I have some good news and some bad news…

I will start with the bad.

The gorgeous date night location we visited Friday, Unrefined Morsel’s Alfresco Dinner at the Twilight room, was their final public dinner. They will no longer be selling tickets to their monthly dinners.

So this is not a futile review, the good news is they will continue to host private dinners. The price will remain about the same for as big or small a party you need. Same food, same atmosphere, and even entertainment just by booking it with the owner, Mary. Unrefined Morsels, Mary’s catering company, also has a website that offers some of her grain-free items for sale: http://www.unrefinedmorsels.com/

After our visit Friday, we are definitely going to look into a future dinner party there, the experience is really hard to beat, but I’ll let you decide for yourself.

Unrefined Morsels Alfresco Dinner at the Twilight Room

Location: 2352 State Highway EE Halfway, MO

(about 45 minutes from Springfield, MO)

Cost: $28 per person, 8-course menu

The ambiance is what sets this dinner apart from your typical dinner locale. As I walked up to where dinner was served, through narrow bushes and strings of beads, it reminded me of Alice in Wonderland.

The scene when Alice stumbles upon the Mad Hatter having his tea party. Like a fantasy world, In the middle of farmland (there were chickens literally 20 feet from the Twilight Room) you step into a picturesque secluded party with mismatched shabby chic décor and string lights a glow. It is every little girls dream.

Another little girls dream were the actual little girls that served as our waitresses. A young girl, maybe 8 or 9 approached our table and asked, “Can I offer you an infused water or tea”. All I could think was, I would have literally done anything to do this at her age, what little girl doesn’t pretend be the hostess serving tea and cake? The owner later told us, she offers the gig to local girls she knows and they absolutely love it.

The food was light enough for the warm weather. The courses featured pairings that were a favorable mix of unexpected (spinach pear salad bites) yet traditional (roasted vegetables and fresh herbs). John loved the bacon wrapped dates and I absolutely loved the chilled cucumber soup. The fresh Asiago bread was very soft and perfect for dipping in the soup. The main course was good, but the dark chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting was by far the “icing on the cake”. We both were in awe of this cake, moist and absolutely heavenly. I called ahead to ask about bringing our own bottle of wine, but they also offered a complimentary glass of wine or sparkling juice after the main course.

John and I visited with the owner, Mary, for a bit and asked her about how this all started. Funny thing is, she has been coordinating these dinners for 6-7 years and we are just now hearing about it. She previously ran a tearoom near Galloway and the décor and menu offerings definitely reflect that. The entertainment was a three-piece band playing everything from Regina Spektor to James Taylor. John was very impressed with their mellow version of Missy Elliot’s “I can’t stand the rain”. The two male members were Mary’s husband and oldest son; her youngest son was one of the servers during the dinner.

The only con from the night was we totally got lost, and probably wouldn’t have been able to find it if we hadn’t have asked a car pulling out of a driveway. John approached the car and asked if they knew of the address, and ironically the man said, “Oh Mary’s place? Yeah we are heading to their house too…follow us”. When we arrived, you could quickly sense a lot of guests were from the area and knew each other. We could hear the man giggling as he told the story of how we were lost to the other locals. So below is a picture of the sign, so you can be on the lookout if you make a trip to visit. Oh and here are the GPS coordinates: 37.5504058, -93.2045531

Overall, it was one of the best date nights we have had in a long time. We knew absolutely no one there, which was a plus. I feel like we are always running into someone we know, and some times on date night you just want to see each other. Places like this, remind me why living in Springfield is such a blessing; you can get a taste of the country life, but still have the excitement of the big city.

Want to book your own Twinkle Room Dinner? Contact Mary: 417-343-8782

Visit her Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/unrefinedmorsels