The Southwest Times “Not Everything tastes like Chicken” - by Bob Thomas
"Oh, my gosh. This doesn't happen in Radford! It's exotic!"
Those words, uttered by Charlotte Shrewsbury, summed up the unbelievable meal served up by Chef Robert Adlam at the Radford Chamber of Commerce dinner and auction last weekend. there is no other way to describe the feast the folks at Spinnaker's put on, showing off the culinary skills of their award-winning food expert. In fact, it was difficult to get folks to leave the dining room and head off to the auction.
As we all know, the common way to describe meat dishes you may have never tasted is the old saw "it tastes like chicken."
I'm here to tell you that it just isn't so. In all cases, the repast put before diners Saturday night was not like chicken... it was so much better!
No I'm not one to quickly try new things. Lamb and venison are not among my favorites, despite assurance from others that they are terrific. SO there is ofter\n a fear that wild meats will be "gamey" tasting. Despite that, I found out years ago that buffalo is better than the best beef ever served, so that was one lesson I was glad to learn.
But the menu of wild boar, wild boar mousse, antelope sausage, frogs' legs, alligator sausage, and other exotic items was a bit scary. There was no reason to fear. Each was cooked to perfection, beautifully presented, and NONE of it tasted like chicken.
The New Zealand Lamb was good. I am sure, but I avoided it. The barbeque ribs were excellent, but not as exotic as the other meats, and pork puffs on sugar cane skewers were topnotch. There was also a selection of sirloin roast, shrimp, crab cakes, suckling pig, shrimp chips, and some fried puffs with stuff inside I preferred not to ask about - but it was all outstanding.
City Councilwoman Laurie Buchwald said "the presentation is beautiful," and called attention to the carved fruit sculptures decorating the restaurant. Flowers from Hawaii and much more were evident everywhere. As Charlotte said, it was certainly not like anything most of us have ever seen in Radford.
Chef Robert, who is currently working on a new menu for the establishment, suggested that some of the items presented at the chamber affair are portent of things to come.
"This is nothing. Just wait," he said proudly.
Watching him wander among the crowd of diners during the pre-auction mealtime was something to behold. Though generally quiet and reserved outwardly, he obviously liked hearing the praises of surprised folks as they sampled his wares and pronounced them outstanding. He often comes out of the kitchen during regular restaurant operations, too - to be sure everything is OK and listening to suggestions and requests.
It is nice to see someone so dedicated to his profession and so able to carry it out to the enjoyment of his clientele. Robert has an inner urge to create great recipes to wow the diners. he really liked being a chef at a restaurant in Las Vegas, his last gig before coming to Radford. but his brother had taken over the company, and wanted the best chef he could find to rebuild the reputation and service qualities of the Radford location, and two others in North Carolina and Ohio. They both chose this city to be the headquarters of the revived, but smaller, restaurant chain - and Robert's creations will be a major feature.
Ed and Robert Adlam really like this community. They are already getting involved in local and regional activities, and plan to be contributing citizens of the New River Valley. That's good to hear.
The chamber event was a chance to meet and serve a lot of area folks. The flair with which everything was handled on the food side was exciting and encouraging. We'll all be talking about Chef Adlam in the coming months and years.
And I want some more wild boar. Who knew?
And it did not taste like chicken.
