June 2005 - Wind Haven Pub
5.69 - 6.5, 6.5, 6.5, 6, 5.5, 5.5, 4.5, 4.5 

It seems like we just had dinner and, even though it was technically “last month”, we did.  Summer schedules tend to be even more hectic than the rest of the year (as usual), so DP8, rather than skip the month of June all together, decided to forge ahead just a quick week after our May dinner to the Windhaven Pub, just outside of Hensonville.  A beautiful, albeit rather warm, early Summer evening was the back drop to our ride up the mountain.  As is always the case especially this time of year, everyone’s schedule is gearing up for those few weeks (at least, hopefully!) of warmer weather, as well as catching up with the non-stop outside work, so there was no lack of conversation, about the weather, about upcoming vacations, and activities of the past week (the annual home tour in Athens, Freihofer Run, shopping for baby shower gifts, working out of town, to name a few…).
     The atmosphere at Windhaven was pub-like, informal and relaxed, which was a nice change of pace, since the weekend in general had been hectic for most of us.  We had a rectangular table in a small dining room, all to ourselves, with a great view of the surrounding mountain area.
     The Up Side – I heard no complaints about the food.  In fact, it seemed many were very pleasantly surprised at the variety of the menu options, as well as the plates placed before them.  We started with rather ordinary appetizers, i.e., Clams Casino, chicken fingers and chips and salsa, all more than adequate in portion size and quality.  I heard there was a filet mignon “better than the last one I had at ‘The Inn’” – high praise indeed.  Kriss and Ken concurred that their strip steaks were also very good.  I’m not a veal eater myself, but I do know that it’s not always an easy menu choice and Judy appeared quite pleased with the Veal Saltimbocca.  There was the chicken special (with lime and a black bean salsa), which Don deemed o.k., and Chay declared his Cajun shrimp and pasta dish acceptable (a little more “Cajun” would be good was the bottom line).  The Debs each opted for the open face crab sandwich – Yummm is really all I have to say about that and I think the other Deb concurred.
     The service matched the general atmosphere of the restaurant, casual, friendly and, if not exemplary, certainly more than adequate.  I’ve forgotten his name (help me somebody), but he had a good sense of humor and was eager to be of service.  All in all, a good job, whatever your name is…
     The Down Side - It was a warm night and, although the windows were open, we could have used the air conditioning.  We all sighed a sigh of relief when a breeze finally kicked in and wafted through the windows.  Even the waiter looked a bit sweaty (poor thing, all we had to do was sit there, and he was running around trying to make us happy).
     The only other bad thing I can think of is that we opted out of dessert at the restaurant so we could stop for ice cream on the way home.  Seemed like a good idea at the time and everyone was up for ice cream.  Of course, Johnny B Good was closed and the Teators/Adams headed for home.  The Monteverds/Karnes, however, once the seed of ice cream was planted, decided they could not live without it and ended up at Stewart’s (the only place open still serving ice cream).
-----All in all, a very pleasant evening.  The restaurant, in my mind anyway, turned out to be a pleasant discovery that Chay and I will visit again.  Thanks, Tom Baldwin, for the recommendation.

-- burned Spring 2008