Cuisine:

• Others
• American

First & Hope Restaurant Description:
This is a high-concept restaurant that offers theatrical surroundings, live jazz and cabaret, handcrafted cocktails and high-end American comfort food. Its theater district location makes it an ideal venue to dine before plays or concerts. Later on, a younger downtown crowd shifts energies to a hipper cocktail culture. The ironically whimsical menu is created by Memphis native Shelley Cooper, who takes American classics to a conceptual level that actually works. The starter Praise the Lard is a trio of crispy pig ears, Kurobuta pork belly over creamy grits, and succulent bourbon-braised pork cheeks with a soft egg. She's equally adept at a seasonal "backyard" garden salad that artfully arranges fiddlehead ferns, ramps, English peas, upland cress, morels and fresh favas in a baby colander with a side of green goddess dressing. The mac 'n' cheese flight highlights baby lasagna with Marin Brie, mini shells with Cypress Grove goat cheese, and corkscrew pasta with porter beer cheese. For mains, Moonshine Meatloaf is made with foie gras and gin, wrapped in black bacon; subtler is the whole wild trout stuffed with lump crab grilled on a pecan plank. Fried green tomato and collards are good sides. A decadent banana split is made with bacon-banana ice cream and jalapeño hot fudge.


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