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Dining Out
M E T R O
Fresh Thyme: The Place To Be on New Year's Eve
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OUTLET
1216 Broad St. • 722-4653 across from Sunshine Bakery & Firestone Tire Mon-Fri 8am-5pm • Sat 10am-3pm
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t starts at 5 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. Fresh Thyme in Surrey Center is making its oh-so-special menu even more enticing and fabulous by adding specials for one night only, in celebration of the new year. Ring in 2003 with specials including fresh lobster, seafood and wild game. Now, that’s the way to celebrate. Even if you can’t make it in on New Year’s Eve, you can have a special dinner any night of the year. Dinner offerings include, on the high end, pan-seared filet of Angus beef with a port wine reduction, creamy mashed potatoes and asparagus for $22. For $10 less, you can get al dente spaghettini pasta tossed with fresh basil, arugula, grape tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil and garlic. A midrange meal is the pan-seared duck breast with a foie gras and roasted garlic-stuffed potato cake, seared greens, and a fig balsamic glaze for $17. I don’t think you’ll be getting these meals at other nearby restaurants. The wine list runs the gamut from $21 for a bottle of Kris Merlot ‘99 to $170 for a bottle of Far Niente “Cave Collection” Cabernet Sauvignon ‘97. About half their wines are available by the glass (but that isn’t one of them). The second most expensive bottle is $60. If you take the Far Niente out of the mix, the average price is $31 a bottle. There’s something there for every price range. To further enjoy Fresh Thyme’s wine list, you can take part in the next wine dinner, on Wednesday, Jan. 15. For $40 per person, you can partake of a five-course meal and wine offerings from Toad Hollow wineries in California. If you don’t make this one, owner Dave McCluskey offers them once a month, always on a Wednesday night. “We’re striving for quality and value with both food and wines,” McCluskey said. And in order to do that, he keeps a limited menu. There are plenty more offerings than those mentioned here, but not pages and pages like some restaurants offer.
McCluskey’s plan is to keep it simple and do it well. Lunch is something special too. Where else in town can you have a lunch of prosciutto sandwich with a fig and balsamic jam, on a baguette with fresh greens and a roasted potato salad? And for only $7. Or a warm, pressed Cuban-style sandwich with Cuban-style beans and fried plantain, or roasted turkey croissant Cape Cod Cranberry spread and French brie. For $6 and $7, respectively. Fresh Thyme is an elegant little nook tucked into Surrey Center where you can stop in for a special meal and an escape from the daily grind. McCluskey wants his place to be intimate, relaxed and, yes, elegant. It succeeds on all counts. Pictures of Indian corn, sunflowers and squash against a cool green background give it a homey, deli feel. And the wood-plank tables don’t hurt either. But there’s nothing rustic about this cafe. Understated elegance is the order of the day. McCluskey said the restaurant took an unexpected turn due to customer demand. “We started out as a catering service that did lunch,” he said. “It morphed into a restaurant that also does catering.” He must have done something right in the year and a half he’s been there. McCluskey’s background in the restaurant business, starting when he was a 12-year-old on Cape Cod, and his subsequent career as a chef, makes cooking dinner for his patrons the natural thing to do. At night, he said, the cute little cafe dresses up with table cloths and candles. Same goes for the services he offers. Besides Lunch, Dinner, Corporate and Gourmet catering, he will rent out Fresh Thyme for private parties, including wedding rehearsal dinners. Fresh Thyme is located in Surrey Center, 437 Highland Avenue in Augusta. You can call them at (706) 737-6699. It is open Monday through Saturday, with lunch from 11:00 until 2:30. Dinner runs from 5:30 until.