Chip and Amanda Dunham
What do you do when a beloved institution closes? Well, open another one, of course. Longtime Grove Grill veterans Chip and Amanda Dunham know their way around the food industry, and when the iconic Memphis restaurant closed down earlier this year, it meant the time was right to strike out on their own. Now at Magnolia & May, founders Chip and Amanda embrace creativity, approachability, and fun at Memphis’ newest country brasserie.
As the son of Grove Grill owner Jeff Dunham, Chip found himself in and around the restaurant industry during his childhood. As a teenager, he needed money to pay for extracurricular interests, and a spot at the Grove Grill was an obvious choice. “My father talked me into cooking at the restaurant,” he says, “and I just kind of fell in love with it and worked there throughout high school.”
After gradating, he ended up at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York. There, he met New York native Amanda, who had cut her teeth at a German bakery growing up before working as a server in Manhattan. The two moved to Charleston, and after five years in South Carolina, moved back to Memphis to work at the Grove Grill. Its closure earlier this year provided the perfect transition for the Dunhams to launch Magnolia & May.
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Buffalo Broccoli
It’s buffalo-battered goodness with one of Magnolia & May’s most popular appetizers. The florets are first breaded and deep-fried, before being tossed with buffalo sauce (blue cheese or buttermilk dressing included for good measure). “If we took these off the menu,” laughs Chip, “I think people would line up outside the restaurant to protest.” Appetizer, $6
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Cheeseburger
Single or double, Magnolia & May’s ground beef patty is topped with the usual lettuce, tomato, onion, and pickles, and infused with the Dunham’s special sauce. But rather than a slice of melted cheese, Chip goes in a different direction. “We get the cheese all crispy on the flattop, and it gives something different to the burger.” Entrée, Single: $10; Double: $15
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Bluff City Mushroom Potato Gnocchi
A Memphis take on an Italian pasta dish, the Bluff City Mushroom Potato Gnocchi is the poster child for the Dunham’s locally sourced, fresh ingredients approach to cooking. The gnocchi is made in house and smothered in a wide variety of Bluff City mushrooms and whatever seasonal vegetables the restaurant has on hand. “He makes it almost like a mushroom beurre blanc,” says Amanda. “Chip puts so much flavor in there with the mushrooms, and adds in so much more with the vegetables he uses. It’ll knock your socks off.” Entrée, $20
The restaurant opened (aptly) earlier this year in late May. While it was a bit risky to open a new establishment in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Dunham’s had no hesitation. “We’d been waiting so long,” says Amanda, “and we thought it might be a way to restore a little bit of normalcy to our family. So we figured let’s open up, do what we can, keep pushing forward, and hopefully get some positivity out there.”
Preparing the space, however, took some work. The foundations were kept in line with the Dunham family legacy, with Chip earmarking his grandfather’s former law office as the place to begin the next step of his career. They knocked out walls and squared off the building, and decided to pursue a more open floor plan. The final piece was adding an outdoor patio to accommodate extra guests.
Inside, the Dunhams went for a more casual appeal. One of the walls consists of wood from old bourbon barrels, and they framed the restaurant with oak for a rustic feel. For a local touch, the bar is crafted of maple salvaged from Imperial Lanes, the classic bowling alley on Summer. Meanwhile, the shelving behind the bar is left over from the original building.
“We’re trying to make this place as cool as possible. We love the idea of having a place in East Memphis that’s affordable and has a quality product, where you can go and dine in multiple times a week without breaking the bank.” — Amanda Dunham
The idea for Magnolia & May first took root about a year and a half ago. Since the Dunhams already knew of the vacant office that could be repurposed, it made the decision easier. “We got the idea in our head to turn it into a restaurant because it’s kind of an up-and-coming area,” says Chip, “and we saw the potential.” But, he’s also blunt about the personal stakes involved in the decision. “At the Grove Grill, I was never going to step out from behind my father’s shadow, because it’s such an institution,” he says. “This allows me and Amanda to both showcase our skills and put our personalities into the place. There are no limits to what we can do here, and it’s a nice thing.”
Other than the associated family name, the Dunhams have strived to differentiate Magnolia & May from the Grove Grill. A key word that the couple uses when discussing all the changes is “casual.” That’s reflected in everything from the menu, to the décor, and to the overall vibe. The menu certainly lists more casual fare, but the Dunhams talk about turning their restaurant into an open and accessible community destination.
“We’re trying to make this place as cool as possible,” says Amanda. “We love the idea of having a place in East Memphis that’s affordable and has a quality product, where you can go and dine in multiple times a week without breaking the bank.” The duo eat out a lot, and Amanda laments the difficulty in trying to keep costs down when accommodating multiple diners. The menu born out of that approach offers plenty of variety. “It’s just about showing,” says Chip, “that chef-driven dishes and high-quality food can be affordable.”
As a brasserie, there are certain to be French influences in the cuisine. But an important distinction is that Magnolia & May is branded as a “country” brasserie. The Dunhams didn’t want to be pigeonholed into just one type of food, so they utilized all their restaurant experience to bring in international cooking elements. “For example, we’re currently running a falafel and hummus dish,” explains Chip, “and we’ve also experimented with fried rice as a base.”
Currently, the menu is split into dinner and brunch. The casual theme is evident among many of the entrees, with the Dunhams including plenty of sandwiches. The double cheeseburger has been a big hit, alongside the pastrami sandwich. Vegan options include the barbecue squash sandwich and a veggie burger.
But it’s the appetizer list that truly encapsulates Chip’s willingness to experiment. The deep-fried Buffalo Broccoli has proven to be one of the most popular items on the menu, but don’t overlook the Tacos con Mempho, either. Magnolia & May’s take on the Mexican dish has melted American cheese sandwiched between two tortillas, underneath a helping of pulled pork, avocado salsa, and tobacco onions.
But while the menu maintains all the popular staples, the Dunhams are using the pandemic as an excuse to experiment more than they might normally. “The menu changes daily, as well,” says Chip. “It’s almost out of necessity at this point since we have to give everyone a brand-new menu each day. But we thought, we might as well take advantage of that and bring in the freshest possible product possible.”
While Chip continues to whip up varied and eclectic dishes, thirsty diners can turn their attention to Amanda’s carefully curated beverages list. With input from bartenders Taylor and Ashley, the list contains plenty of wine and local beer but really shines when it comes to cocktails. The restaurant saw a boom in frozen cocktail sales over the summer, leading to the creation of a frozen dragon fruit margarita alongside mainstays like Violette Fields Forever (Bowling & Burch gin, lemon, crème de fleur, egg white, mint) and Southaven Sling (lychee Old Dominick gin, mango puree, rum float).
But as the seasons change, so does Magnolia & May’s cocktail menu. “What we’re doing is always changing things up using fun ingredients,” says Amanda, “and kind of challenging the way that people see their beverage.” And when the restaurant’s fire safety system went out one morning, Amanda used that time to do some cocktail R&D.
The result? The Fall Tiki Cocktail. With Old Dominic gin as the base, the fruity concoction incorporates lychee, mango, pineapple, and a bit of rum. “It’s got all these fall spice flavors, but it’s just really well-balanced,” says Amanda. The fall menu has some other surprises in store as well. Expect to see egg whites in some cocktails for more of a frothy, foamy texture. And, of course … beet pickling liquid. “I’m not sure if it was a joke at first,” she says, “but Chip brought it over to us one day. We tried it, and it worked out very well, so that will be appearing in another fall cocktail as well.”
If that all sounds fun, well, that’s what the Dunhams are going for. Even throughout a tough 2020, they don’t want to compromise on that welcoming vibe for diners.
“We want people to feel super comfortable coming in,” says Amanda, “whether they’re arriving in workout clothes, or as the precursor to a formal event. Some people initially thought we were going for fancy, but now people are saying, ‘The atmosphere feels like I’m at my own home with someone cooking for me.’ And that’s what we want you to feel like coming in.”
