This past weekend, Stephanie and I attended the 25th Anniversary Celebration of Rooster’s: A Noble Grille.

Guafrette (top), Lamb liver (bottom)

It was a pretty big day for them. I’d say around 200-300 people were in attendance throughout the day. Draft beer and a fine selection of wines were there and flowing freely, both in the physical and financial senses of the word. Fantastic appetizers and hors d’oeuvres like NC Oyster salad bites wrapped in a spinach leaf. Great crunch to the oyster while leaving it soft on the inside. Stauber Farms lamb liver mousse crostini with an onion jam. The liver was creamy and smooth with just that hint of tang that you’d expect plus the onion jam was added, too. Wow. And the Sunburst Farms smoked trout dip with roe on guafrettes. I think this was my favorite because of the saltiness the waffle chip brought to the savory trout and eggs.

Oyster salad bite

When the time came for the main attraction food, they had a large outdoor buffet setup next to a cooker that was almost as large as my en suite bathroom in my house. It was massive. There were cold and hot items on the buffets.

On the cold side they had a kale, farro, pickled apples, chevre, almonds, champagne honey and rye salad. They also had a spinach, roasted beets, walnuts, candied shallots, basil, balsamic vinaigrette salad. And, to finish it off, a purple sweet potatoes, pea shoots, pickled ramps salad with a collard pesto and toasted seeds. I steered clear of that one because I don’t like sweet potatoes. I ate my way around the walnuts and beets in the spinach salad. All that I had was very crisp and flavorful. Tangy dressings and lush greens. Very nice.

Plate of goodness

The hot buffet was the attraction, though. There was prime brisket done Texas bbq style and pork butt done Lexington style. There was an Eastern and a Western slaw. Housemade pickled jalapeno hushpuppies (they were really good), a very creamy and cheesy mac-n-cheese and pan-fried corn were also some faves of mine. There was wood fired beets with sherry and sea salt (again, I don’t eat beets), fried pickled cauliflower with amaranth, chilies and yogurt that I also stayed away from. One thing that I really did like was the toasted curry, basil, potato nest and ginger oil gnocchi. The curry was spicy but not hot. I’d actually say it was spiced to more accurate.

For dessert there was Moravian sugar cake bread pudding, currant Courvoisier caramel and vanilla gelato. The currant Courvoisier caramel was divine! Thick, warm and saucy, it started to melt the gelato just a tad so it was perfect with the pudding.

Moravian sugar cake bread pudding

I really want to thank Chef John Bobby, Chef Jim Noble and their staff for the invitation and for having this restaurant available for the community. Here’s hoping they’re here for another 25 years, at least. Cheers!

You can find more about Rooster’s: A Noble Grille on their website and select the Winston-Salem location or one of the other locations, if you’re so inclined. Roosters in Winston-Salem is located at 380 Knollwood Street. Go have some deliciousness and tell them that I sent you!