photograph courtesy NLA projects
Limelight’s seasonal tree towers over the community table.
Diners at Limelight in Germantown simply can’t stop ordering the halibut. It’s reached the point where the kitchen is almost tired of seeing the fish delivery come through the doors every day, jokes general manager Courtney Grissom. “I think we’re buying about 30 pounds a day, serving 40 plates to guests,” she says. “If we buy a 30-pound halibut, that will last us two days, max.” But the coveted dish is an example of Limelight’s popularity, with diners thrilling to elevated American cuisine and a new local watering hole.
photograph courtesy NLA projects
Courtney Grissom, general manager
To begin, Limelight offers a few simple but satisfying bar snacks: fried chickpeas, olive tapenade, and a curated selection of seasonal butters. But the shareable appetizers allow head chef DJ Pitts’ style to truly shine. The pork belly skewers were our first stop, the five bites artfully layered atop honey crisp apple and watercress. The pork is sizzled in a shoyu glaze, with an umami bursting with a mild soy flavor blended with a hint of sweetness, and the tender meat bundled inside a perfectly crispy exterior. Plus, an added touch of Thai chili brings a mild hit of sweet heat to the whole package.
Continuing with the snacky trend, the moules frites are Limelight’s elevated take on a Belgian classic. Akin to dirty fries, the dish sees a stack of crispy, golden French fries interspersed with a bed of mussels. The fries’ saltiness provides a base for the mussels, cooked and prepared with a blend of crème fraîche, white wine, and dijon mustard that give them a distinctly creamy and tangy appeal. The two main components aren’t fully blended when served, letting diners choose their approach: Pick off the fries and mussels separately, or mix them all together.
For the main course, the halibut is, it turns out, popular for a reason. Pitts takes advantage of seasonal ingredients to give the entrée an overall earthy taste. “We make it with a smoked cauliflower puree on the base of the plate,” he says. Add maitake mushrooms, some chicory, specifically radicchio, and some grilled cauliflower on the side. The halibut is seared on top, and then topped off with a delicious brown butter caper sauce.”
Fans of heartier proteins and red meat should enjoy Limelight’s steak option: the Wagyu beef flat iron. The steak is prepared sous vide, a technique that utilizes precise temperature control. The process harnesses the cut’s fat, which is intertwined throughout, rather than being confined to just one part of the cut. The result is a flat iron that comes out incredibly tender, so easy to cut it’s almost buttery. We glided our bites of steak through the accompanying crème fraîche au poivre sauce for a light addition of sweetness, while the fingerling potatoes seared in beef fat from Wolf River Brisket make for an excellent side along with crispy grilled broccolini.
For me, the star of the show is the duck confit gnocchi. Pitts takes the dish in an unexpected different direction, foregoing a heavy sauce and directing diners to focus on the bird. The crispy duck — among the best duck dishes I’ve sampled — is enriched with a natural sweetness from the nutty delicata squash and the caramelized saba, then brightened with a touch of mint. The little Parisian gnocchi bites are generously dotted around the plate, a light, simple palate cleanser in between bites of the confit.
“It’s a place close by where they can get craft cocktails, as opposed to driving to Midtown or Downtown. It’s something that Germantown really needed. And we want to keep those menus fresh; I think since we opened, we’ve already come up with three different cocktail lists.” — Courtney Grissom
Limelight is the latest venture by Wolf River Hospitality Group, which also operates Pyro’s, Abner’s Famous Chicken, Wolf River Brisket Co., and The Levee Coffee & Creamery. Fine dining was a bit of a departure for owners Kirk Cotham and Chad Foreman, but the two were confident that they could hit the mark.
“Chad and I have been doing [developing restaurants] for a while now,” says Cotham, “and I think we’ve been scaling up our experience to prepare for a restaurant like this. I live in Collierville, Chad lives in Germantown, and we really thought that there was an opportunity in the area to stretch ourselves and our creative abilities.”
photograph courtesy NLA projects
Diners sample cocktails and a large charcuterie plate.
In 2022, the business partners assembled a team of Memphis hospitality professionals to bring their vision of a Germantown home for seasonal menus and craft cocktails to life. Early in the process, they tapped Grissom, recently of Catherine & Mary’s, as general manager. “We really wanted someone with that expertise at a high level to come in and hit the ground running,” says Cotham. “She’s done a great job helping us get started, organizing the menu, preparing our cocktail list, and making sure we were ready to execute from day one,” he says.
The restaurant fills up quickly for dinner time, but there’s plenty of seating, whether it’s at the bar, the communal table, or a regular table either in the main dining room or an adjacent sunroom. Some, but not all, tables are available for reservations, and that’s purposeful. “We want to make sure we have spots for people even if they don’t have a reservation,” says Grissom. “I think we’ve got around 27 spare seats. It might be tough to find a spot on Friday or Saturday, but we at least want the option available.”
photograph courtesy NLA projects
The Wagyu Beef Flat Iron.
The decor, handled mainly by Foreman, is awash with shades of velvety blues and browns. Pendant lamps cast a soft golden glow over the booths, while the sunroom’s wide windows allow plenty of natural light during an early dinner. But the centerpiece is an enormous tree growing in the middle of the restaurant. Decked with wintry decorations during the holiday season, the tree will change its look throughout the year. “Always look to the tree as the focal point of the restaurant,” says Cotham. “It will change just as our menu changes seasonally. We’re working out styles for spring, summer, fall, and the restaurant will mirror that look.”
In the kitchen, DJ Pitts recently took the reins as head chef. Pitts is a familiar name in the Memphis dining scene, having worked for big names like Enjoy AM Restaurant Group and Interim. Having just returned to Memphis, he’s spent the last several months building on Limelight’s early dining concepts. “We really lucked out with DJ,” says Cotham. “He understood our vision for the space and has started putting his own mark on things here too, bringing in a lot of different influences you can see on our menu.”
Germantown diners have turned out for Limelight since it opened in September 2022, with the dining room tables completely full even during the traditionally slow early weeks of January. “We have some good restaurants out here,” says Cotham, “but we wanted to provide something a little different, that contemporary American style that harnesses a lot of international influences.”
“It’s a place close by where they can get craft cocktails,” says Grissom, “as opposed to driving to Midtown or Downtown. It’s something that Germantown really needed. And we want to keep those menus fresh; I think since we opened, we’ve already come up with three different cocktail lists.”
For casual sipping, the Sex & the Suburbs couples hibiscus-infused vodka with the fruity flavors of cranberry, lime, and orange liqeuer, while the Ice Sage pairs Old Dominick gin with the honeyed tones of cocchi americano and more sour grapefruit accompaniment.
photograph courtesy NLA projects
Limelight boasts a rotating menu of craft cocktails.
But make a note of Limelight’s selection of dessert cocktails, three after-dinner treats that aren’t too sweet. “Dessert can sometimes be rich and overwhelming, so we came up with these to have a slightly more relaxed option,” says Cotham. The Irish Coffee (Bailey’s, Jameson, and caffè americano) is a smooth, relaxing drink that brings a late-night European dinner vibe, while the S’mores Martini (chocolate rum and liqueur, cream, and a roasted marshmallow) is accentuated with a blast of cold smoke from the bar’s flavor gun. But for more conventional pairing options, Limelight currently offers a small, curated selection of beers and wines.
As winter turns to spring, Limelight’s menu might look very different in the coming months. But that’s all part of the charm, allowing the staff to embrace new seasonal ingredients and ideas, and keep things fresh at the restaurant. “We’re looking forward to the farmers market coming back across the street from us,” says Grissom, “and I can see us working closely with them and highlighting more local farmers.”
In the meantime, will the kitchen get a break from all the halibut? “We’re having the discussion,” laughs Cotham. “We’ll be rotating seasonally, but if the customers really like something and want to keep it around, we’re always open to having a few mainstays and building the rest of the menu around that.”
Limelight is open for dinner 4:30 – 9:30 p.m., Tuesday–Sunday.
7724 Poplar Pike. 791-2328.
