White Oak Kitchen and Cocktails – This particular dinner almost didn’t occur because of the recent Kanye West listening party. The Hyatt Regency across from the restaurant, lousy with his fans, made navigating the street with a car nearly impossible.
I’m proud of our perseverance. White Oak Kitchen & Cocktails is a great place to dine. It has a sophisticated menu and ambience than one might not expect given the location.
BIRTHDAY
On this occasion, we celebrated my Significant Other’s father’s birthday at White Oak, which describes its fare as “Southern-tinged New American with specialty cocktails”.
Chef Tim Magee‘s menu is lean, yet tight, and he clearly knows his audience — when we arrived it was sparsely occupied, by the time we left it was packed.
THE MENU
Fried Green Tomatoes (Bourbon-Bacon Jam, Pimento Cheese, Georgia Olive Oil
Baked Oysters (Creamed Collards, BBQ Spiced Cheddar Crumb)
Beignets (Rock Shrimp, Alabama White BBQ Sauce, Green Tomato Marmalade)
Mac + Cheese (Macaroni, Tillamook Cheddar, Béchamel, Garlic Butter Crumb Crust)
Steak (8 oz Roasted Prime Filet, Whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes, Mushroom, Cognac-Peppercorn Sauce)
Rainbow Trout (Roasted Corn, Trumpet Mushrooms, Preserved Tomato)
Halibut (Stewed Okra, Pepperonata, Lemon-Thyme Gremolata)
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie (Chocolate Chip Chantilly)
Kentucky Butter Cake (Shortbread Cookie Crumbs, Caramel Ice Cream)
I went in blind to this particular restaurant and I couldn’t believe how delicious everything we had was. My mouth started to water as I sat down to write this entry. Looking at the pictures again, I can remember the pure joy I experienced as I ate. I typically recommend one thing or another on the menu, but you truly cannot go wrong with our choices. My only grievance was with was the accidental swapping of my rare steak for the birthday boy’s medium. They rectified this by adding the Pecan Pie, gratis.
DELICIOUS VICTUALS
The medium steak preparation fiasco aside that is one of the tastiest 8oz cuts of filet I’ve had in a while. Perfectly tender and well-seasoned and the Cognac-Peppercorn sauce was present and delightful. The meat paired well with the butter-rich cloud of Whipped Yukon Gold Potatoes.
Although it was an meant to complement to the Fried Green Tomatoes, the Bourbon-Bacon Jam was delicious. I ended up utilizing the leftovers on the Beignets.
My dessert was the super-rich Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie. I’m not a big after dinner dessert person, but I gobbled that mass of deliciousness down with ferocity! I HIGHLY recommend it.
SHOULD YOU GO?
The White Oak dining experience was excellent. I judge service mainly by how long my water glass stays empty between pours, and by that metric it was very good; the evening rush blunted that a bit. Given the new crowd it was understandable. I definitely recommend grabbing a meal there if you find yourself in the area.
Until next time…
JG
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