Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Rooter to Tooter at the Feed Store

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First up, Pig three ways. Plated together was Chicharron , a Pig ear salad and some Pork tenderloin. Chicharron is deep fried pig skin, you see them often in the local taqueria. I have never tried them. Deep fried pig skin just never sounded to good to me. Now when Chef Cooper is offering it I don’t think twice. It’s good. It is what it is, ya got your skin, there’s a little fat on it and it’s been deep fried. It’s all Berkshire pig and like I said before, I know the farmers who raised that pig. Riverview is an organic farm in Ranger, Georgia. They provide some of the top restaurants and food shops in the Atlanta area with pig and produce. You can read for yourself about Berkshire pigs and the Riverview farm right here. RIVERVIEW FARM

So that’s what the chef’s at the Feed Store have done. They got themselves a Berkshire pig and they went to town with it. The menu is full of pork dishes, so I guess they will get a fresh pig quite often. I don’t think they are ready to serve the ears and the skin and the fat, well they are serving the fat, as in “pork belly” dishes. So when some folks like Stacey and I walk through the door, I bet the chefs get excited and say to each other “let’s see what we can get the Hartleys to eat”. So working with that snout to tail, rooter to tooter, nothing goes to waste attitude, Cooper serves us pig ears. We eat them of course. They are deep fried and are served to us on a green salad with some kinda dressing, I have forgotten that detail. The Tenderloin was sliced and served with fresh blueberries and a little blueberries sauce. Never had pork and blueberries, but as a rule I like fruit and meat together. This was a good plate of food, pig parts ya don’t usually get served, although these days your more likely to see strange pig parts popping up at some restaurants. This plate is not on the menu so if your eating at the Feed Store ask your server if the Chef has any pig ears laying around.

The Feed Store has a new menu going these days and like I said, lot’s of pork. One dish ya got to try WHEN you eat there is the Surf and Turf. I’m not sure that’s what they are calling this dish, it may be. What ya get is a beautifully seared scallop resting on a beautiful slice of pork belly, which is resting on sweetgrass goat cheese and tomato grits and topped with green tomato relish. This dish will make you slap your granny. These guys have come up with a really amazing menu, I can’t find anything on it I wouldn’t like to try, and I plan on trying it all.