C’EST DÉLICIEUX SUPPER

Bonjour, y’all! Candy Apple Café & Cocktails’ new menu items bring French and Southern style to the table in a fun and delicious way.

Start your meal with some of their newest appetizers, like the buffalo chicken croquets ($9) or the housemade chips with creamy bacon dip ($6). The bacon dip is a bestseller for a reason, because it’s one of those creations that’s good on just about anything.

For dinner, we sampled several dishes from the new menu, each more delicious than the last. The CharGrilled Filet Mignon ($32) cuts like butter and is topped with creamy crumbles of pungent Roquefort cheese. The dish includes mushrooms, asparagus and the loveliest wedge of savory brioche bread pudding. The savory pudding is something I’d order separately — which to me is the ultimate compliment to a side dish.

The fabulous staff recommended pairing the Blueberry Provençal ($11) from their signature cocktail menu with the Herb Roasted Chicken Moutarde ($24) and the combo makes for a most delicious coupling. The Blueberry Provençal cocktail uses vodka to create a light, lemony-lavender concoction that, when combined with the herbaceous-ness of the chicken, creates a very happy finish.

The Short Rib Pot-Au-Feu ($28) includes a broth cooked low and slow with oxtail and bone marrow. It’s as warming as it is fragrant. A surprising feature of this dish are the cornichons — tiny  pickles. The Pot-Au-Feu makes you feel like your taste buds are tucked in a cozy blanket next to a fire, with the perfect glass of red.

Don’t worry, vegetarians, I’m not leaving you out. The decadent Wild Mushroom Risotto ($17) is creamy as it is rich, exactly how a risotto should be. As an added bonus, it can be made to be vegan if ordered without the Parmigiano-Reggiano.

You can’t leave the Candy Apple without dessert (I mean, come on, it’s the Candy Apple). While they still have their signature candy apples ($9) on the menu, like Sea Salt Carmel Candy Bacon or Rocky Road, which features a whole mouthful of fantastic add-ons like homemade marshmallows, pecans and chocolate, I’d suggest taking one of those to go and opting for something from the Craft Candy Cocktail menu. You saved enough room for one of their new drinks, right? So say hello to the Sarsaparilla Float ($11) and Bourbon S’mores ($12). The s’mores feature, you guessed it, a great big, impeccably browned, marshmallow on top; the float is a glass of ice cream and bourbon whisky and a small carafe of root beer.

If you feel like your dessert needs a fork, go with a piece of Ginger Carrot Cake ($8) that has more layers than Shrek. The dense, moist cake is separated by substantial layers of mascarpone vanilla bean that isn’t too sweet. It’s the ideal finish to a fabulous meal.