The Foundry Craft Grillery, located in Lebanon’s downtown on South 8th Street, sprawls above the historic Lebanon Farmer’s Market with its multi-colored bursts of farm-harvested fruits, vegetables and other foodstuffs. Naturally, the dynamic restaurant takes advantage of many locally seasonal ripe ingredients available from the stands within an arm’s reach. In recent months, Executive Chef Dwayne Spencer, with his customary panache, creatively turned a traditional American berry shortcake into a dessert worth driving for.
“Our Pastry Chef, Jamie Hager, deserves credit. I come up with the ideas, and she executes them. We work well together,” he says happily.
Here’s a simplified description of that dessert: Taking poundcake to the Foundry’s grills, Chef Hager heats the hearty cake to a light char, just enough to infuse a pungent dash of wood-fired flavor; then she builds the dessert with ripe berries, juicy berry sauce, and fresh-whipped cream until it resembles a 3D painting. Simply scrumptious and infinitely richer-tasting than the milder-mannered version of a dessert by the same name, this Strawberry Shortcake is livened up with sprigs of mint and artful curls of chocolate.
No need to fret when strawberries have stopped growing, though. There will always be a seasonal dessert on The Foundry’s menu to pay homage to Nature’s bounty. Look for cherries and peaches, tart apples and pumpkin, in all sorts of sweet forms.
For a satisfying ending any time of year, do consider after-dinner coffee or tea to accompany the Foundry’s remarkable Lemon Cream Cake. It’s not too sugary, nor too tart, featuring a lemon-true, feather-light sponge cake: two fat cakey layers, a whipped center, and tight, full frosting on the top and back edge. It’s the kind of cake that everyone hopes to win at a cake walk.
For reservations and dining, see: www.foundrylebanon.com
By Marian Frances Wolbers | Photo by Heidi Reuter
