Re-Kindle the Good Times

Over the course of the last two years of reviews, I’ve repeatedly touched upon the fragile state of social cohesion amid so many pandemic restrictions. The notion of going out with friends for a meal and a celebra-tion was shadowed with the faintest hints of unease. A lively table’s ebullience could be hushed by someone at another table enduring a round of coughing. Our once-a-month meal and gossip exchange with our friend Sarah Harkins halted immediately and still hasn’t returned. This was bad enough for me, but for my sweetheart Tricia, a storyteller and social butterfly of the first order, it took a true psychic toll. And what would all this do to our little Plateau communities, which rely so heavily on the conversations and laughter that accompany our meals and adult beverages?Well, I needn’t have worried – Tricia and I and a small group of friends were comforted and cajoled by The Fix Experience offered by The Fix Restaurant, Bar & Lounge in Sapphire. The Fix Experience is marvelously indulgent, a full seduction of the senses with a six-course meal prepared by Chef Jonathan Reid (complete with carefully calibrated wine pairings), an irresistible playlist by Doug Ramsay that served as both an accompaniment and an invitation to dance, and concierge-level attention delivered by servers Faith Hartle, Tanya Branham, and Amber Powell. And keeping the entire evening flowing smoothly was Hostess Erica Nicole. Though my word count is limited by the constraints of an overstuffed July Issue, I really must list the dishes that kept arriving from Chef Jonathan’s clever kitchen (imagine that each has been prepared with care and attention to the details). First Course: Sure Thing Oyster Progression – Oysters (one raw, one sweet mignonette, one baked), herbs, spinach, cress, lemon, foie gras, roasted red pepper, and foie hollandaise; Second Course: Venison Carne Apache – Cervina venison, lime, caper, herbs, black garlic bone marrow aioli, cumin, bacon fat crouton, mango & passion fruit yolk, and orange tuile;Third Course: Silken Corn Coup – Corn, cumin, cream, curry, cilantro, crème fraiche, crumbs, and croutons (Hostess Nicole dared us to repeat that fast, five times – go ahead and try it right now!)Fourth Course: Arancini – Spring peas, asparagus tips, fresh mozzarella, Gruyere, risotto, asparagus, and smoked bleu cream;Fifth Course: Lightly Blackened Monkfish – Confit and crisped tri-color fingerling rounds, Sea Island red peas, natural gravy, herb-beet goat and gorgonzola griddle cake, and roasted red pepper beurre rouge;And finally, the glorious Sixth Course: White Chocolate Bread Pudding – an ingenious blending of French bread, chocolate chips, white chocolate cinnamon crème anglaise. (Pro Tip: Save room for this masterpiece. You don’t want to haul this home in a doggy bag or, most horrifying of all, leave it untouched on the table).But extraordinary as these dishes proved to be, the capper of the evening, what made everything swing and what restored my faith in the notion that we’d all come through the pandemic with our faculties intact and our social connections even stronger – The Fix Experience was jumping!Conversations were lively, ambient laughter was raucous, and the music was truly an invitation to dance. Even this reviewer dragged out his reliable Awkward White Guy Rocking (a technique he learned his freshman year of high school) and was not laughed off the dance floor.If you’re anxious to renew your pre-covid joy for life and re-kindle your good times spent with friends (and even with strang-ers – a fun couple joined us at our table!), The Fix Experience is your passport to the Good Times that were nearly lost.Reservations are a necessity at the monthly Fix Experience. The Fix Restaurant Bar and Lounge is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner Wednesday through Monday – and enjoy live music every Wednesday night.For reservations and more information, call (828) 743-7477 or visit thefixsapphire.com. It’s located at 3093 US 64 in Sapphire.

by Luke Osteen