Osburn Acres Spring Wine Dinner

On any given night in downtown Birmingham, you can find folks gathering over food and drink. Restaurants are bustling, neighbors are grilling out and catching up over a beer, and if you're lucky you might find yourself invited to dine with some of the city's most talented chefs. In this city food is what's brining people together.

Birmingham is home to some of the country's most talented chefs including Chris Hastings, Frank Stitt, Ben Vaughn, & the fella I want to tell you all about- Garrett Osburn. Chef Garrett's love of food started with at a young age. Growing up his family was in the smoked sausage business in North Florida. He pursued his passion by attending Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando Florida, then went on to work for Levy Restaurants, cooking for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He spent a few years traveling and prepared food at The Little Nell in Aspen, Co, & Marriott Marco Island Florida, before landing at Ocean here in Birmingham (lucky for us!). This city allowed Garrett to up his culinary game and paved the way for him to create amazing dinner experiences- and Tony and I were fortunate enough to attend his most recent pop-up.

The event was hosted at the beautiful Studio Goodlight. The space was airy, bright, modern, yet still cozy and the perfect setting for a Spring Dinner.

Chef Jordan Cox prepared food alongside Chef Garrett and Micah Squidiqui provided amazing service throughout the night.

Chef Garrett, Micah, Chef Jordan

Since Garrett is the Production Manager for US Foods who oversees the seafood operations, I knew some delicious seafood would be headed our way- and I was not dissappointed.

COURSE 1

The first course was spiny lobster & conche ceviche, kumamoto oyster, lemon cucumber granita, & grab cakes with pepper jelly.

The lobster & conche ceviche was fresh and cool with brightness from the crisp citrus juice. The oyster was clean and smooth with the perfect hint of salty flavor. The crab cake was spicy with a hint of richness and the perfect amount of sweet heat from the pepper jelly on top. The wine pairing with this dish was Domaine Specht Pinto Gris and it was smooth and bright- the perfect match for this course. Y'all know I love the beach, and this first course had me ready to dip my toes in the water ASAP.

COURSE 2

Crispy pan-seared scallops with black trumpet mushrooms, edamame, & champagne Buerre Blanc.

I'm allergic to scallops, so Tony was lucky enough to have 2 servings of this amazing dish. He said the scallops were rich & buttery and paired great with the mushrooms that tasted different than any mushroom he's ever had. The edamame was the perfect firm texture that blended well with the soft mushrooms and scallops. The broth was out of this world! Overall this was Tony's favorite dish of the night (which is saying a lot because each course was so delicious!) This dish was paired with Ca’ D’or NV Noble Cuvée, Franciacorta DOCG which was bubbly, lemony, and buttery all at the same time and matched the flavors of the dish really well.

COURSE 3

Pan roasted Maple Leaf Farms duck breast with cauliflower puree and pickled blackberries

You may have thought you'd had cauliflower puree before in your life, I did too. But, when I tasted this puree I realized every cauliflower puree I've ever had in my life doesn't even compare to this amazing puree Chef Garrett made. He shared a little secret with me about it and I have to share it with y'all. After cooking the puree (in a pretty unique way, but I can't tell because I don't want to give away ALL his secrets) he hit it with a little smoke. That small amount of smoke in the puree took this dish to a totally different level. The duck was crisp on the outside with the perfect medium rare cook. I dipped it into the slightly smokey, super creamy cauliflower puree and the spiced pickled blackberry sauce and it was the most amazing flavor and texture! It was paired with Left Coast Latitude '45 Pinot Noir, which was delicate & slightly dry with notes of blackberry (and my favorite wine of the evening) that went perfect with the dish.

COURSE 4

Slow braised beef cheek ragu with papperdella pasta

You guys this beef was soooo tender! Rich, buttery, bright, perfect amount of fat, with sweet herbal accents- I didn't really think it was possible for one single dish to hit each of those flavors, but this one did and in such a balanced way. The pasta was so fresh and cooked to the perfect consistency. It was paired with Domaine Bunan Bandol Rouge which was rich & velvety and the perfect companion for this dish.

COURSE 5

Peppermint Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwich

All the flavors of childhood wrapped up in one giant gift of a dessert. Creamy, fresh mint ice cream was sanwiched between two decadent chocolate brownies. Each bite reminded me of being a little girl and going to the ice cream shop to get a cone of mint chocolate chip. My favorite part of this dessert was the tiny chocolate chips in the brownies. They added just the right amount of texture to this outstanding dessert.

Kendall McDaniel of Rush wines provided the incredible wine tasting experience for the evening.

This Spring dinner was such an awesome experience. Chef Garrett has such a kind, inviting personality and made every person attending feel at home. We met new people who became instant friends and even enjoyed time with friends we'd met at a Food Party Pop-up dinner. Overall, this event made us feel so welcome and we can't wait to attend the next Osburn Acres dinner party!

Be sure to follow Osburn Acres to be the first to hear about his next pop-up. A little birdie told me the next dinner is happening in late Summer/Early Fall and will be a "Game Dinner" experience. You don't want to miss it!

You can reach Chef Garrett at Osburnacres@gmail.com, or follow him on Instagram and Facebook.