Driftwood Southern Kitchen is a fairly new restaurant in Raleigh that opened up in Lafayette Village. I am not typically out this way in Raleigh, but ever since my daughter (Ella) moved to a new gymnastics place, we are up there and always trying to find something decent to eat that is nearby. I had read the reviews, so definitely felt I needed to get over there and add it to the blog. First, I just have to say that Lafayette Village is so cute and quaint – wish it was not so far from my house (I live a mile from Cameron Village) as it would be a fun place to hang out on a nice day.
Okay, Matt and I walked in and thought the atmosphere was pretty cool. They have an open kitchen, but unless you get sat right over there, you cannot see much. Here are some pictures of the inside.
The menu looked amazing when I pulled it up online and I have to apologize as I wanted to order so much more to give you feedback on, but I really am trying to lose some damn weight (getting old sucks). I would have ordered a number of dishes and just tried them for the sake of writing about them, but I do not get paid for this and the dishes are not free…….
Their cocktail menu listings have some sort of moonshine as the basis for the drink. It was $5 cocktail night, so obviously we had to order some. I went for the Strawberries and Champagne, which was made from Strawberry Moonshine and champagne. Matt ordered the Cherry Old Fashioned (cherry shine, Jim Beam, muddled orange, sugar and bitters, but Matt asked for no muddled orange). I could not even drink what I ordered…..that is how bad it was. I am a freaking lush, so I will usually get it down, but I just could not make it happen. The sad thing is that I pushed it way away from me so it was obvious that I was not going to drink it and not once did the server ask me if something was wrong with my drink, etc. I spent over 10 years in the food industry and I would NEVER walk up to a table and see that they were either not drinking or eating something and not ask about it and then offer to replace it. Nor did he ever ask us if we liked our drinks to give me the opportunity to tell him that I did not like it. I am not one to complain otherwise, so there the drink sat as Matt could not even drink it. Matt’s drink was okay, but not mind blowing. Perhaps the issue is the moonshine as the basis and we should just order our own drinks instead (they do have a full bar). Here are the pics of our drinks:
Oh, almost forgot to mention that when you sit down, they bring you a paper bag (pretty cute and clever) of pork rinds. I am not a big pork rind fan, but of course had to try it for you all……not for me and my fat ass. I was not a huge fan, BUT they do put some sort of seasoning on it (I am thinking some kind of curry powder) and if I got quite a bit of that on a bite, I did not mind it.
We decided to share a few things and went with the Watermelon Gazpacho with crab, the Andouille and Pepper Jack hushpuppies that were served with a smoked pepper aioli and the Ancho and Coffee Braised Short Ribs served over local cheddar grits and asparagus.
Let’s start with the Gazpacho. I was a bit worried this would be overwhelming with watermelon, but I really wanted to try it. It was actually pretty fabulous and was a tomato-based gazpacho with just more than a hint of watermelon and a decent amount of crab in it. We really enjoyed this and I would absolutely get it again. Sorry, took a number of bites before I remembered to take a picture! 🙂
I was really sad about the hushpuppies as those sounded totally amazing to me and were completely up my alley!! Unfortunately, they did not have much flavor (you would think it would be really flavorful considering the ingredients), but they did have a little kick in them. I just did not think they were worth the calories to eat them and have had much better hushpuppies elsewhere. Also, if you have to dip them in aioli to have any sort of flavor, that is an epic fail.
Okay, now the short ribs. These were fanfuckingtastic!! They literally just fell apart when you touched them and had such a great flavor (smoky too). The cheese grits they were over were nice and thick and went perfectly with the ribs. They must have grilled the asparagus as they had a smokiness to them as well and were cooked perfectly (not too soft and not too hard…….HA….now I am talking in nursery school stories). They look slightly limp in the photo, but I assure they were not (now guys…..that excuse will not work for you). I will absolutely go back for this again!! Will definitely stick to beer or subbing out some of their cocktails with just liquor.
They had a few other things on the menu I MUST try: their pork belly appetizer, maybe their ribs (dry rubbed, smoked, then grilled), smoked and grilled meatloaf, Angus Beef Brisket (only served after 4PM) and their mini basket of cinnamon donuts. If you all go – let me know what you tried and loved!!!
