I seriously can’t believe it’s almost the Fourth of July—it seems like summer just started last week! I’m at work today, but I’m hoping to sneak out a bit early and start the holiday early. I do have to work on Friday, but plan to do so from the comfort of my couch, and then on Monday, it’s off to LA! As I mentioned the other day, though, I’m going to crank through some posts over the next few days and should have some fun content queued up even though I’ll be on the road.
One thing I want to work on is spacing out my Dinner Club posts a bit more since they are more reference guides for when you need them than anything—but since my squad and I just went to The Dabney on Friday, I wanted to write about it while it was fresh in my mind. I had long wanted to go to The Dabney ever since my coworker started raving about it several years ago. While I thought the ambiance was awesome, I wasn’t as blown away as I thought I would be—and that might partially be because The Dabney is just so hyped. That being said, I would definitely go back again, but more for the ambiance than the food—and maybe to stock up on more matchbooks ;].
The Dabney is located right off Blagden Alley, so if you’re looking for a pre-dinner drink, Calico would be a great spot. When you walk into the door to the restaurant, you step onto the cutest little patio with a few two-tops and a stack of firewood I’m sure comes in handy in the winter. Once you enter the restaurant, you’re greeted by a beautiful bar. Unlike most places, at peak time, bar seating is controlled by the hostess stand. When we were there on a Friday night at 8:30pm, the wait for a bar stool was 45 minutes—but when we left around 10:45pm, there was no wait at all. So if you’re gambling on getting a bar stool, I’d recommend going for a nightcap.
Our table was right near The Dabney’s open kitchen, which was bustling with activity on this busy Friday night. The service we had was great, as our waitress was attentive, but not overbearing. The Dabney’s menu changes every night based on what fresh ingredients they are able to source that day. On the recommendation of so many, we ordered the fried catfish sliders and they were my favorite dish the whole night—I wish I had saved room for more. From my understanding, those are always off menu and they have a limited number each night, but our waitress told us they had them. We also kicked the night off with more carbs, including their delicious bread and hush puppies.
We shared everything family style, and ordered the scallop crudo, broccoli + crab, hearth roasted veggies, grilled quail, flank steak, and soft-shell crab. Of everything we ordered as these “main dishes,” the flank steak was my favorite. For dessert, we split a slice of peach pie—nothing says summertime like peaches to me!
I had a great night with my dinner club gals, and can’t wait for our July date! x
