IP Restaurant Week Part 2: Wisteria

During Inman Park restaurant week, I took my parents to Wisteria to show them what Southern food is really like. When done right, like at JCT Kitchen, it can be as sophisticated as any other cuisine. And Wisteria definitely does it right in terms of food. I can't say the same about the service we got, but more about this later.

The choice of appetizers was really good, but I couldn't wait to try the black eyed peas hummus. It just sounded so interesting! That's what I call innovative thinking: take a well-known item, but make it with an unexpected ingredient. Too bad the result wasn't as amazing as the idea, but kudos for the effort. The texture of the hummus was too coarse, and it seemed to lack flavor. Plus, the sweet potato chips it came with were too soggy and oily. They tasted like burned oil rather than potatoes. Still, I believe that this dish has great potential if executed properly. My parents' appetizers, the mixed greens salad, were perfect, though. The dressing wasn't overwhelming, the goat cheese was fresh and creamy, and they came with toasted bread.

I think I've mentioned several times that I don't like grits, but I somehow ended up ordering the shrimp and grits for my entree. Hey, what could be more Southern than that! To be honest, I was pretty nervous about the dish. However, just like at JCT kitchen, the grits actually tasted really good! They didn't have the gritty texture I usually hate about them. That bad texture is still there even if the grits are mixed with cheese. But the grits at Wisteria, and the ones at JCT kitchen, were smooth and sweet. I have to say, I'm a convert. I'm willing to try more grits now :) Oh, by the way, the shrimp and veggies on the dish were also great. The shrimp was tender and cooked for just the right amount of time.

My mother had the fried chicken for dinner. She liked the chicken, but wasn't a fan of the cornbread. According to her, the cornbread was too sweet. My father liked his almond-crusted trout. He said that it was very well seasoned too.

One of the best things about the dinner was the dessert. At other places, you have to choose just one item. But at Wisteria, we got a mini sampling platter of THREE different things. And they weren't itsy bitsy desserts either. Each one of them could almost be a full course on its own. Anyway, the platter included a carrot cake, a brownie with spicy ice cream, and a sweet potato cheesecake. I absolutely loved the sweet potato cheesecake and the brownie. I love spicy food, but the ice cream was a little too hot for a dessert. The carrot cake was just ok. It kind of reminded me of grocery store carrot cake, which is not a good thing. Thankfully, I had two other things to eat :)

I was overall satisfied with the food, but the service really disappointed me. I understand that the restaurant was busy, but that's no excuse to ignore our table. Our server went to the table next to ours several times, but didn't stop by at all. All of our water glasses went completely empty and stood that way for a while before we could ask anyone for a refill. Getting the bill also took a while. On the bright side, our server asked us is we wanted a second basket of the complimentary bread before we were served dinner. But if I want good Southern food again, I'll probably go to JCT Kitchen or Murphy's rather than Wisteria.