DISH OF THE WEEK: Pollinated Vegetable Plate at Gunshow
All of Atlanta is blanketed in pollen right now . My black car is currently lime green. The streets are lined with it. The latest counts are in the thousands. Look out your windows, if you still can, and you'll see pollen everywhere. Step outside and you'll probably get a dusting yourself.
That pollen count has not escaped Joey Ward, executive at Gunshow, who has been dusting the vegetable plate with a thick layer of Georgia olive oil-infused fennel pollen on recent nights. It is a funny little touch that I don't typically relate to with a sense of humor. But below the pale green dust is a collection of springtime delights.
Ward starts with a bed of what he calls “buttermilk rampch,” a creamy dressing that is less Hidden Valley and more defined by the pungent, herbaceous flavor of the foraged ramps cut into it. From there, he arranges in a miniature cornucopia of vegetables in various forms: blanched fiddleheads, roasted and pickled beets, baby carrots, English peas, eater egg radishes, artichoke hearts, fermented turnips, asparagus, sorrel, tiny crispy potato chips and gorgeous little edible flowers.
It is a lovely, light dish that cuts through the sometimes meat-heavy barrage of dishes that can arrive at Gunshow. But it is also a reminder: Underneath all of that pollen, the bounty of spring is on the way. Just don’t forget to take your allergy pill.
Gunshow, 924 Garrett St., Atlanta. 404-380-1886, gunshowatl.com.
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More Dish of the Week picks:
Jalapeno corn fritters at The Brass Tap
Toasted CBJB from My Parents’ Basement
Fish filet from Wrecking Bar Brewpub
Kale pakoras from Chai Pani in Decatur
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