My wife, Aura, and I recently celebrated our fourth wedding anniversary – fruits and flowers and what have you. We have a rather simple tradition for our anniversary. We’re not extravagant people. We just love trying new restaurants and spending time together…that easy. This year, we weren’t actually home for our anniversary – we were traveling to visit family, so we had to wait until we got back before we could indulge in this tradition of ours. We kicked around a few ideas – we wanted something new…but we didn’t really want to fool with going downtown…we wanted something special, but also practical. Aura said, “what about Darfons?” I immediately said I was up for it.
We had both been to Darfons on previous occasions. Both were delightful meals. But, I admit that we forget it’s right down the road from us in Mount Juliet. It’s tucked away on Elm Hill Pike in what is otherwise airport wasteland. It’s not a part of town that we frequent, so it’s easy for it to slip through the cracks in our rotation. After an anniversary dinner for the ages, I’m thinking we won’t be forgetting Darfons in the future any time soon.
It was happy hour, and it was a special occasion, so of course we had to order a round of drinks. Aura went with the house chardonnay, which was a solid option. I had an old fashioned that was rich with citrus fragrance and a nice sweet balance to kill some of its bite. For an appetizer, we went with the Boursin cheese and summer sausage board. Served with a sliced baguette, the cheese was rich and creamy and the sausage added a nice bit of spice. The portion was perfect. It’s easy to overeat with an appetizer, but I found this was just right.
For the main event, Aura ordered the lobster ravioli. I got to try a bite and was impressed. Seafood can be a bit tricky here in landlocked Tennessee, but this was good. I went with the crab cakes and gnocchi. In both dishes, the real superstar was the sauce, creamy with a hint of spice. My crab cakes were cooked perfectly. Seared with a slightly crisp exterior. Sometimes, crab cakes can be a tad dry, but not these. The lobster sauce they were set in, loaded with mushrooms, onions, spinach, and gnocchi, made the dish pop. It was a lovely combination of textures and flavors.
We capped it off with dessert – Aura choosing the strawberry pound cake that was on special, and me choosing the butterscotch bread pudding because I’m a sucker for all things butterscotch. We couldn’t finish them because we were so stuff at that point. I mean, we probably should’ve just split one dessert, but I was not going to be denied of that butterscotch bread pudding. All in all, it was a fantastic quality meal – when I got the bill it was $126 before tip. To think we could get downtown dining without heading downtown felt like accessing an entirely new world. It made me realize what a hidden gem Darfons is in the Nashville area dining scene.
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For more on Darfons, check out their website.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, second on Football & Other F Words, analyst for Stacking The Inbox, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, the NFL Draft, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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