How to Eat: A Southern Survival Guide!

Waiting for a table at the Garden & Gun Club in SunTrust Battery Park is worth it

Dining at SunTrust Battery Park

GARDEN & GUN CLUB: DOING IT THE SOUTHERN WAY

The first time I walked in the door of the Garden & Gun Club, it felt like home. Not literally but my Southern home figuratively in the best of ways.

As a designer, I could appreciate the details from copies of the magazine available for you to leaf through to the mixture of patterns and textures; old cabinets with faux fronts and stuffed birds with feathers suggestive of the hunt.

Patrons were sitting with Bloody Mary’s perusing menu’s while looking over the display of fresh shellfish and oysters on the half shell. Two young men arrived and complimented each other on “looking the part” both in fatigue jackets of a contemporary sort.

A SOUTHERN BRUNCH IN BATTERY PARK

We actually visited the restaurant twice this month while staying in the area for my husband’s eye surgeries. The first time we opted for brunch; a Southern tradition carried over from the English (we really still are Anglophiles in America).

We ordered our own Bloody Mary’s and I have to say it was one of the best I ever had. Just the right mix of spicy to tart with good celery and lemon flavor. We opted for some of the fresh shrimp and oysters and followed up with steak tar tare.

It was as wonderful as it looks. Peel and eat shrimp with oysters and the taste of sweet tart tomatoes and horseradish will always remind me of the South.

The tar tare was served with warm crisp toast points. The freshest meat and the saltiness of the capers with the slaw on top was just the right mix of crunch and texture.

Other light offerings we could have picked were Pimento Cheese, Crab or Shrimp Salad Sandwiches. A fried Oyster Po’ Boy Slider sounded terrific too. The next visit will have us trying the Braised Greens and Mac & Cheese with Country Ham bits (I know …right?).

While bourbon on the rocks would have been more Southern….we made do with excellent martini’s

DINNER AND DRINKS AT GARDEN & GUN CLUB

Dinner changes up the vibe in the restaurant. The lights come down low and everything seems very romantic and like entertaining on your summer porch at home.

While bourbon on the rocks would have been a more expected Southern choice, we made do with our usual dry martini’s while deciding what to have. The waiter was helpful and gave us honest assessments to our questions. He was quite good-knowing when to show up and when to let leave; a watchful eye.

A romantic spot but just as good for a business get together as well

While I could have gone with Country Ham and Biscuits, Chopped Chicken Liver on Toast or Buttermilk Fried Quail, I opted to try the Rabbit and Dumplings. You rarely see it on menus anymore and I grew up eating a lot of rabbit (With six kids, it used to be a cheaper staple in the South and yes it does taste a lot like chicken).

My husband, bless his heart, has a thing for chopped steak. He never gets it at home so he tries it whenever he finds it on a menu which is a lot in the South. It was a sure fire winner cooked in a cast iron pan, served with an fried egg on top and a red wine reduction sauce. It had a slightly sweeter flavor than you might expect.

My rabbit was a hearty soup (I’m thinking a thicker stew might have been an improvement) with wonderful flavor from root vegetables and thick pieces of rabbit. The dumplings were little soft pillows that were crisped on the outside. I could have eaten a lot more of those!

Upon finding some small shards of bone I carefully laid them aside on my knife and made sure to tell the waiter to let the Chef know. Because they are a class act at this spot, the Manager immediately came out to apologize and said they had taken the dish off the menu for the evening until they could make sure about their product and prep.

TASTE TESTING MISSISSIPPI MUD PIE

I told her I appreciated her coming out and that I very much enjoyed the dish in spite of it and said I wrote about food. She asked if I would taste test a new dessert item for the valentines menu for her and I said certainly.

We had no intention of ordering dessert as we both prefer the European approach (read lighter and fluffier here) to the Southern (read heavier and denser here). The Mississippi Mud Pie that came out however, was truly unique; not dense and heavy but light with a sort of pudding sponge cake texture-hard to explain but quite delicious.

YA’LL COME BACK NOW YA HEAR?

So how to eat? I suggest Garden & Gun Club is your Southern Survival Guide. They got the drinks, the atmosphere, the menu and the flavor; done well and with class. In short, boiled peanuts, grits, country ham, pimento cheese, greens, quail, rabbit, mac & cheese and gumbo? Oh hello yeah!

I hope you enjoyed the review and know where to go to get your Southern on now. You might enjoy reading some more blogs under Edible Fare and hey, don’t be a stranger! Let me know what you think about the restaurant or give me your tips on a Survival Guide to Eating Southern OK? Until next time…

Cheers,

ArtsyChowRoamer

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