photograph by alex greene
Salmon with chili chutney, carrots, and herb risotto.
What’s for dinner? Here at Memphis Magazine, that’s a question we find ourselves asking quite frequently, with thoughts turning to food as the workday ebbs away. Lucky for us, Memphis chefs and entrepreneurs continue to embrace new ideas and adventures, blessing the city with an abundance of new restaurants and tasty dishes to satisfy our growing appetites. For the last couple of years, our dining contributors have used the annual February food issue to take a deeper dive into Memphis’ culinary world. We’ve explored it through traditional means (a top restaurants list), through a selection of our favorite dishes over the course of a year, or even 2021’s “Memphis Eats A-Z” feature.
But it’s back to basics this year. There are almost too many fresh options to choose from, so through our “Dinner at 8” feature, we’re here to let our readers know about the eight new restaurants that made the biggest impression on us in 2023. We’re spoiled for choices, but we’re not complaining!
The fact that their salad menu ranges from a classic Cobb to burrata cheese with pesto, roasted tomatoes, and arugula perfectly captures the vibe of The Public Bistro. It has all the informality of a neighborhood restaurant, but the quality of the food suggests that the neighborhood’s in, say, Rome.
This is a good place for a homey, hearty meal, with entrée offerings that include a roasted half-chicken to pork chops, steak frites, ribs, chicken cacciatore, mushroom gnocchi, or salmon. I chose the salmon partly because it went so well with the featured wine for happy hour, a crisp, citrus-tinged Grüner Veltliner white that “has arguably done more to put Austrian wines on the map than any other grape variety,” according to Food & Wine. It was perfectly chilled and appealed to this longtime Sauvignon Blanc fan. As a warm-up to the main course, I chose the “crispy Brussels,” roasted sprouts with a perfect mahogany tinge, topped with almond slices. The lemon tahini sauce was a delightful surprise, complementing the earthiness of the vegetables with a zesty zing.
The executive chef at The Public Bistro, Gannon Hamilton, knows his vegetables. As owner Kate Ashby says, “he’s getting our mushrooms from Bluff City Fungi, and he goes to the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market every Saturday to get stuff for us.”
I thought about that as my entrée was served: a generous portion of broiled salmon topped with Hamilton’s chili chutney, served on a bed of herb risotto, with roasted carrots on the side. I could picture the bunches of multicolored carrots one often sees piled high at the local farmers market, now transformed into delectable savory morsels of white, orange, and deep purple. The risotto was also a savory delight. And the salmon, crisply browned on top, yet creamy and tender beneath, was complemented with the intriguing spicy sweetness of the chutney, bringing a bit of fireworks to the main course.
I silently toasted the chef with my Grüner Veltliner and pondered the dessert menu. Though tempted by the chocolate raspberry cake, the apple tart, and the pear cheesecake, I stuck to the Euro-American theme (I had started the evening with Brussels sprouts, after all) by selecting the crème brûlée. After all, that’s a tricky thing to pull off in a home kitchen. When it arrived, I knew I had chosen well: the exquisitely crunchy crust of caramelized sugar set off the creamy custard beneath it perfectly, and was topped with fresh raspberries, strawberries, and a dollop of whipped cream. After the rather filling main course, the lightness of the dish was very welcome.
The Public Bistro lives up to its name: an approachable, unfussy gathering space with the cozy atmosphere of a neighborhood hangout, mixed with a commitment to fine, fresh flavors that nonetheless stick to your ribs.
