Chef and I don’t go to too many restaurants these days, but we are trying to get out more than we have been to help expand his experiences. In the last volunteer spot he did (for the Almost Famous Chef Competition), he received a gift card for the restaurant that is run by The Arts Institute of Atlanta, Creations. This is the restaurant he will be in for two quarters, one for front of the house and the other for back of the house. It seems quite fitting that it would also be our first fine dining experience. We’ve done other fancy restaurants, but none of them could really be classified as fine dining. We did try one of Wolfgang Puck’s restaurants in California years ago (and were really unimpressed), but I can’t remember much about the atmosphere. I think it wasn’t one of his fine dining places.

Creation is small and intimate. It’s only open a few hours a week at lunch and then at dinner, and only on Thursdays and Fridays. It used to serve a 5 or 6 course meal for $33 or so per person; now they do a mix of small plates and large plates where the diner has more of a selection than a set dinner would allow. And they happily accommodate sharing, which allowed Chef and I to try a number of their offerings.

Their “bread” basket didn’t impress me much, honestly. The tortilla chips were savory, but the bread sticks were really hard. They were served with a relish that was interesting and reminded me of something that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

Chef and I each ordered one of their soup offerings. Above is the Cuban Style Black Bean Soup with Smoked Chile Mango, Feta Cheese, and Avocado. (And I apologize for the quality of the photos; they were taken with Chef’s phone camera and we actually started taking photos after we had already started in on the soups. lol) This was a nice black bean soup, full of flavor, savory. Below is the Butternut Squash Bisque with Caramelized Red Onion and Toasted Pecans that I ordered. This was a sweet soup, too sweet for the Chef, but I could have brought some of it home. I was really surprised the red onions lost some of their sharpness and became sweet when caramelized.

Next we had the Arugula Salad with Spiced Pear, Butternut Squash, Ricotta Salata, and a Charred Lemon-Agave Dressing. We initially only ordered one, but Chef got a taste and decided he wanted his own. This was easily my favorite dish of the night. Not that the rest of the food wasn’t good (like I said, I could happily bring home some of that bisque), but this was a wonderful layering and marrying of flavors, and the dressing was something else (I sooooo want that recipe!). And really, it was best when you got a little of everything.

We decided to try several of the appetizer small plates. We shared, but I ended up having almost all of the gnocchi while he had most of the Arancini. I was trying to keep a little room for the big plate dinners we had planned to share afterwards.

This is the Creations Ceviche, made with Tilapia marinated in Citrus, Chillies, and Cilantro. This si the first time I’ve had cold fish, and it wasn’t all that bad. Cold fish has been one of my “I don’t knoooow….” foods, but this was good. The really nice thing was that the chillies gave it a kick without overpowering the fish. One of the things Chef and I have discussed is the balance of heat and spice with the actual flavor of the food and how many people seem to overwhelm the food with too much. This was a perfect illustration of that balance he and I believe should be aimed for when making a “spicy” dish. We also loved the glass.

Our second appetizer was Celery Root Gnocchi with Bleu Cheese, Candied Red Onions, and Toasted Walnuts. I loved this dish. Chef? Not so much. It had a tang to it, and he’s not really into tang. He had one piece and left the rest for me. And, yes, I did eat all of it. And I would again. Like the salad, it was best if you could get a little bit of everything on the fork so the flavors would all combine.

Last but not least was the Arancini: fried Four-Cheese Risotto with a Arugula-Walnut Pesto. The risotto was nice and creamy, and the pesto added a really nice flavor. We both really liked this, but I’ll also admit it made the least impression on me for some reason. Maybe it was the mild flavors, which made it a nice breather between the stronger dishes we had on either side of it but made it also the one I least remember.

We each had a different large plate. Above is the naturally raised Chicken Breast stuffed with Mild Mushrooms and Spinach and served with Cheddar Grits and Honey-Pecan Sauce. Neither Chef nor I are big on grits (him even less so than I am), but these were nice in texture and flavor (and I think the texture is part of the problem with him). there was a sweetness to them, but a creamy, buttery, cheesy smoothness too. The chicken, while it had flavor, was a bit disappointing though: it was a bit dry and there was a hard to cut crust on the bottom (which is common with dry chicken). So the flavors worked, but the dish was disappointing.

Below is the Seared Sushi Grade Yellow Fin tuna with Lemon-Orange Tapenade and a warm salad of White Beans, Arugula, and Roasted Plum Tomatoes. We both liked the tuna, though we’d never had anything of that texture before (it was very different for me, but that was part of our plan for the evening: try foods we’d never had before), but we both disliked the white bean salad. There was just something in the flavor that didn’t work for us.

We photographed both desserts we had, but I’m only showing one because the picture of the other really didn’t come out so well. And, that’s fine since it also ended up being our least favorite. I’ve tried Tirimisu from a couple of different places, but had hoped a more fine dining experience would give me a different impression of the dessert. Nope.

But the Molten Chocolate Cake with Rum Raisin Ice Cream and Spiced Cherry Sauce?

Oh.

My.

God.

Here it is, broken open so you can see the luscious chocolate oozing from the inside.

Chef wasn’t so impressed with the ice cream, but he’s not big on raisins and no amount of trying something different with them will convince him otherwise. It’s like grits for him: a food he probably will never like. I loved the whole dish and wished we didn’t have to share. It was rich and chocolaty and the ice cream and the sauce both really worked well with it. It was a perfect ending to the meal.