Mathew S.
Yelp
NO PICS BECAUSE IT WOULD BELITTLE THE EXPERIENCE
So this is it: the best restaurant in Germantown. Ok, east Shelby County. Memphis. Midsouth. I'll stop there...for now.
A family venture, it feels it through and through. A tiny (tiny!), intimate, warm, canvas for staff, front and back of house, to redefine what cuisine in the Mid-South is and can be. That raison d'etre is served nightly, consistently, without fail.
The service is beyond excellent. It's as personal as it gets...anywhere. Go twice and they remember you from the time before. "Welcome back" isn't some vapid platitude; it's genuine. Need a recommendation or want them to tweak something to your preference? Handled, expertly. The pacing is exceptional, the level of attentiveness, as if the boys in the front of the house have black belts in ESP, bespoke by default.
Overdue, the chef (and owner, Drew (along with his wife, Courtney)), got a Beard nomination. He's been doing it for years at this little restaurant-that-could that did the unthinkable (survive COVID). The base of each recipe isn't eye-popping (so no: Foie gras! Escargot! Bone marrow!), but what the man can do in a kitchen to a tenderloin puts him and his offerings in rarified air.
As for the fair, venture around the menu. It's seasonal, and it'll change. Some that are habitually there, speaking to their perfection:
- mushrooms & toast. I don't care if you don't like fungus. This plate is earthy, buttery, sumptuous. Order it.
- pan roasted tenderloin. It's tenderloin, yes, so you know what you're getting. What's not clearly apparent is the truffle demi-glacé that exposed me to what truffle can really do.
- chocolate fondant cake. Not a huge desert guy, but it's a remarkable blend of earthy chocolate, velvety caramel sweet, punctuated by the crunch of cashews, topped with vanilla (where you can taste the vanilla bean in the cold) gelato.
The physical location came into my awareness when I was but a lad who had friends who worked there when it was Jersey Mike's, like 23 years ago. Good time were had as bespoke sandwiches were offered to a post-football practice me at the flat rate of $5 and change (including a 5 pound monster called the 'Nick Special' ). There was a walk-in freezer that they used to disappear into around the 3pm hour with the doors locked, and then Dragonball Z was played on the TV and I would eat while they giggled at anime. Whatever.
But at BHB, they took whatever that was and brought it to what many a dining room is made for: functional, warm, simple. A little cramped, but I somehow think this adds to the appeal. Touches here and there indicate the thought and pride put into the operation.
Then, I knew happiness. But with the same footprint as BHB now (despite having to actually pay for food), their food, their staff, the atmosphere is an escape into joy before heading back into suburban Memphis.