Here’s a Look at Jackson Kramer’s New Restaurant Bounty on Broad

The door to Jackson Kramer’s just-opened restaurant Bounty on Broad is oversized, welcoming, and painted a pretty apple green. The door is also 100 years old. So is its ornate copper door handle. Together, they pair seamlessly with Bounty’s exterior brick ties, crafted by metalsmiths at the Metal Museum in downtown Memphis, and its bricks, painted a rich brown color called “Black Fox.”

I mention these details because they explain the meticulous renovation of this two-story building on Broad Avenue from the 1890s, stripped to its exterior walls and then lovingly put back together by Kramer’s team, architects Steve Berger and Jason Jackson from brg3s architects, and contractor Jeff Hutzel, who gave me an impromptu tour of the restaurant before Friday’s soft opening.

In four words, the renovation is beautiful, blending a respect for history and materials with Bounty’s more contemporary roles as a restaurant and custom butcher shop.

“This place was a mess, but we wanted to keep the look of an old building,” Hutzel said. “It really has been a labor of love.”

He pointed, for instance, to muddled blue ceramic tiles embedded in the upstairs bar top. The tiles came from the fireplace hearths still in place when the renovation started.

“We assume the upstairs was some sort of boarding house,” Hutzel said. “It had the fireplaces and multiple rooms with one bathroom in the back that still had an old cast-iron tub.”

Only the exposed brick walls remain from the building’s storied past, but the renovation feels chic and settled in. An open kitchen is located downstairs near the restaurant entrance, along with the butcher case and tables. An open staircase leads upstairs to the bar and dining room featuring white oak floors with natural imperfections and intricate wall panels built with a puzzle of American woods, including bird’s eye maple, cedar, cypress, cherry, walnut, and pine.

The menu is streamlined into three categories — vegetables, fish, and meat — with Kramer’s signature new American finesse. I haven’t eaten at Bounty yet, but the menu, posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page, offers these enticing descriptions:

• Charred broccolini with house dried tomatoes, fried shallots, and blue cheese

• Smoked Delta catfish with capers, dill, and crispy root vegetables

• Stuffed mountain trout with fennel, orange carrots, and rosemary

• Brick chicken with smoked cream corn and Swiss chard

• Beef bavette with Brussels sprouts and blue cheese butter

• Stuffed quail with pork belly, butternut squash, and sorghum

• Braised pork shank with collards (and sorry, I can’t read the rest!)

For now, the restaurant is open for dinner Wednesday and Thursday from 4:30 to 10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday from 4:30 to 11 p.m. Sunday hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Bounty is closed Monday and Tuesday.

The kitchen at Bounty is located on the first floor of the two-story building.

Bounty on Broad, 2519 Broad Ave. (901-410-8131)