Gourmet goodness

Four courses of fresh, local cuisine offered on Valentine’s Day

GreenHouse Chicken

GreenHouse Chicken

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Greenhouse Grille celebrates most holidays with a special menu, and Valentine’s Day is no exception. The casual, organically decorated restaurant will put out its best tablecloths and candles, dim the lights and turn up the dial of romance for the evening.

Live music will be provided by the Alex Lewis Jazz Trio, and a four-course menu will be offered at $50 per person.

The first course will present a sampling of appetizers. Offerings will include sherried crab dip served with crostinis, sweet potato tamales with chocolate mole, and two-way risotto balls.

The second course will offer a choice of roasted red pepper bisque with goat cheese cream sauce or an organic greens salad with gorgonzola cheese, candied pecans and a raspberry vinaigrette.

The main course offers choice selections of filet mignon, sea scallops, lamb chops or a vegetarian plate.

The filet mignon will be dusted with fresh herbs and grilled, then plated with parmesan-herb au gratin potatoes, grilled asparagus and a shiitake mushroom ragout. Grilled shrimp can be added for $8.

The seared sea scallops will be served alongside a roasted red pepper coulis, braised kale and crispy polenta with Manchego cheese and scallions.

The New Zealand lamb chops will be marinated, then grilled and complemented with blackberry-mint coulis, grilled asparagus and celery root puree.

The vegetarian plate will include top-quality local ingredients — something Greenhouse Grille has built a solid reputation for serving. A portobello mushroom cap will be panko crusted and stuffed with saffron risotto, then presented with truffled haricot verts and a sun-dried tomato cream sauce.

The dessert course offers a rich finish with selections including a vanilla creme brulee, cheesecake with chocolate sauce and fresh berries, chocolate torte with strawberry coulis, or trifle with white- and dark-chocolate mousse and fresh berries.

Greenhouse Grille will be open 5-10 p.m. on Valentine’s Day and is currently taking reservations. Specialty dishes will also be presented 4-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, with live jazz to add to the ambiance. Sunday brunch will be served 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and harpist Beth Stockdell will set the mood.

Greenhouse Grille is a local Fayetteville restaurant that has gained success with its focus on fresh, local, sustainable products and practices. The menu is crafted around seasonal availability of those products. Though the menu boasts numerous vegetarian dishes, there is also a wide variety of plates featuring meat, fish and seafood.

More information is available online at greenhousegrille.com or by calling (479) 444-8909.