Restaurant Iris opened for lunch October 3rd (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The eagerly-awaited opening of Restaurant Iris at its new location at 4550 Poplar Avenue in the Laurelwood Shopping Center took place today, October 3rd.
The restaurant, the epitome of an elegant contemporary restaurant, opened at 11 a.m. for lunch. The restaurant, which is probably more than twice the size of its old location, now occupied by Pantà, is at the old location of The Grove Grill.
Restaurant Iris (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Russell Casey is executive chef of the restaurant, which is owned by Kelly English. Casey said in an earlier Memphis Flyer interview, “We’re going to do classic New Orleans cuisine. Think Galatoire’s with my footprint, hand print, whatever you want to call it, all through the menu.”
A menu item closely related to what Casey does is his pan-seared flounder with lima beans, succotash, béarnaise, and jumbo lump crabmeat.
According to marketing director for Iris Group LLC Caleb Sigler, lunch, with a menu that will expand in the coming weeks, will be available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week. A brunch menu will be featured on Saturdays and Sundays.
Dinner reservations are now available online, restaurantiris.com, for Friday October 7th and Saturday October 8th. Additional dinner reservations will be added in the coming weeks.
And, Sigler says, “Bar menu will be available all day starting October 10th. Bar menu will include a handful of classic Restaurant Iris favorites (ravioli, lobster knuckle sandwich, etc.)
The spacious bar and oyster bar are off the main dining room.
Ann Parker and her team at Parker Design Studio designed the interior. The elegant-looking restaurant features a green-and-white mosaic floor at the entrance into the main dining room with its serpentine booths. Italian glass fixtures resemble colorful balloons because of the light bulbs that are run by an LED lighting system. They feature the full spectrum of colors, which are manipulated at a control panel off the main dining room.
The restaurant also has four private dining rooms that can accommodate both small or large groups.
Russell Casey is executive chef at the new Restaurant Iris (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Russell Casey was about 5 when he developed a passion for cooking by helping his grandfather grill outdoors.
“That man would cook any type of beef you could imagine,” Casey says. “He always wanted to fatten me up.”
Casey, now executive chef of the new Restaurant Iris, bussed tables when he was 13 at The Grove Grill, which was where Restaurant Iris now is located.
He majored in English at the now-called Western Colorado University, but he decided to stay in the culinary field after working at a local restaurant. “I liked the versatility of working in a kitchen. I knew I could travel and I could always feed myself.”
Casey “developed a knack” for “what would work well together as far as any type of cuisine.” He came to work early to learn how to “butcher fish, make sauces, and braises” from the chef. Casey worked there for about four years.
“I thought I knew everything and then I got into fine dining and realized I didn’t know jack shit. It’s a whole new ball game.”
Returning to Memphis, Casey eventually got a job at The Inn at Hunt Phelan. Executive chef Stephen Hassinger was a big influence. “He was calm, but fair and stern, which is discipline. We all need that. It really motivated me to keep going. I think when you’re tired, and you don’t think you can move on, and chef is still rocking it out, and he’s got a couple of years on you, it motivates you.”
Casey learned a lot from Hassinger. “I don’t know if ‘spirituality’ is the word, but just respecting the abundance of food we have access to and not wasting it, as opposed to spoiling it or throwing it away. Always pack fish in ice the way they’d swim in the ocean. Respect the fact that if a living thing was slaughtered or died so you can eat it, you need to respect that and take care of it, and use everything you possibly can to make it sort of a way of being thankful for what we have.”
Chef Vishwesh Bhatt, who Casey worked under at Snackbar in Oxford, Mississippi, was another influence. “Here he comes from India, and he has this kick-ass, unique French fusion where he’s using spices and things I’d never known before. It reignited my passion for cooking.”
Bhatt influenced Casey to “grab a bull by the horns” and move up in his career. “Because the last thing I want to do is get stuck.” Casey didn’t want to become a “60-year-old, burned-out line cook.” He returned to Memphis and eventually got a job as executive chef at Bounty on Broad.
Hearing about the opening of the new Restaurant Iris, Casey pulled no punches when he told owner Kelly English, “Look. We can own this mutha fucka: your brand — and you market yourself so well — and I can kill it in the kitchen. I’m your guy. Let’s go get coffee.”
Restaurant Iris fare will be “classic New Orleans” with some Iris staples, including the lobster knuckle sandwich. “With the exception of three or four staples, everything is kind of ‘think Galatoire’s’ type of menu with my fingerprints all over it.
“What people keep saying sounds like me is the pan-roasted flounder with speckled lima beans and succotash. It kind of screams, ‘Russell Casey.’ I think it’s all those classic, comforting different techniques throughout the dish, and it’s cool.”
Casey sees his Restaurant Iris position as the “culmination of all the blood, sweat, and tears” he’s endured working his way up the ladder.
He remembers when he made and sold mozzarella cheese to supplement his chef’s income. He made the cheese on Friday nights after a long day’s work at the restaurant. He then had to be at the farmer’s market at 5 a.m. Becoming a chef is “definitely a younger man’s ambition, for sure. But all that, I think, gets wrapped up into teaching you how to be tough. And that the sky’s the limit. Go for the gold.”
Restaurant Iris is at 4550 Poplar Avenue in Laurelwood Shopping Center.
The upcoming Restaurant Iris in Laurelwood Shopping Center. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The main dining room of Restaurant Iris (Credit: Michael Donahue)
OK. I’m just going to say it. Or write it, rather. The new Restaurant Iris is going to be the prettiest restaurant in Memphis.
It’s stunning.
Owner Kelly English, who says he doesn’t know when the restaurant will open, gave me a tour of his new eating establishment at 4550 Poplar Avenue in the Laurelwood Shopping Center. It’s where the old restaurant, The Grove Grill, was located. Restaurant Iris’s former location is where English’s restaurant, Panta, now is located.
The view when I opened the door at the new Restaurant Iris almost knocked me down. Not really. But mentally. It was a jolt. In a good way.
This is what a fabulous, elegant contemporary restaurant looks like in your dreams. A lot of color and energy.
Restaurant Iris foyer and main dining room (Credit: Michael Donahue)
You move from the green-and-white mosaic floor at the entrance into the beautiful main dining room with Italian glass fixtures that resemble colorful balloons because of the light bulbs that are run by an LED lighting system. They feature the full spectrum of colors, including blue, purple, pink, green, and yellow. English showed me how the colors can be manipulated at a control panel off the main dining room.
Ann Parker and her team at Parker Design Studio designed the interior of Restaurant Iris. “That lighting system operates throughout the whole restaurant,” she says. “You are in control of the perfect lighting of light levels and clarity of light and color traces.”
And she says, “You will always look beautiful in the restaurant. So, be careful.”
The serpentine booths in the center give the restaurant so much movement and energy that I almost fell down again. Also in a good way.
Serpentine booths in the main dining room at Restaurant Iris (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Those who remember entering the old Justine’s restaurant will remember the chandeliers, the French-inspired antiques, and the black-and-white flooring at the entry way. Restaurant Iris achieves this same opulent sensation, but with contemporary furnishings instead of antiques.
Both Justine’s and Restaurant Iris have that New Orleans feel. English, who everybody probably knows by know, is from New Orleans. So, the restaurant is a great reflection of the Crescent City. Come to think of it, those center booths in the main dining room are crescent shaped, actually. Was this an accident?
The whimsical and beautiful mural of a Louisiana landscape in the main dining room is by local artist Dorothy Collier.
Dorothy Collier painted the mural in the main dining room (Credit: Michael Donahue)
But don’t get me wrong. This place feels fun. Not stiff. People are going to have a good time here. And create memories.
“The process was to create a space that was emulating the old Iris on lots of levels,” Parker says. “And we mimicked a lot of that in some of the color tones and then taking it to the next level: an elevated level of its old location and all that will offer.”
The concept? “We were wanting to play with your senses. The food will play with your senses as much as your environment.”
When I looked to my left on entering the restaurant, I saw shelving. That’s for the restaurant’s “grab and go” grocery store, English says. It will include everything from pickles and canned goods to prepared family meals.”
When I looked to my right, I saw the spacious bar and oyster bar. In addition to ordering by the bottle, the bar will feature 29 wines, two champagnes, and two sparkling wines by the glass.
A portion of the Restaurant Iris bar (Credit: Michael Donahue)Restaurant Iris oyster bar (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The restaurant has four private dining rooms that can accomodate both small or large groups. The mural depicting a garden party on the wall in the larger private room is spectacular.
A Restaurant Iris private dining room (Credit: Michael Donahue)A private dining room at Restaurant Iris (Credit: Michael Donahue)A mural of a garden party graces walls in a private dining room at the new Restaurant Iris (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The kitchen is enormous — 3,500 square feet, English says.
Restaurant Iris kitchen (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The bathrooms are gorgeous.
Restaurant Iris women’s bathroom (Credit: Michael Donahue)Restaurant Iris men’s bathroom (Credit: Michael Donahue
And now — the food. It’s also going to be gorgeous and delicious. Executive chef Russell Casey says, “We’re going to do classic New Orleans cuisine. More upscale. Think Galatoire’s with my footprint, hand print, whatever you want to call it all through the menu.”
Restaurant Iris executive chef Russell Casey (Credit: Michael Donahue)
A menu item “closely related” to what Casey does is his “pan-seared flounder with speckled lima beans, succotash, béarnaise, and jumbo lump crabmeat.”
Casey also will feature “tons” of his sides, which will be featured à la carte. “But we’re putting that New Orleans stamp on it.”
Casey, who used to bus tables as a teenager at The Grove Grill, is amazed at the transformation of the space. He’s worked with many chefs at several restaurants, but, Stephen Hassinger, who was executive chef at the old Inn at Hunt Phelan, was his biggest inspiration. “Every person who was in that kitchen has gone on to do wonderful things. I think it starts with Stephen Hassinger. He’s been so influential in turning out some great chefs when Memphis really was kind of in its infancy stage of becoming a culinary destination. Which I think we are well on our way to if not already there instead of just a barbecue destination.”
When I asked how he felt, English said, “Great.”
“Iris will return to the true roots it set out at with added space to achieve it,” he says. “We will be a classic Creole restaurant in every sense of the term, with dishes you remember from the early years of Iris, an oyster bar, daily lunch. All of that and you get Russell Casey’s food, too.
“We really wanted to maximize the space we had — both in the dining rooms and the kitchen — to best support our team. I think we have done that. Ann Parker and team have done a phenomenal job of bringing a space that did not exist in Memphis to life that we think will be a great complement to the larger restaurant community that we already have here.”
Kelly English, owner of Restaurant Iris (Credit: Michael Donahue)Restaurant Iris in Laurelwood Shopping Center (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Customers can eat inside Bounty on Broad beginning June 16th.
Bounty on Broad will reopen its dining room June 16th.
They will continue to do curbside, but they didn’t want to open the dining room early, says executive chef Russell Casey. “I guess we were kind of seeing how the health department would move into phase three,” he says. “Since that’s happening on Monday, we’ve decided to move ahead.
“We’re probably only going to fill up to 50 percent occupancy. Put a few tables outside on the sidewalk. Seems like people just poking around town feel more comfortable being outside.”
And, he says, “Everybody is taking their COVID test and all that. We’re very conscious of keeping the spacing between the tables correct and just following what the health department says.”
They want the public to feel safe, Casey says. “All of our cleaning procedures have always been stringent. We want the public to know we’re going a step beyond that. It’s something we take seriously and we always have. Now, with the pandemic, we’re stepping up our game even more. We want the public to know things are sanitary and fresh and good to go.”
The restaurant will offer a limited menu. “We’ve done curbside and a lot of hospital catering through the worst of it. That’s kind of tapered off.”
They will feature five items on the menu. “We’ve got a fish, a pork, a beef, a vegetarian, and a chicken [dish] on there. So, we’ve kind of hit all the bases and kept it limited.”
Their most popular curbside items include the eggplant lasagna, the salmon with rice grits, and the half-roasted farm-raised chicken with wild mushroom risotto, all of which will continue on their menu. “We’re going to add things to it. Our main thing is to keep things fresh and to keep the quality the public expects and has grown to love about Bounty.”
“We’re going to play it by ear the next couple of weeks and see how the public responds to things. We’ll make a decision on a day-to-day basis on how we’re going to move forward.”
To view the menu, go to bountyonbroad.com
Bounty on Broad is at 2519 Broad Avenue; (901) 410-8131
When one chef leaves, another steps in to take his or her place, bringing his or her experience, enterprise, and general tenor to the venue. There’s been some diversification in the top brass department across the Memphis restaurant landscape of late. Here’s a round-up of some of the changes, from institutions old and new to new(er) kids on the block.
Max Hussey has cooked Cajun cuisine at Emeril’s New Orleans and barbecue in San Francisco (where he won a Top 30 BBQ Restaurants in the Country designation) and even studied Indian cuisine under an Awa (grandmother).
He was imported to Memphis in 2015 to steer the ship at eighty3 in the Madison Hotel but found himself restless enough to make the transition to what he heard was the legendary Folk’s Folly. Eventually.
“When the position first opened [at Folk’s Folly], I balked,” Hussey says. “I felt like I still had work to do at the Madison.”
Moving on up — Max Hussey is the executive chef at Folk’s Folly.
The second time he had the chance, though, he definitely jumped.
“They’ve had servers working there for 36 years and line cooks for 22,” he says. “Nobody has that kind of longevity in the restaurant industry. There must be something to it.”
He’s been able to do things like make watermelon or pumpkin caviar as a garnish or add black cardamom to the collard greens.
“I do love being creative,” he says. “I enjoy bringing new techniques and products and different styles to the weekly specials.”
Dave Krog made a return to Interim, but this time a bit further up in the kitchen hierarchy. He started out as sous chef at the sleek and elegant eatery, leaving in the fall of 2015 for the Terrace at River Inn. He’s been executive chef at the nine-year-old restaurant — which takes its name from serving as an interim restaurant after Wally Joe closed shop in the space in 2007 and Jackson Kramer took the helm — since this spring.
Since taking over, Krog has started his own wine dinner, getting to play with limited-release products from local vendors once a month and serving the specialities to 16 lucky gastronomes in the restaurant’s private dining room.
“I did that immediately,” Krog says. “It offers a challenge to me and the staff, and I get a chance to serve something you can’t get at every restaurant.”
His goals are to “continue to elevate the food in the building” with “the best kitchen in town” and keep his vendors as close to home as possible.
Speaking of Interim. Kramer left the space on Sanderlin in 2014 to open Bounty on Broad. More recently, he left Memphis to pursue his culinary dreams in the PNW and while at it, leaving a chance for Russell Casey to put his spin on the entirely gluten-free restaurant.
In addition to adding patio seating, Saturday brunch, and a bar menu, Casey has put a duck duo on the menu, with seared duck breast, confit leg, and homemade sweet potato pudding. They’re unveiling their new menu this week, and soon will be baking their own gluten-free bread, which will add more choices to the brunch items.
“Russ was available, and the owner was connected to him, so it was kind of serendipitous,” Bounty manager Severin Allgood says.
As chefs go, Russell Casey may be one of the most undervalued properties in the city. Since 2013, he’s been turning out top-notch pub grub at Local. Then, earlier this year, he started beating other area chefs to win cooking contests — first place for his bouillabaisse in February, second place for his ceviche in June.
All this from a guy who never went to culinary school.
“I started in kitchens when I was 14 years old,” remembers Casey, now 35. “And I’ve been doing it ever since. I think the best school you can get is working for good chefs.”
Now Casey is bringing his culinary brio to the menu at Agave Maria. It’s a new Mexican restaurant near the corner of Union and Front, in the old Pa Pa Pia’s space. And, folks, it’s a winner. The combination of chic design and can’t-put-it-down cuisine make it the kind of place that will quickly earn a spot on your regular restaurant rotation.
Justin Fox Burks
the Seared Sea Scallops
Take the Enchilada Tinga ($11). Taste a little different? Well it should. The mole is built from a base of toasted pumpkin seeds and soy sauce. It’s the kind of flavor profile you’d never associate with Mexican food — until now. Rich and tangy, loaded with lime, chili paste, and shredded chicken, it’s a dish you’ll have to guard from fellow diners. Also recommended: the Seared Sea Scallops ($15) and the Salmon Sashimi Tostada ($12.50).
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bottles of tequila
Agave Maria’s other great virtue is its bar, which boasts the largest selection of tequila (100-plus varieties) in the city. To toast the warm weather, owner Jeff Johnson and I raised a snifter of Casa Noble Añejo ($15). Grown in the Mexican lowlands and aged in oak barrels, it was silky smooth with notes of butterscotch and pear.
“Of course, we’re not above taking shots here,” says Johnson, swirling the tequila in his snifter. “But if you want to, this is a place where you can come to learn and savor.”
Johnson adds that he has plans for tequila pairing dinners and a tequila loyalty program.
Of course, the food tastes better for being served in such stylish surroundings. The interior — olive green with fuchsia accents — is by Graham Reese, whose inspiration was “Tijuana chic.” In practice, that means tufted leather, jewel-tone pendant lamps, and, of course, an enormous taxidermied bull. La Furia (“The Fury”) is said to have killed two matadors and injured 12 more between 1999 and 2001.
Tamp & Tap Triad inhabits the kind of sleek, industrial space you’d expect to find in downtown Chicago. For a color palette, think Oreo cookie: black and white with just a few pops of color. There’s even an egg-shaped meeting pod, walled off from the main dining area by a translucent, white curtain.
Pretty cool, right? Only it’s not in Chicago. It’s not even downtown. Tamp & Tap Triad is in East Memphis, near Poplar and I-240.
When you think about it, it fits. East Memphis has been crying out for good coffee — as far as I can tell, there’s nothing “craft” east of the interstate — and manager Maggie Swett says bringing artisanal third-wave coffee to an untapped market is a big part of her mission.
“There’s so much energy behind this cup,” Swett enthuses. “We’re talking about fair-trade beans from a single origin, and they don’t get roasted until I order them.”
Tamp & Tap Triad — an offshoot of the original Tamp & Tap downtown — sources all its beans through Metropolis Coffee in Chicago. The shot I tasted, a Redline espresso, was spicy and well-constructed. Although its license is still pending, the shop plans to offer beer and a light lunch, as well as wine, which the other location does not have.
“When I joined the project,” Swett remembers, “they didn’t have a woman on board. I told them, when I wind down after work, I want a glass of wine.”
As for the food, it’s perfect for a business lunch. I especially liked the Stanley Sandwich ($10.50), stacked with smoked turkey, fontina cheese, candied bacon, pickled red onion, and roasted artichoke aioli. The brioche, which is baked in-house, seals the deal.
This year the Peabody turns 145, and to celebrate, they’re throwing themselves a party on Thursday, September 4th. It starts with a reception in the lobby, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Anybody can come to that. But the main event is a seated, five-course dinner at Chez Philippe. The dinner is $85 per person (an additional $35 for wine pairing), and reservations are required.
For each course, the Peabody has recruited a different chef from the history of Chez Philippe. Jason Dallas — currently executive chef at Interim — opens the evening with leek-wrapped scallops. Then it’s Andreas Kistler‘s turn. The current chef at Chez Philippe will prepare pan-roasted pheasant with dried berries and Peruvian potato-truffle puree.
Did the Peabody’s 145-year history affect Kistler’s choice of menu? Well — not exactly.
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The Peabody’s Andreas Kistler and Konrad Spitzbart
“I was going through some of the old menus,” says Kistler. “They’re fun to look at, but I don’t think I could spell most of that stuff, let alone make money with it. Back then they ate kidneys and livers. I don’t want to eat that!”
The evening closes with a strawberry shortcake by chef Konrad Spitzbart, served with mascarpone, basil gel, and a crisp pepper meringue. It’s certainly a change from 1869, the year the Peabody opened. Back then you could get a room and two meals for $4. But then, you might have had trouble finding any basil gel or Peruvian potato-truffle puree.
Jeff Johnson recently finished installing a 48-tap draft beer system — the largest in town — at Local in Overton Square. It’s a veritable bowling alley of shiny chrome and colorful tap handles, boasting craft beers from around the United States.
“Our goal is simple,” confesses Johnson. “We wanna be the place people come to get beer.”
The new tap system means that kegs won’t have to be stored behind the bar; chilled pipes allow them to be tapped remotely. The move has freed up space for a raw bar. On a recent Wednesday, oysters from the Gulf Coast and James River were offered.
And really, what goes better with craft beer than oysters? Start with the fried gulf oysters in wing sauce ($12 for a half dozen). They’re lightly breaded, so you can still taste the oyster, and the sauce is lusciously garlicky. Pair them with a pint of Goose Island Lolita, a tart Belgian-style beer aged in wine barrels with fresh raspberries.
Justin Fox Burks
Oysters from Local’s new raw bar
Interested in a classier bivalve? Try chef Russell Casey‘s grilled oysters with bacon, leek butter, and parmesan ($12 for a half dozen). Pairing bacon with oysters is almost always a good idea — the hearty crunch adds so much — and in this case, the leek butter seals the deal. Pair them with a Dogfish Head Sixty-One, a complex IPA finished with the juice of Syrah grapes.
Or you know what? Just eat ’em raw. Now that it’s September, the oysters have stopped spawning, the red tides have subsided, and this gastronome is eager for slimy delights.
Justin Fox Burks 
Justin Fox Burks 
Justin Fox Burks 
Justin Fox Burks