If ever there is a time to have an abundance of dining options, it’s now, in 2021. Which is why it’s apropos that there is a new restaurant named Abundance on the north end.

The fine dining establishment is tucked onto the south side of the Grande Dunes Marketplace, and positioned perfectly in that area’s hotbed of residential development to feed the hungry mouths of foodies.

Inside, the dining room is wrapped in a curved panorama of windows. The bar runs the length of the other side of the room, framed in rust-red walls. Nearly every angle of the walls are decorated with bold, original artwork from Will, the restaurant owner’s, private collection, a la fantastical/Grateful Dead colors, style and theme. It’s an unexpected backdrop for a fine dining ambiance, complete with white linen-covered tables and the glow of candles. But it’s a welcome twist to the usual pretentiousness that comes with the genre. A musician playing soft sounds on the keyboard rounds out the setting.

On the night of our 6 p.m. dinner reservation at Abundance, it didn’t take long for tables of two, four and more to fill up the dining room. Superior customer service, amplified by an attention to detail, is vital to this level of dining–and Abundance did not disappoint.

Hubby and I were guided to our table on the outer part of the room with grace and a smile. Abundance prides itself on its menu of locally sustainable, scratch-made ingredients and stocks, with most meats and cheeses dry-aged and pulled in-house.

We began with a meat and cheese plate to get a good sampling of what they have to offer across the board (pun intended). The large plate arrived with an assortment of pancetta, mozzarella, manchego, parmesan, olives, burgundy fig jam, light salad, pickled mustard seed and baguettes. Our server poured glasses of cabernet from the bottle we chose at her recommendation, which was smooth and savory. Additional notable starters are the Bone Marrow Escargot, prepared with brown butter, white wine and herb sauce and served over smoking juniper branches, and the Compressed Beets Caprese with house-pulled tarragon mozzarella, basil, grilled tomato, green goddess vinaigrette, truffle breadcrumbs, then garnished with basil oil and Thai basil flowers.

For an entrée, I chose the classic Beef Filet Mosaic, a beautiful cut of house-aged tenderloin wrapped in pancetta, dressed in leek ash and nasturtium and surrounded by new potatoes. The finishing piece de resistance, however, is the pouring of the bordelaise sauce over the entire dish to seal it with a kiss. My husband decided on the 1000 Flower Duck a L’Orange because not too many restaurants restaurants feature duck on a menu. Theirs celebrated a house-cured, Peking-style duck with 1000 flower honey duck sauce, baby bok choy subric, Chinese purple yam fondant and leeks, which was also finished with the pouring of jus. The menu overall is well-rounded, boasting all proteins, such as a grilled Colorado rack of lamb, Diver scallops, herb butter-basted chicken breast and the chef’s selection of local line-caught fish. You can also choose to order a la carte and pair the entrée with any of their dinner sides, like mushroom fricassee, asparagus with béarnaise, new potatoes or honey sumac carrots.

We normally don’t treat ourselves to dessert, but I couldn’t resist their espresso crème brulee, crisp and rich, with bites of champagne macerated berries. While tonight’s red wine was enough libations on this visit, any of Abundance’s specialty cocktails sounded tempting as well, such as The Kiss (honeysuckle vodka, rosemary, lemon and cava) or the Laughing Cavalier (bourbon, amaro, lemon and jalapeno).

Living up to its name, there’s a lot going on at Abundance, with a majority of those things brilliantly positive. And you can tell the locals in the Grande Dunes area are embracing the restaurant with an abundance of love and attention.

Abundance restaurant
960 Cipriana Drive, Unit B8, Myrtle Beach
843-385-4015
Monday-Saturday, 4:30-10 p.m.
Abundancerestaurant.com