Wow!  What a way to go!  This Tour D’ Epicure was a “foodie’s” dream.  Hopping from one fine dining establishment to the next, being graciously chauffered through the gorgeous tree-lined historic streets of downtown Savannah with no worries about driving or parking, anxiously anticipating the next stop, made for a magical, memorable evening of tasty treats, tantilizing tastings, and tempting art.

Kudos must first be extended to the go-getting gals who co-organized this inaugural tour for the over 120 participants.  Shelley Smith, owner of Eos and Kristin King, co-owner of New Arts Ensembles, are to be loudly applauded for all their tenacity and unselfish effort that went in to putting this all together for such a worthy cause.  According to Kristin,  “We are very excited and hopeful for it to become established as an annual event.”

The idea grew out of a conversation Kristin and Shelley had last October.  Shelley wanted to do something to honor the daughter, Velouria Smith Proctor, whom she lost during her 7th month of pregnancy.  Shelley and Kristin decided that this event for the food bank’s initiatives to reduce childhood hunger, like Kids Café, would be appropriate.

At 7 PM Sunday evening, 6 trolleys, each carrying approximately 20 food, wine, and art afficionados, all launched from one of these hot spots described below. (For me, it was reminiscent of a shotgun start from back in my golfing days.)  Each 30-minute stop featured fine food, fine wine, and fine art available for silent bidding.

Our first stop was Local 11 Ten, where the chef plated up a jumbo North Carolina diver scallop for each patron, capped with sprigs of fresh minted salad greens, accompanied by seared foie gras, and a stroke of blackberry gastrique to add a splash of vibrant color to the plates.

After our first stop, we boarded the trolley and headed on down the road to the only “non-eating” part of our trip, the Iocovozzi Gallery.  As we stepped inside, we were graciously greeted by our host, Kim Iocovozzi and his lovely wife, Helen.

Although strictly an art and wine stop on our tour, there was one culinary element waiting for us inside.  Ladies from St. Peters Episcopal Church on Skidaway Island were on hand to sell copies of their latest cookbook, Manna from Savannah, a collection of over 700 favorite recipes from island residents.  100% of the proceeds from the sale of these books go directly to the Kid’s Café program.

Every dish we dined on that evening was delicious in its own right, however, the one that pleased my palate the most was Chef Roberto’s creation for us at Leoci’s.  Simply put, it was AMAZING!  Italian food has always been my weakness and this dish was no exception.  I can honestly say it’s one of the best dishes I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting.  Roberto created handmade gnocchi stuffed with fresh Main lobster tossed in a light tomato champagne cream sauce, accompanied on the plate with 2 pieces of bruschetta on toasted, homemade ciabatta bread.  Bellissimo!

Next stop, Cha Bella, where we were treated to a dish of fresh local shrimp, sautéed in a Provencal sauce made from white wine, tomatoes, and local herbs, served over a bed of Carolina Gold risotto and garnished with organic watercress.

Then, we were back on the trolley and headed down to Habersham Street for our final 2 stops of the evening, the sister restaurants of Sol and Eos.

Ashley Scott, the cook with “soul” from Sol (freshly graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in NY) created a tasty lobster & Georgia shrimp ceviche, a citrus-marinated seafood dish originating from the coast of Peru.  Marinated in lime juice, diced mango, blood orange, pico de gallo, cucumber, and tarragon, the ceviche was placed over parmesan crostini spread with cilantro butter and drizzled with chili oil.  A truly distinctive and memorable flavor experience.

To cap off our evening, we ended up at EOS, the restaurant owned by Shelley Smith, one of the founders of this exciting new event.  Here, traditional French steak tartare, made from finely chopped beef, spiced, marinated, and chilled, was plated next to Roma tomato slivers, baguette slices, and garnished with micro greens.

Oh yea, I almost forgot!   There was wonderful wine and fabulous art along the way, too.  Please forgive me, but what do you expect from a focused “foodie”.  Next year, maybe I’ll plan to bring along someone who can write about those aspects of the tour, as well.  But this year, I just was too busy eating!