The Blue Bicycle - Dawsonville's Gourmet Treasure

 It's always pretty thrilling when you visit a rather unassuming bistro and come away feeling that you found this amazing culinary diamond in the rough. And the owners feel like new friends.
That's exactly what happened when I recently attended a wine dinner at the Blue Bicycle with the Atlanta Food Bloggers Society. It's funny, I'd heard about Blue Bicycle a few years ago, but never made it "up there". So glad I finally did!
Up there is Dawsonville, Ga....a small city just north of Atlanta located along what they call "Hospitality Highway". Famous for shopping at the North Georgia Outlets and outdoor adventure with hiking trails, waterfalls, and nearby Lake Lanier.

Owners Guy and Katie Owen opened the Blue Bicycle in 2005 and have been winning over diners ever since with creative, seasonal fine dining fare. Did I just say fine dining? Yep, I did. And it IS happening in Dawsonville.
Guy is Executive Chef and definitely worked his magic in the kitchen during our dinner. 
His wife, Katie, graciously attended to our table, acting as kind of tour guide - sharing restaurant history, presenting wine tastings with the courses, and deftly answering all our questions about the food. She was pretty amazing really. 

So, let me show you how it all went down! We started with a fun cocktail. An Old Fashioned Apple Cocktail with Buffalo Trace, Applejack, Muddled Apple, and bitters. Way to start off an evening, right?

Katie chose three wines to share during the evening, including Willakenzie Estate "Gisele" Pinot Noir {Williamette Valley, Oregon}, Plentitude White Blend {Georgia's own Wolf Mountain}, and Duckhorn's Decoy Table Blend {Sonoma, Calif}. I particularly liked the Pinot Noir.

Next up, Smoked Trout Rillettes with Trout Caviar and Chives on Grilled Baguette. Also, a fancy Charcuterie Sampler. I'm a huge smoked fish lover, so those rillettes were ringing my bell!

Lump crab cake with not one, but two aiolis - roasted red pepper and saffron. This was my pick of the evening and apparently a restaurant favorite. Not hard to guess why.....full of crab and perfect crispy breadcrumbs.

The Warm Chevre Salad with house made bacon and dijon vinaigrette was so tasty. Really enjoyed it.

We were fortunate to sample sharing plates of several entrees, including:
Lamb Ragu over Pappardelle Pasta, North Carolina Mountain Trout with Lemon Herb Butter and Snap Beans, Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Chimichurri and Red Potatoes, and Smoked Duck Breast with Muscadine Reduction, Roasted Root Veg, and Arugula.
Let me just say that I was a little hesistant to try the duck, because I haven't eaten duck in probably 15 years and I'm not a huge fan of muscadines. I was dubious. But this dish won me over. 
It was really delicious.

Are you hungry yet? There's more.

We got to try several house made desserts including the Lemon Chess Pie, Chocolate Mousse, Apple Crisp with Cinnamon Ice Cream, and Creme Brulee with Sorghum. The night was capped off with an cordial flavored with chocolate and with a cherry shrub made at restaurant. Very cool.

Lemon Chess Pie with Blackberry Compote

Chocolate Mousse

Chocolate Covered Cherry Cordial with chocolate vodka, 

amaretto, and cherry shrub

It was truly a memorable evening at the Blue Bicycle. 

It was so worth the drive to get there {bonus....you are going away from Atlanta traffic folks!!}. 

Great hospitality, good company, and stellar food. Thank you to Guy and Katie and all the good people at the restaurant.

Disclosure: This event was complimentary, but the opinions expressed here are genuinely my own.