Last Thursday, Shaun's hosted a great cocktail party on its ultra adorable back patio to helped us kicked off the firm's busy summer social calendar. I have always loved this patio hidden behind the bar for its private urban oasis appeal, but Shaun's really took it up a notch this time with wonderful vines on the fence, lovely plants along the walkway, and an awesome retractable awning on the back wall.Of course there was the food. Shaun's definitely did not drop the ball on flavors just because everything was served in smaller portions. Much of the rather large nibbles came off of their regular menu. As a small consequence, many offerings were a bit too big or messy to make one neat trip to the mouth. But when the food is this good, messiness is a small price to pay.
Oysters set the tone for the party. An assertive but not overwhelming mignonnette pre-applied to the half shells punched up the fresh briny flavor of the cool fleshes.
One of the most surprisingly awesome bite of the evening turned out to be the vegetarian offering that was labeled a ravioli. A deconstructed play on ravioli components, the blanched zucchini made a great pliable wrapper while sun-dried tomatoes and ground almond provided bright flavors and interesting textures. I loved this.
One of my all time favorites at Shaun's is the not always popular chicken liver on toast. Here, the normally ginormous appetizer has been hacked up into much smaller portions. I am not sure how many others enjoyed it as much as I did, but many at least tried and didn't hated it.
Next up was smoked salmon salad on toasted bagel chip. The bagel chip rocked with a great chewiness that is hard to find outside of the big apple. Smoked salmon, on the other hand, was slightly overshadowed by the large amount of mayo and accompanying hard boiled egg bits.
I like mini everything, so these little shrimp poboys naturally appealed to me. The shrimp was cooked to the correct doness and the batter wasn't too thick. It would have been a super package if only the seasoning had turned up the volume a bit more. Still, it's hard to argue with eating a hot poboy outdoor at the start of summer.
I loved the look of this sausage with a roasted pepper sauce. But I am sure you see the problem here. There was just no good way to eat this without dripping all over oneself. Check out the pepper sauce falling big time from my face as I tried to eat it with as much grace as I could manage!
I can't argue with the flavor here, it was robust as a sausage of its statue should be. If I must pick a bone, it was a tad greasy, but then again, it is a sausage. A little grease is part of the game. :)
I actually managed not to eat these after taking this picture. I have no idea what happened. The conversation much have been good, really good...
The Sardinian flatbread has never been my favorite, but the cheese on top sparked a lot of interest as we couldn't quite place the type. It had a texture almost like that of a Greek feta, not meant for crumbling. The server solved the mystery and revealed it as a ricotta. Great stuff.There were other nibbles I didn't photograph, but you get the picture. It was a great food filled party ending on some very very tasty banoffee pie! I can't think of another place in town that serves it and I can't understand why. It's such a lovely combination of creaminess, caramel goodness, and banana essence. It reminded me of a similar version at April Bloomfield's always packed Spotted Pig in the village.
Shaun's
1029 Edgewood Ave NE
Atlanta, GA 30307
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