|
|
Feature article
|
 |
|
 |
Carter at Main -- history served with creative, contemporary cooking
By Fred Sauceman
 |
Carter County is a frequent dining destination for us. A Sammons slaw dog, a City Market Southern Fried Chicken Salad, a bag of freshly roasted Monsoon Malabar coffee beans from the Coffee Company and a ham slab at the Southern, coupled with a vibrant downtown, make Elizabethton an increasingly desirable locale for food lovers.
Factor in duck a l’orange and steak au poivre and you get a whole new dimension in dining, thanks to Carter at Main on the edge of town.
Local realtor Linda Whitehead transformed a 200-year-old Greek Revival mansion into a restaurant, with help from a corps of local artisans. Leta Hale, owner of Leta’s Specialty Shop & Interiors, chose coral as the color for the exterior repaint. River Garden Landscape enhanced the entryway with stamped concrete. Artist Cathy Fox took a brush to the tiles around the fireplace. Lisa Sneed of Bristol created a mural of Carter County history to adorn the main hallway.
The wrought iron railings bordering the home are the work of John Robinson. Linda recruited her brother to paper the walls. And Larry Verran, a draftsman with the Elizabethton Electric System, painted bluebirds on a dining room wall.
“Place” is a recurring theme throughout the restaurant. On a recent walk-through, I noticed several versions of Elizabethton’s trademark, the downtown covered bridge.
The house was the birthplace of Samuel P. Carter in 1819. He went on to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy, then joined the cavalry during the Civil War and led the U.S. Volunteers on Carter’s Raid, a few miles away from his homeplace, in December 1862.
Over the years, the home deteriorated as it was carved into kitchenettes and apartments. Linda brought the house back to its 19th-century grandeur, before a New Year’s Day 2005 fire almost destroyed her dream. Over 275 reservations were on the books that day when the kitchen ignited. The Elizabethton fire department responded rapidly and saved the house, and now it’s back to full operation.
The fire fueled the determination of Linda’s talented staff to make the business flourish, and judging by the license plates in the parking lot, it is.
“Several ladies were here from Maine recently and had our crab cake salad,” says assistant manager Steve Little. “They said it was as good as anything they’d had up in New England. We say ours is more crab than cake.”
Topped with five Tiger Shrimp, the Cajun Shrimp and Grits appetizer combines the sting of chipotle (smoked jalapeño peppers) and the calming finish of cream.
Manager Gary Conrad weaves Southern flavors into the menu from appetizers through dessert. Too often, restaurants overdo fried green tomatoes, masking the basic tart taste of the tomatoes with layers of other ingredients. At Carter at Main, the flavors of green tomato and cornmeal aren’t hidden beneath ornamentation. They’re fried green tomatoes as traditional Southern cooks intended them to be.
Entrées range from a simple filet of tenderloin to a grouper filet scattered with bananas and almonds in a rum sauce. Side dishes include baked potato, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes and rice pilaf. I chose the mashed sweet potatoes, buttery and cinnamon-seasoned.
Among a tray full of desserts is the Chocolate Lava Cake, a warm, dark chocolate Bundt cake with a hot fudge center and an accompanying scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.
Southern touches carry over to the drink menu as well. Gary and his staff have created a martini that echoes the flavors of the popular New Orleans dessert Bananas Foster.
Steve says new wines will soon be added from France, Italy, Spain, Argentina and Chile. In fact, a new menu rolls out the week before Valentine’s Day. Steve says most of the restaurant’s popular dishes will stay, while the menu is simplified and made more manageable.
Linda believes her restaurant’s upper patio is “one of the most romantic dining spots in the region,” but Carter at Main need not be saved just for special occasions. A lunchtime crock of French onion soup and club sandwich are reasons enough to visit this restaurant that combines Carter County history with creative, contemporary cooking.
Carter at Main
LOCATION: 829 East Elk Ave., Elizabethton, Tennessee
PHONE: 423-543-4212
HOURS: Open Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.;
closed Sunday and Monday.
Extended hours begin April 1
--------GoTriCities--------
Food writer Fred Sauceman, author of the book “The Place Setting: Timeless Tastes of the Mountain South — from Bright Hope to Frog Level,” is senior writer and executive assistant to the president for public affairs at East Tennessee State University. E-mail him at sauceman@etsu.edu.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
