65 North Main Street
High Springs, FL 32643-2652
(386) 454-1288
I've often wanted to check out The Great Outdoors up in High Springs, as I've heard good things about it and it looks really charming. I've always envisioned a nice day at the springs followed by a hearty meal at what I assumed was a unique hidden gem in sleepy North Alachua County. Upon finally visiting, however, I was faced with many realizations. First, I'm out of my element up here. That's why my blog is so negative. Food around us is mostly aimed at college (read poor) kids and rednecks. Sure, a lone stand out or two can surprise me from time to time, but overall, I'm not the target market of the restaurateurs in this part of the country. Second, I'm not comfortable when surrounded by Florida Cracker/redneck culture. For example, the little store next door to the restaurant had about half a dozen different front pages from various newspapers on the day of Osama Bin Laden's death. I don't think they'll be taking them down any time soon.
Back to the restaurant. The building was very charming and well done. It took them about 10 minutes to figure out where to seat us (the place was empty), but that allowed ample time to browse the bits and bobs of local history hanging on the wall. To be honest, the little "downtown" strips of Gainesville's surrounding small towns are quite charming and deserve the utmost preservation efforts. We sat on the back porch/bar area, which was very beautifully done. It was almost idyllic out back there until I realized how Red State it felt. I could easily see a bunch of drunken rednecks on a Friday or Saturday night gettin all riled up by some fairy college boys and fittin' ta rassle em.
I ordered one of their private label beers, which are contract brewed through Indian River Brewery in Melbourne. The one I chose was Naked Ed Pale Ale. Naked Ed, for you fans of local lore, is a real dude who lives in the woods completely naked at all times. My favorite part about this "Pale Ale," was the first three lines of the description on the bottle: "This Amber Ale..." Hey, but who's keeping track of things like that?
The porch features live music, and it's about what you can expect of a place in High Springs, FL. The only serious problem (besides the Matchbox 20 covers and basically every other song they played) was that it was being played at ear splitting levels. Just two dudes on acoustic guitars prevented us from being able to hear each other talk at the table 20 yards away.
To start, I ordered the side portion of the nut n berry salad ($5) which featured organic field greens, dried cranberries, roasted pears, spiced walnuts and Maytag bleu cheese in a honey balsamic. It tasted like thanksgiving dessert in salad form. It was pretty delicious, but I'm pretty sure the dressing was made out of pure brown sugar and honey.
For my entree, I ordered the Cajun griddled redfish. They offer their fish prepared in 4 different fashions (cajun griddled, ginger-ponzu pan roasted, deep fried, and grilled) and I picked what seemed to be the most foolproof method. They specify on the menu in an almost boastful manner that the blackened seasoning is Chef Paul Prudhomme's special blend of spices. Seriously? Fucking Paul Prudhomme? I joked with our server by asking if Paul Prudhomme was actually working tonight. He didn't get it. All the fish dishes were served on a bed of organic greens with sweet pea and saffron infused Israeliean cous cous. Despite the fact that it's "Israeli," you can't really fault the folks here, as they've probably never even seen a real live Jew up in their parts. Besides, they're just doing the best job they can at Americaniean cuisine. Also, it really didn't need the overly generous dollop of buttery creamy whatever that they plopped on top. All in all, the fish was OK, nothing great, nothing terrible. The greens and cous cous were cold, which was odd and they seemed to be seasoned with a light balsamic vinaigrette, which was equally bizarre. The combination of flavors didn't really go with the flavor of the fish.
I really don't know what I was expecting. It was straight up American cuisine with loads of simply prepared meats and an aim to please the good country folk of High Springs. If you're passing through on your way back from the springs, it might be worth checking out, but don't go out of your way to eat here.
