Cork & Flame — Restaurant in Georgia

This is a little elegant but cozy. I did not really expect it to be as nice as it was. Happily, surprised. You walk into the Wine Market with the Restaurant off to the right. (Proper Attire Required). The atmosphere certainly lend itself to upscale dining.The restaurant does have a small outside sitting area that looks comfortable. Staff is dressed in black attire and this just added to the overall quality of the restaurant. The customer service was Great! Every one of the staff, whether at our table or another table were happy and attentive. We did not know who one of the owners or Chef was until we got there but could pick him out easily. Justin was involved with the service and even in the “Flame” area. Paul our waiter was very attentive and was friendly/gave us a rundown of the menu and explained things fully. Thanks Paul! They started us out with a lemony warm wet wipe and offered it if we wanted throughout the meal. We specifically came here to try the standard Food and Wine paring. While there are multiple things on the Menu, I will speak to those we chose. My Husband started with the Prime Brisket. We adored this. I have had a lot of Brisket before, but clearly this is prime brisket. Just melts in your mouth and you do not need that knife! The gastrique is a perfect sweet-and-sour sauce drenching the brisket. The cornbread pudding is so tasty. I chose the Ostrich Carpaccio. Never having Ostrich before I really wanted to try it. There is an amazing complementary balance between the tender ostrich fillet and the micro salad. The truffle flavor that accompanied this is amazing also. Individually all the flavors are good, but the flavor combined is what you are looking for. Baguette was lightly covered with a rosemary flavored oil. Coming with the second course is the cheddar brioche and whipped truffle butter. The bread will no doubt accompany and second course as the cheddar flavor is not too overbearing and would only enhance the meal. The truffle butter – I love it! My husband had the Quail for the second course. Delicious and one that when we come back, we would get again. My second course was the Lobster Bisque (swiss cream and brandy finish). The swiss cream provides a rich and creamy broth that when joined by the large chunks of lobster is utterly amazing. I am so glad of the size because it was delicious! The brioche went along perfectly. My husband had the Swordfish. The swordfish was prime at its best and utterly divine. The flavor of the farro provided just enough substance to scoop of all the items together. By far some of the best swordfish we have had in town. I had the Filet Mignon. This filet again was pure prime. The pommes dauphinoise is not just au Gratin potatoes. The creaminess of the potatoes is nicely paired with all items on this dish. My husband is not generally a squash lover, but he enjoyed this squash. The only tidbit that distracted this meal for me was the grilled snap peas. No snap left. I still have no complaints. My husband wanted to try the desert from India. I wish I could remember the name, but it is paired with rose flavored ice cream. Going to be honest, we did not really like it. Too much rose flavoring for us. I had the deconstructed Apple pie. This was a warm melt of heaven. Even though the first desert was a miss for us, this one was a hit. Since we were adventuresome to try something different, I cannot default my husband’s desert. I do need to say, that if you never have been on a Food and Wine pairing, let the staff select the wines for you. The staff know how to pair the foods with the wines. Definitely worth the price paid! Would we come back to this restaurant? Oh yea! We will try the Food and Wine...

Let me start by saying, our service was great. Clearing plates, re-setting after each course, crumbing the table, pulling wine glasses off the table after ordering mixed drinks.. all of that was spot on and it’s clear this restaurant is paying attention.. which is hard to find right now. Menu walkthrough and recommendations : great. She did however pace the meal entirely too slow, we were at the restaurant for almost 3 hours (2 guests) and we waited almost 20 minutes between app and entree. That brings me to my next point, this restaurant is not a tapas style restaurant. Menu is sectioned by “middle”, “main”, “last” and the meal was coursed out as such. That’s not tapas. Also, offering an amuse, intermezzo, palate cleanser, etc., is indicative of a tasting menu style restaurant which I would argue is the complete opposite of tapas. Portions were far too large to be considered tapas; pork chop was (I’m assuming) at least 1/2 pound without the bone; that’s an entree, not a shareable plate. And while the food was good, we didn’t clear any plate besides desserts (although flavor was good, the pot de creme was not pot de creme.. sure it was chocolate custard but no way was it baked). My final note… the dress code. It’s truly unfortunate for me to have to mention this because while I completely respect the restaurants choice to nudge out 80% of the population and only appeal to a very high class type of clientele… we were left feeling incredibly uncomfortable after we were told we couldn’t be sat in the main dining room due to our “sportswear” ($300 Yeezy “sneakers”). Let me just say this… I’ve been a chef for almost a decade. I AM the chef that slaves behind the line, working 14-16 hours a day to serve other people while I don’t eat myself. I’ve spent years of my life working holidays, sacrificing family time, coming in when a cook calls out……… I have never, and will NEVER, turn a customer away because i don’t feel they’re good enough to eat in my restaurant; because that’s what it is.. we sat there the entire meal feeling like we didn’t belong. Its insulting. Its clear this restaurant thinks they’re way more important than they are. This isn’t New York City, this isn’t Miami. We are all just cogs in a machine.. Reality check please. From one hospitality professional to another, do this next time: instead of telling us we don’t fit the dress code and you’ll sit us in the wine room… just sit us in the wine room……. save yourself the embarrassment. Take pride in what you do but not at the expense of...

We decided to try this place tonight, at the recommendation of my cousin Wendy, and it was superb.

We made a 6 o'clock reservation. We were on time, and they sat us promptly. They greet you well and come right to the table. You have your own waiter, obviously. And they take care of your drinks. Maybe a 1/2 for a third, and they're already refilled them, so they were very much attentive to your needs.

For the first round, they give you a palate cleanser, which consisted of hot towels, scented with rosemary and an orange juice-Cucumber mix the size of a shot glass. It was excellent!! I couldn't believe the flavor of it.

When you order your food, you order the beginning, the middle, and the end all at one time. So, you have your starter, your meal, and your dessert.

We also opted for the bread for the starter. So we had a loaf of bread with a cinnamon butter that was incredible as well, much better than you'd get elsewhere. Suitable for 6 people.

For the next palate cleanser, (2) we received a small ball of ice cream on a spoon, and it was incredible. At first bite, you couldn't really tell it was full of so much flavor, but once it got going, it was like the flavor never stopped.

For the middle(meal) I opted for the Seashell and Jimmy red grits, which is a combination of buttered grits, Tasso ham, shrimp, and scallops, and it was off the charts Good, my daughter opted for the filamignon, which came with some asparagus in a bernay sauce. She said it was the best filet. She's ever had. One of the other orders was the house special, which was venison, bison, and elk. You get about 2 oz of each, and it was incredible as well.

For dessert( end), I ordered the creme brulee. My daughter ordered the Strawberry Shortcake, and the other one that was tried was the apple destruction. Everything was better than expected, with the apple destruction probably being the best. The only thing I didn't like about the creme brulee was that it was served cold.

And for the final palate cleanser, (3) we were given a mint about the size of a quarter, and when you put it in your mouth, it disappeared again. The flavor was incredible..

All in all, from start to finish, everything here was top-notch. I can't say enough about how good the food was. And they treat you very well. We'll definitely go back here again and try something different as everything we had so far...