Our first full day at Blackberry Mountain was full of activities including a ceramics class in the afternoon, but at 11am we met up with Chef Jeff Ross who gave us some tips on how to prepare an awesome meal. We started with dessert and made an amazing semifreddo so it was cold by the time we finished our meal which consisted of a heavenly salad of grilled zucchini, heirloom tomatoes, fresh peaches and a superb vinaigrette which I can't wait to try at home. The wine was a yummy FX Pichler Gruner Veltliner 2017 "Loibner" from Wachau which was ideal with the salad, but I would have preferred a Pinot Noir or such with the main course of Guinea Hen roasted and then set in a mushroom broth with grains, quinoa, romesco cauliflower and grilled mushrooms. Jeff called it "Guinea hen swimming in a mountain stream." The semifreddo came with a chocolate crunch at the bottom of each cup and was served with a lemon verbena simple syrup & blueberries. Ideal meal for a mountain summer day.
Dinner was back at THREE SISTERS which we love with the views of the smokies(catch the fotos on FB) and such excellent service. Our servers were Val and Henry, whose last name was Astor, and of course, we asked if he was related to the famous family. Turns out his family was Jewish from Lithuania and his grandfather changed the name when he was acting in vaudeville!! The bread arrived and this was a sourdough as well, but tonight even better than multigrain was the caramelized onion and the amazing local butter..we all had seconds, Sam had thirds! We finished off the wines from the previous night and the Condrieu was superb with my Poached Gulf Shrimp in Roasted Celery Broth with charred Eggplant, Chili Oil, Charred Carrots and Dandelion Greens. Everyone else started with the North Carolina Burrata Salad with grilled homegrown grapes, focaccia, preserved wildflowers and almond vinaigrette.
Will finished off the red from the previous night and we all agreed the second course was Tartare. Sam went for the veggie version of only Beets, the rest of us adored the Creekstone Beef Tartare with Grilled Beets, Pistachios, Caraway Aioli & Charred Onion. We ordered a bottle of Fery-Meunier 2002 Chambolle-Musigny which Halee had opened and decanted and it was simply divine with the tartare and the main course the three non-vegetarians had: Snake River (Idaho) Wagyu Flank Steak cooked just past rare with Mushroom XO(& Bourbon essence), Summer Lettuces and Aged Sherry Vinegar. Sam chose the Roasted Zucchini with Pistachio Yogurt, Cauliflower and Herbs and was so full he could not east dessert. I was not impressed with the two cheeses the second night as they too were from the Blackberry Farm(sheep) but alas had little excitement: Brebis was soft and tart and Miller's Cove(which Sam tasted and liked alot) was hard and crumbly. A sweet pepper relish accompanied and was not my cup of tea, but the lavosh crackers are awesome. Will chose the Peaches & Cream with black walnuts, frozen yogurt and rhubarb consomme, but the winner was Madeleine's Chocolate Pavlova with Buttermilk Cremeux & Dark Chocolate Ice Cream..BIG Winner as we headed back to our luxury cabin all way overfull.
Tonight we eat at the FireTower Restaurant at the top of the "mountain" for a change and then head off to North Carolina and yet another Relais et Chateaux property.
