Rosecomb

As a chef who eats everything, I usually tell people, "I'm easy to please, but impossible to impress." Well...color me impressed. After our first dinner here, we cancelled our next night's reservation to come BACK here and eat more of the menu. I'm still in shock that this place exists in Chattanooga. It's a beloved neighborhood hangout spot, chic but casual, and it was obvious within the first few minutes that the service team here knew most of the patrons. Sometimes places like this can feel a bit guarded with outsiders, but Asa at the bar welcomed us and instantly made us feel like regulars. The cocktail menu here is breathtaking. So many spots like this have overwrought cocktails with 20 ingredients, but here they are refreshingly simple, super fresh and seasonally changing. Between the two of us, I think we had every cocktail on the menu across two nights, and it would be impossible to choose a favorite. The food is clearly crafted by a genius. A contemporary spin on Appalachian and Southern faves. The summer melon salad with peanuts, fresh herbs, and sheep's cheese was a masterpiece, so much so that we ordered it again the next night. The braised greens with corn maque-choux brought a bright, sweet juxtaposition to the earthy familiarity of vinegary greens. Hubby ordered the burger, as he's on a quest for the perfect one, and found theirs to be the best he's found yet across 6 continents. But I was too busy with the catfish and grits to bother trying it. The catfish was ultra crispy and boldly seasoned, perched atop creamy, smooth grits and dotted with pickled peppers. I was certain I had died and gone to chef heaven, but fabulous Joan arrived with another cocktail and I realized I was still alive. Friendly banter about favorite spirits led to a tasting spree for desert, and we left the place feeling like we'd left a get-together with dear old friends we hadn't seen in years. When was the last time you left a new restaurant feeling like that? The next night was our final night in Chattanooga, the last night to try something new and interesting, and yet we ended up at the bar at Rosecomb again, with Asa and Kaylee guiding us through everything on the menu we had missed the night before. Again, everybody else at the bar knew all of the servers by name, and the place felt like a secret neighborhood haunt that just happened to serve wickedly sophisticated cocktails and menu that would make a Michelin chef look around, wondering what planet he had landed on. Today, as I prepare to end my first visit to Chattanooga, I'm looking at real estate (perhaps a bit too earnestly) within walking distance of The Rosecomb, because it feels a bit like leaving home. And for a jaded chef who has dined all over the world... I am leaving deeply and profoundly impressed.