This blog is primarily about all things garden, but there are times I take a different route to get to the heart of the garden.  Our dining experience last evening is a case in point. We drove into the heart of Savannah.  Always a treat to drive past the great old homes, but dear husband was hungry, so there was not enough time for good photography!  700 Drayton Restaurant is AMAZING!  Right across from Forsyth Park in a fabulous old mansion which has been restored to a hotel, this restaurant delivers on every score!  We began the evening with champagne cocktails.  Can you see that sugared hibiscus at the bottom of the glass?    A little something from the garden?   Would you sugar a hibiscus for your champagne cocktail?  Why not?

The menus arrived and it was hard to choose.  Are you always wondering when the waiter remarks that you’ve made a good choice, what he or she would say if you made a horrible choice?  “Sorry Madame, the chef really screwed that up tonight!   Care to make another choice?”  But truly, this chef is so inspired and on top of his game, I don’t think you could make a wrong choice!  And so, back to the garden…when my appetizer arrived, the scent of the arugula and herbs took me straight to a patch of fresh organic greens growing in rich Southern soil.  I could have left the table content after that fresh watermelon and feta delight.  But I would have missed this!  My favorite!  Scallops!  And beautifully prepared with a rich yet not overpowering curry flavor.  I love to prepare scallops in a simple way, but why not be inspired to bring more garden on the plate.  Well, that is the way I looked at it last night.   

I know we will return to this restaurant again and again!

Back to the garden tomorrow, and less of the culinary excursions.  I am trying to learn about crape myrtle. In fact, you will see white flowering crape myrtle in one of the photos above…you look through them to Forsyth Park.   Readers, do you remember a past post when I remarked on the crape myrtle growing outside the Irwin garden at NYBG?  I said I wanted one if I ever moved South, and today I found one to fit an empty spot on our new property.  Lagerstroemia ‘Tonto’.  There is great discussion here in the South on how to prune (or not to prune) your crape myrtle.  I hear they call the bad kind, crape murder!  Lest I make a mistake, I purchased a semi-dwarf variety that will not outgrow its spot, and so I will not get the crape myrtle police on my tail for crape murder.  I don’t plant to prune at all!