Archive for December 7, 2011

Hosting Book Club and Solving a Room Dilemma

Despite it being for a much less grand purpose, I needed a room just as badly as Mary and Joseph.

I am in a book club, the Book Belles. No, it’s not nerdy at all. We meet to socialize, eat and try our best to discuss a book.

Being responsible for not only selecting the book of the month in December, I also was playing hostess, in charge of finding a suitable place to meet, eat and have our Christmas ornament swap. This was turning out to be a trickier task than handling damage control for Herman Cain.

Mentally running through a list of possible reads, I kept coming back to Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl. Not only does Ruth have incredible merits as a food writer, her stories from when she was a critic are a solid mix of tasteful insight and humor. It was the perfect opportunity to foist my foodie passion on my friends, muuhahaha (evil laugh!).

The next item to tackle was securing a restaurant during the holiday season, with a small private room, at no extra cost. Needless to say, I came up short on my own and took to Twitter for help. Thankfully, others chimed in offering these suggestions:

Strawberry Cafe – private rooms for a high minimum spend
Sombra Mexican Kitchen – private room for a high minimum spend
Char – private room for a high minimum spend
CS’s – they sell beer, but had been informed you can BYO liquor/wine?
Julep
Mint
Bon Ami – BYO wine
Olga’s
Sal and Mookies – minimum spend with a buffet spread?
Georgia Blue – the big winner!

Georgia Blue came out the winner for numerous reasons: you can reserve their private room, it was available, there is no minimum spend or room fee, and the menu has a range of dishes to satisfy a group. The date was set, I re-read the book and wrapped my ornament.

Anticipating our arrival or tipped off by our geekiness, the hostess immediately identified members of the Book Belles as we trickled in. She was very gracious, as was our waitress Jessica, who did an outstanding job taking care of us throughout the evening and didn’t roll her eyes when we asked for 12 separate checks.

Having eaten at Georgia Blue before, I was fairly certain everyone would enjoy their meal. The room was an extra pleasant surprise. It comfortably fit 12 people, had extra tables, monitors/televisions, a projector and door to close when the live music started. It does have a strange red glow, which is why our group photo is black and white.

We talked, we ate, attempted to discuss the book (this happens on a varying degree) and swapped ornaments by playing a cut-throat game of Dirty Santa. Evidence pictured above.

Unlike Ruth there were no disguises, but just the same, Georgia Blue didn’t know I was writing this post. We had a great experience worthy of sharing and I figured someone else might also be searching for a room in the Jackson metro area.

Thank you Georgia Blue, happy eating and reading!

If you know of other restaurants in the area with private rooms, please leave a comment below.