Tag: Paulette’s

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Paulette’s Redefines Fine Dining With New Menu and Goals

Alessandra Daniele and Justin Soffer (Photos: Michael Donahue)

If you haven’t been to Paulette’s Restaurant lately, it’s time to revisit it.

Daniel Clark, Paulette’s food and beverage director, made changes to the menu at the restaurant, located at The River Inn of Harbor Town at 50 Harbor Town Square. But he kept what makes Paulette’s Paulette’s.

A native of Paris, France, Clark has worked in the hospitality business in Europe, South America, and the United States. In Memphis, he’s been with Adam’s Mark, Graceland, and the Marriott. His River Inn position includes Terrace and Tug’s Casual Grill.

He visited Paulette’s when he was asked to take the job last November. “I wanted to see what I was getting involved with,” Clark says.

He was pleased with what he saw. “It is a restaurant that has so much potential. I saw that it was lovely and has a good name in Memphis. And has a feel for the past without being outdated.”

Fine dining has changed in recent years, Clark says. “It’s very different from what it used to be.”

Instead of being elegant but stiff, fine dining restaurants are elegant but also have “a sense of peace.” Not quiet but comfortable, he says.

Clark wants to “keep the tradition and the hospitality” of Paulette’s, which was founded in the mid-’70s by Paulette Fono. It was later bought out by the late co-owner George Falls. “First of all, you cannot replace George Falls. Nobody can replace such a figure. But what we can do is revive the essence of what Paulette’s is.”

And that’s fine dining without being pretentious. 

Working with the owners, Clark updated the dinner menu, but kept signature items, including filet Paulette’s, the salmon, shrimp and grits, and redfish with crab meat.

He’s now designed all the Paulette’s menus, including lunch and brunch.

Clark was able to introduce a “more exciting” lunch menu. He based his ideas on the type of lunches served at private clubs, including the old Crescent Club, where he was director of operations. These were places where working people could get an “elegant, quality lunch” even if they only had an hour to eat.

Paulette’s owners allowed Clark to “put some personal ideas and a little bit of his French influence” in his menus. “But Paulette’s is not a French restaurant, although it sounds like one.”

The restaurant is “American/continental.”

Fono, who came up with the original concept for Paulette’s when it was on Madison Avenue, is Hungarian, Clark says. They served a lot of crêpe dishes, including ham palacsinta, a ham crêpe. “Over the years it became fine dining.”

Paulette’s, which moved to Harbor Town in 2011, still features crêpes, including a chicken, asparagus, and spinach crêpe at lunch and crêpes Suzette at dinner.

New dinner items include a blackened barramundi and seafood angel hair pasta; veal chop Normandy, a dish made with a bone-in veal chop, wild mushrooms, and Calvados cream sauce; and pistachio-encrusted rack of lamb served with a pesto instead of “the traditional mint.”

Alessandra Daniele and Justin Soffer try new menu entrees at Paulette’s. (Credit: Michael Donahue),

Clark kept Paulette’s famous popovers with strawberry butter as well as the signature Kahlúa pie, a “monument of chocolate, coffee ice cream, and Kahlúa.”

Justin Soffer and Alessandra Daniele try Paulette’s iconic popovers with strawberry butter. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

His son, Jeremy, surprised him when he told him he loved to eat at Paulette’s. “My son is in his 30s. He has long hair and tattoos. But he’s very current. He’s a nice young man. Stable.”

Jeremy, who also celebrated his wedding anniversary at Paulette’s, told Clark it was the type of place where he and his wife could have a nice conversation. 

Clark thought if a 30-year-old thinks that way about Paulette’s, which is kind of a classic fine dining place, so will his friends. “Going after these folks is my new goal. To be able to attract these young people.”

He thought, “How do we make Paulette’s a place they will think of for a special occasion?”

Clark wants Paulette’s to pop up in their minds when they think, “Where could I have a nice, quiet, elegant, romantic dinner?”

Daniel Clark prepares crepes Suzette table side for Alessandra Daniele and Justin Soffer at Paulette’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)

The “wow moment” is what Clark says he’s going for. And sometimes that means old-school. He’s serving crêpes Suzette table side, the way restaurants did back in the day, along with bananas Foster and cherries jubilee.

Clark also is revamping Paulette’s wine list. “I’m a very different wine person than most. I’m not going to throw some fine, exquisite language at you on how to differentiate the aromas of nectarines and blueberries. That’s not me.”

He wants to bring back the old Paulette’s wine dinners, but they’re not going to be “driven by a winemaker.” Clark doesn’t want wine reps who are going to push wines from their wineries. Paulette’s wine dinners will be more like classes on the “general knowledge of wine.”

Alessandra Daniele and Justin Soffer at Paulette’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Justin Soffer, 29, and Alessandra Daniele, 24, recently tried some of Paulette’s new menu items, including the barramundi, lamb, and filet. They also had the crêpes Suzette, which Daniele described as “incredible.”

“We had such a good experience at Paulette’s and would definitely recommend it if you were looking to do something different, romantic, and slightly outside of the city,” Daniele says.

And, Soffer says, “Paulette’s was an exceptional experience for all of the senses.”

Clark wants guests to “have an exquisite dinner at Paulette’s, a nice conversation, have some smiles, and leave with the impression that they want to come back.” 

He adds, “Food should be the reason they come. They leave with a total experience. Not just the food.”

Alessandra Daniele and Justin Soffer at Paulette’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Switchin’ Kitchens

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

After six winters injury-free in Boston, it took Kelly Hartman, the new chef de cuisine at Paulette’s, all of about a month to slip on a patch of ice and break his wrist in Memphis.

Hartman moved here in December to join his wife, a fellow at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Broken wrist aside, this new transplant to the Mid-South has wasted no time reworking Paulette’s French/continental menu to preserve treasured favorites and introduce new seasonal items. (Don’t fret; the hot popovers and strawberry butter aren’t going anywhere.) Paulette’s will roll out the updated menu in the next few weeks.

“[The traditional Paulette’s menu] has been probably the central issue that we’ve been addressing since I got here, and the way we finally settled on doing it was rather than trying to integrate new dishes throughout, we made it a left-side, right-side sort of thing,” Hartman says. “On the right side of the menu, you’ll have the more traditional Paulette’s, and on the left side, you’ll have a more seasonal menu.”

This isn’t Hartman’s first time in the South. He was a sous chef in New Orleans for years, where he helped Donald Link open the acclaimed Cochon in 2006. He brings that influence with him, as well as his experience cooking in Boston and in Palo Alto.

“I like the eclectic side of American food, using local ingredients but bringing in a broad range of influences,” Hartman says. “I think most chefs … you’re never completely your own. You’re sort of an amalgam of different styles that you’ve cooked along the way, and as a chef, you have to be able to adapt to whatever situation you’re in. You can’t just say, well, all I do is fine dining, French food, Italian food. You have to adapt, and any chef worth his salt can do that.”

Paulette’s, 50 Harbor Town Square (260-3300)

riverinnmemphis.com

Cortona Contemporary Italian is putting greater emphasis on the contemporary side of its menu, brought on by the addition of new head chef Fortunato “Nate” Oliva and a new manager, Jennifer Dickerson.

Both Oliva and Dickerson were part of the Erling Jensen team but saw an opportunity to mix things up when Cortona’s David Cleveland decided to take a step back from the day-to-day restaurant life. The two came on board at Cortona earlier this month.

“There were a lot of good things here to begin with,” Oliva says. “I’m just trying to do something a little more contemporary. David was doing more traditional Italian fare. For the neighborhood and the trends of today, I felt like something a little sleeker, a little more modern would make more sense.”

What does that sleeker menu look like? It’s lighter, for one thing, and features more innovative items like a pork-belly pizza with melon and a Marsala wine gastrique.

While Oliva is adding contemporary touches, he still hopes to highlight the traditionally artisanal, rustic aspects of Italian food and will prepare everything in house, from the cheese and sausages to the breads and pizza crusts.

“There will be a real continental flair rooted in Italian traditions,” he says.

Dickerson and Oliva have decided to suspend brunch service indefinitely and focus all their attention on dinner, which begins at 5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and ends at 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 9 p.m. on Sunday.

Cortona Contemporary Italian, 948 S. Cooper (729-0101)

cortonaitalian.com

Alchemy had already gained a reputation for tasty small plates when new executive chef Nick Seabergh was brought in last November.

“I definitely put my style of cooking into the menu,” Seabergh says. “And there are some things we just couldn’t take off the menu, like the fish tacos. So I took those items and made them more ‘me.'”

Newer items on the menu include a duck confit with locally sourced Muscovy duck legs and a hangar steak with duck-fat potatoes.

Seabergh says his cooking style has been described as “Creolized Italian,” with a grab bag of influences, including his German grandmother’s kitchen and time he spent in Louisiana. “I grew up cooking with my grandmother,” he says. “It’s basically comfort food.”

Alchemy, 940 S. Cooper (726-4444)

alchemymemphis.com

Categories
Best of Memphis Special Sections

Best of Food & Drink

CREDIT: Alex Harrison

Alex Harrison

Buttery tikka masala, tender tandoori, spicy vegetable dishes, and all other manner of Indian specialties are served at Midtown institution India Palace in its airy, comfortable Poplar Avenue location.

We’ll admit we find it adorable when, in the “Best Chef” category,
you write in “My Wife,” “My Husband,” or, better yet, “My Mom.” (The
answer “Your Mom’s House” for “Best Romantic Restaurant” is not so
cute.) Chef Boyardee didn’t stand a chance with only two votes for
“Best Chef,” but at least he’s got bragging rights over Mrs. Winner
who, despite the name and the chicken and biscuits, got only one
vote.

Justin Fox Burks

Kelly English, Restaurant Iris, 1st place: ‘Best Chef’

Best Chef

1. Kelly English, Restaurant Iris

2. Erling Jensen, Erling Jensen the Restaurant

3. John Bragg, Circa

Last October, Food & Wine magazine named Kelly English
one of the Top 10 “Best New Chefs” for 2009. That was quite the honor.
Now Flyer readers have vaulted English to the top spot for the
first time.

Best Lunch

1. Huey’s

2. Soul Fish

3. Lenny’s

Hey, you know all those other restaurants that were in the running
for “Best Lunch” in Memphis? Stick a toothpick in ’em. They’re done.
Huey’s gets the nod for lunch nosh this year.

Best Breakfast

1. Brother Juniper’s

2. Blue Plate Cafe

3. Bryant’s Breakfast

Oh Brother, Wherefore Art Chow? Sorry. Brother J. has won “Best
Breakfast” many times, and it’s because they offer delicious,
innovative, homemade food in an eclectic space crammed with interesting
people, especially on weekend mornings.

Best Romantic Restaurant

1. Paulette’s

2. Le Chardonnay Wine Bar & Bistro

3. The Melting Pot

Maybe it’s the desserts. Or maybe the soft tinkling of the ivories.
Or maybe just the wonderful menu, nice wine list, and warm ambience.
Paulette’s is a classic.

Best Sunday Brunch

1. Owen Brennan’s Restaurant

2. Boscos Squared

3. Peabody Skyway — tie —

Beauty Shop

Owen Brennan’s sits at the cusp of Germantown and East Memphis, but
it draws Memphians from all over for its New Orleans-themed Sunday
brunch: the best in town for 2009.

Best Wine List

1. Le Chardonnay Wine Bar & Bistro

2. Texas de Brazil

3. Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse

Le Chardonnay moved across Madison Avenue a couple years ago, but it
has retained its dark, ski-lodge-y charm, its extensive wine list, and
first place for “Best Wine List” in your hearts.

Best Steak

1. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

2. Ruth’s Chris Steak House

3. The Butcher Shop

Folk’s Folly valets meet you at the curb. Once inside, you hear
sweet piano-bar stylings and the sound of cold drinks and cocktail
chatter. But who are we kidding? It’s all about the steak here, and
Folk’s Folly’s steaks sizzle!

Best Barbecue

1. Central BBQ

2. Corky’s

3. The Bar-B-Q Shop

Central BBQ takes top honor in what is probably the toughest
category in this poll: “Best Barbecue.” No matter how you spell it
— barbecue, BBQ, Bar-B-Q, whatever — Central’s on top
again.

Best Ribs

1. Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous

2. Central BBQ

3. Corky’s

The Rendezvous is sometimes derided as a place where tourists go to
eat Memphis’ most famous food group (16 barbecued ribs), but the
Flyer‘s poll makes it clear that locals love the Rendezvous as
much as people wearing Elvis T-shirts. And well they should.

Best Burger

BOM 1. Huey’s

2. Earnestine & Hazel’s

3. The Belmont Grill

That “BOM” designation means Huey’s has won “Best Burger” for so
long that it’s not even fair to anybody else in the running. Lots of
places in Memphis make good burgers, but only one takes the top spot,
year after year after year.

Best Hot Wings

1. Buffalo Wild Wings

2. D’Bo’s Buffalo Wings-n-Things

3. Central BBQ

With five Memphis-area locations, 14 sauces (ranging in heat from
“Blazin'” to “Sweet Barbecue”), and TVs set to sports everywhere you
look, Buffalo Wild Wings is leading the city’s wing scene.

Best Fried Chicken

BOM 1. Gus’s Fried Chicken

2. Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits

3. Jack Pirtle Fried Chicken

If you want to eat lunch at Gus’s, you’d better get there early.
Folks line up for the crispy, smoky, spicy uniqueness that makes Gus’s
fried chicken better than anybody’s in Memphis. Or in the world.

Best Cajun/Creole

1. Bayou Bar & Grill

2. Owen Brennan’s Restaurant

3. Pearl’s Oyster House

The Bayou, like its sister restaurant, Le Chardonnay, hasn’t missed
a beat by moving across Madison. It’s bigger, but it still has a nice
patio, cold beer, stellar gumbo, and lots of other Cajun
delectables.

Justin Fox Burks

Petra, 1st place: ‘Best Mediterranean’

Best Mediterranean

1. Petra

2. Casa Grill

3. Petra Cafe

What’s more Midtown than this: Greek-Korean fusion in a restaurant
housed in a former gas station/garage, with patio seating right next to
the pumps? Spanikopita, moussaka, falafel — Petra is Greek
delicious. And the Korean soups and kimchi are fabulous too.

Best Dessert

1. Paulette’s

2. Beauty Shop

3. Kooky Canuck

Restaurants come and go, but Paulette’s “K-Pie” is a constant. Rich
coffee ice cream in a pecan-coconut crust, topped with whipped cream
and Kahlua, the Midtown institution’s Kahlua-mocha parfait pie is a
classic but not their most popular dessert. That designation apparently
belongs to the restaurant’s hot chocolate crepe. With crème
brûlée, Key lime pie, and other desserts dotting the menu,
Paulette’s is where Memphians go for post-dinner sweets.

Best Italian

1. Ronnie Grisanti & Sons Restaurant (now closed)

2. Pete & Sam’s

3. Bari — tie —

Ciao Bella Italian Grill

Long synonymous with Italian dining in Memphis, Ronnie Grisanti’s
closed its doors in August after a 25-year run at its Chickasaw Oaks
Plaza location on Poplar. But Memphians won’t be without the Grisanti
family’s authentic Tuscan cuisine, which has delighted local diners for
generations. Most of the restaurant’s staff — including Ronnie
himself — will relocate to the family’s Germantown location,
Elfo’s, which will be renamed simply Grisanti’s.

Best Mexican

1. El Porton Mexican Restaurant

2. Happy Mexican

3. Taqueria La Guadalupana

In an increasingly saturated local Mexican food scene, El Porton
maintains the top spot with five area locations, quick, reasonably
price lunches, a diverse menu, a full bar, and happy-hour specials.

Best Chinese

1. P.F. Chang’s

2. Wang’s Mandarin House

3. A-Tan

National chain P.F. Chang’s became a big local hit when it opened
its lone Memphis location — on Ridgeway in East Memphis — a
few years ago. In P.F. Chang’s large, opulent dining room, patrons can
feast on a diverse array of Chinese classics such as Mongolian beef,
ginger chicken, and spicy dumplings.

Best Thai

1. Bhan Thai

2. Bangkok Alley

3. Jasmine

Located in a large, converted Midtown house (the former home of
restaurant Maison Raji), Bhan Thai offers intensely flavorful Thai
dishes — masaman curry, pad thai, crispy duck, coconut-milk-based
soups, etc. — in an elegant atmosphere full of character, from
its small, intimate dining rooms to its popular patio in the back.

Best Vietnamese

1. Saigon Le

2. Pho Saigon

3. Pho Hoa Binh

This no-frills Midtown eatery has a loyal clientele because of its
focus on the food, which includes authentic Vietnamese specialties
— fresh spring rolls, great pho soups, vermicelli and tofu
dishes, and plenty of vegetarian options.

Best Japanese/Sushi

1. Sekisui

2. Blue Fin

3. Sekisui Pacific Rim

Restaurateur Jimmy Ishii has come to define Japanese cuisine, and
particularly sushi, in Memphis. The local chain is celebrating its 20th
birthday this year, first opening its Humphreys Center flagship
restaurant in 1989 and now covering the city with five locations.

Justin Fox Burks

Soul Fish, 1st place: ‘Best Home Cooking / Soul Food’

Best Home Cooking/Soul Food

1. Soul Fish

2. The Cupboard

3. Blue Plate Café

For exquisite catfish and hush puppies and a big daily selection of
veggies, it’s hard to order anything else off of Soul Fish’s menu. But
try their smoked half-chicken, and you’ll be doubling up on meals to
satisfy all your menu urges.

Best Vegetarian

BOM 1. Whole Foods Market

2. The Cupboard

3. Jasmine

Whole Foods Market, a foodie oasis on Poplar Avenue in East Memphis,
is more than a grocery store. Its large prepared-foods section —
pizzas, sandwiches, salad bar, bakery, coffee and juice bar — and
dining area make it a popular lunch and dinner spot for vegetarians and
health-food enthusiasts, in particular. Whole Foods also offers cooking
classes to help you find interesting things to do with the fresh and
healthy items they sell.

Best Seafood

1. Tsunami

2. Bonefish

3. The Half Shell

The anchor restaurant of Cooper-Young does it again, taking “Best
Seafood” for the millionth year in a row. Scallops, sea bass, mussels,
you name it, Chef Ben Smith and crew deliver a ship full of great taste
in a sophisticated atmosphere.

Best Pizza

BOM 1. Memphis Pizza Cafe

2. Garibaldi’s Pizza

3. Old Venice

Memphis Pizza Café was an instant hit when it opened in 1993
and has since expanded its local pizza empire to five locations, all
serving tasty, crispy pizzas, including such faves as the white-sauce
“alternative” and the zesty Cajun chicken.

Best Deli

1. Fino’s from the Hill

2. Bogie’s Delicatessen

3. Young Avenue Deli

What says Midtown more than the intersection of Madison and McLean?
And what says a great deli sandwich better than Fino’s from the Hill,
on that very Midtown corner? In addition to the popular made-to-order
sandwiches — cold cuts, cheeses, toppings, all on good crusty
bread — Fino’s offers pasta dishes and grocery items. That’s
Italian!

Best Server

1. Jeff Frisby, Restaurant Iris

2. Michele Fields, Calhoun’s Sports Bar

3. Jean Pruett, Bardog — tie —

Brent Skelton, The Kitchen

Jeff Frisby at Restaurant Iris must be doing something right. Last
year, he was named one of the city’s best servers in our Best Of poll.
This year, he’s done it again. Must be that Frisby knows not only how
to serve, he knows what to serve when it comes to vino: He’s Restaurant
Iris’ wine manager. (Factoid: All our winners in this category work in
Memphis’ new or newish restaurant/bars. Good to see Flyer
readers appreciate the city’s evolving food scene.)

Best Service

1. Chick-Fil-A

2. Texas de Brazil

3. Houston’s

Drive-thru or in-store, the crew behind the counter at any of
Memphis’ Chick-Fil-A locations have it down pat: your order in your
hands — fast. More amazing (and given the volume of business),
they do it, hands down, with the friendliest service in town.

Justin Fox Burks

Chick-Fil-A, 1st place: ‘Best Kid-Friendly Restaurant’

Best Kid-Friendly Restaurant

1. Chick-Fil-A

2. Chuck E. Cheese

3. Huey’s

We forgot to mention (see “Best Service”) that the crew at
Chick-Fil-A must have nerves of steel. As a new winner in the
kid-friendly restaurant category, these folks have what it takes when
children combine with fast food. Call it grace under pressure.

Best Local Late-Night Dining

1. Huey’s

2. Earnestine & Hazel’s

3. Young Avenue Deli

And we mean late. We’re talking, at several of Huey’s
multiple locations, a kitchen that’s open until 2 a.m. Don’t deny it.
At that hour and after some damage, what your body’s craving is a
burger and onion rings.

Best Place for People-Watching

1. Flying Saucer

2. Young Avenue Deli

3. Celtic Crossing

The corner of Beale and Second: The wide-open windows at downtown’s
Flyer Saucer aren’t there for no reason. Whether you’re in the
restaurant or passing on the sidewalk, this place was tailor-made for
people-watching. Evidence: During the Memphis Music and Heritage
Festival a few weekends ago, the place was jamming, inside and out.

Best Patio

1. Celtic Crossing

2. Boscos Squared

3. Cafe Olé

In a word: trivia. Celtic’s popular Wednesday-night tournament this
past summer had the patio packed. Any night, any season, though, will
do for a Guinness and some major hanging-out in Cooper-Young. Bonus
attraction: On this patio, you’re only a few steps from the scene on
the street.

Best Local Place That Delivers

1. Garibaldi’s Pizza

2. Young Avenue Deli

3. Camy’s

Another new winner in our Best Of poll: Garibaldi’s Pizza —
established 30 years ago by owner Mike Garibaldi — has three
locations for handmade pizzas, pastas, salads, wings, sandwiches,
sweets, and more. Garibaldi’s caters to not only what you’re hungry
for, according to readers, it really delivers.

Justin Fox Burks

Muddy’s Bake Shop, 1st place: ‘Best Bakery’

Best Bakery

1. Muddy’s Bake Shop

2. La Baguette

3. Fresh Market

Again: a new winner. And, according to Muddy’s website, if you’re
rude, whiny, impatient, or otherwise unpleasant, forget stepping inside
this bakeshop. If you’re green-minded and egg-headed (Muddy’s uses eggs
from cage-free, free-range hens), you’re welcome! Plus, who’s to argue
with a cupcake called “Prozac?”

Best Local Coffeehouse

1. High Point Coffee (now closed)

2. Otherlands

3. Café Eclectic — tie —

Republic Coffee

High Point Coffee just closed. (It’s the economy, stupid.) But
Otherlands, Cafe Eclectic, and Republic Coffee — the hotshots
rounding out your picks for best local coffeehouse — havestill
got their vibe going and the caffeine coming.

Best Restaurant

1. Restaurant Iris

2. Tsunami

3. Huey’s

Iris: It’s in the eye of the beholder. Restaurant Iris, “Best
Restaurant,” according to Memphians who value fine dining. In the space
of a year, nationally recognized chef Kelly English has succeeded in
turning Restaurant Iris into the city’s go-to address for exceptional
French-Creole-inspired cuisine. Doesn’t hurt that the restaurant also
features first-rate service in an intimate, romantic atmosphere.

Best New Restaurant

1. Flight

2. Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen

3. Overton Park Pizze Stone

The interior’s gorgeous, but it’s the food at Flight that has
Flyer readers hooked — and voting. Flight’s “flights”
— a trio of tastings from the entrée, dessert, and wine
menus — make it a wonderful way to sample what’s cooking in the
kitchen. What’s on your table: small plates but great taste. Or you
want regular-size portions? No problem. You can order that way too.