I must make a slight correction on the posting the other day for NY Prime, as the Merlot we had was PINE RIDGE "Crimson Creek." not "Carneros Creek."
Do you remember those wonderful old fashioned French restaurants where the portions were the antithesis of nouvelle cuisine, because it just didn't even exist? Where the urinals in the men's rooms are full of shaved ice to dissipate any bad odors? Where they serve the salad with a chilled fork?
Maybe, at 50 years old, I'm just reminiscing about what used to be real fun when I was younger, but THE LIBRARY (1212 North Kings Highway, Myrtle Beach, SC) brings back these memories to life with some wonderful, if old fashioned food. The clapboard bookshelves all over the dining room are filled with books many up to a hundred years old or more. It was fun to read the inscriptions and see who they belonged to. The comfy leather chairs, linens, crystal (even if not Riedel), china and silver all tell the story of a dining location that prides itself on its history.
Chef Chad and his hostess wife Misty have owned this local stalwart four the last four years of its 32 year existence, and believe it or not, they claim the menu has never changed. While this might be a bore for locals (even though it is a fairly large menu), there are always the specials where Chef Chad experiments with different styles from Asia and the Caribbean. To start with his SHE CRAB SOUP is truly the richest and best we have ever tasted. Truly a thick bisque it is poured over a bowl of blanched almonds and oozes Asian spices such as coriander, not to mention a lot of sherry. We were all totally impressed with this Carolina standard gone luxe.
Our superb waiter Remzi, who hailed from Turkey but has lived locally for over twenty years, and worked at the Library for more than half that time, tried to sell us on the tableside preparation of the Caesar Salad, but since every meal comes with a ROMAINE SALAD with Creamy Romano we declined. Indeed this small salad so resembled a Caesar that we were quite happy with our decision, although we did get to watch the preparation at the next table!
Our first wine was a yummy okay rich RODNEY STRONG 2004 Chalk Hill Chardonnay. With the salad we tried a glass of the house MERLOT which comes from LEAPING LIZARD and was pretty decent. It was our entree's super-Tuscan that bowled us over, a 2001 CASTELLO del TERRICCIO TASSINAIA that comes from that excellent vintage and still might need a bit of aging but is starting to be drinkable now. We aired ours for over an hour, and it drank just wonderfully smooth with our rich "old" French entrees: GROUPER with CRAB in BRANDY ALMONDINE SAUCE was a slight twist on the traditional "Oscar" preparation but moving the wonderful brandy-almond in for the bearnaise. PLUME de VEAU "MANON" were excellent veal scallopini medallions so soft and tender with ARTICHOKES & MUSHROOMS in a BRANDY-RED WINE SAUCE, and my PLUME de VEAU "PRINCESSE" was fir for a king (or queen) with JUMBO SHRIMP & tender WHITE ASPARAGUS over those same excellent veal slices with a rich creamy Bearnaise sauce.
All the dishes are presented with a selection of four vegetables served elegantly on the side by Remzi: Green Beans, Broccoli, Potatoes Lyonnaise (which he said are known locally as "home fries") with onions, and the most superb CANDIED CARROTS you ever tasted made with Grand Marnier and Orange!
All of these brought back memories of where we used to dine when I was a child and teen. My parents would take us to NY City on special occasions and A LA FOURCHETTE, alas now gone, on Restaurant Row (W 46th St), was our destination for Lobster Bisque and Duck. The Library has all these dishes from filets to duck to lobster to fish and more, and one will always go home extremely full, no doubt. We wanted to try one of the fun tableside dessert preparations such as Bananas Foster, Crepes Suzettes or Cherries Jubilee (remember all those), but we were so full, the three of us spilt a scoop of vanilla ice cream with Wild Blueberries and Blueberry Sauce that was nice and refreshing, but nothing that special.
Tonight, we attempt dinner out with SAMUEL at FLAMINGO GRILL.
