Dining Out Dish Report: The Optimist
From earlier reviews, you know how I love The Optimist (here and here). Still, Billy and I were there recently, and I feel the need to add one more recommendation to your dining list: The shrimp a la plancha. I’m not sure if Creative Loafing will do another “Best Dish” list, but if they do, this should be on it (appetizer section!).
The menu describes the whole Georgia shrimp as being served in “sopping’ toast, arbol chile butter, lime." While this is accurate, it barely captures the deliciousness.
The cream sauce is perfection, being neither too rich nor too light. The sopping toast is a VERY hearty bread which requires a knife and fork for eating.
Plan on having messy fingers and remember "whole shrimp" means you have to remove the head and peel the shrimp yourself. If you haven’t done this before, it’s not as disgusting as it sounds. While the endeavor IS messy, the flavor is absolutely worth the effort.