Justin Fox Burks
Despite enthusiastic social media, I hesitated to try Lucky Cat’s ramen, worried that it wouldn’t match the wonderful ramen I’d loved in New York. What a chump. From the first soft-boiled egg, dyed a little by a soak in soy sauce and drizzled with garlic/scallion oil, to dinner’s final slurp, I couldn’t be more pleased. Bacon from Jackson’s Marmilu Farms — rendered and ground with kombu — builds the ramen flavor base, explains Chef Zach Nicholson. “We add some very concentrated chicken stock, dachi, and some other things, and combine it with slow-cooked pork broth,” he says. The fragrant bowl, steaming hot, offers other treasures as well, including wood ear mushrooms, grilled pork shoulder, noodles — soft and bouncy — and sous vide bok choy the color of emerald green.
Contender: Memphis BBQ Steamed Buns with Creamy Sesame Slaw
247 S. Cooper St. (901-633-0300)
