jackson 20

if the quality of a restaurant's bread basket is any indicator of it's overall quality then jackson 20 is great. after months of failed attempts (some their fault, some mine) to get to the new restaurant in the hotel monaco in old town i finally made it this week. let's just say it was worth the wait.

upon sitting down (next to the giant pig statue!) our overly cheery waitress explained the drink menu to us. the first thing that stood out was their extensive wine list that boasts 20 bottles for $20. and the best part is the majority of those wines are from virginia. but even if you're not in the mood for wine (we weren't), there's plenty more to choose from. just like any other kimpton spot their cocktail list is fun and inventive. and they had some solid beer choices (any place with dogfish head on tap is fine by me).

so we have the drinks covered - how about the food? well, as i said, the bread basket is delicious. the mini-cornbread is reminiscent of black eyed pea's cornbread (sweet and mealy, not that fake cake-like cornbread you find at many places). and then there were mini crescent shaped biscuits with a hint of sweet, but not overly dry. and with that was a slab of honey butter. like i said - delicious.

their menu changes seasonally in order to highlight the freshest (and local) ingredients. our chatty waitress was quick to point out the items that were just recently added to the menu. but she also told us what was just taken off the menu - maybe it's just me but i don't really want to know what i missed out on.

seeing as we were starving we went for the fried green tomatoes and a fresh greens salad to start. the tomatoes were lovely. big fat slices fried to the perfect crispness. they were topped with a flavorful, white cream sauce. the mixed greens were tossed with a grapefruit vinaigrette and served with avocado, apple and grapefruit slices.

the entrees were split pretty evenly between meat and fish (with a pasta dish thrown in to the mix as well). we're a big sharing family so we tried not to have any overlap on the ordering. we settled on the roasted chicken, pork chop, trout and flounder. can you guess which one i ordered?

the chicken was nice and juicy (dare i say crisp and juicy?). it was served with rather large shallots and with a yummy corn pudding straight in the corn husk (like a tamale!). the pork was
cooked perfectly (medium, but not too chewy). and it was a nice cut of pork - it had a bone but was not all bony like some of those pork chops are. the pork was served with swiss chard, a few giant onion rings and a grilled peach. i tried a bite of both of the fishes - they were ok if you're into that kind of thing. the flounder was served with roasted potatoes and the trout with a crawfish etouffee. side note: did anyone else know that cut up okra looks just like jalapeño peppers?

that night we were celebrating my sister's birthday (which everyone knew since my mom bought her a dora balloon). so of course we had to order dessert. except when we looked over the dessert menu nothing really jumped out at us. we were also pretty stuffed (maybe it was all that bread we ate?) so we decided to pass. i don't think our waitress was too happy about that.

overall a very good meal and with very reasonable prices (made even more reasonable when i didn't have to pay). and the bar looked fun - not sure about any happy hour specials though. the only happy hour i know of is their supposedly famous doggie happy hour (gross). if they allow you out in the courtyard at other times i will definitely give it a shot - but not if there are any dogs in sight.