Casa Blanca – A Friendly Downtown Augusta Retreat

Casa Blanca Coffee Café is now open in the White’s Building on Broad Street. Closed for over thirty years, the building has been revived and is being renovated into condominiums, shops and offices. Casa Blanca anchors the first floor lobby space. Owner Jai West, who has been in the restaurant business for over thirty years, is excited about locating her new venture in this historic landmark. She not only provides another gathering spot for the downtown crowd but she offers a convenient alternative for the residents of the White’s Building. Prior to opening Casa Blanca, Jai owned another prominent downtown restaurant and bar. A native Augustan, she lived in Portland Oregon for several years where she owned and ran a successful catering business. A brief visit back to Augusta, to cater a friends wedding, convinced her that she wanted to be a part of the downtown renaissance. The rest, as they say, is history.

Jai describes her new café as ‘shabby chic’ with eclectic food for the diverse mix of people she envisions as the regulars of Casa Blanca. When you go there, she wants you to feel as if “you’ve left home and travelled to an exotic place for a mini vacation.” A communal table anchors the middle of the room with the intention of “bringing people together over a cup of coffee.” Her vision is for Casa Blanca to be a “nice cozy welcoming hangout where you can come by yourself and make new friends.” Depending on your mood, you have a choice of seating options. In addition to the main dining area, there is a huge patio where you can sit, sip and people-watch. On the other hand, if privacy is what you seek, there is a quiet room upstairs with plush seating.

During your many future visits to Casa Blanca, you must try the Chicken Curry Salad Sandwich, Mama’s Taco Soup, Chocolate Surprise Pie, and if you really love garlic, the House Wedge Salad with creamy garlic dressing. These tried and true recipes have been Jai’s signature dishes throughout her restaurant career. Coffees, from around the world, will be featured monthly, as well as Jai’s signature “Smart Sips”, fruit juice-based health drinks.

Currently Casa Blanca is open Monday through Saturday for breakfast and lunch. January will bring the addition of a Tapas and Wine Bar, which will be open in the evenings. Every month Casa Blanca will feature local artists in a special alcove of the restaurant appropriately dubbed “Artist’s Corner.” The selected artists will have the opportunity to display their finished works, and sit and chat with friends or customers interested in learning more about them and their creations. Supporting local artists is Jai’s way of giving back to the community, which she is very happy to do. On December 18 at 6:30, Casa Blanca will host a Wine Tasting/Holiday Party, featuring wines from Ninth Street Wine Market. Call for additional information, or to make a reservation.

Casa Blanca is located at 936 Broad Street, Augusta. Hours are Monday – Friday, 7:30-5:30 and Saturdays, 10-6. 706.504.3431

Tastes of France Comes to North Augusta

Walking into Manuel’s Bread Café I immediately started to reminisce about the time I spent on Paris’ left bank as a student. Nestled in the middle of Hammond’s Ferry, a live, work, play development on North Augusta’s riverfront, Chef Manuel Verney-Carron has managed to create a little bit of France in North Augusta with his new neighborhood bar and café. From the French-influenced décor and menu to the open-kitchen layout and wrap-around bar, you feel instantly at home the moment you enter. And do not think it stops there. Outside there is sidewalk seating complete with heaters and blankets so you can take advantage of the full “experience Française” no matter what the temperature outside.

Back inside the details cannot help but catch your attention. The woodwork, including tabletops, bar, windows and baseboards is a beautiful mahogany. The bar top is highly polished to create a mirror-like finish. All of the woodwork was designed and fabricated by local woodcraftsman Wesley Scott of Scott’s Woodworks. The women will be happy to know that there are even small hooks located under the bar to hold handbags. Lots of hanging plants, track lighting and strategically placed oversize mirrors round out the décor. And did I mention the vintage black and white French movies that play non-stop in the alcove room at the back of the restaurant? What a nice touch!

Manuel’s is Hammond’s Ferry’s first commercial tenant and offers a bakery, retail store, catering and dining. Residents are extremely happy to have this local hot spot to call their own. Chef Manuel, who is no stranger to the restaurant business, was previously a chef at La Maison on Telfair. Originally from Lyon France, the gastronomic capital of Europe, he gets his inspiration from his mother and the comfort foods of his childhood kitchen. Manuel’s Bread Café is a concept he has been looking to open for a long time. His passion is bread and he is known around town as the ‘bread man.’ In fact, Chef Manuel arrives at 4am each morning to start baking the bread that he supplies to other venues in the area. The café opens at 7am when he encourages the locals to come join him for a cup of coffee.

Manuel’s has a diverse menu consisting of salads and sandwiches for lunch and a wide array of appetizers, soups, salads, entrees and desserts for dinner. In addition to selections listed on the printed menu, there are numerous specials, posted on chalkboards over the bar, available each day as well. The lunch favorite, according to café staff, is the Croque Monsieur, a grilled black forest ham and Swiss cheese sandwich topped with herbed Béchamel sauce and served with a traditional French salad. I had the Croque Monsieur for lunch and enjoyed it so much, I returned several nights later for dinner. That night I had a Caesar Salad and the Beef Burgundy. It was tender, well seasoned and delicious. Again, I was not disappointed. Also, the wine selection, especially the by the glass offering, is impressive.

Since opening two months ago, the number of guests dining at Manuel’s has far exceeded Chef Manuel’s expectations. This is the ultimate testament to his skill and talent. Chef Manuel uses simple, fresh ingredients to create his time-honored dishes. He gets his vegetables fresh daily, from Blue Clay Farm, a three-acre organic farm located on the Hammond’s Ferry property. The bakery area in the front of the café has several breads and pastries for sale as well as and a “to go” menu from which you can order, if you prefer to savor Manuel’s fare in the comfort of your own home. Nevertheless, whether you choose to dine in at Manuel’s or take advantage of the “take-out,” you are sure to have an unforgettable dining experience. According to Turner Simpkins, Hammond’s Ferry Project Manager, “I expect Manuel’s Bread Café to be one of the best restaurants in the Augusta/Aiken area. The combination of Manuel’s extraordinary talent and the sidewalk café atmosphere in Hammond’s Ferry is going to offer our region a wonderful and fresh casual dining experience.” Chef Manuel invites you to “Come, experience the ‘energy’ of this quaint neighborhood café, and enjoy the simple, comfort foods of my youth.”

Manuel’s Bread Café is located at 505 Railroad Avenue, North Augusta, SC.
Hours are 7am – 10 pm, Tuesday through Saturday. Call 803.380.1323 for directions and reservations.

Cracks In The Kitchen's Ceiling

For those who haven't noticed, women are making cracks in the glass ceilings of commercial kitchens and restaurant ownership and redefining what was traditionally thought of as a man’s domain. Can they stand the heat? You bet – and they are not about to get out of the kitchen! You have only to look at the enrollment in culinary schools like Johnson & Wales, Art Institute and CPCC. According to the admissions offices, women make up approximately forty-six percent of the enrollment in culinary programs, and eighty-seven percent of baking and pastry programs. Moreover, every year those numbers are increasing.

Read full article: http://issuu.com/uptown_magazine/docs/december2008/1?mode=a_p

Charlotte's Top Chefs Top Restaurants

We’ve all been there. You have a special occasion to celebrate or a special someone you’d like to impress, but you don’t know where to go. You call up a friend or two for a recommendation, but your friends don’t have a clue either. Welcome to one of the oldest and most common culinary dilemmas. How do you find the perfect restaurant for your special occasion? A place where you can be assured that the food will be delicious, the service will be worthy of the twenty percent tip you are expected to leave and the dining experience will be unforgettable?

Read full article: http://www.uptownclt.com/content/view/227/

"Life Is Sweet"

What do the Eiffel Tower, a musician, and a lobster tank have in common (no, this is not like one of those three-men-walk-into-a-bar jokes, so don’t try to come up with a clever punch line)? They are all sugar sculptures, created by a local chef to highlight the uniqueness of a hot new trend in restaurants. Imagine a bar or bistro dedicated to serving exquisitely prepared desserts that far exceed your expectations and imagination. A sort of candy store for adults, a place that takes you back to your childhood. This hottest new craze in restaurant concepts is the dessert bar.

Read full article: http://www.uptownclt.com/content/blogcategory/43/102/9/9/