antipaucity

Last night I drove a quick 10 minutes from Vinings to Sandy Springs GA to meet-up with a couple friends for dinner. Skimming opentable‘s restaurant listings, I had discovered 5 Seasons Brewing earlier in the day, and we decided to give it a try. 5 Seasons’ beers are all made in-house (I think), in small batches, so they change seasonally.

From their website, “We’re passionate about serving local produce, all-natural meats, and artisanal cheeses. We bake each of our breads and make everything else – all of our demi-glace, salad dressings, pommes frites, ice creams and sorbets. As part of a sustainable, natural cycle, we add our brewer’s spent grain to our home-baked bread and share the rest with a local organic farm, where it is composted to grow our vegetables.”

I’m a fan of the “buy local” campaigns not because I’m some whacky hippy nut, but because it makes good economic sense: the food travels shorter distances, and is therefore fresher; the money spent stays in the local community rather than some chunk of it going to the corporate center; and the businesses involved tend to want you as a [repeat] customer.

The restaurant in Sandy Springs is dark – but not in an imposing or formal way: the interior is bare dark wood, and very attractive – it reminded me of a mountain lodge; it’s open and airy, but rugged at the same time.

I ordered their Rib Eye with fingerling potatoes, and a delectable mushroom sauce. Chris order the Duck Both Ways, which looked mighty tasty, and his girlfriend ordered the Lamb Tenderloin.

5 Seasons also has an extensive Scotch list (>20), including a couple Islays (my favorite).

The dress code is to arrive dressed: the waitstaff all wear slacks or jeans and T-shirts. Main dishes are all under $30, and they rotate their menu based on locally-available ingredients.

After dinner we all tried different desserts: bread pudding, creme brulee, and peach cinnamon ice cream. If you’re in the area, 5 Seasons is definitely worth a visit.