Timing is everything at Coastal Fish Company, which is why we arrive early for cocktails at the bar. We pick stools with views of a kitchen station, where cooks prep for a busy dinner service soon to come, and of Hyde Lake. The lake vista is central to the restaurant, a clarion call to notice the afternoon as it slips toward a sunset edged in pink and gold.
Intuitively, my husband and I order drinks that mimic the colors of the late winter sky. For him, a Paloma, expertly mixed with briny Reposado tequila, fresh-squeezed juices (grapefruit and lime) and a bubbly splash of Topo Chico. For me, a Coastal 75, a serious cocktail of vodka and gin softened by wild berry cordial, served in a champagne flute.
We sip, chat, and notice how the sunlight filters through the restaurant’s incandescent window blinds when, as if on cue, they rise up like a theater curtain. It’s two minutes before sunset, says general manager Jason Burgardt, and the theatrics happen every night. “We don’t want our guests to miss a moment of sunset,” he says.
Burgardt describes the restaurant’s new blinds, lighting, floors, and furniture as a “quick polish” of a beautiful space mostly unchanged since Kimbal Musk’s The Kitchen closed about a year ago. However, the menu — a manifesto for seafood lovers — is radically different, featuring fish, shellfish, and oysters sourced from around the world. Freshness and quality matter most. “We have Hawaiian tuna, New Orleans red fish, sea bass from France,” says executive chef Ryan Gall. “We wanted to create a menu open to everyone and let the fish speak for itself.”
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GM Jason Burgardt describes the restaurant’s unique savory sorbets, served as enhancements to oysters on the half shell, as a “happy accident” when chefs experimented with a Pacojet sorbet-making machine.
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Maine lobster
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The restaurant’s patio view
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Flash-fried cheesecake with strawberry coulis
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Executive chef Ryan Gall
Owners Russ Graham and Tom Powers, natives of New Orleans and southern Florida, have established strong relationships with seafood suppliers through Flight, Southern Social, and the soon-to-open Porch & Parlor, their other local restaurants. Specific dishes reflect the collaboration between Gall, culinary director Ashton Hall, and corporate executive chef Eduardo Murillo, and their passion shows: shrimp diavolo cloaked in Louisiana cream sauce and served with crispy French bread slices; macadamia nut-encrusted tuna with coconut sauce; and fat jumbo lump crab cakes with cream corn brûlée and asparagus plated alongside.
Oysters from up and down the coast abound on the menu, as well. (Oh, happy day!) Order Gulf oysters broiled in a wood-fired oven five different ways. Or eat oysters on the half shell with extras like vodka and caviar. My favorite is the Hong Kong — oyster, tuna, truffle, and ponzu sauce — with a dab of apple wasabi sorbet. “The sorbets, we have six, really play with your mind,” Gall says. “You think they will be cold and sweet, but when you taste them, they are cold and savory.”
Coastal Fish Company, 415 Great View Drive East in Cordova (901-266-9000). $$-$$$
