Yes, I’ve finally gotten to eat at Atlanta’s premiere steak house, Bone’s. Ginormous thanks to Heather’s parents, Lou and Chuck Little, for treating us to such an outrageous dinner!
It’s interesting to note that the whole staff is men. This place is in the style of the Men’s Clubs of yore, so you won’t have a female waiting on you here. I did speak to a female reservations agent, but that’s it. We arrived on time (!!) and waited just a moment for our table. We were a party of 6: The Littles, us, Heather and Andy, Heather’s boss.
I’ll also point out that while this place is pricey, it is NOT stuffy. The staff is friendly and not at all stuck up and the food is likewise very straightforward. I like that. I don’t need art on my plate, thanks, just give me food of high quality, prepared correctly and I’ll swoon. (As I did with the Kobe beef carpaccio! I got teary eyed it was so good!) The menu is very small and sticks to the manly stuff like steaks, chops and other grilled food. I like that they do what they do very well. Other restaurants need to learn that lesson.
We had before dinner drinks: Heather and I had Cosmos and Mr Little had scotch and soda. I pored over the HUGE wine menu and chose a Chateau Ste Michelle Columbia Valley 2002 Canoe Ridge Merlot, $48/btl. It’s a drier Merlot that starts with a fruity nose and ends clean on the palate. I was VERY pleased that my blind choice (I went by the vineyard, not personal experience) turned out to work well with the food. We had, uh, several bottles! ;-)
Our fabulous and funny waiter for the evening was Manny. He was awesome! Shout out! I didn’t get the sommelier’s name, sadly, but Manny opened the wine for us, so we didn’t have contact with the sommelier on duty.
Our appetizers were:
Crab and Lobster Napoleon with Chardonnay Cream: crab with a creamy sauce and puff pastry, but not stacked as the traditional Napoleon. Very good.
Scotch Smoked Salmon with Onion, Capers, and Dill Cream. Very tasty wild salmon.
Kobe Tenderloin Carpaccio with Arugula and Parmesan: raw Kobe beef sliced thin as paper with olive oil, shaved parm and garlic. SUBLIME!! If you ever have the opportunity to try Kobe beef – DO IT! It’s so rich that I really don’t think I could eat more than a small appetizer of it. As I said above, it made me tear up it was so amazing!
Our salad course:
Caesar Salads had traditional Caesar dressing that was perfectly prepared atop whole romaine.
House salads were made with field greens. The Bleu Cheese dressing was very good.
Heather had the French Onion soup and she reports that it was perfectly done.
Main Courses:
Nick and I had Mixed Grill of Filet Mignon, Lamb and Pheasant Sausage with a lovely orange demi-glace. The beef is wet-aged, grilled, then the Bone’s Paint seasoning is brushed on after cooking. The pheasant sausage was one of the most tasty sausages I’ve ever had. I must get the brand from them!
Mr Little had the filet (I believe): it’s wet aged and prepared as described above. He said it was delicious.
Mrs Little had the Crispy Halibut with Oyster Mushroom and Lemon Butter Sauce: halibut steak with a lemon butter shroom sauce. She reported that it was excellent.
Andy had a steak (I’m sorry I didn’t get the cut) and he said it was great. He did order A-1 for it, however, which is a bit of a gaffe. But he loved it, which is what matters. :-)
Heather had the Veal Rib Chop with Lemon and Sauteed Mushrooms: a huge veal chop prepared to temp. I did try this and I didn’t care for the veal at Med Rare. Veal is so mild that I feel it needs a bit of cooking to develop the taste. But the chop was lovely and the sauce delicious.
The table’s sides: Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Sauteed Mushrooms and Steamed Broccoli.
The grill cook who prepared our perfectly cooked meats was Darryl! Shout out! The chef on duty was Chef Brent – great work! The food was cooked and presented well.
We had 3 desserts for the table:
Key Lime Pie with Mango and Kiwi Coulis made in house was delicious!
Warm Pecan Pie with Praline Sauce and Vanilla Ice Cream from Southern Sweets was awesome.
Mountain High Pie made in house was basically cake with a ton of whipped cream frosting. It was ok, but more visual than tasty, IMO.
We had coffee and whiskey after dessert. Mmmmm.
So, that’s our experience at Bone’s. It was fabulous and fun!
A huge thanks to Lou and Chuck for burning the numbers off their Amex for us! We truly appreciate it and we did have a really great time! :-)