Magnolia Grill

Every so often Andrea and I will get together with our friends Karl and Rachel Kaufmann at a nice restaurant for a long meal. It is not unusual for us to close the restaurant, and we do it up right: appetizers, entrées, desserts, wine, coffee … the works.

On Saturday we decided to go the the Magnolia Grill in Durham. When I was in high school at Science and Math, the building that now houses the restaurant was a Wellspring grocery store (now a part of Whole Foods). The Magnolia Grill has been rated number 11 out of the top 50 restaurants in America by Gourmet Magazine, and since it fairly close to the farm I wonder why I haven’t eaten there before.

It was fantastic.

me, Andrea, Karl and Rachel

We got there about 7:30pm and left at 11:00pm – pretty much par for the course.

Here’s the blow by blow:

Appetizers

Andrea: The watermelon salad with green zebra tomatoes, crispy pork belly “croutons”, spicy cucumbers and arugula in pomegranate-mint vinaigrette.

Rachel: Twice-baked grits souffle with wild and exotic mushroom ragôut, aged sherry mushroom emulsion and shaved confit foie gras.

Karl: Grilled local figs with buttermilk blue cheese and serrano ham, shaved fennel, organic mesclun and balsamic syrup.

me: Yellowfin tuna ceviche with roasted chili salsa, crushed guacamole, charred tomato sauce and tomatillo salsa.

They were all amazing. I really liked the sweet/savory contrast of the fruit dishes (watermelon and pork belly/figs and blue cheese). My tuna was excellent, although I teased the waitress on the fact that the portion seemed much smaller than the dishes of my tablemates.

Entrées

Andrea: Grilled Black Angus NY strip in cabernet jus with potatoes, tomatoes and pancetta, grilled romaine in creamy buttermilk blue cheese dressing.

Rachel: Rabbit confit in sherry-basil jus with garlicky roasted rose gold potatoes and purple hull peas vinaigrette with summer beans and Millarckee Farm arugula.

Karl: Grilled beef shortribs in red wine-expresso jus with roasted corn and anaheim chili salsa, summer squash and roasted okra on buttermilk-crushed new potatoes.

me: BBQ spice-rubbed Carolina black grouper in gold tomato sauce with orzo, baby butterbeans, roasted corn and country bacon.

Again, amazing. Of course I got stuck with the smallest portion, again. I really enjoyed my meal, but both beef dishes also tasted great. I had a bite of the rabbit as well. I don’t think I had had rabbit before, but it was very good. It had a mild gamey flavor that was tasty and unusual.

Desserts

Andrea: Lemon souffle tart with summer berries and whipped cream.

Rachel: Not Afraid of Flavor gingerbread with poached peaches and maple cinnamon ice cream.

Karl: Caramel mascarpone cheescake with espresso sauce and coffee cream.

me: Chocolate chocolate blackout cake with whipped cream.

My chocolate cake was the largest portion at the table, but also the most ordinary. I think my favorite out of this bunch was Rachel’s gingerbread, although I think it was the ice cream that made that dessert.

It was nice to see Karl and Rachel again (and it’s the first time I have every seen Karl with facial hair) and also wonderful to do something special with Andrea. I can’t wait until we can do something like it again.