Dovetail’s delicious lunch menu will make lasting impression
Everyone knows about the Rookery on Cherry Street, home of Macon’s best burgers and the thickest shakes in town. But not everyone knows about the seemingly secret stairs that lead up to one of Macon’s best upscale dinner restaurants, which now features lunch as well.
Dovetail prides itself on providing farm-fresh produce and meats, with a list of local purveyors right on its website. It’s a beautiful space, with one large room at the top of the stairs, a woodsy bar, big cozy booths and many four-tops looking out over Cherry Street through eight-foot windows. There’s also a private room with a media set-up, a wall of wine, and enough tables to host 24 guests.
For this review, we’re focusing on the restaurant’s lunch and brunch offerings. We came twice, once for a work day lunch and the other for Sunday brunch.
The first time, we started with freshly made fried chicken skins for $3 a bowl. They’re a lot like pork rinds, but thicker and crunchier. The deviled eggs with poblano relish and smoked paprika for $3 were a table pleaser, too.
Our sandwiches were the real stars, though. Everything is a little more expensive than the usual lunch fare, but there is no doubt you get what you pay for. The fact that a braised pork tenderloin with a honey-soy glaze, benne seed slaw and miso mayo on a toasted hoagie roll can be gotten with two sides for only $10 should make you nothing short of grateful to live in Macon. Also for $10, the marinated green tomato panini with goat cheese, smoked pork belly and pecan kale pesto on grilled sourdough was a huge favorite -- tangy, smoky and sweet in every bite.
The roast turkey club for $12 with tasso mayonnaise, smoked pork belly, local lettuce, marinated green tomato and red onion also was amazing. The steak sandwich, with shaved ribeye cap, sautéed onions, poblanos and beech mushrooms was great, but a bit too pricey for lunch at $16.
We were so impressed with lunch that we came back for brunch, and we were justly rewarded -- even if the average price is $15 a plate.
The French toast of the day was called “Turtle,” having been soaked in an egg and cocoa powder mixture, drizzled with caramel sauce, and topped with Nutella mousse. We expected it to be too sweet, but it was perfection. The country sausage omelette may well have been the best one I’ve ever eaten, with housemade pimento cheese, served with Red Mule grits and seasonal fruit.
The rest of our table had shrimp and grits with crawfish gravy. Every plate was practically clean.
Considering the excellent local cuisine and artful decor, Dovetail would be an ideal location for a business lunch of any type -- impressing a client, a working lunch or treating an associate. It’s local, it’s superbly done and it’s worth your time to visit.
Dovetail
Address: 543 Cherry St., Macon
Phone: 478-238-4693
Website: www.dovetailmacon.com
Hours: Lunch 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; dinner 5:30-9:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday and 5:30-10:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday; brunch 11:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Sunday
Payment: Cash, credit
Smoking: No
Alcohol: Yes
Kids Menu: No
Noise Level: Low
Health Rating: 100
Price range: $5-$16
Rating: 4 stars
This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Dovetail’s delicious lunch menu will make lasting impression ."