Last Thursday, February 18, Dirt Candy was attacked by…

.

.

Yes, they were excited by the smell of fear and so they feasted at Dirt Candy’s Honey Dinner! With your host, Ted Dennard, the founder of the Savannah Bee Company and a man who spoke for 6 straight hours about bees, bees, bees and nothing but bees.

.

.

A sneaky bee lurks at Dirt Candy waiting for

an open table.

.

.

More bees!

.

.

Aaah! Beeeesss!

.

Everyone got honey gift bags, just like celebrities

at the People’s Choice Awards.

.

Ted had a table during the first seating, but I forgot to hold one for him at the second. Fortunately, Ted cannot be defeated by something as simple as not having a chair. At the second seating he wound up moving from table to table, squeezing in with customers and discussing everything from bee AIDS (we’ve been here before – don’t panic, he says) and African killer bees (they can’t be stopped) to royal jelly (tastes bad) and honeydew (basically: aphid vomit).

.

Preach, Brother Ted!

.

Preach the Honey Gospel!

.

Then there was the food. First up, a new kind of hush puppy: Chipotle Hush Puppies with Peace Honey Butter. The butter was good, but not as good as the maple butter. Chipotle hush puppies, however, may find their way onto the menu soon.

.

I was using the camera on my phone. The

food did not look fuzzy and blown out in real life.

.

Then came Carrot Soup with Tupelo Honey Pearls and Cheddar Powder. This is one of the best carrot soups I’ve made, and I loved the tupelo pearls, but the problem is that the honey breaks down the pearl too quickly so I don’t think I can put them on the menu. They’re too fragile.

.

“We’re fragile.”

.

.

Sending out 18 dishes at a time was a challenge.

We’re small. Tiny.

.

.

Plates were stacked on top of plates

when we were plating.

.

.

The next course was Winter Salad with Maple Smoked Squash, Meyer Lemon and Winter White Honey Dressing. The Winter White Honey was amazing to taste: luxurious and smooth and subtle. Unfortunately, it was the hardest honey to work with. Its taste was so subtle that I had a hard time bringing it out in the dressing.

.

.

.

The blue cheese croutons didn’t work out, so

I made blue cheese, apple and honey spring rolls instead.

.

Then came Crispy King Oyster Mushrooms with warm Orange Blossom Honey Vinaigrette, Mint, Feta and wilted greens. This was a riff on the Greek salad that used to be on the menu.

.

.

.

If you’re good, the Crispy King Oyster Mushroom

Fairy will come and put crispy mushrooms under your pillow.

.

Next was Acacia Honey Laquered Tofu with Green Ragout and Grapefruit beurre blanc. This was the discovery of the night for me. People asked for spoons, they asked for bread to sop up their beurre blanc, they licked their bowls and they were right: grapefruit beurre blanc is good. Like, really good. Like, crack good. Expect it on the menu soon.

.

Tofu, glistening with honey.

.

.

They ate the beurre blanc like soup!

.

There was honeydew melon sorbet (a break from honey, although Ted explained that there really is a kind of honey called honeydew) and then dessert: Chocolate Honeycombs (the cereal) and Raspberry Honey Ice Cream with Ricotta Fritters.

.

Raw ricotta fritters ready for the fryer.

.

.

According to Ted, raspberry honey never sold well

because people assumed it had raspberry flavoring in it.

In reality, it’s honey made entirely from raspberry flowers.

And it’s pretty amazing.

.

At the end of the night, everyone was buzzed, everyone knew a ton about honey and they were all ready to go build a giant hive together. It’s exhausting to do these events for my staff and I, but this went so well that I’m thinking of maybe doing another soon.

.

“I enjoyed it, too.”

.

Thanks, bee.