Public House - First Taste
Today April and I were fortunate to be treated to a pre-opening lunch (thank you Jason @ Collier Construction for the hookup) at Public House, the latest restaurant by Nathan Lindley, the founder and former owner of St. Johns and who also helped launch (or is an owner of?) Watermark in Nashville. Nathan's brother is Daniel Lindley, the owner of and Executive Chef at The Meeting Place, St. Johns and Alleia.
I wont call the drama high, but for the food culture of Chattanooga and for fans of good food and fine dining this kind of competition (and between brothers no less) can only be a good thing.
And boy, is it ever good. April and I couldn't really believe that this was a pre-opening meal and only the second time food was produced in the kitchen for public consumption. The staff was obviously still learning and working out the kinks of their system, but with the exception of a too-thin asparagus cream soup, the food was nearly flawless.
The concept/overall experience is unlike anything else in Chattanooga. The space is bright and minimalist (much like the food), with little pretense. The food is, roughly speaking, a meat and three. The genius is in the details. The shrimp beignets (pictured above) we great, but the lemon aioli sauce made them shine. The Public House steak straightforward, but with a killer house-made Worcestershire sauce.
And so it went.
Perhaps the biggest asset of Public House is their large deck for dining outside, which is connected to the bar. Easy Bistro has a great deck for dining, and I'm betting the tables on the Public House deck will be in high demand this summer.
Finally, our menu was only the lunch menu, but it was remarkably inexpensive. Pretty much everything was under $10, including my steak and the grilled Mahi Mahi. I can't speak to the pricing of the dinner menu, but hopefully someone will speak to that after the grand opening tomorrow night (Friday, May 14th).
p.s. lest Nathan & Public House come away unscathed: Chattanooga has great design talent, including right across the street, which should have been utilized for Public House. The first cut is the deepest.
p.p.s. we can also spell Chattanooga correctly (the alt tag on the home3.jpg image is off)
Chattanooga Restaurants | By Josiah Roe | 8:48 AM
Comments
Good review, Josiah. I'm looking forward to the Public House experience as well. And, I agree that it would have been nice for Nathan to use a local designer for his branding. I imagine, though, that he probably utilized his connections in Nashville. Plus, I doubt he knew we were across the street! ; )
Thanks for the props!
Glad you and April enjoyed lunch there. Lucky.
Posted by: Stevaker at May 14, 2009 10:08 PM
