Tag: the florence

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business restaurants savannah

Mixer: 100 Black Men and Urban Savannah

Black Professionals in Savannah

Savannah Mixer

The 100 Black Men of Savannah held a joint mixer with Urban Savannah this week, and I attended the event. It was held at The Florence which has a lovely rooftop that’s great for socializing on a spring evening.

johnvoner

Urban Savannah’s mission to cultivate and support black-owned businesses in the city. I met John Voner, the president of Urban Savannah last fall at GeekEnd.

100BlackMen
The 100 Black Men of Savannah’s mission is the mentor kids, provide education support and help high school kids envision the possibility of a graduating from college. Harold Oglesby (pictured above) spoke about the need for more male mentors. BTW, tonight (April 9th) is the night of the 20th annual gala which will be at the Marriott Riverfront.

I brought my camera and took some photos of some of the attendees. There were professionals who worked for the city, attorneys, business owners and more. Everyone was super friendly. I plan to get more involved in the community this year.

Categories
restaurants savannah

Savannah Scene Mid January

Savannah Street Art

 

Monday, I said that the month is over. Well, it is January 13th, so I am half right.  It’s only 63 days to St. Patrick’s Day.

What’s going on in Savannah right now?

Improv Session Tonight at The Vineyard

I will be speaking at a Content Marketing workshop for small businesses at Creator’s Foundry on January 14th.

The Florence just started lunch service this week which will be from 11AM-2PM. BTW, Hugh Acheson talked to Celeste Headlee about home ec and the importance of  culinary education.

The Grey will host Sunday Supper on January 17th ($40 per person).  Sunday Suppers will be held the third Sunday of the month. Make a reservation. BTW, Chef Mashama Bailey shares her Savannah with Garden and Gun.

MLK Day celebrations start this weekend.

The next Savannah Bazaar is Saturday, January 30th.

 

Categories
historic savannah

Four Of My Friends Came To Savannah

Friends in Savannah

A few weeks ago, I got a text from my friend David.  He and Cat plus Mark and Wendy were coming to visit me for New Year’s.  Yay!  I looked for a place for them to stay but AirBnB options were scarce.  VRBO had more options, but most were out at Tybee Island. They ended staying at a hotel in the Southside area of Savannah, and taking Uber to get them to and fro downtown.  I am telling you this so you have an idea of lodging options.  By the way, Mashable just announced that Savannah is one of the places people should visit in 2016.

On the first night of the visit,  Mark, Wendy and I stopped by Green Truck Pub for a beer. The smell of the burgers was so distracting that we drank quickly and then walked over to The Florence where we had a reservation for dinner.  Luckily David and Cat were already there.  Also, Hugh Acheson was there. Hugh is the owner of The Florence, noted cookbook author and judge on Top Chef.

Hugh Acheson The Florence

We got a photo with Hugh.  Gina, our wonderful server, took the photo. By the way, The Florence makes a red velvet cake with actual beets which Wendy make try to incorporate in her own red velvet cake recipe.  Her frosting includes mascarpone and it is delicious.

Red Velvet Cake At The Florence

Photo by David Kaplan

 

Thursday,  we walked around Broughton Street and River Streets.  We stopped by Kobo Gallery, Ancient Olive and later we had cocktails and oysters at The Grey.

On New Year’s Day, we went back to The Grey for oysters, collard greens and hoppin john.

oyster at The Grey

 

After The Grey, we went to Service Brewing for their New Year’s Day event. Bunny Ware of the Savannah Morning News chatted with us. We also stopped into Coffee Fox and enjoyed kolaches.  By the way, get Lisa Fain’s cookbook, Homesick Texan,  to learn how to make kolaches.  Two of my friends did a mead tasting at Savannah Bee Company.

Later we went to 17hundred90 for dinner and a drink at famous dive bar Pinkie Masters. On Saturday afternoon, we went to Foxy Loxy, Gypsy World and had lunch at Starland Cafe.  It was great showing friends a bit of my Savannah.

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food restaurants

Dinner At The Florence

Beef and Sweet Potato Gratin

Egg Ravioli
Kyle Jacovino is the young Executive Chef at The Florence who is not getting as much press as the Chef Mashama Bailey at The Grey. I am not pitting them against each other; I just want people to know about the other rising culinary star in Savannah. Kyle worked at Hugh Acheson’s Empire State South in Atlanta before becoming the executive chef at The Florence.

beef and sweet potato gratin

The other night I got to sample a lot from The Florence’s menu. A friend of mine was in town, and he and his girlfriend had a reservation. I was already in love with the trout bruschetta, so it was great to try the squid ink bucatini, the egg ravioli, the beef and sweet potato gratin. The food is delicious.  Yesterday, Chef Hugh Acheson was doing a book signing at The Paris Market. I got to meet him and we talked briefly about food, cookbooks and his upcoming projects. His latest cookbook, The Broad Fork, is in bookstores. It is a vegetable-centric cookbook. Speaking of cookbooks, he blurbed my friend Nicole Taylor’s debut cookbook, Up South Cookbook: Chasing Dixie in a Brooklyn Kitchen.

Hugh Acheson, Gelcys and Nichelle

Categories
food restaurants savannah

Trout Bruschetta At The Florence

Trout Bruschetta

The Florence, a restaurant owned by noted chef Hugh Acheson, is part of the cuisine scene in Savannah.  The Florence has been open a year and it is a go-to restaurant in the artsy Starland area of Savannah. I am on a budget, so I can’t afford a full meal there. However, I did order the trout bruschetta which was generous and delicious.

The trout bruschetta had radicchio and a tiny potato chip on top. It reminded me of the brandade I would have at Sidecar, a  restaurant in Park Slope, Brooklyn.  The trout bruschetta also reminded me of the  brandade-inspired casserole that I judged at  Emily Farris’ 5th Annual Casserole Cook-off.  I am not sure if it was trout or cod in the casserole, but it potatoes, onions and cheese.

Inspired by the trout bruschetta and memories of brandade, I made a salmon casserole.  I cooked new potatoes with Vidalia onions and shallots in butter in a large ramekin.  Then I added heavy cream and parmesan to the vegetables and let roast for about 30 minutes. Lastly, I drained one can of salmon and dumped the salmon on top of the cheesy veggies and stirred with a spoon to be well combined. Then I put back in the oven for 15 minutes.  It was delicious. I could have added more cheese. Next time, I would also add capers.