Well, I’m now a fan of Amelia Gene’s, the new restaurant located at the site of the old William C. Ellis and Sons Ironworks and Machine Shop, which was originally constructed in 1879. It’s adjacent to the Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis Hotel at 255 South Front Street.
As the restaurant’s news release states, Amelia Gene’s adds “yet another wave of hospitality to One Beale’s Downtown Memphis development.” Amelia Gene’s was named after the five-year-old daughter of Chance Carlisle, CEO of Carlisle Corp.
The restaurant is beautiful — from the tall windows behind the bar on one side to the large open kitchen on the other. The bar and dining areas were designed by The Johnson Studio at Cooper Carry, an architectural firm out of Atlanta, Georgia.
My sister, Kathy Mcallen, and I had a reservation for opening night October 22nd, so we tried quite a few things on the menu. And, man oh man, the food is wonderful.
I thought Kristian Hatfield, who was wearing a jacket and necktie, was a manager. But he was a server. That’s what they wear. It sets a nice tone. And Hatfield was great. He explained the menu and took care of our table.
Nate Henssler, who is managing partner as well as executive chef, stopped by the table and discussed menu items. According to the release, he was “recruited to Memphis last fall by Carlisle Restaurant Group after two decades of leading kitchens in Chicago and Las Vegas. Amelia Gene’s welcomes a contemporary, globally inspired palate artfully designed to impress.”
The foie gras macaron, one of the “Proper Bites,” was incredible. I could have eaten a dozen of them. In fact, I also could have kept eating the sourdough bread with cardamom honey butter, hummus, and house-made pickles, one of the first things to arrive at the table.
I loved the blackberry oysters with cauliflower soubis, pickled cucumber, and bay leaf. And I loved the “Kaluga Caviar Beignet” with sweet onion cream and Arkansas black apple. I could have eaten a dozen of those, too.
My delicious “starter” was the Wagyu steak tartare with perilla oil, potato latke, and truffled green almond.
I will definitely return and make a meal out of just the bucatini with saffron, piquillo, and white tomato. This is one of the “Pasta” course items.
My sister had the tasty Massachusetts black sea bass with red cabbage and a caraway jus as her dinner item. I had a tough time trying to figure out what I wanted. The descriptions were mouth-watering. The big eye tuna with foie gras, beetroot, caponata, and fig reduction sounds so good. I was tempted to order some fig reduction on the side of my order, which was a delicious 22-ounce dry-aged prime New York Strip with beef fat popovers and sauce au poivre. Those popovers, which topped the steak, are must tries.
After talking with chef Henssler, on my next visit I’m going to order the duck with kumquat, butternut squash, endive, and natural sauce.
For dessert, I got Amelia Gene’s ice cream sundae with hot fudge, butterscotch, whipped cream, chocolate bark, and a cherry. And my sister got the salted caramel creme brûlée with cherry sauce and whipped white chocolate. It was the biggest creme brûlée I’ve ever seen. It was about the size of a medium-sized pie.
Amelia Gene’s is wonderful. It’s a great addition to downtown. And writing this in between a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and a peanut butter sandwich for lunch is torture. I want the duck and some foie gras macarons right now. But Amelia Gene’s is only open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday.
And I want some fig reduction to go with everything.