photograph courtesy the genre
An order of one-piece catfish breaded in seasoned cornmeal and golden fried, served with a side of fries (order it covered in the restaurant’s special ”201 sauce“).
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!
The Genre
photograph courtesy the genre
Two-piece chicken skewers served atop a bed of green beans.
Chef/owner Lernard Chambers describes The Genre, which opened in August, as “a small urban bistro.”
By that he means “just a small eatery. With a hookah, gourmet food, and good customer service.”
The restaurant is “directly across from 201 Poplar” — the Shelby County Jail. Which is a plus, in Chambers’ view, because people feel safe going to the restaurant at night, what with the police all around.
The “201 sauce” is their number-one chicken tender sauce, Chambers says. He describes it as a “sweet heat, kind of Cajun” sauce.
He sauces his tenders “different ways,” Chambers says. “Fifteen different sauces we can sauce them in.”
The “Golden” sauce is another popular one, he says. “Kind of like a sweet honey gold.”
The menu also includes fried catfish. “We use 100 percent U.S. catfish. So, we get it fresh. We make sure the quality is good. Our preparation is quality preparation as far as the seasoning, the batter, the oil being fresh.
“We also do a brunch menu. And our signature item on that is our fried catfish and grits.”
As for desserts, Chambers says, “We constantly change them up. Right now we have fried Oreos, strawberry cake, cheesecake. We just keep changing them every couple of months.”
Chambers calls the shots. “Pretty much me being the head chef creating the whole menu.”
The Genre’s look is distinctive: Album covers as well as actual records are used as wall art. Chambers and his twin brother, Bernard, are veteran deejays. A range of music, including Lernard’s favorite R&B tunes, play in the background. Live music also is on tap at The Genre.
