All the Reasons You Need a Dovetail Dinner
Catsuits, alley photo shoots, ghost pepper hot sauce, and expensive steaks. Those are just some of the highlights from my first time dining at the Dovetail restaurant. Let me put all that into context so you guys can get a better picture of what went down that night.
Two days earlier, my best friend asked me to have dinner at the Dovetail with her because I’d never eaten there before. After the tumultuous and emotional week I’d had, a night dining out with friends was just what I needed. However, I had no idea what the night had in store for me. With her boyfriend joining us, the three of us jumped into his Ford Taurus and headed to our reservation at the Dovetail. For those who don’t know, the Dovetail is located right above the Rookery in downtown Macon, Ga. When you walk up the dim, carpeted staircase it’s like entering a completely different world from the continual din and commotion going on below in the Rookery.
Dim lights, abstract artwork, and rustic decor greeted us and gave the restaurant a relaxed, laidback, and suave vibe. We made it right on time to our reservation and were seated at our table immediately where small candlelights, glass cups, and our menus were already waiting for us.
Because of recent health setbacks I unfortunately had to skip out on trying their alcoholic drinks :(. However, I can attest that their non-alcoholic cocktail, the Mindwise was sooo freaking good. One of my many toxic traits is thinking that I could successfully make a drink like this at home myself, because if I could I definitely would. Made at the bar, it was a mix of blackberry sage tea syrup, lemon, and sparkling water. My best friend, Amber, had the Let's Pretend which was a sweet cocktail of vodka , raspberry liqueur, and lime. Let’s just say, the vodka started to kick in half way through dinner.
Because both of my friends had been there before, they recommended what appetizers to get. We ordered the Smoked Pork Belly Bites covered in a Cherry coke BBQ sauce and the Deviled Eggs. Both were amazing, but my favorite was the Deviled eggs. They also give you two hot sauces to use throughout the dinner and the hot sauce with the deviled eggs was a combination I didn’t know I was missing out on. One of the hot sauces had ghost pepper in it which had me a little nervous even though I love spicy foods. The hot sauces came with a little dropper, and I kind of felt like I was ready to answer burning questions from Sean Evans on Hot Ones. For the record, the hot sauce was not as spicy as I was expecting, so for those who don’t like spicy food you can definitely handle it.
After we cleaned our plates of starters, we had the daunting decision of choosing our entrees. It’s the little things about Dovetail that makes it such a different and sophisticated experience, like how they tell you exactly what comes on each dish down to the smallest details and where exactly on earth it came from. As our waitress described the entrees and specials with expert memory, it looked more like she was giving a performance at a poetry slam. I loved every minute of it. My friends know how highly I regard freshly made and locally sourced food, which you can usually only find at restaurants like Dovetail.
My top choices were the Grilled Pork Chop and the New York Strip (one of the night’s specials). Between the two, our waitress said it’d be tough, but she’d almost always choose the pork chop because it was her absolute favorite thing on the menu. However, I’m a sucker for a good steak, so the New York Strip it was. It worked out in the end, as my best friend ordered the shrimp and grits and her boyfriend got the pork chop so we all tried a bite of each other’s entrees.
When our plates were put in front of us - I. Was. In. Heaven. I knew the very generous portion of the New York Strip was going to possibly change my life, and it did. While cutting into it I could see that it was cooked exactly like I wanted it, medium well, which was a first for me. Everyone at the table got a few bites, well more than a few as they helped me finish off the last bit of steak. We all agreed that it was the best piece of beef any of us had ever had. I don’t know what kind of cow it came from, but I’m gonna dream about that steak from now on.
Along with the steak came perfectly cooked asparagus, my favorite vegetable, and a scoop of mashed potatoes. Only critique I can give about my meal is that I wish there were more asparagus and mashed potatoes to go with the generous strip of steak. Besides that, it was an amazing meal worthy of the price ($65). I also got to try the Grilled Pork Chop that had a strong but delicious honey mustard flavor from the glaze. It would be the entree I’d get next time. It also came with baked mac n’ cheese and fried brussel sprouts. The baked macaroni and cheese was unexpected because of the strong aged-cheese flavor, but my friend enjoyed it because it was all gone before I’d even finished half of my steak.
I was a little remorseful of spending wayyy more than I’d expected that night, however, I did make the decision to get the special - a steak - so I should’ve expected to spend the most that night. Regardless, it was a super fun and exciting night which was just what I needed that week. I can’t wait until my next visit to the Dovetail, but I’ll be taking applications for a boyfriend, husband, sugar daddy, or something to pay for my bill! Haha!
Click the link to check out Dovetail’s website!
