” Franglais” Food Translated to New American: The Back Burner
When you think of Macon’s staple restaurants, the ones you want to turn to for business lunches, bringing the parentals into town, or just generally being impressed, Back Burner has been one of the front-runners of the pack for many years. Long a standard for French-inspired creations, Chef Julio Rosas took over the reins in January 2015 and breathed new life into the old classics. What was once a menu that was fairly strictly “Franglais” is now a rich assortment of New American cuisine. Never fear, though; Chef Julio has left a good number of the favored French dishes on the menu while infusing his own training and background into the fare.
Your faithful Editor-In-Chief and I went for dinner to try out the new items, though I must admit I stuck squarely to some French classics. I was impressed right away with the wine selection – thorough but not overwhelming – and especially the variety of wine available by the glass.
If you’re not looking to buy a bottle, or the wine tastes of your party are different, only having one white and one red option can start a nice meal off on the wrong foot. There were multiple options by the glass for each, as well as rosé and sparkling wines.
With our wine in hand we first sampled the baked brie appetizer, which I was excited to see was not “en croûte” (baked in puff pastry) but rather an uncovered baked round of baby brie with pine nuts and some gloriously caramelized onions. With a touch of sweetness from the apricot jam, you could truly taste the cheese and not just the dough that often surrounds it. I only wished we had more crostini so I would not have been so tempted to clear the plate with my finger.
Molly’s entrée was a flame-grilled Scottish salmon, which I admit I was sorely tempted by and which I received not one bite of. Reports of the lobster champagne sauce from across the table were stellar, and the fingerling potatoes that come with many of the main dishes looked delightful. I can also report that the salmon looked perfectly cooked, retaining its rich pink center without being under- or over-done.
I was wooed by a French classic and my favorite steak preparation of all time: steak au poivre. The way my mother used to prepare it in the very traditional manner, with whole peppercorns crusting both sides of the entire cut of meat, is admittedly a bit much on the pepper front for most non-French consumers.
Chef Julio has found a wonderful balance with fresh cracked pepper forming a flavorful crust over an absolutely enormous New York strip. Truly, my jaw actually dropped when the plate arrived. This would easily be a shareable dish with a starter for both parties. The cognac cream sauce was divine and I wanted to put it on everything on my plate, from the pesto mashed potatoes to the grilled asparagus to every last morsel of beef there was.
Still reeling from my steak, I reluctantly agreed to dessert (ok, not so reluctantly…). Chef Julio’s bread pudding is pretty much impossible to resist, because he makes it with croissants instead of traditional bread and that truly pushes it over the edge into sinfully good.
I tore myself out of the bread pudding long enough to also sample the key lime pie, which was tartly refreshing after a heavy meal of, well, everything.
If you haven’t already, go follow The Back Burner on Facebook and they will taunt you with incredible photos of their weekly Lobster Night fare plus all sorts of great specials and a thorough lunch menu. And above all, the service is phenomenal; just ask the first-timers behind us who were given a ride back to their hotel by Chef Julio’s lovely wife, Karen, after they had a terrible Macon taxi experience. If you’ve never been before, if it’s been a while, or even if you went just a short while ago… get thee to The Back Burner!
