Lynchburg's Underground Supper Club

Do you want a fun eating experience? Then, you should come and find out more about Lynchburg’s Underground Supper Club

. This is really unique because it is in non-restaurant locations with people you may not know. You will enjoy a 5-7 course meal at a place the chef will choose with people that you will meet that you might not have known before.

Chef Preston Cravey III makes all of his foods from locally and organically grown meats and vegetables. He’s from Charleston, SC. He has learned a lot from Chef McKee and has won the highest award for cooking from the Charleston Food and Wine Fest

as well as the James Beard House

. He graduated from the Culinary Institute of Charleston

.

He is a certified chef with the American Culinary Federation and has been a judge for two high school culinary programs, which are the VICA and FCCLA. He has also been a personal chef to Robert McNair who is the NFL owner of the Houston Texans, has worked with celebrity chefs, and local authors of different cookbooks.

After leaving Charleston, Chef Preston, was the Campus Ex Sous Chef for UNC Chapel Hill until arriving in Lynchburg to take over as Executive Chef at Liberty University. A knee surgery in 2009 ended what was to be his last stop before returning to North Carolina, as a Regionial Chef. He took a job as an Instructor at Culinas, and taught his way of cooking. In keeping with his Southern background,in 2010 started running his Famous Underground Supper Clubs.

The Supper Club announces its next meal online once a month a week ahead of the event. The next event is August 7^th Dancing Leaf Premier Dinner Party, welcoming the special guest, Mayor Joan Foster. You can purchase tickets online at http://lynchburgsupperclub.com/tickets/.

You can contact Chef Preston at pcravey1021@gmail.com. To learn more you can go to http://lynchburgsupperclub.com and by following Lynchburg’s Underground Supper Club on Twitter. It will be a fun experience with the most incredible food! You don’t want to miss out.

I visited Isabella’s this Sunday (4/19) with three of my friends. The first thing that struck me was the homage to the old Isabella’s in the Vestibule – the walls were yellow and the painting of Isabella hung on the wall. However, this is the ONLY remembrance of the past. The new restaurant is chic, metro, funky, and very sleek. It is decorated in muted grays with minimal decor. There is a great lounge section with funky Zebra stools in the bar area. There is a back room with a fireplace that can be curtained off for private parties. And the best part is that they kept the old Meriwether’s bar which keeps the place feeling like home to those of us who miss it.

Okay – on to the really good stuff. Besides having excellent service, we were treated to some culinary delights that will keep this self-proclaimed culinary snob coming back for more.

Our first course was a little decadent for a Sunday afternoon, but we wanted to celebrate and decided to start with cocktails. Anyone who has been to Isabella’s before knows that they offer amazing Bellinis and this was the perfect way to start our brunch.

Of the four of us who ate, three ordered the Italian Eggs Benedict served on Rosemary Focaccia, with Pancetta, spinach, and a basil hollandaise. I LOVE eggs Benedict and this one ties for my most favorite EVER. The bread was nice and crusty, the pancetta added the perfect balance of salt, the eggs were cooked to perfection, and the hollandaise was light with a subtle hint of basil. We all cleaned our plates!

One guest got the Buttermilk Blueberry Pancakes and I can happily report that these are not your Mother’s pancakes. They were huge, fluffy, loaded with blueberries and yummy!

Reviews of Isabella’s Italian Trattoria:

http://www.10best.com/

http://www.yelp.com/