I was recently invited to a tasting of the new winter menu at Seasons 52 in the Town Center. I have visited one of the Atlanta outposts of this chain before (see post here) and really enjoyed their seasonal, low-cal food. The menu changes quarterly (hence “Seasons”) with a “Chef’s specials” menu that changes weekly (there’s the “52″). We were provided with a number of this season’s new appetizers, entree of our choice, and a selection of those wonderful dessert shooters (mini indulgences). Since I’ve already done a review of Seasons 52, I’ll just give a play-by-play of this winter tasting.

We started with a special scallop ceviche amuse, PEI Mussels (steamed in a zesty marinara sauce and served with grilled ciabatta), and Tandoori Chicken Skewers (with mango chutney and cucumber herb raita):

Scallop Ceviche

PEI Mussels

Tandoori Chicken Skewers

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The latest venture of Jacksonville’s Medure Brothers (the minds behind Matthew’s Restaurant and Restaurant Medure), M Shack, is working to establish itself as the place to visit for creative burgers at the beach. The airy space includes a full bar and fits well with the beach location. The menu is displayed on large chalkboards on the wall–but FYI, you don’t have to stand back from the counter to decide on your order, there are smaller printed menus there too.

M Shack

M Shack interior

With promises of competitively-priced, high quality burgers, I had to go see what they had to offer. And once I caught wind of their menu a few weeks before opening, I knew what I’d be ordering: The Medurable, an M burger (fairly standard cheeseburger) topped with foie gras and bacon onion compote, $18. Mario had the much more affordably priced The Sunrise Burger (bacon, farm egg, American cheese and Shack Sauce):
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