Farm Burger's Farm Supper

We tried Farm Burger in Decatur a couple months ago at the suggestion of a friend. FB is just one of a growing number of Atlanta gourmet hamburger joints. It definitely puts up a big fight in the battle for the best hamburger in Atlanta. The most intriguing aspect of this place is that it is a "farm to fork" restaurant (we also spotted them at the Field of Greens festival) which means they get most of their meat and veggies from local Georgia farms. At this event, however, they didn't serve any burgers. It was a special, seasonal dinner where chef Terry Koval gets to spread his wings and design some very creative and unique dishes. After hearing about the event from a friend and then checking out the advertised five course menu posted on their blog, we were a little hesitant about some of the items (see advertised courses below) and the $37 per plate price tag:

• Gougères of pork pâté and housemade pickles, beef heart lollipops w/ chimichurri, pork sausage reubens with fB sauce
• Pickled beef tongue, brussel sprouts & our bacon
• Apple cider-braised hog shoulder, roasted pumpkin, persimmon apple chutney
• Whole bird: leg, wing, thigh, breast, liver, & heart, Grandma’s chicken gravy, apple butter & biscuits
• Grassfed strip loin, cracked black pepper & onion mignonette, oxtail stuffed peppers
• And dessert too....we just haven't decided yet...

Heart lollipops and pickled beef tongue? hmmm... We knew they only do this a few times a year and figured it was worth a shot.

We ended up attending with our friend Alexa and her fiancée, and when we showed up for cocktail hour, we were ready to dig in to the five course menu.We sat down (assigned tables) and were served a mulled, spiced apple cider. It was warm and buttery, perfect for the cold night. Then came the "snacks". They consisted of pork sausages, gougeres filled with pate and, of course, the infamous beef heart lollipops. All were very good. After we got over the mental block of "beef heart" lollipops, we enjoyed the flavor- similar to a roast beef -tender, but with a thicker texture (no photo, sorry).

I apologize in advance for the pics - they are overexposed and a little washed out but it was dark and I needed to use a flash. The official first course consisted of another daunting dish - beef tongue (photo above). Served with brussels sprout leaves, bacon and horseradish sauce it had a great flavor. The texture resembled that of a brisket and wasn't too chewy as I would have expected. A very interesting dish.

The second course was pork shoulder with roasted squash, and a persimmon-apple chutney (photo above). This was Malory's favorite course. The squash had a sweet, buttery flavor and provided a great compliment to the shoulder. The shoulder was braised in cider and had a sweet tang to it.

The third course was my favorite. Served family style in a cast-iron skillet, it was a whole chicken (hearts and livers included) served with gravy, collard greens, and biscuits with apple butter (photo of chicken above). The chicken was perfectly cooked with a great seasoning. The chicken hearts were tasty little morsels that you could just pop in your mouth. And of course the melt-in-your-mouth biscuits were warm, and the apple butter added a southern comfort.

The fourth course was a jalapeno pepper stuffed with oxtail and mignonette and topped with a striploin steak (photo above). The steak was very tender and perfectly seasoned. I can't say I was a huge fan of the oxtail. The texture was odd and it was a little fatty and tasted almost sticky. Plus with the three (really four including the snacks) courses before it, we were all just very full and satisfied by the time this round came out.

Finally, dessert. It was a surprise since the advertised menu didn't have anything posted yet- but they served my all-time favorite: apple pie. The course was warm homemade apple pie with salted caramel ice cream topped with pork rind brittle (photo above). It was a terrific cap to the night. They even gave us all little goody bags with extra pork rind brittle to take home.

Overall, we really had a great time. The atmosphere was very intimate, and it was great that some of the local farmers that provided the food were there enjoying it as well. Our only complaint was that the meal was probably one course too many. At the end of the night, we all headed home in a meat stupor and woke up the next day with a protein hangover. But the dishes were prepared excellently and we can't wait to go to supper no. 3. Until then, we will be travelling out of Brookhaven to Farm Burger again for sure.