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| The Grand Dining Room at Jekyll Island Club Hotel |
When Executive Chef Abigail Hutchinson of the Jekyll Island
Club Hotel says she is entering the Locally Inspired category at A Taste of
Glynn this year, she is engaging in polite understatement. More like defining
the category with her team’s fantastic state-on-a-plate delicacy. Nearly every
flavor influence in the dish comes from within a radius of a few miles from the
Hotel.
Chef
Abigail and company will create a house-made sausage of bison from the Georgia
Buffalo Company in Darien, along with pork from the Hunter Cattle Company. This
savory treasure will rest on a maple biscuit, atop Sapelo Farm micro-greens,
dressed with pommery mustard dressing. And did we mention the candy-flaked
bacon? Almost too good to be true.
“We
are all excited to come to A Taste of Glynn,” she noted. “This is a great
creative outlet for all the chefs. It really highlights the best that each chef
has to offer.”
A
national historic landmark, the Hotel was the center of social life of the
Jekyll Island Club. Founders purchased Jekyll Island to use as a winter
playground for their families. The Club included some of the nation’s
wealthiest families in the late 19th century. We are talking about
the Rockefellers, Pulitzers and Vanderbilts. Back then, even the most powerful people
in the country couldn’t be assured of obtaining the freshest meats and produce
in winter. If the food came in on a train, it would have been several days in
transit, with rather unstable handling, at the mercy of the weather. Longing for
fresh fare at their tables encouraged the Club’s members to spend harsh winter
months at their lovely homes or apartments on Jekyll Island. But even those who
had spacious “cottages” on the Island gathered nearly every night for grand
dinners at the Hotel.
In
the late 19th century, the Jekyll Island Club Hotel chef, the
highest-paid employee on the Island, created elaborate menus featuring local
game, fish and produce. The members and their guests feasted on delicacies that
would be out of season for months up north. Jekyll Island was seen as a healthy
retreat for the season, and the fresh, wholesome food was a major part of that
plan. Today, that spirit lives on in the Grand Dining Room of the Hotel, where
fresh seafood and game are featured along with local beef and pork. Produce
items come from two close-by farms, and even the cheeses are made in Georgia.
“We
love the wild Georgia white shrimp, and we use it a lot. But Georgia has more to
offer than just shrimp,” Chef Abigail added. “At the Hotel, we will introduce a
new menu on April 8 that focuses even more on Georgia items like the locally
raised pork, and venison.”
Come
to A Taste of Glynn, and you can eat like a rock star or a Rockefeller on
Sunday, March 24 from 5-8 PM at the King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort. A
complimentary shuttle service from Massengale Park makes parking easy. Enjoy
live entertainment by Michael Hulett and The Not Brothers, and be sure to shop
the famous Silent Auction. Tickets are $50 in advance, $60 at the door.
Purchase them in Brunswick at Baby Mack’s BBQ, Hattie’s Books, McGarvey’s Wee
Pub, Zachry’s Seafood & Steak and the Glynn Community Crisis Center
offices. On St Simons, tickets are on sale at both SunTrust Bank locations, the
King and Prince Beach & Golf Resort.
Photo courtesy of Jekyll Island Club Hotel
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