With Lillie Pearl, Chef Mike Lindsey will oversee the kitchen and Kim will take charge of the front of the house.
The opening menu includes dinner entrees such as a smothered pork chop ( with smoked bacon shallot cream sauce, hoppin john, crispy collards, $25); Lobster shrimp and grits ($25); Fried chicken ($18) and a double smash burger ($14). Lunch will also be offered and will be sandwich-heavy with the burger, a fried chicken sandwich ($12), a lobster and crab cake sandwich ($18) and salads ($10-$12).
The menu influences also include West African dishes, such as jollof rice, served with the obe ata (a Nigerien red pepper sauce) lamb shank alongside pickled collard stems, Lindsey’s way of paying homage to Black American’s contributions to Southern food.
“This whole restaurant is paying homage to upbringing, my grandparents and my grandmother, Lillie Pearl,” Lindsey said.
He said the restaurant is meant to evoke the feeling of being at grandma’s house, but “your cool grandma’s,” he said, noting that most people have one of two types of grandmothers, ones where you weren’t allowed on the furniture, and ones where you could “kick back, have a couple of drinks and get a little loud.” (I wasn’t allowed on the furniture.)
And there will be drinks at Lillie Pearl, too, a full cocktail menu, plus wine and beer.
