Omnivore - Figs at Dynamic Dish

Among my favorite summer tastes is figs and the dish above, which I ordered Thursday night at Dynamic Dish, made superb use of them.

Owner/Chef David Sweeney found the organic Black Mission figs at the Dekalb Farmers Market on Thursday morning. They were ripe, but not over-ripe, still a bit coarse, but with a pointed sweetness. He served them atop whipped chevre spread on bread. They were garnished with lightly candied pecans.

Interestingly, the open-face sandwich was served with a purple potato salad, garnished with cucumber slices. I say “interestingly,” because the skin of Black Mission figs turns purple with ripening, so it was cool to see the color turn up unexpectedly.

I also ordered a gazpacho made from local tomatoes, tinted with yellow turmeric and garnished with sunflower sprouts. For dessert: warmed rhubarb compote, almost shockingly sour, sweetened with vanilla ice cream dusted with cardamon.

Honestly, the array of flavors in this and every other meal I’ve had at Dynamic Dish is staggering.

The restaurant was doing a brisk business Thursday night and the most exuberant diner was the youngster pictured here, throwing his arms up in victory as he stepped on another of his toy cars, like Godzilla destroying Tokyo.

Incidentally, Atlanta magazine featured Dynamic Dish in its July issue. You can read Christiane Lauterbach’s review here.

(Photos by Cliff Bostock)