By Tim A. Rutherford

My first visit to 700 Drayton, the restaurant of the elegant Mansion on Forsyth Park, was passable. Barely open two months, a key member of the culinary team had left, the wine program suffered from serious shortcomings and he menu was not what savvy diners would expect from a hotel property boasting four diamonds from AAA.
Those were their manager’s words. The menu was “dumbed down,” he said, and the wine list “sophomoric.”
And the ensuing three years have been rocky, with the restaurant sometimes faltering with no executive chef at the helm and management undergoing another makeover.
The good news is light at the end of the tunnel, bright wonderful light that may make 700 Drayton a reliable destination for local diners who want a larger than life setting with food and service that match the surroundings.
By the time you read this, “new” executive Chef Michael “Dusty” Grove will be over the honeymoon. He should have his own menu in place, staff hired and ready to impress.
Grove came on board in January to a post the told me he has wanted since the property opened. Now he has his chance – and is faced with the daunting challenge of leading a culinary team for 700 Drayton Restaurant, the hotel’s six private dining rooms, Casimir’s Lounge, Carriage Wine Cellar and room service offerings.
He brings more than 13 years of food and beverage experience, lastly as director of food and beverage at the Dataw Island Club in Saint Helena Island, S.C. Before that, he was executive chef at The Georgian Club and corporate chef at the Futren Corporation in Atlanta.
If his name sounds familiar, it’s for good reason – he did a stint with Elizabeth on 37th in the late 1990s.
His path started off unconventionally, studying biochemistry at the University of Georgia. Working in food service as a student, he was drawn to the field, later completing the Classic City Wine course and participating in the Executive Chef Seminar at the Culinary Institute of America.
He earned his credentials the hard way, working his way up through kitchen after kitchen. Grove is apparently no stranger to hard work and long hours-and the dedication shows in his menu.
A couple of weeks prior to Miss T.J. and I visiting for this story, Chef Dusty blew me away with a menu he prepared for a group of culinary journalists. For this story, I asked him to prepare a tasting menu – giving him the opportunity to do his best work.
He came out of the gate strong, serving the meat cutter’s daughter Cider Braised Pork Belly. It’s a gutsy dish to put in front of female diners, but Miss T.J. was won over the minute the buttery tender and flavorful pork hit her taste buds. It was a dish that encompassed sweet and tangy, the flavors being helped along by crisp celery root and apple slaw and the bright flavors of cider gastrique.
My Bourbon Glazed Quail was not that adventurous, but nonetheless presented cleanly and beautifully. The challenge with small quail portions is not overcooking, and I was pleased to taste moist, tender quail and not overcooked fowl. The bourbon glaze was not overpowering but complementary. A small tart filled with caramelized onion and blue cheese added additional textures to this presentation – and a pleasing set of sweet and tangy tastes.
The appetizers – and all of our plates – were presented cleanly and honestly. No pretense, no unnecessary flash.
Nor were our salads, in fact, these two plates may be described as inspired but lacking.
Sure, there were some interesting flavors. Miss T.J.’s Watercress Salad offered an array of heirloom tomatoes that were juicy, fresh and delicious, but in the end, it’s more greens with balsamic drizzle.
My deconstructed Caesar salad was classically topped with a pair of white anchovies – which are lighter in flavor and less salty than other varieties. That was good: the big, crisp hearts of Romaine were so fresh and great tasting I would have hated for the anchovies – or the Caesar dressing to have distracted. It was a skillful marriage of flavors.
For our main course, Miss T.J. only made it halfway through an ample portion of Georgia black grouper. It was simultaneously buttery in texture but rich with the essence of fresh seafood. A light-hearted presentation of spaghetti crafted from butternut squash was a striking orange counterpoint to the pale fish and the bright yellow of a vanilla-mustard emulsion. Again, Chef Dusty gave us sweet and tangy – and again the device served him well.
My generous rack of lamb was wonderfully rare – which I think helps preserve the mild gaminess of this classic dish. A decadent crusting of fennel and truffle was gently enticing without distracting from the lamb’s great earthiness. Sunchoke and roasted garlic puree was sweet and creamy – again the foil to a veg with bite – locally grown organic beet greens. Organic rainbow carrots added color and textural variety.
For our sweet tooth, my Banana Bavarian was a delightful alternative to the usual overworked cr