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| - Alright...this is a bit of a mixed bag review-wise...not because there is some good and bad, but because...well...read the review.
It was my birthday...or a few days later. A friend and I were celebrating. Smallman Galley was on my "list" to try. I didn't know what to expect. But I think I had in my mind a vision of what this "chef incubator" was going to be.
Things I didn't expect: picnic table seating, 4 "store fronts", people lined up ordering from the counter. So...go into it with that expectation. I kind of love the idea of the place, but if you were thinking to woo your lady love (or man love, whatevs) with a candle-lit dinner in a cozy restaurant with amazing service...well, you'd miss the mark.
I had to wait. My friend was late. I was sitting at the bar, so I didn't really care. I perused the menu. First drink that popped out at me was a Primus song. "Jerry Was a Race Car Driver" reportedly had: Amara Sfumato Rabarbaro, Aperol, Genepy des Alpes, pluot syrup, and La Croix.
First impressions: I don't know what any of those things are. Not one. Hadn't heard of them. Hadn't had them. Didn't know how to pronounce them. The only word I recognized was "syrup". I vaguely recalled 'des' might have meant "of" in friench. Or Belgian. Whatever. Completely incomprehensible drink while you wait for a friend? TAKE ALL MY MONEY!
It was really good. Served in a tall glass with a lemon garnish, I sat and drank my fancy unpronouncably ingrediented drink in suave sophistication.
I texted a picture to my friend. "You're there already?" Yeah...because that's when we said we'd meet.
Whatever. I finished that drink and went two lines up on the drink menu. "Vilified" This promised brown butter-washed bourbon, sage-sweet potato syrup, and black walnut bitters. So much effort went into this drink. Who do they get to wash the bourbon in brown butter? How many natives died making the sage-sweet potato syrup? And I don't even know how you make a bitter let alone a black walnut bitter. This drink was described so pretentiously I had to lie to the bartender and tell him my name was Thurston J. Howell before he'd pour it for me. It was great. I would have had another. Wait...I did have another. I think. Things were starting to get a little...hazy. It had an orange garnish. It didn't photograph well.
I texted a picture of vilified to my friend. "What? You're on your second drink?" I was. "You're going to be hammered by the time I get there." I was.
Whatever. I finished that drink and and moved on to "Cyco Vision". Redemption rye, Yellow Chartreuse, pistachio orgeat, lemon, cardamom bitters, egg white. And listen...I'm a sucker for egg whites in my drink. I can't explain why. Rye? Awesome. Yellow Chartreuse? Confusing. Orgeat? Let's be honest. When I got to orgeat it sounded like orgy and I might have chuckled to myself and just ordered the drink because of the orgeat. I don't even know what orgeat is. But...it also reminded me of Xergiok from Adventure Time. I had to have this drink.
I had this drink. It was good. It was honestly my least favorite of the three but it was good. I took a picture...it looked like a malt. Served in a wide goblet, It had a thick foam on top and the bartender drew a little design with ...maybe with the orgeat...I don't know. Fancy!
I texted my friend the picture. "Jesus, I'm almost there, slow down!" I did.
And then my friend arrived and I recommended the Vilified and she hated it, so I drank hers and she took the "Superman" that I ordered, which was good, but I wasn't in love with it.
And then the bartender accidentally made someone another drink and it wasn't what he ordered and so she was going to dump it, but I said, "What do you do with a drink when it's the wrong one?" and she said, "Dump it, unless you want it." I did. I don't even know what it was. I think it was good. It's not completely clear.
And so now...Well now I've had five or six drinks in an hour and a half and I'm pretty much open for business, but it's time to eat, because god forbid we drink on an empty stomach. TOO LATE!! IT WAS TOO LATE!! But I walked past the previously-mentioned store fronts on my way to the bathroom and brought back a few ideas...
We ended up eating shrimp and grits (fairly certain this was delicious, but I have no idea which place I got it from) and poutine (again...and again).
So...I guess the mixed bag is that 1) I really don't have a clear memory of the food. I know it was good. I just don't know where I got it, but 2) I have a very strong sense of the drink menu. And it was a good drink menu.
Go for drinks!
I will be back. What I remember of the food was that it was really good. I know what to expect (no waitress, first come first serve seating, picnic table style). Outstanding place to go with a group of friends and just sort of sprawl out across a picnic table and drink and try new foods.
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