You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
DAY TRIP<br />
DATE NIGHT: Opelika<br />
By Ann Cipperly<br />
PRE-SHOW DINNER<br />
Enjoy a delicious pre-show dinner in downtown<br />
Opelika before heading to the theatre.<br />
Café 123 in<br />
downtown<br />
Opelika<br />
POST DINNER<br />
Performance<br />
Series<br />
production at<br />
the Opelika<br />
Center for the<br />
Performing<br />
Arts<br />
When attending a Performance Series production<br />
at the Opelika Center for the Performing<br />
Arts, plan to extend the evening’s pleasure with<br />
an elegant pre-theater dinner at Café 123 in downtown<br />
Opelika. Housed in a historic building, the<br />
restaurant has casual elegance with white cloths<br />
on tables, candlelight and the bar gleaming with<br />
softly lit lamps reflecting in the long mirror.<br />
History of the building goes back to the 1800s<br />
and became the Haynie’s Drugstore in 1907. Dark<br />
walnut cases remain from when the drugstore<br />
occupied the space.<br />
Select a comfortable booth at the café. Since<br />
all of the dishes are freshly prepared, Chef Eron<br />
Bass keeps the menu fairly short and maintains a<br />
Southern fine dining theme with a classic French<br />
influence. While the menu is seasonal with fresh<br />
ingredients, there are some items that Chef Bass<br />
leaves on the menu because they are so popular.<br />
For a perfect pre-theater dinner, Chef Bass suggests<br />
starting with a cocktail to sip while savoring<br />
a crab-stuffed avocado appetizer prepared with<br />
chilled jumbo lump crab tossed in their house<br />
balsamic dressing with capers and grape tomatoes,<br />
sitting atop an avocado. “It is super fresh and<br />
has been a favorite for years,” says Chef Bass.<br />
For the next course, he recommends Caesar<br />
salad, which is prepared tableside. “It is the most<br />
22 EAST ALABAMA LIVING
Change language