The Brentwood Restaurant

As you may know, it our my 11 year Anniversary a couple of weeks ago.  I know what you are thinking, “Wow!  11 Years?  How could someone who looks as young as you be married for 11 years?”

NO?

You weren’t thinking that?

Well, who asked you anyway?

 

Well, we like to call ourselves “foodies” around here.  (*Not to be confused with the term “food snob”.  Though, I have been called that a few times.)

I had been wanting to try out a local restaurant called The Brentwood Restaurant in Little River.  It was a farmhouse that had been turned in to a restaurant and they concentrate on “farm to table” cuisine.  Not to mention the Chef and Owner is French.  Stir in a little Low Country with that and you have yourself one heck of a meal!

Here is a pic of the Restaurant.  I love everything about it.  It’s country home feel, the greenery,

the gazebo……………  We used to have one just like it when I was little.  Everytime I see a gazebo, I think of my mom.  I remember the house we lived in at the time and even though we were renting, my dad decided to buy her one.  Then we moved to another house 30 minutes away and even though I don’t remember seeing my dad move it to the next location, I imagine he did it in True Redneck Style, perhaps hanging off the end of a small pick up truck going down a back road.  (Love you Daddy!)

 

My parents were in town for the weekend, so they offered to keep the “babies” for us.  SCORE!

Since I like to stay in hotel rooms that are close to where I plan on eating….  (More on that later),

we decided to get a room for the night at Prince Resort in Cherry Grove.

I was one Happy Momma!  LOL!

The Restaurant was only a few miles away, so it was perfect!

We decided to do the Chef’s Tasting Menu, which was a seven course menu.  They have 3 different ones you can choose from.  There is the Silver, Gold, and Platinum Fork.

Since it was neither our Silver nor Golden Anniversary, we decided to go with the Platinum!  Hey!  You only live once!  Right? 😀

I even brought my camera with me anticipating I might blog about it.  (If Z was embarrassed, he hid it well).  Some of the pics came out ok and some didn’t due to the light.

The first course was a Smoked Salmon dish.  It was sooooo good!  I’m just going to warn you.  The Platinum had a few courses of Seafood, so if that isn’t your thing, you can always try another one.

They are very accommodating too.  They were more than happy to substitute a few dishes for us as well if we didn’t like a particular item.

Next, we had White Sturgeon Caviar with Warm Blinis and Chive Cream.  I originally turned my nose up to this because of a bad experience I had as a child with Caviar.  I even told the Chef’s wife about it and after I finished the story, realized how much I SHOULDN’T have told ANYONE that story!  Since I never learn my lesson, I’ll tell you too.

As a child, we met a family at the beach while camping at The Outer Banks.  We decided to go to the Mountains and camp with the same family.  (*First MISTAKE)  Looking back on it, what were my parents thinking????

Then, the dad of the other family, decided to bust out a can of “Caviar”………….  with Saltine Crackers………….  did I mention we were camping in the Mountains??????  Oh yeah…..  So, they asked me if I wanted to try it and being the daring 12 year old that I was said, “SURE!”  ……….  You might as well have poured Table Salt into my mouth because that is exactly what it tasted like……………………….  AGAIN!  Did I mention we were CAMPING IN THE MOUNTAINS?????????

Anyhoo, when I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted to try the White Sturgeon Caviar at the Restaurant, I ultimately decided to give it another shot.

I’m so happy I did.  It was so Fresh, it didn’t taste like Salt at all!  It had arrived the day before and had been harvested the same week.  White Sturgeon, ironically enough live in The Mountains!  😀

I’m not sure where the “other dad” got his, but it wasn’t from the same place!  Haha!

Our next course would have been Seared Duck Foie Gras, which is basically Duck Liver.  *Don’t you love it how the French make it sound that much nicer?  I have had it before and I don’t really care for it, so they were sweet enough to let me choose whatever I wanted from the Appetizer Menu.

I chose Lobster Risotto and oh man, was it good.  RidONculously good!

 

I love Lobster and I love Rice, so naturally this was a great choice!  It was cooked perfectly and the risotto was so creamy!

This was our “Palette Cleanser”.  It was a Fresh Mango & Spicy Rum Sorbet with a Hazelnut Wafer.  Z kept trying to turn up his glass and proceeded to tap the bottom of it so he could get all the Rum out that was teasing him on the bottom……….  I can’t take him anywhere!  (*Love you Baby!)

This is where my camera started to act up so I had to resort to using my phone instead.

This was our Main Course, which was Lamb.  It was AMAZING!  Not sure if you can tell, but there are also Grapes and Spinach in there and it is over a Bordelaise Sauce.  The sweetness from the Grapes complemented the Spinach so well.  The sauce was rich and thick.  It was very Yummy!

Our next course was Cheese.

My computer has acted up and lost my pic on this.  It was a Roquefort Blue Cheese on a Toasted Baguette with Poached Pears and a Honey Candied Pecan.  It was really good.  It was a very Strong Blue Cheese and the Pears and Pecans all paired really well with it.  I layered everything everytime I took a bite!

And last but surely not least, THIS WAS DESSERT!  Another stinky picture taken by my phone, but oh my….. SO GOOD!

Up until now, I had never had a Caramel Cage!  Sure, I had seen it on TV and even tried to be so ambitious as to try to do it myself with NO LUCK!

Other people from other tables were asking what we had gotten.  It is very impressive in person.

Our dessert was a Belgium Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Ice Cream, the Caramel Cage, and was garnished with Fresh Mint.

Enough Said!  🙂

We had a Wonderful Anniversary!  One that we will never forget thanks to Chef Eric and his staff!

Here is a link to The Brentwood Restaurant’s website. 

Next time you are in town or in Little River, give them a try!  You will not be sorry!

But be careful, it is know to have a few extra ghostly guests from time to time as well.  So, you may not be “entirely” alone at your table.

XOXO,

Esther