Elaborate prix fixe tasting menus can be polarizing to diners. Some see them as tedious marathons, with small plate after small plate emerging from the kitchen with every element meticulously arranged under the watchful eye of exacting chefs (as satirized in the recent movie, The Menu).
However, at their best, these experiences can be revelatory expressions of a chef’s complete vision — a true representation of the kind of food they want to share with patrons. Dishes flow together cohesively, like a symphony progressing from the overture to a grand finale. Diners willing to place themselves in the capable hands of a master chef are rewarded with a meal that cannot be experienced anywhere or anytime else, a truly unique opportunity to see inside the mind of a chef.
From a practical perspective, tasting menus are actually quite beneficial for a restaurant, allowing them to accurately determine the exact amount of ingredients needed for an evening’s service, reducing food waste and removing the guesswork. With ingredients and timing planned to a tee, chefs can put their total concentration into creating the best meal possible.
Across the South, more restaurants are offering these sorts of tasting menus, and diners are reaping the benefits. Here are three of our favorites that are worth seeking out.
3 Epic Tasting Menus to Experience in the South
Zero Restaurant + Bar
0 George St, Charleston, SC 29401 • (843) 822-4872
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., closed Monday
In a culinary mecca like Charleston, it can be challenging for a restaurant to stand out, but Zero Restaurant + Bar manages to distinguish itself thanks to a multi-course tasting menu that is the only option for diners. Freed from the difficulties of cooking both à la carte and tasting menu items in the small open kitchen, Creative Culinary Director Vinson Petrillo and his crew can concentrate on creating a story on the plate, weaving together regional and seasonal ingredients to prepare dishes that range from historical preparations to ultra-modern molecular gastronomy techniques.
The restaurant is the gem of the Zero George property, a collection of charming former residential homes that have been converted into a luxurious boutique hotel. A seat with a view into the kitchen is ideal for those who love to watch a talented team at work, but a table outside in the cozy courtyard under twinkling lights is another wonderful option when the weather permits.
The plating at Zero Restaurant + Bar demonstrates a flair for the dramatic. Image: Hack Hargett
The dining room also features an eight-seat seafood bar, but not the sort of “shuck-and-slurp” set-up you might have experienced in more casual environs. This is a full formal caviar service in all of its decadence. The caviar comes from Regiis Ova, a renowned supplier from California founded by famous chef Thomas Keller. All the expected accouterments of a caviar service are included, from silver bowls and trays to beautiful mother-of-pearl spoons that avoid imparting any extra flavor to the precious roe. Accompanied by a cocktail served cold in crystal, it’s precisely the splurge you deserve!
Caviar served on a silver platter because you’re worth it! Image: Hack Hargett
Beausoleil oysters served on a black beeswax “rock” represent the darkness of the oceanbed. Image: Hack Hargett
Chef Petrillo takes full advantage of the bounty of seafood surrounding Charleston for many of the courses on his always-changing menu, and some sort of oyster served on a black beeswax platter meant to represent the darkness of the sea floor is usually one of the starter snacks. Another favorite on the menu is the “tartare cigar,” a playful plate that looks just like a stogie and is actually served in an ornate ashtray. The “cigar” is a crisp pastry shell wrapped around flavorful beef tartare, and the “ash” tipping the cigar is a buttery mix of brown butter and smoked mushrooms that has been powdered and tinted with activated charcoal.
This is a cigar you can enjoy indoors without any smelly smoke! Image: Hack Hargett
After the initial fusillade of snacks, larger plates are often interactive and thematically related. A big part of the fun is never knowing what is coming next and figuring out how they all tie together. By dessert (which always includes a lovely tres leches, coconut, and honey wafer course), hopefully, you will have figured out the particular story Zero George’s kitchen told that evening.
If you need more inspiration, order either the classic or elevated wine pairings chosen by the restaurant’s extremely talented Food and Beverage Director, Megan Mina. She also teaches wine classes at the restaurant. The kitchen staff offers small cooking classes on weekend afternoons.
Finish off your meal with an espresso martini and some dos leches. Image: Hack Hargett
Mosquito Supper Club
3824 Dryades St, New Orleans, LA 70115 • [email protected]
Hours: Thursday through Sunday, 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., closed Monday through Wednesday
Melissa Martin grew up in Terrebonne Parish in South Louisiana, a wonderland of marshes and bayous. While attending college in New Orleans, she struggled to find the flavors of the Cajun cuisine she grew up with, so she took on the mission of discovering authentic recipes and learning how to cook the food of her youth.
In 2013, she debuted Mosquito Supper Club as a pop-up restaurant that moved around New Orleans before settling in a charming old house near the Garden District. Named after the ubiquitous bayou buzzers, Martin’s supper club seeks to remind diners of the importance of the shrimpers, crabbers, fishermen, and farmers that have supplied the ingredients that have made New Orleans a famous culinary destination.
Martin also creates a sense of community around the table, serving 24 diners (per seating) a family-style tasting menu with course after course of delicious Cajun classics and new creations that fill every free spot on the tabletop.
A meal at Mosquito Supper Club is like being invited to a friend’s house for dinner (if your friend was a James Beard winner!) Image: Mosquito Supper Club
There’s nothing wrong with starting a meal with a dozen cold ones. Image: Mosquito Supper Club
After a quick pass through the fryer, this stuffed crab will turn into something special. Image: Mosquito Supper Club
The restaurant is open September through July with a constantly evolving menu that relies on what is freshest from the fields and the best catches that Martin can source from the sea. While the plating may not be quite as precise as at other renowned prix fixe tasting menu restaurants, the ingredients speak for themselves, and Martin’s soulful cooking is the heart of the experience.
A typical dinner might include a simple starter of rolls sweetened with butter and Steen’s, a regional specialty cane syrup. Diners can expect plenty of seafood, from oysters on the half-shell to fried shrimp boulettes to crab served multiple ways. Martin also offers a full bar of classic cocktails, natural wines, and local beers for purchase during the meal.
Melissa Martin believes that the bounty of the sea should be shared. Image: Mosquito Supper Club
When crawfish are in season, they often turn up in this beautiful, rich bisque. Image: Mosquito Supper Club
Martin’s oyster stew is magnificent in its simplicity. Image: Mosquito Supper Club
Don’t even think about skipping dessert (because it’s all included anyway), but there’s always pie and ice cream at the end of the meal at Mosquito Supper Club. Flavors rotate seasonally, so don’t get too attached to that strawberry pie; it might not be on the menu during your next visit.
Non-refundable reservations and pre-payment are required to dine at Mosquito Supper Club so they can ensure every seat at the table is filled and minimize food waste. When making a reservation, diners are presented with the option of a shorter menu “early bird” special that isn’t served as a communal experience or private dining options with only your party — either in the dining room or on the lovely outdoor deck. However, to get the full Mosquito Super Club experience, you should opt for the communal table because one of the best things about New Orleans is that strangers tend to become friends very quickly over great food and drink.
Speaking of quickly, ever since chef Martin was named Best Chef: South by the James Beard Foundation in 2022, reservations tend to fill up fast. Plan ahead so you can snag a spot at that communal table!
These dumplings might make you want to plan your visit to Mosquito Supper Club around blackberry season. Image: Mosquito Supper Club
June
809 Meridian St, Nashville, TN 37207 • (615) 988-3263
Hours: Wednesday through Saturday, 5 p.m. to 10 p.m., closed Sunday through Tuesday
Chef Sean Brock is no stranger to epic tasting menu experiences. He burst onto the national culinary radar while still a young chef at Nashville’s Capitol Grille in The Hermitage Hotel, serving 30-course marathon meals that experimented with modern molecular gastronomy techniques. He then moved on to Husk and McCrady’s in Charleston, where he continued revolutionizing multi-course dining in the South. With his latest venture, June, Brock reaches into his past growing up in Appalachia to showcase the unique ingredients and cuisine of his youth by elevating humble ingredients into works of art on a plate.
This fabulous kitchen is where most of the magic happens at June. Image: Emily Dorio
The restaurant space features an open kitchen where diners can watch the staff preparing dozens of offerings per service. The calm Japanese-inspired decor is adorned with soft pastels and natural materials to create a cool zen vibe. The secret weapon at June is the culinary R&D laboratory that Brick has installed to isolate the essence of flavors from unexpected ingredients through techniques like dehydration, sonic vibration, and smoking.
A stunning view of one of Chef Sean Brock’s tasting menus at June. Image: Emily Dorio
Armed with an arsenal of flavors in the form of powders, teas, consommés, and preserves, Brock creates minimalist dishes that he describes as “complexity within simplicity.” Echoing his Music City location, the chef explains the meal as being divided into “sets” like at a concert, with the menu acting like a playlist. While diners may be presented with more than 20 different plates during the two-hour meal, none are more than just a few bites, and some might be just a sip or two of a tea made using the essence of sassafras or an infusion of flavor derived from the lab.
These transitions between courses are meant to echo the flavor of the previous dish or prepare the palate for what’s coming next. Stretching the music metaphor, they offer “reverb,” the technical term for echo during a performance.
There aren’t a lot of lobsters in Appalachia, but the lovage and benne seeds accompanying it are favorite regional ingredients in chef Brock’s arsenal. Image: Emily Dorio
Black truffles elevate this seemingly simple bit of omelet. Image: Emily Dorio
More than anything, Brock wants to tell stories of the American South through his menus, introducing patrons to Appalachian ingredients like greasy beans and green peanut oil employed to decorate and flavor beautiful presentations on the dish or in the bowl. The stories change like the seasons, and Brock isn’t anywhere close to running out of things to say through his cuisine.
The fare to take this ride at June isn’t inexpensive, but it’s a journey well worth traveling. It’s rare to see a chef at the height of his powers dedicating so many resources to glorifying a long-overlooked culinary region like Appalachia, but chef Brock has chosen to make it his life’s work for the rest of his career. Take advantage of his obsession and genius with a meal at June.
The beautiful plating of this dish of black cod, celeriac, and savoy cabbage is a great example of June’s commitment to meticulous perfection. Image: John Troxell
Enjoy your dining adventures — wherever they may take you!
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