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Yummy, Yummy Eats: Easy Bistro and Lounge, Chattanooga

Written by Jessica Meehan

Tuesday, 14 April 2009

Saturday night I finally had dinner at Easy Bistro in the heart of beautiful downtown Chattanooga (yes, I'm a little biased, that's where I grew up). I had been there for drinks before but had had nothing from the menu besides a few bites of a friend's cobbler (it was delicious, however). Even from the one visit, I was already smitten. The drinks are fabulous, but the atmosphere is even more amazing. The design is a clean,modern look with a feminine touch and warmed by candle light. It might not be to everyone's taste (cough,cough men) but it definitely was to me and my girlfriends. If the atmosphere doesn't get you, the food will. Utilizing local ingredients in many of their dishes, everything I sampled was phenomenal. The menu is heavy on seafood and red meats, however they have amazing sides and had some great veggie pasta dishes. I ordered the spring pea risotto with Parmesan, made in a mint broth (vegetarian friendly, yay!). It was awesome, and just filling enough without being overpowering. I was worried a plate of risotto with only a few ingredients wouldn't do it for me, but I was definitely wrong.

Easy Bistro

My friend Kathryn, whose birthday we were celebrating ordered the ravioli, which was a potato ravioli in a mint broth (seriously you can't go wrong with the mint broth) with baby vidalias, asparagus, and more peas (can't go wrong with the peas either!). I might have enjoyed her ravioli more than my risotta. It was made with wontons so it wasn't too pasta-y and heavy. It had no ricotta, which I don't really like and many raviolis contain as a staple ingredient. Once again, Easy didn't need heavy seasoning and lots of ingredients to make a fresh, flavorful dish.

We ended our dinner with homemade strawberry shortcake that was perfect. Fresh whipped cream was sandwiched between a warm from the oven biscuit and strawberries. It was the ideal ending to the meal and was great with the champagne and white wine we were having to celebrate Kathryn's 25th.

Easy Bistro

If you make it to Chattanooga, or are a local that wants an atmosphere that's not so local, but food thats a sophisticated take on Southern favorites (try the creamy grits on the side...delish!), then I highly recommend Easy Bistro.

-Jess

Comments

patriciajane - Not locavore

|Registered |2009-04-15 19:11:25

This is a good review, and the food sounds great, but honestly, I clicked it
because you tweeted it with a Locavore hash tag. A locavore is someone who eats
food that is produced/raised/grown within either a 100 or 250 mile radious. Not
someone who eats at local restaurants instead of chains.

The menu of this
place is very NOT local. Sure, there might be a local slant to their methods,
but the food comes from as far away as the Pacific Northwest and Maine.

Shopping local and eating local are great things, I don't want to diminish
them. But they are not the same as being a locavore.

Serena

|Administrator |2009-04-15 22:34:44