photograph by samuel x. cicci
Chef David Todd has created a menu in his own image at Longshot, utilizing influences from his many restaurant jobs in Memphis.
Editor’s Note: For our Top 10 New Restaurants list, published in full in the February 2022 issue, our editorial team selected (you guessed it) ten of the places we think represent the best of our city’s culinary future. We'll be spotlighting each of the restaurants online over the next several days. Please note that this is not a ranked list; we love what each of the ten featured restaurants bring to the table. Bon appétit!
Longshot
photograph by samuel x. cicci
The ”KFC“ — Korean fried chicken sandwich.
In a little over two years, Longshot has had two incarnations. The first, launched in late 2019, was a sausage-centric restaurant that served an international selection of bangers. But then Covid hit, executive chef David Todd found himself laid off, and the Arrive Hotel’s downstairs bar and restaurant went on ice.
“We do have a lot of international influence, but I like to say that it’s influenced by flavor. Anything I’ve encountered in my career that tastes good, I try to work it in somewhere.” — David Todd
But not to fret. Todd returned to the long, narrow restaurant a few months later, this time with almost full control over the menu. He seized his chance to make Longshot his own. The revamped concept is so far removed from the restaurant’s initial limited run, it feels like a rebirth. Now, Todd’s specialties at the globally inspired gastropub delight diners, while the shuffleboard bar keeps them entertained. “We do have a lot of international influence,” Todd says, “but I like to say that it’s influenced by flavor. Anything I’ve encountered in my career that tastes good, I try to work it in somewhere.”
photograph by samuel x. cicci
Soy ginger catfish served with charred carrot coconut grits.
Todd starts close to home, with catfish, which he bathes with a soy ginger glaze and serves atop rich and creamy charred carrot-coconut grits. The menu journeys to further-flung global tastes with the popular Korean fried chicken sandwich — the bird smothered with cheese corn and gochujang sauce for a spicy and slightly sweet kick. And the flash-fried coconut curry cauliflower makes for a tasty snack with its blend of Thai coconut milk, cilantro, cashews, and lime.
But Todd’s creativity shines brightest with dishes like the tuna poke nachos, a freethinking amalgamation of multiple culinary cultures. He tosses the fish in white soy, regular soy sauce, and sesame oil, and adds a Napa cabbage and cilantro slaw alongside a few sauces. “You’re bouncing through a lot with this dish,” says Todd, “but I like things that, when you’re eating them, different sensations are coming across your palate.”
No matter what arrives at the table, the exciting and varied dishes are what Longshot is all about. And everything tastes better with a side of shuffleboard.
