Taste of the Four States
Shawanoe Restaurant: A Feast Fit for Royalty
by Savanah Mandeville
December was a crazy month. Between the cold weather, the holidays and the regular stressors of day-to-day life, my boyfriend, Ryan, and I decided we needed get out of Joplin and have a little date night to ourselves. We decided to make the jaunt to Indigo Sky Casino to play some blackjack and have a nice dinner.
I was really excited about having dinner at Shawanoe Restauarant & Bar. I’ve eaten there several times, and I’ve also had delicious creations from Executive Chef Dale Davis at a couple galas held at Indigo Sky. The food is always incredible – in both taste and presentation. Little known fact: Chef Dale went to college for visual arts and incorporates his love for art into the presentation of his food. That’s why every dish is a visual masterpiece that will elicit an audible gasp when it comes to your table.
We were seated near the grand fireplace, which was a cozy little escape from the December weather. Our server, Alicia, was wonderful and brought us our drinks and fluffy complimentary dinner rolls right away.
On this particular date night, Ryan and I were hungry. Every now and then we make it our mission to treat ourselves to steaks, and we knew Shawanoe had the massive 2.5-pound Tomahawk Steak and, since we both like our steaks medium rare, we decided to split it.
Although this juicy, larger-than-life steak was mouthwateringly delicious, we couldn’t eat the whole thing. To be honest, that may have been in part due to all the yummy appetizers we started with.
When I go to Shawanoe, I have to have the bruschetta. Chef Dale has a signature flatbread bruschetta with pesto, tomato, feta and parmesan cheeses with roasted red pepper and basil-infused oils. Yum! We also ordered the Shrimp Shooters, which decadently blur the line between Bloody Mary and shrimp cocktail. We were definitely feeling spoiled.
Next, we split the walnut and pear chicken salad. This sweet, crisp salad is a beautiful rainbow of greens, mandarin oranges, pears, tomato, blue cheese crumbles and topped with grilled chicken breast and a scattering of honey-glazed walnuts.
Alicia then brought our scrumptious steak, which was served with a baked potato and caulilini. If you don’t know what caulilini is, it’s a new vegetable in the cauliflower family that’s a lot softer and sweeter than regular cauliflower – think of it as if cauliflower and broccoli had a baby. I believe Shawanoe is the first restaurant in the area to have it.
Last, but not least, we split the deep-fried strawberry cheesecake, which was almost too pretty to eat.
By the time we were done, we’d gone from 20-somethings to a couple of sleepy grandparents nodding off by the fire with visions of Tomahawk Steaks dancing in our heads. I was so glad we’d chosen Indigo Sky and Shawanoe Restaurant for our date night escape. The food was spectacular and the service and atmosphere made us feel like royalty. It was an evening away from the ordinary I’ll never forget.