A Food and Family Affair

David and Amanda Krog serve up a new chef’s special every day at Dory.

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Maybe you’ve been there: A Saturday visit to the farmer’s market yields a pile of very attractive, very local fruits and vegetables. You pile them up on your kitchen counter and realize you’ve recreated the old “Stump the Chef” segment of The Splendid Table radio show. What are you going to do with this stuff, and how will it all fit together? Why, you’ll whip up a six-course menu, of course!

This last part might seem far-fetched. But for Dory chef David Krog, that’s just par for the course. Amanda Krog, who runs the front of the house at Dory, recalls when her husband came home with a curious assortment of starches. “Ray Tyler up at Rose Creek Farms rang us, and David went out to take a look at what he had. He came back with a batch of small blue potatoes. And not the regular purple potatoes people are used to,” she laughs. “They were just two handfuls of these little dark-blue potatoes.”

Using any kind of locally sourced ingredient is part of the ethos at Dory (named for David’s grandmother), which opened this spring on Brookhaven Circle in East Memphis. “You know, there aren’t a whole lot of restaurants that would find room for 40-ish small blue potatoes,” says Amanda. “But we’ve got a chance to do that here. David gets a chance to play around with stuff like that.”

A dual spirit of creativity and locally sourced ingredients has long been part of the Krogs’ vision for Dory. Realizing that vision took a bit longer than they have expected. The original plan was to open the restaurant by the fall of 2019. A few issues pushed that back, and when COVID-19 hit in spring 2020, even more delays ensued. With everything out of whack, the Krogs finally felt comfortable cutting the ribbon earlier this year, although they decided to start with takeout only.

“We initially didn’t want takeout to be a part of the restaurant,” says Amanda. “Some of the things we do would be hard to translate to that. The really small dishes are hard to put in a box, and some others have to be explained. And with the dining capacity guidelines changing all the time, we never knew if we might have to shut down at a moment’s notice. So we decided to come up with some slightly different options and go takeout only for a while.”

With some of David’s finer creations tough to re-create in a portable format, Amanda thought back to what she’d whip up for family dinner when David was working at Interim. Some Krog family favorites, prepared in meal sizes fit for two, made the cut. There’s a whole chicken dinner (one of David’s favorites, according to Amanda), with the roasted bird brined overnight and tended to with frequent bastings. But the main dish might just be one-upped by a potato puree whipped to soft, creamy perfection, that will leave you feeling like you’re floating on air. Even then, there’s still collard greens, a side salad that cherrypicks the best vegetables that local farmers have to offer, and soft, buttered yeast rolls.

For something a little heartier, go with the beef bourguignon. Meanwhile, David’s pork tenderloin — cooked in such a way that it manages to accommodate a crispy exterior, all while retaining the central juices and tenderness – comes with roasted sweet potatoes, broccoli rabe, and port demi glace. The sides that pique interest are available in extra helpings. For dessert, try the frozen custard, but the cocoa-dusted chocolate truffles are the star of the show, with the sweet confections now delicately placed atop a bed of fresh granola from Amanda’s company, Nine Oat One.  

As if COVID weren’t enough of a hurdle for dine-in aspirations, the one-two punch of a snowstorm and a boil-water advisory from MLGW threatened to push the grand opening back even further. But the Krogs handled it smoothly, and Dory finally opened to the public on March 4th.

For dine-in, Dory is doing things differently than a conventional restaurant. While most establishments present diners with a long list of permanent options, the Krogs offer all customers a single six-course tasting menu, for $95 a person. And when you consider extras — like an amuse-bouche or an intermezzo — the total number of courses jumps to nine. Diners will receive a set list of dishes, unless something needs to be changed due to allergy concerns. From the opening menu, there were a few notable standouts.

“We had a beet salad with ricotta that David made from micro arugula from Old World Farms,” says Amanda, “and it incorporated satsuma and beet powder. We also had a scallop dish that came with caviar, quail egg, and dehydrated chicken egg. And then he whipped up a lamb dish with sweet potatoes, and we also had a pork belly with pureed turnip greens, collard greens, and foie gras powder.”

But if there are any favorite items on a menu, get them quick. The menu at Dory is set to change almost every month, and there’s a good reason. The Krogs are determined to use locally sourced ingredients as much as possible. So whatever nearby farms have to offer, that’s what Dory will be using.

“We will change our tasting menu about once every four weeks,” explains Amanda. “And that’s always going to change with what’s available from our local farmers. We are definitely an intentionally sourced restaurant. It matters where we get our food from. It matters who cared for the proteins that we’re getting, whether the produce we get is from small farms and family-owned businesses. All of that is really important to what we’re doing.”

And as the source of food is important, each dish that ends up on a Dory table will have some significance to the Krogs. Every plate has a story, whether it’s how a salad made up of 100 percent locally produced vegetables made its way to Dory, or how David made the cheese for another dish from scratch, and the Krogs want to share those stories with diners. The personal touches peppered throughout the restaurant almost make it feel like the Krogs are welcoming you into their family for the night. And that’s exactly the feeling they want to convey.

“We want you to come and have an experience, take the time to enjoy everything that you’re getting, and appreciate the atmosphere,” says Amanda. “We want it to feel like you’re coming into our dining room at home. If anyone wants to be a bit more casual, we have a lounge area, with a couch and soft seating, which is like stepping into our living room.”

The regular six-course tasting menu will be available in the main dining area, while Dory’s lounge will provide a separate snack menu. Expect a variety of small bites that also rotate throughout the seasons, with the cooks using any of the ingredients already in the building to make something new.

As for drinks, bartender Zach Bryant is always coming up with new cocktails, both alcoholic and non-alcoholic, to complement a list of classic beverages. “We’re building a high-end wine list to pair with some of our tasting menus,” says Amanda. “We’ll have a pretty simple selection, but want to make everything as refined as possible.”

Dory is closed on Sundays, but open for dinner every Monday, and Thursday to Saturday, from 5 to 10 p.m. At full capacity, the restaurant can hold 82 diners (48 in the main dining area). The Krogs are working on building a patio for the restaurant. “We also have a private dining room, but we’re not booking it just yet,” says Amanda. “That can seat up to 20 people, and groups can book it for, say, conference-style lunches. We’ll have TVs in there that people can use. And of course, people could book it for dinner too.”

While dinner will be the same most days, Monday nights are the exception. The Krogs pare it down to a smaller four-course tasting menu for $55. Rather than an abbreviated version of the regular, longer menu, Mondays will offer a new take on the ingredients at hand.

“Monday nights will be geared kind of towards service industry professionals,” explains Amanda. “We have a lot of friends that aren’t able to make it out on the weekends. And Mondays are typically a chef’s day off.” The four-course menus will also come with their own wine pairings, with a bottle around $20, depending on the vintage.

Open for about a month now, new menu items are sure to be featured at Dory. And here is an amuse-bouche for you: The Krogs are contemplating a little farm plot of their own, making the route from farm to table that much more direct.

Dory is open Monday; Thursday - Saturday, 5 - 10 p.m. for dine-in. Open Monday - Saturday  for takeout. $$$$

716 W. Brookhaven Circle. 901-310-4290.

dorymemphis.com