Vanessa’s Blog

The reception venue for my wedding, the Highgrove on Laurel Lake in Fuquay-Varina, has had two open houses/ tastings since Tim and I booked them.  They invite a bunch of vendors - a florist, a baker, musicians, etc. - to transform the space and show brides, grooms, moms and dads just how amazing it can look.  In-house chefs, lead by Vicki Ismail, whip up an amazing menu.  At the most recent tasting, the had a four seasons menu.  This means they showcased a “typical” dinner for each season.

And let me just say: YUM.

Here’s how the menu broke down:

Spring

• Pineapple champagne fizz (signature drink)
• Crepe station with savory herbed chicken filling or almond cream with mixed berries (raspberries or blueberries)
• Highgrove’s Carolina crab cakes with old bay aioli
• Cheese display
• Fried green tomato and artichoke salsa crostini (appetizer)

Summer

• Mojito (signature drink)
• Fresh summer fruit with Key lime pie drizzle
• Seafood station: crab claws, shrimp cocktail, whole smoked salmon with caviar and crawfish
• Heirloom tomato salad with drizzled herb infused olive oil and Danish bleu cheese

Autumn

• Sangria (signature drink)
• Coconut shrimp with roasted red pepper sauce
• Spring salad with dried cherries, apples and candied walnuts
• Pecan-crusted Bourbon chicken
• “Carolina Ruby” sweet potato gratin

 Winter

• Christmas mulled cider (signature drink)
• Butternut bisque and cinnamon cream
• Carved, smoked pork loin
• Charleston shrimp and grits

The stations were spread around the perimeter of the large tent, with tables with different floral arrangements forming a ring around the cake table. Donna Ford, with Sweet Memories in Apex, put together four different samples out of the dozens upon dozens of choices.  Here’s what Donna wrote up about them:

Simple Elegance

White cake layered with French vanilla mousse, with fresh strawberries, iced with vanilla buttercream.

Dark Chocolate Cappuccino Cake

Dark chocolate espresso cake filled with chocolate mousse and dark chocolate Kahlua ganache.

Southern Aristocrat

Sweet potato cake with a layer of caramel and white chocolate mousse can be iced in either buttercream or cream cheese.

Lemon Cream Cake

Delicate white cake filled with creamy lemon mousse and raspberry puree, iced with lemon buttercream.

The Simple Elegance cake is probably one of the tastiest things ever, though the cappuccino cake was pretty amazing as well.  All of the food, actually, was to die for.  My future mother-in-law, Jean, loved the crepe station.  It wasn’t my favourite, but it would almost certainly be a hit at our wedding.

What’s great about this tasting in particular is the menus aren’t set.  If Tim and I wanted, say, the mojito, coconut shrimp, a crepe station, the spring salad and the Bourbon chicken, we could mix it up.  Or we could have them do something completely different.

The idea of a tasting is to find out your chef’s or caterer’s capabilities.  In our case, the venue comes with food, so we lucked out.  But if you can go to a tasting, even a private one, definitely do.  We’ve gotten so many ideas not only for food and cake, but flowers, decor and DJs too.