped at one. This appetizer is served with your option of pimento cheese or black bean corn salsa. We chose the salsa, which is comprised of black beans, corn, tomato, red onion and traces of maybe cilantro or parsley. The buttermilk ranch has something like dill or similar note added into it, which helped make up for the lack of flavoring, but didn't cover the problematic bite.
But let's get into the exciting stuff:
We ordered the 4 dishes that stood out most based on sides pairings.
Meatloaf: a slice of dense, somewhat mushy meatloaf loaded with flavor and topped with heat in the form of a tomato base sauce. It is mentioned on the menu that the space is spicy, but it really give us a surprising heat that balances well with the sweetness and savory notes. It was served on a plateau of red creamed potatoes. Listed as mashed, but definitely creamed. The potatoes mix very well with the flavor able oils from the meatloaf. This dish is also served with a seasonal vegetable which turned out to be eggplant and red bell pepper. I ended up picking out the red bell pepper to add to the risotto that came with the pork loin and leaving the eggplant.
Pork tenderloin - encrusted with coffee grounds - a very interesting take on slow cooked pork. The risotto was creamy and soaked up the flavor from the tenderloin, which made for a wonderful infusion.
Chicken Alfredo - this creamy dish was an easy fall weather pick. We took this home and the reheat was even thicker and flavorful from the seasoning and juices on the chicken.
Salmon - this was served on a bed of thick, hearty risotto with lemon-fried Brussels sprouts. You can't taste lemon, so I think the acidity might have helped balance the Brussels as they cooked down. I prefer a crispy Brussels, so not my cup of tea, but the flavor was nice with the salmon's seasoning.
Overall, the service, plating, and quality testing could improve the experience, but I don't want that to overshadow the incredible flavor pairings the kitchen put out for this first visit. Very much looking forward to returning for the next menu turnover to see what amazing plates Scratch will create