Summer is in full swing, and Athens’ Heirloom Café is marking the occasion with a summer menu showcasing the popular farm-to-table restaurant’s fresh, organic ingredients and creative takes on Southern-inspired cuisine.

“We’re super excited to share our new menu with our friends and family in the historic Boulevard neighborhood and beyond,” chef and owner Jessica Rothacker says. “We’ve come up with some really fun and exciting dishes that are perfect for enjoying with friends, whether it’s on our open-air patio or gathered around the dinner table at home.”

Guests can now enjoy lunchtime offerings including:

• Pimento cheese plate – starter with celery, smoked pecans, chow chow and saltines

• Chase and Boulevard bowl – a healthy grain bowl with a rotating selection of beans, vegetables and greens served with a smoky tomato vinaigrette

• Chicken salad sandwich – smoked chicken, tarragon, pecans, celery, cranberries and Duke’s mayo on Luna wheat bread

• Catfish Reuben – fried catfish, horseradish slaw and garlic chili mayo on rye toast

• BLT sandwich –  sliced local tomatoes, garlic chili mayo, Comfort Farms bacon and local lettuces (while tomato season lasts)

At suppertime, guests can choose from options including:

• Cheese and charcuterie snack board – Sweet Grass Asher Blue, Sweet Grass Green Hill and house-made duck ham

• Grilled okra – starter with crushed peanuts and a spicy peanut sauce

• Forager’s pie – Blits Brothers’ oyster mushrooms and pea ragout, buttermilk mashed potatoes and melted Thomasville Tomme

• Fried chicken confit – a chicken leg and thigh with buttermilk mashed potatoes, garlic green beans and black pepper gravy

• Grass-fed burger – pimento cheese, garlic pickles and grilled onions on a sesame seed bun

• BBQ pork plate – pulled pork served with collards, black-eyed pea salad, sliced onions, garlic pickles and sourdough bread

Menu changes have not been the only things going on in the kitchen. Dave Sturgis, a veteran of Fifth Group Restaurants, Food Studio, Muss & Turner’s and Farm 255, has been named head chef, a move that brings things full circle for Rothacker. “Some people know that Dave has been my mentor since I was a baby cook in my first restaurant job at Muss & Turner’s, where he served as the opening chef de cuisine,” she says. “He’s been helping us out in a prep position for a while, and when I decided to step back from the kitchen to focus on other parts of our business, he was the perfect choice.”

Meanwhile, Jason Wood has stepped into the role of sous chef, working closely with Sturgis to develop new menu items, mentor the cooks and help keep the kitchen running in a smooth and organized fashion. “Jason is a fantastic, creative presence,” Rothacker says. “His passion for food is rooted in the cuisine of Appalachia, and he loves to take the ingredients and techniques from that upbringing and merge them with more classical approaches. We couldn’t be more thrilled to have him on the team!”

Heirloom Café is located at 815 N. Chase Street in Athens’ historic Boulevard neighborhood. For more information, please call 706-354-7901 or visit heirloomathens.com.

About Heirloom Café

Heirloom Café was founded on a mission of creating community, celebrating local farmers and telling a story through food. Located in the historic Boulevard Neighborhood in Athens, Georgia, Heirloom, a Georgia Organics Farmer Champion restaurant, serves a menu of ingredients sourced from as many local producers, farmers and artisans as possible. The eatery is open for lunch Tuesday-Friday 11 a.m.-2 p.m., dinner Wednesday-Saturday 5-9 p.m. and brunch Saturday and Sunday 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.heirloomathens.com.