THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED NAMES Restaurant Eugene

THIS RESTAURANT HAS CHANGED NAMES Restaurant Eugene Restaurant Review:

About the restaurant & décor: Founder Linton Hopkins, who named the restaurant for one of his grandfathers, now heads with his wife, Gina, Resurgens Hospitality Group, a growing collection of dining enterprises and a wine and spirits bottle shop. As a result, he has stepped away from the day-to-day operation at Restaurant Eugene, leaving Chris Edwards, previously sous chef and chef de cuisine, at the helm. The atmosphere enables both romantic and business dining. Its warm color palette relies on earth tones and subdued lighting to create the setting.

Likes: Atmosphere, professional service, thought-provoking menu, outstanding wine list and attention to details of all sorts elevate this dining experience.
Dislikes: Overdone, skillet-baked cornbread is too rustic for this refined cuisine.

About the food: The menu changes often, but features many local products, such as Georgia and other regional cheeses. We loved the pickled Key West shrimp and the pan-fried veal sweetbreads. Southern sensibilities and ingredients might include the rarely seen Sea Island red peas or benne seeds (instead of substituting sesame seeds). Sorghum, a syrup made from a crushed grass of African origin, might play a role somewhere. Farmers bearing locally grown produce for sale often appear at the restaurant's door during the day, so vegetables vary with each composition. Sunchokes prepared five ways adorn excellent North Carolina flounder, while "Big Fat Grits" from Buckeye Creek Farm in nearby Cherokee County support the sorghum-glazed quail. Details include the house-churned butter, although we find the accompanying skillet cornbread too rustic for these dishes. The tasting menus, which can be customized, include five courses for $95, and a larger "Tasting Eugene" menu for $145-$165 depending on specifics brings eight to 12 courses. (A vegetarian tasting, also $95, is available.) Pastry chef Jennifer Yee's desserts present similarly surprising ideas, such as a purple potato pie with Mandarin sorbet.

About the wine: Executive sommelier Alexandria Brashears manages the exciting wine list. The half-bottle wine list is distinctive, and there are numerous equally interesting options by the glass, plus dessert wines, and of course an extensive by-the-bottle list that abjures anything ordinary.