Bacchanalia, Roundtable with Anne Quatrano

As part of our ICCA Culinary Immersion Atlanta, we started with a tour of the vast facility which houses a unique store that is part gift shop and part charcuterie shop that also serves sandwiches, baked goods, and coffee drinks.  They create their own charcuterie in house and slice to order at the meat counter.  They also sell their various jams, jellies, mustards, and house seasonings.  The building was a turn of the century hog processing facility and they kept a lot of the old features of the building creating a unique ambiance.  The Bacchanalia portion of the restaurant is the fine dining side which features a different prix fixe menu every day for a flat $85 plus wine pairings should you choose.  They also offer an a la carte menu that changes daily.  The menu is heavily Southern and they source as locally as possible.  Much of the produce and eggs are from Anne Quatrano's own farm, Summerland.

One of the most popular elements of the ICCA Culinary Immersions is rthe roundtable discussion with the cities most successful chefs.   One of the best in Atlanta was the opportunity to sit down with Anne and discuss her concepts, her farm Summerland, and the trends popping up through Atlanta.  She is a huge part of the culinary trends in the area, chances are most great chefs in town worked for her at some point.

Anne created a tasting menu especially for us.  For amuse we started with the Summerland Farm Radish in a buttermilk and tarragon dressing accompanied by North Georgia Trout Crudo with smoked egg and house made yogurt and a Jerusalem Artichoke Profiterole with Truffle Vinaigrette.  Next, the Berkshire Pork Lonzino with pickled Summerland roots, mustard, and sourdough with a pairing of Madeira.  The second course brought Georgia Red Shrimp with Berkshire Pork Belly with Romesco, Almond, Basil, and house cured Trout roe.  The pairing for this course was a beautiful Gruner Veltliner by Hopler Austria 2012.  For the third course, White Oak Pastures Guinea Hen with Black Trumpet Mushroom, Spring Vidalia Onion, and Sultana paired with one of my favorites, Brunello di Montalcino by Campogiavanni, Tuscany 2008.  The fourth course, Jasper Hill Harbison Asparagus Tart with Pickled Spring Onions.  The fifth and final course, a Florida Strawberry Smoothie topped with fresh whip and a madeleine on the side.  This tasting was a real culinary treat; fabulous food with beautiful wines in an equally beautiful setting.  Kudos to Anne and her team.