photograph by michael donahue
John Littlefield and Bert Smythe
Step into McEwen’s on Monroe and you’ll be greeted by earthy, aged-brick walls dotted with oil paintings and prints. Dark wood beams punctuate the ceiling’s copper-colored pressed tin. Colorfully labeled bottles line shelves behind the long bar. And other diners can be seen enjoying McEwen’s cuisine, including the restaurant’s signature sea bass, in two dining rooms and the bar area, all housed in the circa-1890 building a block east of Main Street.
McEwen’s, now owned by John Littlefield and Bert Smythe, arrived on the scene in November 1997. The original owner, veteran Memphis restaurateur Mac Edwards, wanted his own restaurant after being involved in other projects.
“If it was even a hot dog cart, it was going to be me and whatever little money I could scrape up,” Edwards says. “And I would succeed and fail on my own. I’d been in the restaurant business since 1975 at that point — 22 years. And I wanted to prove myself. I knew I had it in me.”
Edwards and his wife, Cindy, leased the restaurant space, which was formerly The Red Rooster. They didn’t have much money for decorating, so they used the older restaurant’s tables and plastic chairs.
People still think Edwards named the restaurant after himself, but he actually named it for his niece, McEwen Edwards Blaylock. “My first name is McCormick,” he says.
Edwards was the first chef when they only served lunch. The late chef, John Pearson, came aboard in May 1998, when they began serving dinner. “We always called it ‘fine dining in short pants,’ ’’ Edwards says.
Asked what he wants people to think when somebody says, “McEwen’s,” Littlefield says, “I used to tell people that the food is much more sophisticated than the atmosphere, but we’ve really picked up our atmosphere.” So, his answer is, “People enjoying good service and sophisticated food in a casual atmosphere.”
Pearson’s habanero vanilla shrimp and his smoked duck étouffée became customer favorites. Melissa Thornton, who had owned a bakery, developed the restaurant’s iconic banana cream pie, which is still on the menu, Edwards says. “It’s an Emeril Lagasse recipe that she made better.”
Edwards later knocked openings in the brick walls and leased the two bays next door, connecting them all, and opened the bar in 1999.
He decided to sell McEwen’s in 2008. “It was just time,” he says. Littlefield and Smythe, who had been looking for a restaurant location, wanted to “open some place that was kind of like McEwen’s,” Littlefield says. “Not necessarily trying to copy McEwen’s, but something that had that same kind of vibe.”
They wanted a restaurant that served local food using “some local ingredients, but more Continental techniques.”
After more than a year looking at locations and about to give up, they got a call from Edwards, saying, ‘Hey, why don’t you guys buy my place?’”
Littlefield’s wife, Adrienne, who designs hotels and restaurants with her business, ACC Design, tweaked the interior “without changing the vibe.” She replaced the old pressed tin on the ceiling with acoustic-quality tin to make the room quieter. Architect Chooch Pickard took the walls down to the original brick and plaster. He also reworked the front windows, which brightened up the whole place. During the renovation, they found some of the original wooden sashes, which Pickard was able to duplicate.
Smythe is responsible for sourcing the artwork. Some pieces are from his own collection, including oil paintings by the late Adam Geary and works by Alabama folk artist Butch Anthony. Works by Memphis artist Tricia Franklin change. “She brings stuff in and keeps the walls fresh,” Smythe says. “We’ve sold many of her works.”
photograph by Chloe Littlefield
When he and Littlefield bought the building, it included a fourth bay that once housed the old World News newsstand. That extra space allowed them to put in a new, larger kitchen. And they added another dining room on the other side of the bar area.
They didn’t change the menu very much. “The only thing we did menu-wise was expand the menu and add the small plates, which gave people more dining options,” Littlefield says. “You can go in and have a quick snack or eat five courses.”
The menu is always evolving, he says. Recent offerings prepared by executive chef Joe Cartwright include masa-crusted redfish. Meanwhile, never-changing menu items include the sea bass with miso broth and gluten-free soy glaze.
In 2011, Littlefield and Smythe opened a second McEwen’s in Oxford, Mississippi. “It’s the same style,” he says, “but we let them have a little artistic license with the menu.”
The Memphis location is still a work in progress. Currently, they’re working to convert the upper floor into six apartments.
Asked what he wants people to think when somebody says, “McEwen’s,” Littlefield says, “I used to tell people that the food is much more sophisticated than the atmosphere, but we’ve really picked up our atmosphere.”
So, his answer is, “People enjoying good service and sophisticated food in a casual atmosphere.”
McEwen’s on Monroe is located at 120 Monroe Avenue. The Oxford location is 1110 Van Buren Avenue on the town square.
