On day 2 of the blog tour I found myself at Odette, an elegant restaurant that prides itself in serving elevated American cuisine, created with local and sustainably sourced ingredients. The restaurant is the brainchild of Owner Celeste Pillow, who wanted a place that embodied her love of food and art and would be a location she herself would like to frequent.

Odette, which is named after Celeste’s paternal great-grandmother, definitely combines delicious cuisine with an artistic spirit.Odette is a lovely place that I have been to before and will go to again.  The ambience is great, with exposed brick walls and an assortment of eclectic, yet complimentary details. When you first walk in to the restaurant there is a little shop that sells artisan culinary ware.

I become a kid in a candy shop wanting to buy everything that I never knew I absolutely needed. How have I survived this many years without a leather-wrapped cocktail shaker or an adorable pastel bento box?! Alas, my husband is usually able to talk me out of buying anything, but I always look.

My husband and I arrived at the restaurant at 11:00 just as they are opening.  UNA had its graduation that morning and I wanted to beat the crowds of elated college students and their families.

As I had not yet had caffeine that morning, I ordered coffee and Olivier ordered an orange juice. My coffee was served in a french press (how European!) and Olivier’s juice was fresh pressed at the bar. We actually watched them do it. Now that is quality!

I wanted to photograph pretty food, so I was being super indecisive about what to order. The server and his manager steered me in the right direction and Olivier got the Sugar Snap Pea Salad and I got the Oil-cured Tuna and Avocado Salad.  Oh my goodness, both were gorgeous, which is usually a top priority for me!Olivier patiently waited as I photographed his food first. It can be a giant pain to be married to a food photographer. You’d think it would be all about delicious free food, but really it is about never eating a warm meal (food photography takes time), not getting to order what you want because it’s ‘been done‘ or it’s ‘not colorful enough‘, both things that I’ve said.  Thankfully we both got salads which started out cold.  Next I photographed my meal and by the time I got finished Olivier was almost done eating his. So I finally got to start eating mine.  The food was a delicious as it was beautiful.

Our server, who was immensely patient with my numerous questions about how things were plated and the color composition of dishes, not to mention my photographing of … well everything, highly recommended dessert. He has steered us in the right direction so far so we ordered the Lemon Meringue Pie sprinkled with strawberry powder. It was hands down the best Lemon Meringue Pie I had ever had!Odette is a great restaurant that plays close attention to ever detail and I can’t wait to go back!

Make sure you read about the other restaurants participated in Restaurant Week by visiting: DirtPlate and FridayDateNight.

Disclosure: I was invited to participate in Florence Restaurant Week by Florence Main Street. My hotel was paid for by them to make it easier for me to participate and I received a $20 gift card from Odette. I paid the remaining balance out of my own pocket and all thoughts and opinions about the restaurant are my own.