By Christine Tibbetts

BLUE RIDGE, Ga. — Dinner and the theater take on new meaning when you do them in Blue Ridge, Ga.

    The foothills of the Appalachian Mountains provide the backdrop here for hundreds of cabins to rent, many built with sturdy logs, some modest and some high-end luxury.

    Either way the views are spectacular; dining in and dining out on a September visit surrounded me with big vistas.    

    My family likes to cook so toting groceries for a cabin mountain vacation is quite OK, but we didn’t cook in Blue Ridge.

    Instead we invited Chef Douglas over to cook for us.  Our own personal chef. He brought the groceries and did all the work while we watched.

    Linens for our table, candles and fresh flowers too. Cooking tips and lively conversation preceding our four-course dinner.

     Want to try this but loll about in the hot tub or elsewhere instead of chatting? Fine with him.

    “I temper what I do to the kind of experience people want,” says Douglas Olsen. “I can seem invisible if that’s their pleasure.”

    I wanted visible, and teaching from my personal chef; he started cooking as a little boy with his Norwegian grandmother in Napa, California and never stopped.

    “Creating really good food without needing many tools and ingredients is my approach,” Chef Douglas said as he whipped up our appetizers: crab cake for G. W. and apple-wood smoked trout with a goat cheese tartlet for me.

    His cookbook is “Gourmet Dining at Home…Fast” with recipes and practical tips. He believes preparation can be efficient, even speedy, but his results have nothing to do with fast food.

    The baby spinach for the salad was organic, locally grown, selected from the farmer’s market.

    Cinnamon dusted sweet potato spears accompanied our pork tenderloin medallions and local pecans crusted the risotto.

    Dessert: sorbet with fresh fruit for G.W. and local peach and blueberry crisp for me.

    Multiple menu choices on the Cabin Cuisine web site; this is a dinner to plan ahead.  Savor.

    Might consider a cooking class in your cabin and then dinner. Chef Douglas teaches half-day classes -- his agenda or designed for what you want to learn.

    For the times you’re not savoring the cuisine of Chef Douglas in a Blue Ridge mountain cabin, here are solid tips for eating out.

    Had there been more days, I’m sure we’d have additional quality dining recommendations.

    Eat away with confidence at these chef-and-spouse-owned, committed-to-the-community restaurants:

Cucina Rustica
76 Forge Mill Crossing
706-374-7474

    Parma, Italy provides traditions for Executive Chef Isabella Molinari at Cucina Rustica; that’s her homeland and she draws on recipes from her grandmother—don’t skip Tiramisu Della Mama.

    Italian country cuisine is how she and husband John describe their dinners served Wednesday – Saturday from 5:00 – 9:00 p.m. Lighter fare next door at their pizza place.

    This family team met over fine food with both their families engaged in the fabled Palms Restaurant in New York City, opened in 1926 by John’s father.

    My Caprese salad was a work of art, and lightly breaded veal stuffed with prosciutto and Fontina cheese then topped with mushroom sauce was exquisite, sufficient for two days of leftover savoring.

    Chef Isabella’s eggplant thinly sliced, rolled with ricotta and mozzarella and baked with a light tomato sauce showed me I have much to learn preparing my backyard eggplants.

Harvest on Main
576 East Main Street
706-964-6164

    Capturing the “culture of the Appalachians” with food, music, gardening and art is what husband and wife team Michelle Moran and Danny Mellman are accomplishing at Harvest on Main.

    It’s a downtown restaurant with front yard brussel sprouts, herbs and other veggies plus a community garden buzzing with honeybees a block away.

    I trust the sustainable commitments of this gardener and chef duo with 146 varieties of heirloom tomato seeds!

    My beautiful lunch was a thin slice of salmon wrapped about a creamy scoop of trout salad. G.W. chose the hearty Lodge Kettle—soup and an abundant salad.

1. •
   L&L Beanery, Bakery, Cafe
   260 W. Main St.
   706-632-3242
   
       Comfort food in a comforting place. My grilled cheese sandwich was provolone, American and Swiss with tomato basil soup on the side. L&L Beanery was a bank from 1926-1993 and owner Linda Thompson leaves the vault door open.
   
       “People living in Blue Ridge take time for each other,” she says. “We notice the sunsets.”
   

   

   
       L&L Beanery East is a coffee shop at the other end of Main. Both locations have incredible scones.
   
   
   Blue Ridge Brewery
   187 Depot Street
   706-632-6611
   
       My malt forward red ale served in a brandy snifter was almost inconsequential at this brewery because the dinner was so fine. However, I will return for the winter brew: a vanilla stout.
   
       Chef Mike Hurn says sauces are his specialty and prepares peppercorn for a filet, Dijon marinade for his rib eye, caper sauce for the salmon and almond butter for his trout.
   
       That’s what I ate: local trout plus herbed couscous and sautéed endive. Superb in an intimate dining room with a separate bar plus a back patio where music is live from 6:00 – 9:00 p.m. on Thursdays.
   
   
   Sue’s Burgers
   3855 E. First St.
   706-632-2960
   
       Five generations of the Huff family claim they “patty up the best burger in town” and that’s since 1976. Sue is 78, generally sitting at the first table, and the day I had my $3.99 burger, her great-great granddaughter was rocking in a cradle behind the counter.
   
       This is a faith-based place with a prayer board and marker to add names and concerns.
   
   
   What about wine?
   
       Wine experiences are new to Blue Ridge; two tasting shops opened this fall, both offering light food and some evenings, live music.
   
       Perfect pairings of wine and food means matching personal tastes, not a rulebook for Andrew Bruce at Teatrees Wine Boutique and Tasting Room.
   
       Tell him what you’re thinking of cooking in your cabin, or asking your personal chef to prepare, and he’ll suggest Georgia wines, west coast or international selections, and back that up with some sips.
   

   

   
       Bruce will also paint word pictures as to what moods he thinks a wine might elicit. Genesis from Yonah Mountain Vineyards he likes for savory meat, perhaps a pork chop, because “It’s like sitting on a red leather sofa in front of a fire.”
   
       Weekend evenings he serves dessert wines with strawberry torte that’s chocolate glazed. Expect chicken liver pate with your wine on Saturdays because that’s the day to get Ziegfried’s fresh bread at the Farmer’s Market.  Craft beers coming soon, Bruce says.
   
       The Vine, a wine bar and bistro, emphasizes four Georgia wineries—Montaluce, Wolf Mountain, Frogtown and Habersham.
   
       “My inspiration for opening The Vine is Georgia wines,” says Blue Ridge native Kellli Tankersley, who also has five California varieties.
   
       Look for Q&A sessions with Georgia vintners in the future.
   
        Music is in The Vine courtyard Friday and Saturday evenings from 7:30 p.m. to midnight along with platters she calls “palate pleasers” and lunch is available at noon.
   
       Think about the theater after dinner or wine tasting late afternoons because the Blue Ridge Community Theater has talent, a full schedule and comfort.
   
       Seats are 22 inches wide with legroom. Next on stage will be “Robin Hood” Nov. 4-13 and “It’s a Wonderful Life” Nov. 25-Dec. 18.
   
   Beyond The Art Center
   
       Galleries abound throughout the Blue Ridge Art Center on West Main Street, a former courthouse now on the Historic Register.
   
   Stroll to more art in this easy walking downtown. Every third Saturday from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m., June to December, find refreshments on the Art Walk with four galleries.
   
    I chatted with owners and artists and wished someone wanted my wish list in all four of them one afternoon.
   

2. •High Country Art and & Antiques reflects the eclectic tastes of artist owner Cheryl Engledow and her husband. This is a family town.
   
       Fine art, folk art, pottery, jewelry, some antiques, photography---a kaleidoscope of interesting works from 40 plus local and regional artists and, for me, much desire.
   

3. •Local artist Anthony Abreu is the talent behind Abreu Fine Art Gallery, an intimate space with limited edition canvas glicees and originals, plus the work of selected area artists.
   

4. •Multitudes is a colorful gallery, brimming with the work of 100 glass artists and some paintings, jewelry and pottery.
   

5. •Look for stained glass artists Judson Bailey on Saturdays, demonstrating and telling stories.  He’s 77.
   

6. •Glad to learn Turning Leaf Wood Art is on this Art Walk since I’ve already shopped and dreamed there. My youngest son received a welded rooster, artistic fellow, made from found metal objects for his Oct. 12 birthday, purchased here.
   

    Most works are delicate, carefully crafted and painted: turned wood spirals, amazing red-glazed pottery, paintings with scenes to bring comfort to living spaces, funny detailed dolls.