Brandon Dill
For the past few years, I’ve tried to center my home cooking around fruits and vegetables. I grow a vegetable garden in my back yard; I tote salad in a jar to work; and I plan menus around the seasonal produce that floods our grocery stores and farmers markets.
So imagine my surprise when my preliminary 20 picks for this year’s Top 10 Dishes leaned so heavy on proteins. At least three chicken dishes popped into the running: fried chicken and angel biscuits at Joes’, wood-roasted chicken with panzanella at Kitchen Bistro, and a memorable chicken, succotash, and roasted garlic mash served at Wilson Café. Beef dishes also stood out in my culinary memory, with three making my final list.
Yet, as I talked to chefs about how they prepared the Top 10 picks, I saw produce as significant team players, building flavor, adding color, and anchoring seasonally conscious cooking into restaurant DNA. I hope you agree that my favorite Memphis dishes of the past 12 months — presented in no ranked order; the list includes runners-up at each restaurant — are a delicious way to embrace your veggie-centric proteins.
Note: We'll be rolling out these pieces one per weekday, starting today!
