TOUR DE CHOW:The Culinary Escapade of EPI© Restaurant
EPI© restaurant was my second home once– my second family. I experienced the début of the first menu, which featured dishes the likes of which I’d never seen before. I trained under a sommelier– our savant of wine culture. I learned about foie gras, and sauce perigourdine, and sous-vide eggs, and I experienced the camaraderie found between those warriors on the battlefield of hospitality– fought valiantly with them. I poured Tommy Lee Jones’s and Meryl Streep’s chardonnay. I waited on a three star general, and even met Shaquille O’Neil; he consumed an entire cheesecake and downed a gallon of southern sweet tea single-handedly. My business card read House Barista, but I dabbled in all affairs, of which there are many in a world-class restaurant like EPI©. Anyone who has been knows the experience begins at the front door.
Patrons quickly become satiated by the endless nuances of the interior. A mosaic that reads “Once Upon A Time” welcomes diners, and subtly foreshadows the story-like experience they encounter when dining. Elegant scotches, whiskeys, and cognacs glisten atop a glass mirror étagère. The bar, in-laid with glowing Morse code symbols that spell out the word EPICUREAN, hosts a mixologist who crafts a myriad of colorful cocktails with gastronomic flair. Five towering leather banquettes seat parties comfortably with seclusion at black, lacquered, mahogany tables. The most prominent table, aptly named the “family booth”, sits beneath paintings that picture the chef and his family– ah, the chef.
EPI© is the brainchild of Executive Chef Jamie Keating and his wife Melissa. He lives his life by the rigorous mantra of “failure is not an option,” and he means it. By applying this code to his staff and himself, Jamie brought esteemed notoriety to EPI© in the form of a Four Diamond Recognition by AAA, and a rating of Top Forty Restaurants in the world by Gayot for phenomenal cuisine and exemplary service. He goes above and beyond to find new ways of experimenting with food and his guests. In his kitchen, you can find immersion circulators for cooking in the style of sous-vide, a Polyscience Antigriddle and liquid nitrogen for freezing ingredients to make sorbets and iced treats, dehydrators for making fruit garnishes, and even a table for having dinner.
Yes, at EPI©, Jamie and his chefs invite you to have dinner in the kitchen, but this is no normal dinner. If you reserve this once-in-a-lifetime experience, the chefs treat you to an eight-course dégustation and fill you to your hearts desire. The dishes you eat are usually experimental, and could be literally anything. I have seen smoking guns that tainted duck breast with hickory and apple-wood, siphon vac pots that infused ingredients to create sauces that dressed diver scallops, and even Ishi-Yaki where you cook Wagyu beef and octopus on Japanese hot rocks at the table. The chef’s table experience, as unique as it is, is quite different from the intimacy of the a la carte experience in the dining room. A multiple dining course option is still available, but the selection is up to you.
EPI© is truly a sight for sore eyes. The luxurious interior, expansive menu, creative drinks, and knowledgeable wait staff lure you in for a unique culinary adventure that you wont find anywhere else in Columbus. Reservations are required, but this measure ensures that you are allotted the time you deserve. Also, proper attire is necessary for entry; you can call the restaurant at 706-507-9909 for more information, or visit www.epiccuisine.com to view the menu, wine list, and cocktail list.
