Another round at American Grocery Restaurant

Last week I ate at American Grocery Restaurant for South Carolina Restaurant Week with my husband and two of our friends. Restaurant Week menus are generally three courses for $30 and are a great way to sample menus of some of the finer restaurants around the State.

American Grocery is one of those top notch places where as much goes into the effort behind the food as the food itself.  Food is sourced locally: the butter comes from Happy Cow Creamery, the eggs come from Merciful heart Farm, the cheese comes from Split Creek Farms and Sweet Grass Dairy, etc.  All of the meats are sourced locally and at the end of your meal a "Grocery List" is included with your check so you can see where the products came from.  It's touches like this that keep me going back to the restaurant.

A lot of my pics were horrible from the lighting but dinner went something like this. The table started with a round of American Grocery's signature Pig on a Porch craft cocktail made with house-infused bacon bourbon and Blenheim ginger ale with a homemade pork rind as garnish.

I started with Smoked Trout Brandade which was a smoked Trout patty with a crunchy bread crumb coating (think light salmon patty) and topped with a whole grain mustard.  It was served with a lemon-parmesan aioli, mixed greens and grilled bread.  The waitress brought us sour dough bread also with house made apple butter and butter. Our wine pairing for our starter was the 2011 Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio Bianco DOC Matrobernadino.

 We also ordered the Fried Deviled Egg and Fried Okra with Sriracha aioli for the table.  The egg, they told us, was deviled then rolled in a bread coating and fried.  It was tasty but nothing spectacular.  Same with the Okra. Nothing spectacular, but a good eat.

For the main course I ordered the Grilled Bistro Steak (Medium) with potato puree, collards, onion soubise and red wine jus.  I was craving steak and this dish hit the spot.  The collards were amazing. The wine pairing was a 2005 Routas ‘Infernet’ Grenache/Syrah (Coteaux Varois en Provence, France).  A nice complex red.

I’ve haven’t been over the moon about dessert at American Grocery thus far, but the cobbler was absolutely worth writing about. Crisp apples swam in cinnamon syrup and were topped with a pretzel like breading.  The entire top was crispy and sugary.  

I loved the textures and the flavors all the way through.   When my spoon sunk in the bread topping juice came to the surface.  It was really lovely and topped with a dollop of homemade cinnamon ice cream and paired with a sweet Marenco ‘Scarpona’ Moscato d’ Asti from Piedmont, Italy. 

We left happy, full and content.  Hats off for a fabulously delightful meal and superb wine pairings. Be sure to watch the calendar!  Foodie Fest is coming in August and is another opportunity to sample 3 for $30 menus across Greenville.