A.lure

A.lure is a relative newcomer to the Savannah dining scene having only opened in early 2012. It was established by Daniel Berman a restaurateur who had previously owned and operated Kasey’s Gourmet Grille, a bistro at 49th Street and Abercorn in Midtown since 2004. The focus for a.lure is on innovative low country cooking using produce from the low country (South Carolina lowcountry and the Georgia coast). Their seafood is caught by Savannah-based fishermen with additional sourcing from Florida and the Carolinas. All of the meat that is served comes from Hunter Cattle farm in Statesboro, Georgia. The chef Charles Zeran was a late inductee into the food business having previously worked as a divorce attorney. He started cooking in Washington State but gradually moved eastward to Washington DC, Philadelphia, The Carolinas and Tennessee before settling in Savannah.

A.lure’s menu sounded really interesting so it was one of my highest priorities for a booking although my kids opted to let me go it alone. A.lure occupies the ground floor of a red brick building on Congress Street as part of the City Market area. The walls are stripped to the bare brickwork with light relief coming from large oil paintings based on Georgia scenes. The front part of the restaurant is an informal bar area where you can sit and eat at the bar counter or at one of a limited number of tables to the left hand side of the entrance. Passing the maitre d’s station takes you to the more much more straitlaced dining room where the tables were laid with heavy linen tablecloths and full cutlery and glass settings. As I was dining alone and was an early arrival I opted for a table at the front of the restaurant where I had a good view of Savannah life as it passed the front window.

The wait staff all wore an all-black uniform with black ties and long black aprons. The evening’s soundtrack veered between jazz and disco and it wasn’t wholly unpleasant. The TV over the bar showing the golf channel was somewhat incongruous with the general feel of the restaurant.

The dinner menu features nine starters (or Southern morsels as they’re listed), four soups and starters and ten mains. I’d seen fleeting mention of a tasting menu on their website before my visit and this turned out to be available on the night.

The amuse bouche was a scallop ceviche with orange, green olive, red pepper, red onion and chilli flakes. The pepper and olive dominated he mouthful with the chilli flakes giving a nice kick to it. The scallop was disappointingly content to lurk in the background without really contributing.

Breads were a lovely crumbly cornbread with sweetened honey butter and a steaming hot crusty French roll with whipped butter.

The first course proper was one of the highlights of the evening. Seared foie gras was served with grilled Krispy Kreme, grilled pineapple chutney, pomegranate reduction and a white truffle black peppercorn ice cream. There was a lot going on around the plate but the flavours hung together really well. The foie gras was well cooked and its liverish taste combined superbly with the ice cream. The sweet contrast of the pomegranate and the Krispy Kreme crescent and the subtle heat of the chutney were all great additions. Even the crunchy fresh spring onion garnish helped the whole dish. If I had to single one out one component for particular praise then that would have to be the ice cream. Lovely.

The sautéed Georgia shrimp with shiitake mushrooms, glass noodles, Shanghai bok choy, dashi broth and cilantro was a nicely balanced course without being particularly exciting. I love heavily peppered shrimp where the spice pairs delightfully with the plump sweet crustacean. The broth with finely diced red pepper and spring onions was a touch salty but nice for it.

The seared duck breast with coconut rice, ginger carrot reduction and sesame haricots verts was a good mix of light flavours. The beans were set in a sweet pea purée and the combination of the pink peppered duck breast with the peas was a delight. The reduction was good particularly where it accentuated the sesame sauce that the beans were tossed in. All in all this was a good course.

The intermezzo of prickly pear sorbet with blueberries & fresh mint helped lighten the palate ahead of the next course. The mint was the dominant flavour but eating it early meant it lingered in the mouth and provided a subtle backdrop for the delightfully gentle taste of the sorbet and the slightly tart blueberries.

The main course outshone everything else on the tasting menu. Porcini dusted lamb loin with gruyere mashed potatoes, asparagus and mushroom pan jus was simply excellent. The medium rare lamb was an excellent centrepiece but all of the elements on the plate served only to enhance it. The smooth cheesy mash was decadently rich. The porcini dust around the edge of the plate and the mushrooms added intense earthiness that the lamb revelled in. The relatively simple crunchy asparagus was a light contrast to the bolder parts of the plate. To round it all out the jus was a delight benefitting immensely from the accents of thyme.

The dessert was a frozen goat’s cheese soufflé with passion fruit curd, honey tuile and a blackberry lemon sorbet. Can’t say I was particularly impressed with the presentation especially the goat cheese tower although the flavours were good. The goat’s cheese soufflé was a light frozen dessert hollowed out and filled with passionfruit curd. The sorbet was refreshing and the blackberries zingily tart.

And that was the end of a very satisfactory meal. However, the nicely balanced dishes seemed almost reticent in approach so it fell short of being an exceptional experience. The lamb and possibly the foie gras dishes were the only true outstanding courses for me. So the overall impression was that A.lure was good but I’m sure it could have been better. Although this write-up seems a bit damning with faint praise I’d happily eat at A.lure again.



Overall Rating - 4/5