Review: Fine dining at The Bank in Pearisburg proves sound investment
Thursday, July 4, 2013
I recently coerced two well-traveled ladies — who have sampled cuisine from South Carolina’s shores to the South of France — to join me for a fine dining expedition to The Bank Food and Drink in Pearisburg. The owners of the former bank, Linda and Lynn Haynes, had leased it to several restaurateurs before deciding to remodel and reopen the restaurant themselves in 2012. Chef Michael Behmoiras leads the kitchen.
After a warm hostess greeting, we got a quick tour of the restaurant, along with a briefing on the current artworks displayed (All local artists. All for sale.). At the conclusion of the tour, we requested a more private table in an alcove and were happily accommodated.
After perusing the drink menu, my companions chose a bottle of Cline Viognier ($24) from the wine list. For me, a Pimm’s cup cocktail ($7) — a mix of Pimm’s liqueur, lemon juice, ginger beer and cucumber — was a refreshing start to the meal. An array of craft beers are also available. Fresh rolls with honey butter were proffered periodically by our friendly server while we sipped and waited for our food.
One of our party started with soup of the day ($6) — a cream of mushroom — which she generously let us sample. Earthy and dark, with a subtle hint of wine, it could easily have served as a meal in itself. Two of us shared roasted beet salad with goat cheese ($6). The beets were well cooked; a bed of frisee and blood orange vinaigrette provided contrasting bright notes to the richness of the beets and cheese.
Entrees arrived in a well-timed fashion. The crispy duck breast ($22) did indeed have a well-seasoned, crispy finish. The interior was tender, moist, and flavorful. Accompanying chipotle grits, slightly spicy and smoky, were also delicious. (The menu indicates the grits are locally milled, though our server could not tell us where, specifically.)
Drunken Seafood ($20) consisted of a huge plate of seafood swimming in an unremarkable wine broth. The mussels and shrimp were cooked adequately, but the cuttlefish was unpleasantly tough. Potatoes and baby corn didn’t add much to the dish overall.
Spinach garlic ravioli ($18) was tender, stuffed generously with spinach and cheese, and smothered in a rich, velvety rose sauce.
Generously stuffed ourselves at this point, we let the chocolate lover pick dessert. The chocolate mousse bombe ($7), featuring dark and white chocolate mousse, frozen raspberry cream, chocolate glaze, raspberry gelee and caramel sauce, had a little too much going on for my tastes. The chocolate lover enjoyed it though.
I returned for a light dinner with my husband, a well-traveled foodie himself. This time we were seated at a cozy table upstairs, which our server explained used to be the bank’s boardroom. I ordered the limelight cocktail ($8), a citrusy-minty vodka concoction, to start. My husband tried the Bank Negroni ($9), a unique blend of spirits with an orangey bite. Again, both cocktails were expertly mixed and a great palate-cleansing start to dinner.
Fennel cabbage salad ($6) and seared scallops ($9) were our appetizer-sized meal. I generally dislike fennel’s strong taste, but the dish was balanced well with the cabbage’s mildness, the sweetness of candied pecans and a dijon vinaigrette zing. I’m also wary of ordering scallops, as they’re often under- or overcooked. Again, I was pleasantly surprised by a perfectly seared outside and tender inside.
Dessert featured an individual carrot cake ($7) with ginger cream cheese frosting (complete with bits of crystallized ginger) and ginger chocolate sauce. If you’re not a fan of ginger, this is obviously not for you. I, however, love ginger and thought it worked deliciously with the carrot cake. We also enjoyed a red raspberry filled fried pie ($7). A warm gooey inside and a flaky golden outside paired perfectly with a dollop of whipped cream.
After a debriefing session, all of the foodies I dined with agreed: The Bank’s atmosphere, architecture, service and food are a fine dining experience well worth traveling for.
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