On July 17 I was invited to an exclusive Chef's Table at Rye Bar & Southern Kitchen, located at 500 Fayetteville St, Raleigh, NC 27601. The purpose of this dinner was for the restaurant to showcase their newly acquired chef - one that I may add was leaps and bounds above their previous chef.
I have been to Rye several times due to proximity to my office and every time I've experienced lackluster service and bland and blah food. This dinner, however, greatly paid for any previous sins.
Décor: the décor at Rye is rustic. Farmhouse doors, natural wood tables and chairs, iron-element chandeliers and lots of nods to Southern and North Carolina culture.
Our family-style table was lined in butcher paper and wildflowers were placed in mason jars wrapped with burlap and twine. It was like a "country wedding" Pinterest page threw up on the table - in the absolute best way.
Food appearance: Food was all served family style on mis-matched ceramic plates and platters and metal buckets. Everything looked and smelled divine. I know we probably got a little extra case because we were at a chef's tasting but it was definitely a vast improvement from past experiences.
Food taste: First course included yeast buns with honey butter, house-made pickles, fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese and sweet potato hushpuppies.
The buns were warm and fluffy and the honey butter was smooth and creamy with the perfect hint of sweetness. The pickles were crisp and acidic.
The Fried Green Tomatoes were delightfully acidic and fried to golden brown perfection! They were everything you could ever hope this Southern classic to be and then some. The Pimento Cheese on top was rich and creamy and definitely left me wanting more (more stomach, more pimento cheese, more money with which to purchase). These little beauties were also drizzled with a touch of hot pepper jelly which made them that much more luscious - if that was even possible.
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| Look at these beauties! Fried Green Tomatoes with Pimento Cheese and Hot Pepper Jelly |
The Sweet Potato Hush Puppies were a little dense for my liking. The outside was crunchy but the inside left me wanting something a tad lighter. They also were lacking in any flavor. When topped with the accompanying honey butter, they were even sweeter. Definitely could've used some acidity or heat - where was the hot pepper jelly to slather on these?!
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| Sweet Potato Hush Puppies with Honey Butter |
The main course was a Low-Country Seafood Boil and I ate my very first crawfish.
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| This was 1 of 4 giant bowls filled to the brim with seafood - there were only about 9 of us at this Tasting. |
I will admit that I felt unnerved eating a small crustacean that was staring at me the entire time but I was pleasantly surprised. The meat was tender and flavorful, but it was an awful lot of work for very little payoff.
The real star of this boil? THE MUSSELS. They were everything you could ever hope them to be - melt-in-your-mouth tender with all the briny flavor of the sea. I could've eaten a pound of these on my own because they were that fantastic!
Of course there were also the other accoutrements of a boil: red bliss potatoes, corn on the cob, the non-pescetarians ate sausages.
Another feature of this Chef's Tasting was a beer flight with local brews hand-selected to pair with this feast. I'd had the Lonerider Pilsner and Red Oak Amber many, many times (Red Oak is my favorite NC beer) but my favorite flight beer was the RickShaw Rye Barrel Aged IPA from Crank Arm Brewery in Raleigh. Our very helpful servers informed me that this IPA can only be found at Rye Bar & Southern Kitchen because the beer was stored in specialty Woodford Reserve Barrels that Rye handcrafted. I am a sucker for a good barrel aged IPA and this one was definitely up there with ones I would gladly drink a second, third and fourth time.
Now if you're thinking, how could they possibly eat all this food? Let me shock you by mentioning we also had desserts! There were three pies to select from so naturally I had to try all three for comparison. There was a Caramel Apple with the most amazing flaky crust and filled with all the magnificent flavors of cinnamon, nutmeg and brown sugar.
Second was a tart Key Lime with graham cracker crust. It wasn't the best I've ever had but it was very delicious. The texture wasn't quite as custardy as I typically like.
Last but certainly not least was the Peanut Butter Pie. It was basically a giant peanut butter cup and I fully enjoyed every second of it. The chocolate was rich and the peanut butter was whipped to light perfection. I would return to Rye for this pie alone!
Service: I'm going to be blunt, I have had problems with Rye in the past. The service is slow and the employees have an air of apathy. I've been blatantly ignored by hostesses, bartenders and managers there. I have attempted to go to Rye countless times for after-work cocktails and tended to leave without even being acknowledged.
However, this Chef's Tasting was completely different! Once again, it may be because we were at a tasting but the servers were attentive and helpful and frankly day and night from previous visits.
After our feast was complete, I started chatting with our very generous host and indicated my issues with previous visits. I sincerely hope that with the arrival of a new head chef, there will also be a new staff to match.
Cleanliness: Our tubs filled with empty mussel shells, crab legs and crawfish shells were immediately removed and used plates and empty glasses were quickly removed.
If I continue to have the sort of impeccable experience at Rye I had for this Chef's Tasting, I will definitely make an effort to go to Rye Bar and Southern Kitchen more frequently. I also hope that management takes customer complaints and comments to heart.
Stay tuned for more posts - I know I'm horribly behind!
Funny blog! Hopefully this signals change in their operation.
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