Tag: Ryan Trimm

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

117 Prime Closing, Belle Tavern Stays Open

117Prime will close April 20th. Belle Tavern will remain open. (Photo: Courtesy of 117Prime)

No more prime steak or oysters after April 20th at 117Prime. That’s when the Downtown steakhouse at 117 Union Avenue closes.

But food lovers will still be able to get steak frites at Belle Tavern. The cozy bar/restaurant immediately behind 117Prime will remain open.

“The menu will get a little bigger,” says Ryan Trimm, chef/owner of both places. But, he says, “You won’t be able to enter through Union any more. You’ll have to enter through 117 Barboro Alley.”

Belle Tavern has been open longer than 117Prime, Trimm says. The bar, which opened around 2015, “closed during Covid” and reopened after they rebranded.

Asked about the attraction of Belle Tavern, Trimm says, “I always wanted a little bar. A place where I feel like I can hang out. And it’s just relaxing and low level and fits a need.”

He describes Belle Tavern as “a borderline dive bar. It’s not a dive bar. But it’s a little hole in the wall.”

Belle Tavern is a place where he can hang out with his friends with a good whiskey and beer selection.

Belle Tavern (Photo: Courtesy of Belle Tavern)

As for 117Prime, Trimm says, “Sales have not been what they were. A lot of fixed costs. A steak house, fine dining restaurant, it gets pretty difficult to keep that moving. And it just got to the point where we were like, ‘You know what? The environment downtown is getting more difficult to navigate. And we just need to try something else.’”

And, he adds, “I don’t think a steakhouse was a good fit for Downtown at this moment.” It was hard to stay open with “valet and linen tablecloths and heavy staff and food costs.”

Trimm isn’t sure what they will do with the 117Prime space after the restaurant closes at the end of this week. They might open something “a little more fitting” or “lease it to somebody else.”

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Memphis Chefs Personalize Barbecuing: Part 1

Barbecue sushi from Poke Paradise (Photo: Jimmy “Sushi Jimmi” Sinh)

If you’re a Memphis chef, chances are you’ve thought about creating some kind of barbecue. Or maybe you already have.

But what would be your “signature” barbecue? Even if the idea is still in your imagination?

Tamra Patterson, chef/owner of Chef Tam’s Underground Cafe: “If Chef Tam created her style of barbecue/meat, it would be barbecue catfish stuffed with a barbecue jambalaya. No matter what I cook, I always have to infuse my love of Cajun food and Cajun culture.”

Jonathan Magallanes, chef/owner of Las Tortugas: “My style would be twice-cooked for an extra texture. First, braised like carnitas with whole orange, bay leaf, lard, lime, and green chile. Then flash-fried in peanut oil. At Tops Bar-B-Q, I ask for extra dark meat on the sandwich. That bark and meat crust is divine. Then I would use a chipotle salsa. Pork is braised in a huge copper kettle. Chipotle, cilantro, lime, and onion for garnish. I like to do the whole rack of ribs this way, or shoulder. Crispy pork is the best pork, as it accentuates and concentrates the porcine flavor.”

Mario Grisanti, owner of Dino’s Grill: “I make my own barbecue sauce, but I make it sweet. I would make a beef brisket and smoked pork barbecue lasagna with layers of meats, mozzarella cheese, etc. Thin layers of each covered in barbecue sauce.”

Chip Dunham, chef/owner of Magnolia & May: “One of my favorite barbecue dishes I’ve created is our Tacos con Mempho. I smoke my own pork shoulder for 12 hours and serve it on two corn tortillas with American cheese melted between them, avocado salsa, and tobacco onions. At brunch, we simply just add a scrambled egg and it’s a breakfast taco. Another one of my favorites was our barbecue butternut squash sandwich. We roast butternut squash and toss it with some Memphis barbecue sauce. It’s a vegan sandwich that satisfies the biggest meat-eater.”

Kelly English, chef/owner of Restaurant Iris and The Second Line: “If I were to try to put my own fingerprints on what Memphis already does perfectly, I would play around with fermentations and chili peppers. I would also explore the traditions of barbacoa in ancient Central American and surrounding societies.”

Jimmy “Sushi Jimmi” Sinh, Poke Paradise food truck owner: “I made a roll with barbecue meats a long time ago. Made with Central BBQ ribs. I made them plenty of times when I hung out with my barbecue friends. I did it in my rookie years. Inside is all rib meat topped with rib meat, barbecue crab mix, thin-sliced jalapeño, dab of sriracha, furikake, green onion.”

Armando Gagliano, Ecco on Overton Park chef/owner: “My favorite meat to smoke is pork back ribs. I keep the dry rub pretty simple: half brown sugar to a quarter adobo and a quarter salt. I smoke my ribs at 250-275 degrees using post oak wood and offset smoker. … The ribs are smoked for three hours and spritzed with orange juice and sherry vinegar every 30 minutes. After three hours, I baste with a homemade barbecue sauce that includes a lot of chipotle peppers and honey. Wrap the ribs in foil and put back on the smoker for two hours. After that, remove from the smoker and let rest in the foil for another hour. They should pull completely off the bone, but not fall apart when handled.”

FreeSol, owner of Red Bones Turkey Legs at Carolina Watershed: “I am already doing it with the turkey legs. We are smoking these legs for hours till they fall of the bone. … We [also] flavor them and stuff them.”

Ryan Trimm, chef/owner of Sunrise Memphis and 117 Prime: “Beef spare ribs are a personal favorite of mine. A nice smoke with a black pepper-based rub followed by a fruit-based sweet-and-spicy barbecue sauce is my way to go.”

And even Huey’s gets in on the act. Huey’s COO Ashley Boggs Robilio says, “Recipe created by Huey’s Midtown day crew: Huey’s world famous BBQ brisket burger. Topped with coleslaw and fried jalapeños.”

Continuing to celebrate barbecue month in Memphis, more chefs share ’que ideas in next week’s Memphis Flyer.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Sweet Grass Leaving Cooper-Young

Ryan Trimm (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Sweet Grass, the iconic Cooper-Young restaurant, is closing its 937 Cooper Street address, says chef/owner Ryan Trimm.

“The landlord is upping the rent,” he says. “We don’t think it’s worth it. Not a good business decision. We have to look at both sides. I’d love to stay in the neighborhood.”

But, he says, “We’ve got to get it.”

“I would like to move,” but he needs to “find a location that will fit me. I’m not going to rush into anything. It’s going to take some time.”

Sweet Grass originally opened April 2010, and the restaurant will close in mid- to late-April 2022. Trimm says he “has not found anywhere to go yet.”

And, he says, “I’m not going to rush into anything. I have a second Sunrise [Memphis] location opening in the old Blue Plate Cafe [on Poplar].”

Trimm is also one of the owners of Sunrise on Jefferson Avenue, and 117 Prime steak house downtown.

“I have jobs for all my employees,” Trimm says.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Underground: The Lounge at 3rd & Court

Memphis has welcomed a handful of new spots to the Downtown area in recent weeks, and I took it upon myself to find the one with the dimmest light and richest jams.

The basement bar of 3rd & Court, known simply as The Lounge, opened a couple of weeks ago but held its official grand opening on November 7th. They were kind enough to invite some of us Memphis Flyer folks, marking my first time being on a list since dating guitarists.

The Lounge was formerly home to Memphis Sounds before that bar moved to Mud Island. Those who went to Memphis Sounds will remember it as dark, smoky, and echoing with great tunes. Ryan Trimm, who opened The Lounge, hasn’t changed much besides nixing the smoking. The carpet is new, the paint is fresh, but Memphis sounds, if not Memphis Sounds, still reign supreme in this underground space.

Justin Fox Burks

Craft cocktails — just don’t gouge your eye out with a cinnamon stick.

Like all of Trimm’s places, there is booze to be had! The shelves are full of whiskeys and Scotches, and while the bar leans on mixology, it’s not dependent upon it. For as many craft cocktails as they offer, there were plenty of folks ordering whiskey neat.

We tried three cocktails: the Esperanza, the Hi Fi Manhattan, and the Crosseyed and Painless, each $10. The Esperanza is made from gin, lemon, ginger beer, demerara, and fresh mint. The Hi Fi is rye whiskey and Punt e Mes. The Crosseyed, made with Jamaican rum and allspice dram, was a hit with everyone.

What caught my eye was the Grapefruit Collins, made with — get this — Squirt. You know Squirt! It’s the old-school citrus soda that your grandmother used to keep in the garage refrigerator. Bartender Nick Lumpkin says he’s not only a fan of it, but an admirer of it as a mixer. For you Squirters (snort laugh), Lumpkin says it’s available at the Kroger on Union.

As earlier reported, Trimm wanted a live DJ spinning vinyl in the space. The DJ booth is an extension of the bar, and DJ Capital A was on deck for the opening. I underestimated how much I’d enjoy seeing and hearing an actual DJ as opposed to listening to whatever lame-o playlist someone put together.

A couple hours after opening the doors, The MD’s took the stage. Lumpkin mentioned that they’d be hosting more local acts onstage but that they wouldn’t rule out the possibility of an out-of-town act in the future.

The dark atmosphere is, in a word, ideal. It was dark in a warm sense; people bustled around everywhere, and I felt cozy and anonymous (which was great, since I nearly gouged myself with the cinnamon stick in my drink, and no one bore witness to my humiliation). It was like if Alex’s Tavern was wearing a bowtie, and no drunk assholes had access to the jukebox.

The Lounge has table service as well as bar service, but the bar was the popular option for the opening night crowd. It’s open from 5:30 p.m. until 1 a.m. on Thursday through Sunday, making it a bitchin’ post-work happy hour spot for later in the week.

Check your cares at the door, friends, because halfway through the evening, the fire alarm went off and not a soul stood up to leave the bar. What’s a fire when you’ve got drinks in front of you?

As the grand opening party raged on, more people poured downstairs to check out the spot. I’ll by no means be the only person to write about The Lounge, as by the time I left, I was one of several columnists on hand for the festivities. But I’ll say, as many others likely will, it’s a cool place. The Memphis music, the darkness, the sway of the crowd, and the drinks all work wonderfully together in a way only a Memphis lounge can do, and this time without your drunk friend at the jukebox.

Visit The Lounge, downstairs in the 3rd & Court Diner at Hotel Indigo, 24 N. B.B. King.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Ryan Trimm to Open Funky Downtown Bar

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Ryan Trimm behind the bar in the new lounge slated to open Labor Day in the basement of 3rd & Court Diner.

It doesn’t have a name – and might never have one – but visitors to the basement of 3rd & Court Diner in Hotel Indigo soon will be transported back to the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Ryan Trimm, the restaurant’s chef/owner, describes the area, which is slated to open Labor Day, as a “late hour juke joint. Vinyl records. Live music.”

The music will be “all old soul or funk from the ‘60s and ‘70s. Maybe a little ‘80s.”

They’re going to “steer away from rock bands.”

That means patrons will be hearing Memphis music, including Rufus Thomas, Otis Redding and other Stax performers. And New Orleans funk such as the J. B.’s, and the Meters.

The area, which previously was the old location of Memphis Sounds, seats 100.

“We’re not changing much,” Trimm says. “New ceiling. New carpet. Cleaning it up.”

A special cocktail menu is being prepared, but there will be a “unique twist” on the drinks, Trimm says. And business people still will be able to order a “couple of fingers of their favorite whiskey.”

Or just get a “shot of Jack and a cold PBR.”

The food will be “charcuterie and cheese. Things like that. Snacks.”

The new carpeting, which already is installed, reflects what is to come. Trimm describes the carpet as “so many different colors. Wavy lines.”

“Purple crushed velvet” drapes will hang as the entrance “door” to a private area.

The mirrors will remain behind the bar, but the bar itself will be painted gold. Gold lame will hang on walls. “It will be a ‘60s and ‘70s funk look.”

The booths will be recovered, he says. “Everything down there is just different.’

Trimm just wants the new bar/lounge area to be “a place to hang out. All classes hanging out, enjoying a drink. Taking a load off.”

3rd & Court Diner is at 24 North B. B. King Blvd.; (901) 930-0793

Michael Donahue

The bar for the new lounge in the basement of 3rd & Court Diner will be painted gold.

Michael Donahue

A detail of the new carpet.

Michael Donahue

The booths will be recovered.


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Food & Wine Food & Drink

3rd & Court Now Open

CREDIT: Photographs by Justin Fox Burks

On the wall of the newly opened 3rd & Court, near Court Square Downtown, is a cluster of throwback recipes serving as wallpaper. The recipes call back a yesteryear replete with Jell-O salads and dishes involving Dr. Pepper as a key ingredient. One head-scratcher calls for condensed milk, peas, corn, and salmon.

On another wall hangs various antique kitchen tools, such as spatulas and hand beaters and others of unknown purpose.

There is a long white counter at the back, lined with stools topped in orange vinyl that, of course, spin. Booths in avocado green line a window. Toward the left is a dedicated lounge area with a bar and with seating, in the same green, surrounding coffee tables.

Indeed, the whole look, created by Ann Parker of Parker Design Studio, brings to mind the good (and some could reasonably argue, bad) old days, when folks dressed up for airplane flights and mom and dad and Susie and Biff took long road trips across the newly created interstate highway system.

When Ryan Trimm and his associates of Across the Board Hospitality Group were approached by Hotel Indigo, he says his first thought was “diner.” He thought about the hotel and about traveling and his own trips when he was a kid. He says he wanted a place where the food was recognizable and comforting — a burger, a steak. He pictured a Betty Draper type sitting in the lounge, shaking off a long day of being stuck in the car with squabbling kids, and slowly sipping on a martini and snacking on finger foods.

To bring his vision to light, he enlisted Shelby Kight as the head chef. “I talked to her,” recalls Trimm. “What do we want to do? How do we want to do it? I gave her some ideas of the theme, the period. And then she just ran with it.”

On that menu are the burger (two patties, American cheese) — one of the diner’s big sellers — and a steak (it’s hanger steak with a coffee rub and mole butter). There’s a pork belly Reuben sandwich and Beast Loaf, made with cow, lamb, and bison.

Photographs by Justin Fox Burks

3rd & Court also offers a meat-and-two special of the day, which includes the Beast Loaf (Mondays); a smothered pork chop (Tuesdays); and Fried Chicken (Wednesdays). Sides include collard greens, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, roasted tomato slaw, and farm peas.

Breakfast is served, starting at 6:30 a.m., seven days a week. The menu features treats like a pound cake French toast (!), house donuts, and the Sophisticated Grain Bowl made with quinoa. In addition, they’re slinging such classics as an omelette plate, Egg-in-a-Hole, and Chicken Hash, which comes with two eggs (sunny side up) and potatoes.

Kight says she worked hard to keep to the diner aesthetic, but she also wanted more elevated dishes than your typical diner fare.

“I said, let’s put a twist on it and see what we can do,” she says.

For the Osso Bucco, which comes with polenta and collard greens, she braised the polenta and fried the collard greens. With the Beast Loaf, she coats the meat with a Korean chili paste and a chili sauce for an added bit of flavor.

The lounge menu — made up of things that don’t require a proper table setting — was designed to be eaten from the coffee table. There are meatball sliders and lobster rolls. The deviled eggs come with roasted poblano, cilantro, cotija, and radish. There are Gochujang-glazed lamb ribs made grilled-to-order with peanuts and pickled red onions. But the absolute genius move here may be the pimento cheese ball, which is pimento cheese rolled into a ball and served with pepper jam and fire crackers — a true throwback if there ever was one.

Of course, any diner has got to serve up pie. 3rd & Court has a trio of offerings, including coconut cream pie, bourbon chocolate pie, and strawberry mile-high pie. Trimm insisted on the latter. It’s fresh strawberries covered in a strawberry glaze and drizzled in balsamic vinegar, nestled in a house-made pie crust.

3rd & Court, 24 S. B.B. King Blvd.,
290-8484

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Best Bets: Creamed spinach at 117 Prime

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Creamed spinach at 117 Prime

Popeye had a lot to do with me liking greens.

As a child, I went through a period where I hated turnip greens, sweet potatoes, bananas, liver, buttermilk, beets, and Mexican food. Greens was at the head of the list — until my mother bought a can of spinach.

My brother and I got her to buy a can of spinach because we wanted to be like Popeye. It might have been “Popeye” brand. She had to open the can about three fourths of the way so it would look like the cans in the cartoons. Popeye squeezed the cans open and plopped the spinach into his mouth. Part of the lid always was attached to the can. My mother had to put heavy tape around the edge of the lid so we wouldn’t cut ourselves while trying to look like Popeye. This sort of lessened the effect we we were trying to achieve.

The outcome of all this was we discovered we loved spinach. It didn’t taste like canned turnip greens, which, I later discovered, my mother didn’t like, either. She served them because they’re good for you.

Well, if chef Ryan Trimm was cooking when I was a child, I might have bypassed Popeye and the empty spinach cans. I tasted Trimm’s creamed spinach during a recent trip to his 117 Prime restaurant. It’s one of the most delectable side dishes I’ve eaten. And, I’ll even say, it’s the best creamed spinach I’ve ever eaten.

I asked Trimm to tell me about it.

“I knew what was in creamed spinach and I made it,” he says. “I played with it. I knew the basic idea of what creamed spinach was and we played with it ‘till I got it.”

He wanted it to be “traditional creamed spinach – a combination of two different cheeses, shallots, garlic, spinach, cream, and salt and pepper.”

And, he says, “It’s always a white cheese.”

The taste is spectacular. “Ours is rich. We put more cheese in it than most people do. It costs a lot to make. It’s not cheaply made by any means.”

I ordered the creamed spinach with my steak at 117 Prime, but, I have to say, I could make a meal out of the spinach. “It’s about 12 ounces of creamed spinach,” Trimm says.

Creamed spinach is something Trimm just likes to eat. “It’s something I remember from steak houses. I love spinach, sauteed, Italian spinach. And creamed spinach is something I’ve always enjoyed. When I go to a steakhouse, I almost always order sauteed mushrooms and creamed spinach. They’re two favorites.”

Two of his favorite places to get creamed spinach are Peter Luger Steakhouse in New York and The Palm in New York City.

Now you can stay in Memphis and get a great one.

Note: I’ve added a video of chefs Trimm and head chef Alex Switzer making creamed spinach at 117 Prime. It’s going to make you hungry.

117 Prime is at 117 Union Avenue; 901-433-9851

Best Bets: Creamed spinach at 117 Prime

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Sunrise opening Nov. 27

The much anticipated new restaurant Sunrise from Central BBQ’s Roger Sapp and Craig Blondis and Sweet Grass’ Ryan Trimm will officially open Monday, November 27th.

The restaurant, at 670 Jefferson, will specialize in meats (think bacon and sausage) and dense, hearty biscuits that hold up to a whole mess of fillings.

A soft-opening menu featured “Biscuit Sammies” with fried chicken, smoked bologna, and more. There were breakfast bowls featuring cinnamon chicharrones, fruit and granola, grits and bacon.

Pam Denney

Also offered during the soft opening were scrambled egg tacos and the Bi Bim Breakfast (!), and sides included pancakes, cheese grits, bacon, and hashbrowns.

The building, once a Neely’s BBQ, has been considerably lightened. There are about a dozen four tops and half-a-dozen booths. A jukebox is stacked with classics (Cash, Redding, Parton, etc.), and there will be a grab-and-go case.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

A Taste of the New Menu at Sweet Grass

Fried oysters

  • Fried oysters

Did you hear? Sweet Grass got a new menu, and chef Ryan Trimm says it’s all about fall:

“I always love the first burst of fall produce,” Trimm confesses. “Butternut squash, pumpkins, collards, mustard greens. Right now I got brown crowder peas coming out of my ears.”

Who could resist an invitation like that? So yesterday, I flung a warm scarf over my shoulder and headed down to Cooper Young for a taste. It all started with a cocktail.

[jump]

Old Orchard

  • Old Orchard

The Old Orchard ($8)—a concoction of apple-cinnamon whiskey, orange bitters, and lemon peel—is just the thing to warm up a chilly autumn afternoon. It’s sweet but not too sweet, with deliciously dark notes from the bitters and lemon peel.

Next, we tried the Fried Oysters ($12), which—besides looking good in photos, see above—also happen to be compulsively edible. They’re served with pickled squash slaw and a lemon crème fraiche that’s good enough to eat with a spoon.

But the real show stealer was the Dirty Pig Fries ($13), a recipe that Trimm brought over from the menu at Southward, which closed last month. Mixed into a haystack of thick-cut french fries, you’ll find braised pork shoulder, sautéed onions, pecorino romano, and sriracha—plus a spicy mix of collards and mustard greens.

Dirty Pig Fries

  • Dirty Pig Fries

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s duh-licious. Like fancy poutine or chili-cheese fries for grownups. And it’s got greens in it, so it counts as a vegetable, right?

“Oh, definitely.” Trimm confirms.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Sweet Grass without some tasty local produce. Sure enough, the butternut squash is from Hanna Farm in Luxora, AR. The collards and mustard greens are from Woodson Ridge Farms in Oxford, MS. And the braised pork shoulder is from Newman Farms in Myrtle, MO.

But wait—what’s that you say? Ryan Trimm is starting his own CSA in November? Who told you that? You certainly didn’t hear it from us *wink*.

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Food & Drink Food Reviews

Ryan Trimm takes the Farmers Market Challenge.

CREDIT: John Minervini

“Man, these farmers are so green,” mutters Ryan Trimm, “you’d think they’d use paper bags, right?”

Moments later, he smiles and accepts a plastic bag full of plump Tennessee lady peas from Yang Farms in Toone, Tennessee. It’s Saturday morning, and we’re up bright and early, shopping for lunch at the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market. Trimm’s daughter, 3-year-old Emma Kate, has gallantly agreed to come along and help.

“What do you want to eat, baby?” asks Trimm, boosting her up into his arms.

But Emma Kate is suddenly feeling a little shy. She blinks her glacier-blue eyes and buries her head in her father’s neck.

In addition to his many other appealing qualities, Trimm also happens to be very brave. The executive chef at Southward Fare & Libations, Sweet Grass, and Next Door, he’s agreed to be my guinea pig for the Flyer‘s very first Farmers Market Challenge. That’s where I team up with a local chef, we go shopping at the farmers market, and the chef cooks a delicious meal with what we bought.

I know, right? It’s a tough job, but somebody’s gotta eat all that delicious food.

John Minervini

Chef Ryan Trimm and daughter Emma Kate shop for peppers at the Cooper-Young Farmers Market.

Today, Trimm is taken with the peppers from Tubby Creek Farm in Ashland, Mississippi. And no wonder, these peppers are works of art. The lipstick pimentos are little rainbows, grading in color from lime green to vermilion. And the Italian sweet peppers are downright sexy, long and plump with a taut, red skin. Trimm buys a pint of each.

Before we go, we stock up on tomatoes, okra, Texas sweet onions, herbs, and a butterscotch melon. The melon — from Hanna Farms, in Osceola, Arkansas — is like a cantaloupe, but smaller, about the size of a bocce ball. It’s got a delicious caramel flavor, with a scent of gardenia.

“Smell that,” says Trimm, holding up the melon. “You just can’t find that in the grocery store.”

food Feature By John Klyce Minervini

Chef Ryan Trimm eats lunch with son Thomas and daughter Emma Kate at their home in East Memphis.

Trimm lives with his wife and two children in a spacious, two-story Georgian Revival near Park and Ridgeway. When we get to the house, Trimm’s wife Sarah is trying to soothe 3-month-old Thomas, who has been sick this morning. Sarah, who teaches first grade at St. Mary’s, says she met Ryan in high school, when she was a junior at St. Agnes and he was a senior at Christian Brothers.

“At this point, I’ve known him for over half my life,” she says, burping baby Thomas. “I still can’t get over how weird that is.”

Everybody’s getting hungry, so Trimm slices the melon, serving it with feta cheese and a bit of lemon verbena. It’s an inspired combination. The cheese is just piquant enough to balance the melon’s honeysuckle sweetness, and the citrusy lemon verbena puts an exclamation mark at the end of the sentence, so to speak.

Meanwhile, Trimm gets to work on the main course, what he playfully calls a “cornless succotash.” Succotash — from the Narragansett word for “broken corn” — is a dish that New England colonists learned from Native Americans back in the 17th century. In its simplest form, it consists of corn and lima beans, prepared with cream or butter.

Today, we’re cutting out the corn in favor of those scrumptious-looking lady peas. First, Trimm blanches the peas in boiling water. Then he fires up the sauté pan, and it’s go time. One by one, veggies start to sizzle as they hit the hot oil: pimento peppers, okra, lady peas, and herbs. Trimm cuts the heat before tossing the mixture with butter and tomatoes. (Get the full recipe at memphisflyer.com).

Finally it’s time to eat. We take our lunch in the sunroom, an airy space with a view of the family swimming pool. Alongside the succotash, Trimm serves the Italian sweet peppers, pan-roasted with parsley and garlic, and a crudité of tomatoes and onions.

“All right guys,” says Trimm, rounding up the family. “Time for lunch.”

It’s an embarrassment of culinary riches. The tomatoes — Brandywines and Cherokee Purples from Lazy Dog Farms in Bethel Springs, Tennessee — are a meal unto themselves, tangy and sweet with a perfect texture. They go well with the Italian sweet peppers, which are smoky and savory, with a hint of sweetness.

But the okra in the succotash definitely steals the show. The taste is both unforgettable and hard to describe, somewhere between eggplant and asparagus. On my way out the door, I confess that this is the first time I’ve had okra that wasn’t pickled or fried, and Trimm offers some tips for selecting okra at the farmers market.

“You really don’t want it to be any bigger than that,” he says, holding up his little finger. “Once you go bigger, the insides start to hollow out, and you get less meat for your bite.”