So we went to Tender for dinner on a nice Friday evening. After dropping Mary Catherine and Mindy off at the door I toured Lawerenceville for ~15 minutes hunting for parking only to find a spot a half a block away.
Walking in the door you can immediately tell someone spent loads of money on this place. It looks well established even though it had just opened. The main bar was huge and very inviting, the back room was a little small but looked comfortable. The downstairs, where we ate, was a nice room (it could use something to help deflect the noise a bit) even though it didn’t offer much of a view.
Menu items are meant to be shared (sort of) and they are smallish so get a few to try out if you go.
We had the:
- Potato Chips
- Hush Puppies (a little salty)
- Mac & Cheese (lighter than you’d expect)
- Meatloaf (Good but the potato dumplings stole the show)
- Scrapple (not your Mom’s scrapple)
No dessert but we did have a few drinks. the bar is focused on prohibition era drinks and you can tell they take their time preparing them. The results were well worth the wait.
- Old Bond Street Fizz (gin, bourbon, creme de violette, lavender, vanilla, egg white, cream)
- Strip District Sequel (Wiggle rye whiskey, thyme, lemon, Lillet Blanc)
- The Van Buren (Wiggle genever, Green Chartreuse, Benedictine, Dolin dry vermouth, rhubarb bitters, rose water)
They get points for using local produce and liquor, we like that. We also like the ‘uniforms’ the staff wore. Lots of flapper type dresses, flowers in the hair, vests, etc. That really added to the feel of the place.