Amelia Island’s Dining Month Makes a Splash – Starting With The Tavern

Posted Saturday, September 7, 2024 4:18 pm

By Dylan Bailey

Amelia Island’s Dining Month is officially upon us. And I couldn’t be more excited. With over 20 restaurants taking part in the event, and each one offering its own unique multi-course meal, there’s no shortage of creativity. Salt Life Seafood Shack features a choose-your-own-adventure menu, whereas Cucina South makes a bold statement with their seafood lasagna. However, a different restaurant caught my eye.

The Tavern, by Amelia Island Brewing Company, has always been on my radar. And with an entire month dedicated to eating, my waistline wasn’t going to expand by itself. I arrived on a Thursday evening and grabbed a table outside. While there is indoor seating, a full bar, and great ambiance, enjoying the sounds of Centre is a pull I can’t resist.

A standout feature of Amelia Island’s Dining Month is the prix fixe meals. Each restaurant prepares a meal course that guides the patron through a journey of their best offerings. The Tavern’s course is $35 per person but other restaurants can jump to $55. So, with the course comes options, and mine saw a choice between one of three appetizers, entrees and two desserts. Everything sounded wonderful. However, three items stood out to me.

My appetizer was the wild mushroom toastie. A generous portion of mushrooms on a baked ciabatta with flakes of boursin cheese, greens and balsamic. It’s as delicious as it sounds. The tenderness of the mushroom and the poignant flavor of the balsamic pleasantly surprised me. A wonderful start, which foreshadowed the rest of my experience.

Tavern cottage pie. Dining at The Tavern felt incomplete without ordering this as my entree. And I’m glad I did, because this deconstructed shepherd’s pie is mind-blowing. But the real star of the show is the beef short ribs. Their flavor, along with the mashed potatoes featuring chunks of crispy bacon and chives added to the succulent dish. Unfortunately – but in a good way – there was too much food, and I needed a modicum of room in my stomach for the dessert.

The slender glass with chocolate mousse, red drizzles of raspberry sauce and an eye-catching dollop of whipped cream did not last long on my table. Now this isn’t anything revolutionary, but it embellished an untouched essence of the course: decadence. The way the tart raspberry sauce cut through the indulgent chocolate was perfect. I couldn’t stop from shoveling it into my mouth.

To say I enjoyed my meal would be as big of an understatement as me saying we’ve barely had any rain this past week. I adored my visit to The Tavern and left with a generous portion of the tavern cottage pie, which gave me an entire other meal. With how good this was, I can’t wait to try more on Amelia Island Dining Month’s roster.