Restaurant week in Amelia Island flourished with culinary flair, from restaurant previews to cheesemaking classes. And it all came down to the final evening,Jan. 25, at The Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort, with its Sprouting Project Farm-to-Table dinner, “Rebirth,” utilizing eggs as the ingredient of inspiration.
“We always choose an ingredient from our Sprouting Projects, so today, we tried to incorporate egg into every single aspect, from the reception cocktail to the first course, to the salad, to the entree,” said Omni Executive Sous Chef Jason Butcher.
“It was a collaboration between Executive Chef Todd, myself and others and it was a good way for us to be 'culinary nerds,' as I say. We bounce ideas off of each other and put it all together.”
Originally slated to be in the Omni greenhouse, the dinner was moved to the Sunrise Cafe due to the colder weather, but that didn’t take anything away from the food.
Guests were welcomed with a signature cocktail, eggnog with cinnamon, a fitting beverage for the chilly night that took guests back to the holiday season.
A scotch egg with beet, walnut, smoke and cress was the first of five courses crafted by Executive Chef Todd Ruiz and the Omni culinary staff. The twist? A Quail egg - and according to a unanimous vote from the guests at Table 9, it was delicious.
Next up was the chicken egg, soft-boiled, with pork belly, soy, scallions, radish, nori, sesame and a kombu broth.
“The flavors are so nice,” said dinner guest Stefanie Snabes, part of the Table 9 crew. “The pork belly is so crispy.”
It was tough slicing the crispy pork within the broth, according to Snabes, but well worth it.
A duck egg croquette accompanied the Sprouting Project “Caesar” with tableside yolk dressing, anchovy croutons and black garlic.
“It’s a sous-vide egg that we turned into a croquette, so when you cut into it, it just oozes out,” Chef Butcher said.
The anchovies were fried and crisp, complementing the silkiness of the greens and yolk dressing.
“I really liked them,” said Table 9 guest Ashley Skurla, adding that it gave the salad more texture. “I think it made that dish.”
The main and final course before dessert was an incredibly unique version of breakfast for dinner—a scrambled emu egg, served with bread and osso buco, with truffle, brioche and chives.
“I think that’s a very nice dish,” Chef Butcher said. “It’s a nice soft-scrambled egg with osso bucco chunks, crispy sweet breads. It’s very creative.”
Ashley Skurla’s husband Mark, agreed and raved about the osso bucco. “It just falls off the bone,” he said, taking another bite.
The fifth and final course came down to what seemed to be an elevated, deconstructed version of an egg creme brulee.
“So, the first thing I did was steal a bunch of duck eggs,” Executive Chef Todd Ruiz joked while explaining the dessert, saying that the consistency duck eggs is what provides the smoothness for the custard guests saw on their plates.
“This is really good,” Mark Skurla said, again, scooping up another taste.
After dessert, guests stood up and gave a round of applause to Omni’s culinary team, an array of professionals from all backgrounds and cultures with a common passion for food.
Photos by Daniela Toporek
