Maple and plaid

I ate at Blue Ridge Restaurant on its second day of official business and after getting past some expected service glitches, I had some excellent Southern/Mid-Atlantic fare. I sat on the back patio, a lovely spot, reminiscent of your stylish aunt's ranch-house in Texas, complete with rustic farm tables, industrial lights and fountain.

We tried a large sampling of starters, courtesy of the attentive managers.

First up the artisinal charcuterie - 16 month Kentucky prosciutto, house made chicken liver mousse and smoked ham cracklings. The prosciutto was excellent, incredibly light and slightly sweet; the mousse was my favorite - full of flavor, slightly nutty and delicious.



We also had the grilled calamari with basil and frisee - It was cooked perfectly, and the pesto tasted minutes fresh.


One of my other favorite starters was a hush-puppy fritter with a delicious mushroom-flavored sauce.


For my entree I had the rustic pork meatloaf with buttermilk mashed potatoes - the meatloaf itself was flavorful and well-seasoned, but it was a bit dry for my taste, next time I'll try one of the fish dishes.



For desserts I tried the root-beer float and the strawberry-rhubarb pie.




I'm excited to try their brunch, they serve donuts :)