To me, fine dining is as much about the experience as it is about the food. But enjoying that experience doesn’t mean that you have to pay $100-plus for a night out.
My friend Sarah, for example, often would eat a meal at home before joining us for girls’ night and ordering just an appetizer and a cocktail. I’ve sometimes copied her example, but another of my favorite ways to enjoy a fine dining experience on a dime is through dessert.
One of my most memorable experiences was when we stopped by the old La Maison Restaurant on Telfair Street (now Dolce Darlin’ Bakery) one afternoon on a lark. “We just had a Swiss baker in,” exclaimed Zelda, who was married to chef and owner Heinz Sowinski, and brought out some delectably light and flaky pastries for us to enjoy.
More recently, we had a similar hankering for something fancy one night after dinner. Open Table had an 8:15 p.m. reservation for Frog Hollow Tavern, so we jumped in the car.
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Parking was hard to find on Broad Street, and likewise, the restaurant was full that Thursday night. Our hostess walked us past the bar area and the cool, light-colored interior of the main dining room, to the darker and more clubby second dining room, which features an array of wine bottles on its walls as décor. It was loud, with several tables of what we guessed were a work event, along with a few other couples like us. But we were tucked near the back, where we had a good view of everything.
Frog Hollow featured five desserts that evening: a lemon-zested goat cheese cheesecake, a gala apple crisp, a blood orange tart, a dark chocolate torte and a crème brulee. Our server didn’t seem surprised that we wanted to order only dessert, but he was at our choices. He’d encouraged us to order what I would guess are the menu’s most popular items, the torte or the crème brulee—or perhaps where his personal tastes lay.
But I was in the mood for something a little more interesting—not Swiss-baker level necessarily, but close. So was my husband Sean. So, we went for a punch of citrus, with my order of the lemon-zested cheesecake and his of the blood orange tart.
We enjoyed the white tablecloths, the candlelight, and the conversations and people around us, until the desserts were presented. They were stunning. My cheesecake was enormously tall, nearly four inches of cake topped with luscious fruit and candied pecans, while Sean’s petite tart was an artful curl of shortbread, cradling a line of blood orange filling and piped meringue, with a heart drawn in raspberry syrup.
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We laughed a little at how I got the much bigger dessert, then each took a taste of our own before swapping bites. Although some may worry that because the cheesecake is goat cheese, the flavor wasn’t too strong. It was so rich, creamy and dense but also light somehow, with a gentle tang likely from the lemon zest more than anything else. The cranberry orange port wine compote reminded me of my homemade cranberry jelly, which has similar flavors, but this was next level. And the candied pecan added some nice texture and crunch.
At first bite, Sean’s blood orange tarte filled my mouth with the bright sweetness of blood orange, softened by the meringue and the tender shortbread cookie. I also loved the candied blood orange served with it, with gave the dessert a complex bitterness. It was definitely a dessert created with a lot of thought—and just edged out the cheesecake for me.
Our server seemed delighted that we enjoyed our selections. Sean was happy to bring home half a cheesecake slice for later. And I was glad that our fancy night out featured unique dishes, a fun atmosphere and fit our budget.
Make Your Reservation
Frog Hollow Tavern
1282 Broad St.
Dessert cost: $8 to $10
Danielle Wong Moores is a local freelance writer who’ll never turn down a shrimp cocktail, sushi or cheese dip. Her greatest food influences are her mom and writers MFK Fisher and Amanda Hesser. Her Dine and Dish column runs the second and fourth Fridays in The Augusta Press.
