Feast fit for a bride

“It was just a wedding in June, that’s all that it was … But oh, what it seemed to be.”

That tune, made so famous by Sinatra, has been buzzing around in my brain for months now, a fitting a accompaniment to recent developments in my life. A Saturday or so ago (not that I’m counting), admittedly not in June, I tied the knot with a certain handsome gentleman.

The setting for the ceremony was private, so we opted to go all out at the reception: the stables at Serenbe, where we had spent a few lovely weekends munching our way through Hilary White’s pork shoulder and farm-fresh vegetables at the Hil, and Nic Bour’s lovely Farmhouse menu at the Inn.

Bour left for Washington just prior to the reception, and new chef Nick Melvin stepped up to take a bite out of a big challenge: satisfying the bride-to-be with a fun, accessible menu. Nothing fancy, but definitely sophisticated.

A New Orleans native, Melvin came to the Farmhouse’s kitchen after working for Concentrics Hospitality at Tap, Murphy’s and Room. In a setting overlooking the paddocks where the horses got carrots from the kids invited to our party, Melvin’s ribs rocked, along with deviled eggs, pimento cheese and fluffy biscuits with thinly sliced ham and a gorgeous salad of shrimp and pickled vegetables, which were also placed in jars to decorate some of the tables.

For my daughter, two tables of sweets: pretty jars of our favorite candies (we have lots of Reese’s and York Peppermint Patties left over), two towers of the Hil’s pretty cupcakes, and ice creams from chef Shaun Doty, who was nice enough to make my favorite appetizer from his menu, Sardinian flatbread, as well. It was a root beer float festival, and couldn’t have been more fun.

At dusk, a full moon started to rise, and even though I didn’t get a bite until later, Jonathan St. Hilaire and Angie Mosier’s three-tiered cheesecake in lieu of a wedding cake (a tall order) was devoured. My mother is still asking about it.

Wedding planner Tucker Berta (who serves as Serenbe’s public relations coordinator) was large (well, not really, she’s tiny) and in charge down to the last detail of providing boccie ball and board games for the kids.

Am I gushing? Sure. But for a moment — under a perfect sky with everyone I love present — I got to be someone other than the AJC’s dining critic. I got to be a bride. (Full disclosure: We paid full price for our wedding and every delicious morsel our guests enjoyed.)

Shortstack: Shaun’s in Inman Park has promoted pastry chef Derek Van Cleve to sous chef. Van Cleve is a Le Cordon Bleu Atlanta graduate who left a landscaping business behind in New Orleans after Katrina devastated the city. He replaces Lance Gummere, who has been Shaun Doty’s right-hand man since the restaurant’s opening two years ago. Gummere has moved to the Shed at Glenwood, replacing chef Daniel Atwood. … Porter Beer Bar, a gastropub concept from former Seeger’s employee Molly Gunn and Chocolate Bar’s Nick Rutherford, has opened in Little Five Points. Chef Tony Seichrist has left his position at Holeman & Finch. …Trois is hosting a “slow and smoky Sunday supper” honoring meat man Allan Benton (of Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams) and farmer Neil Taylor (of TaylOrganics and Split Cedar Farms) and benefiting Slow Food Atlanta. Trois chefs Jeremy Lieb and Matt Harris will prepare a five-course dinner at 6 p.m. on Sunday. Go to www.localwineevents.com /Atlanta-Wine/event-197832 to buy tickets at $105 per person. … Want to know who Atlanta’s “sultan of swine” is? On Sept. 29, from 6 to 10 p.m., 5 Seasons Brewing at the Prado will host an “amuse cochon” dinner with chefs Todd Mussman of Mussman & Turner, Jay Swift of 4th & Swift, Kevin Rathbun of Rathbun’s, Philip Rainwater of 5 Seasons and the pork man himself, Allan Benton of Benton’s Smoky Mountain Country Hams. Each will compete by preparing a heritage breed hog, um, whole hog. Guests and judges will determine the winner. Cost is $60 per person. For more info go to www.amusecochon.com or call 404-849-3569.