Winter
2002
By Lisa Lewis
Dining
at the Carolina Crossroads restaurant,
located in the Carolina Inn on the UNC
Chapel Hill campus, is a unique experience.
Imagine sinking into a soft easy chair
in a warm and welcoming place, where
all of your food and drink-related wishes
come true. Now you are starting to picture
the ambiance of Carolina Crossroads,
which is both elegant and comfortable
with unsurpassed service. Best of all,
the food is truly outstanding. Chef
Brian Stapleton and his team consistently
create interesting and delicious dishes
- so reliably that Carolina Crossroads
was recently awarded four stars by Mobil
for the second year in a row.
On
our last visit, my companion and I explored
the Winter Menu, which stays constant
for the season, and the Tasting Menu,
which changes every Thursday. The greatest
difficulty was choosing from the many
wonderfully described choices. We sipped
complimentary hot cider with spiced
apples as we considered the menu, which
includes game, seafood, vegetarian selections
and classic (though anything but traditionally-prepared)
meat and potatoes. We started with Yukon
Gold Potato Chowder - a comfort food
classic taken to a new level with a
tender, lean duck confit and a sweet,
chewy, unusual dried beet garnish.
We
had to try the Corn Meal Fried Oyster
Caeser Salad after chef de cuisine Todd
Dumke told us he'd been eating the accompanying
Chipotle Ranch dressing "on everything".
He was right - the dressing was outstanding,
but equally special were the sweet and
crunchy cornbread croutons and the tender,
juicy fried oysters with their delicate
taste of the sea. Like all great dishes,
the whole was greater than the sum of
its parts.
Another
must-try appetizer is the N.C. Quail
filled with Butternut Squash. Tender,
savory, not at all gamey quail with
a smoky country ham and focaccia base
for the squash stuffing delighted our
taste buds. The accompanying winter
vegetable slaw was a tad on the oily
side, but an excellent textural contrast
to the quail without a strong competing
flavor.
After
a sorbet intermezzo (lemon, served on
raspberry puree) our palates were clear
to experience the entrees. The Buttermilk
Marinated Crisp Rabbit Leg, served with
a mushroom barley risotto was another
example of game perfectly cooked and
delicately flavored. The Oven Roasted
Free Range Chicken was firm, with a
"real" chicken flavor that
I realized is missing from most supermarket
chicken. The chicken was served with
a savory and intense combination of
wild mushrooms, yellow hominy and a
rosemary-scented sauce that was a little
saltier than necessary.
Other
entrees we tried were a striped bass
served in a deeply flavorful merlot
reduction, accompanied by cheesy orzo,
spinach greens and glazed morels, and
an outstanding Muscovy duck breast,
cooked medium rare and served with a
smoky, perfectly done cassoulet and
"mom's collard greens".
Assuming
you are able to make a decision on what
food to order, your next challenge may
be selecting a wine. Fortunately for
us, wine steward Thomas Thorne was available
to guide us through the extensive wine
list. Carolina Crossroads offers many
wines from smaller vineyards, many unknown
and unavailable to the retail customer.
Our Hongell Grenache, a 1999 from Biscay
Vineyards of the Barossa Valley, was
unusual and versatile, and worked well
with the varied foods we tasted.
Finally,
if you are a person who checks the dessert
menu first to decide how much (or little)
to eat at dinner, you will definitely
want to pace yourself and save room
for one of the Carolina Crossroads homemade
desserts, ice creams or sorbets. The
Blackstrap Molasses Pecan Pie was heaven
on a plate, with homemade pralines and
caramel sauce. You can also indulge
in an after dinner drink or cheese sampler.
The
hospitality and traditions of the south
meet with creativity and inspired cooking
at the Carolina Crossroads.