Longshot restaurant at Arrive Memphis hotel is slated to reopen late April or early May.
“The world is a very interesting place right now, so we still have those ducks we have to get in the row for reopening,” says executive chef David Todd.
The restaurant, which opened in November 2019, closed in March, 2020, when the pandemic began. Arrive, which operates multiple hotels around the country, closed early in the game, Todd says. “We were one of the first places in Memphis to shut down. The world had basically turned upside down.”
The hotel opened a few weeks later, but Longshot remained closed.
“The space itself is exactly the way that it was. It’s just a beautiful space and they, literally had just built it out. It will still feel the way it felt before. Very fun. Very casual.”
Describing the restaurant, Todd says, “It almost looks like you’re going underground in a subway or something like that. It’s that big, long room. That’s why they call it ‘Longshot.’ It’s got the shuffleboard tables that run down the middle of it. It’s got lots of beautiful woodwork and booths. Then there’s this kind of light yellow tile-work that goes all over the inside of the space.
“That’s one of my favorite things about it. It’s the way Arrive is set up. That’s why I really wanted to be there and I really wanted to finish what I started.”
He likes the way diners have to walk down an alley to get to the restaurant instead of going through the hotel. “They set it up where it operates like a local restaurant.”
Todd, whose varied restaurant jobs included cooking at The Green Beetle and at the old Schweinehaus, says, “I kind of bounced back and forth from bar food to fine dining. I really think my voice as a chef kind of lands somewhere in the middle.”
Todd, who was hired as executive chef in July 2019, was rehired in November, 2020. “And then everything started spiking again. We kind of took a step back. I’ve been developing the new menu, helping out in other areas. Anything to be useful. I am in the hotel. I am in the space. And we are working toward getting everything back going.”
Todd is excited to get back to Longshot. “I like my food to be really flavorful food and really approachable.”
So, he was happy when he was told, “We want you to do what you want to do. This is our vision. Use great ingredients. Get good product. But make what you want.”
“When we first opened we made house-made sausages. The menu was great. but it was just a little too snacky. And so what I’ve done is round out the menu with more selections – some things with Asian influences, some things with Mexican influences — which is fun for me as a chef. And it sounds almost arrogant to say I really want to be able to do whatever I want to do. They’ve given me the green light to make delicious food, which, as a chef, is all you can really ask for.
“We’re all really excited to get this place back open and see all the customers and people from South Main. Everybody was real supportive. We definitely missed being in the mix down here.”
