Café on the Corner's menu is rounded out by an engaging selection of specialty cocktails from the restaurant's new bar.
"We've really been having a lot of fun this summer with the bar," says executive chef Sven Lindroth, who works with his mother and restaurant owner Ruth Oehmig. "We are coming up with the most amazing drink menu with simple syrups and our own house-infused vodkas, like peach vodka."
Oehmig says the drink specials menu combines Lindroth's culinary skills with fruits, vegetables and herbs with traditional liquors to make unique and delicious cocktails. The menu features summer melon vodka prepared with Effen cucumber vodka, fresh cantaloupe juice, limejuice, simple syrup and soda. An Orange Mint Mojito is a mixture of Bacardi white rum, Grand Marnier, mint simple syrup, soda and fresh orange mint. The Berry Slusher is a popular cocktail that is a combination of Absolut Current vodka, Forest Fruit sorbet and Sprite. Lindroth says there are several house-made sorbets used in specialty drinks, but the Forest Fruit and Blood Orange sorbets are imported directly from Italy and are also available on the dessert menu.
The house-infused vodka is also used in a featured dessert, the chocolate or orange martini. The martini is prepared using organic 360-degree double chocolate vodka and orange liqueur with large and flaky chocolate and salt crystals on the rim mixed with brown sugar.
"Now that I've been here two years, I have a better feel about what the customers like and what their standards are," Lindroth says. "We are at the point in our second year where we can really have fun, experiment and push. We can do these wonderful specials."
Lindroth keeps his guests palates in mind as he prepares new drinks and entrées for the menu this summer. He says right now his new summer recipes feature fresh and local produce like tomatoes, zucchini, squash and cucumbers. In the next few weeks, Lindroth says he is going to introduce more seafood, such as mussels with smoked Benton's Bacon lardons prepared in half-pound and one-pound portions. The restaurant already features seared steelhead with a lemon caper buerre blanc, parmesan grits and roasted vegetables, and Lindroth is adding a mahi mahi entrée that will be prepared with Georgia peaches.
Lindroth says he is excited by the opportunity to introduce new recipes to the customers who trust him to prepare the best food possible both in the restaurant and for private parties and catered events. Oehmig and Lindroth are showing their appreciation for the community by giving back whenever possible.
By supporting local schools on the mountain, youth sports clubs and fundraising events like the March of Dimes Gourmet Gala, Oehmig says they hope to be an integral part of the community.
"We've been in business two years and we are so appreciative of the support we've gotten from residents of Lookout Mountain and the city of Chattanooga," Oehmig says. "It's gratifying to see how excited they've been about us being here. We just do little things here and there and
we do it because we want to show them we believe in Chattanooga and this community."