On the eve of Thursday, August 18th friends and patrons of Lewisburg’s favorite French restaurant, The French Goat, gathered to celebrate it’s 1 year birthday! As all French birthday celebrations go, there were hats, cake, amazing food, and wine! Pictured above is owner Arthur Forgette thanking his guests for a memorable first year.
Since their opening in September, 2015, The French Goat has offered patrons with a comfortable and relaxed country atmosphere inside and out. They have a beautiful garden terrace with fountain for al fresco dining. This is a casual French style bistro. The menu offers classic French dishes with a twist, an eclectic and quality wine list, and handcrafted cocktails.
Background: The proprietors are Debbie Porter and Arthur Forgette. Arthur combines his vast knowledge and 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry with Debbie’s New York marketing and sales background to open the French Goat. Simply said, “it was time for us to get out of the rat race of the DC restaurant world and get to a less complicated life in this quaint little town, that we have grown to love over the years.” – Debbie & Arthur.
Here are some photos of the menu on this special evening:
The big evening started off with a reception. There were mini crab and leek quiche, micro greens. Pictured above is Michael serving chilled tomato gazpacho shooters with pickles tomato skewer.
Our first course was Sunchoke soup with crispy potato and chives. This was paired with a Rombauer Chardonnay from Carneros, California, 2014 Magnum. To the right was the second course, a Fort Donnelly Farms local leg of lamb, confit tomato, chestnut lima bean puree, roasted garlic Jus. This was paired with a Solena Pinot Noir, Grand Cuvee from Willamette Valley, Oregon, 2013 Magnum.
Third Course! To the left, you are looking at Vernal Vibe Rise Local Pork Belly with petite greens, green tomato chutney, and blackberry vinaigrette. This was paired with Saint Cosem, Chatenaeuf du pape, France, 2012 Magnum. To the right was the main course: Grilled veal strip loin, charred tomato and potato ragout with baby zucchini and maderia veal jus. This course was paired with Ridge Geyserville wine from Alexander Valley California, 2015 Magnum.
Dessert! This course was a chocolate ganache, sweet corn mousse with salted caramel popcorn. Paired with Le Fleur, Sauternes, France 2011. Then we ordered a coffee, which came in a French Press, of course. 🙂
One year ago, we featured the opening of the French Goat on the cover of our “back to school” issue. We were very happy to be invited to this special celebration. This event was made possible thanks to Allyson and Mark Liebendorfer with the Country Vintner. Allyson and Mark are pictured above with Debbie and Arthur, and me!
If you have not been to the French Goat, we suggest you go! The atmosphere and people set the tone and the food and wine completes the experience. It is located at 111 S Lafayette St in Lewisburg, WV 24901. For more information, visit them at thefrenchgoat.com or call (304) 647-1052
Read the many positive review on Yelp -> yelp.com/biz/the-french-goat-lewisburg
– Christina Entenmann, HashtagWV August 2016
HASHTAGWV ART & ENTERTAINMENT Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Christina Entenmann-Edwards has been a WV resident since September 2008. She was born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and is no stranger to hard work and the entrepreneurial spirit. In 2006, she graduated from Quinnipiac University (Hamden, Connecticut), Cum Laude, with a B.A. in History. In 2010, she graduated with an M.B.A. from Liberty University (Lynchburg, Virginia). In February 2012, Christina launched HashtagWV as the area’s first full-color, free arts and entertainment tabloid + online platform. Christina completed the Leadership West Virginia class of 2021, which is an innovative program that grows, engages, and mobilizes leaders to ignite a life passion to move West Virginia forward.