IRIS RISING
Kelly English’s restaurant is building an enviable reputation.
Kelly English could have opened Restaurant Iris a day earlier than he did five years ago, but he decided against it. “I said no way are we opening on April Fools’ Day,” English said. So it was April 2, 2008, when the first diners visited the restaurant in the hallowed house at 2146 Monroe, where, a generation before, La Tourelle had ushered in one era of Memphis dining.
It’s no understatement to say that English did the same for the current wave of respect Memphis is getting on the national scene when he brought his New Orleans-inspired cuisine to town.
As he celebrates five successful years, he’s also embarking on a new venture. He has leased the building next door to Iris and within a few months will open The Second Line. The new place will connect to Iris and will share a kitchen, but not an identity.
“This is not a place where you’ll sit and ponder the food,” English said. “I’ve already got that place. This is the place where I want to put my elbows up on the bar and eat.”
The Second Line (which is actually English’s third restaurant as he also has Kelly English Steakhouse in the Hollywood Casino St. Louis) will serve Louisiana classics of a more approachable nature than the adaptations he serves at Iris. Look for big messy po’boys, meat pies, and English’s famous midnight snack, made of toasted brioche, shrimp rémoulade and a poached egg. And expect a party. “We’ve got a good cocktail program at Iris, but look at the size of the bar,” said English, 34, extending his arms from one end to the other with barely a stretch. “We’re going to have a much larger selection next door.”
English came to the Memphis area when he enrolled at the University of Mississippi. He planned to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a lawyer. But he found himself working in restaurant kitchens for spending money and loving it. Then, a trip to Barcelona sealed his commitment to a career in food, and enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America. English went back to New Orleans, where he went to work for John Besh, the successful and highly respected chef-owner of August, Luke, Domenica and others.
“Kelly stood out from day one,” Besh told this newspaper in 2009, when English was named one of Food and Wine’s Best New Chefs. “His humility allowed him to learn much more quickly than some. His interest in learning more about the soul of a dish than just the technique set him apart.”
When Besh opened N’Awlins in Tunica, he put English in charge, and the younger chef found himself back again in the Memphis area. This time, the stars aligned to seal him to the town. He met Angela Brignole, the Memphian he would marry (on Beale Street, just a few hours before Hurricane Katrina hit land in his hometown). It was also when Martha and Glenn Hays closed La Tourelle after 30 years. At brunch at Café 1912, the Hayses’ place on Cooper, Glenn overheard English talking about opening a restaurant. A casual conversation led to a real es- tate transaction and to Restaurant Iris.
“We opened this place with much more in our hearts than in our pockets,” English said. “Lots of heart, lots of elbow grease, lots of determination went into it.
“I didn’t draw a paycheck for six months, and didn’t take a day off for nine months.”
He wanted local decorator Jackie Glisson to design the interior, but couldn’t afford him. Glisson, though, had recently appeared on HGTV with Memphis doctors Steve and Sylvia Richey, had become friends with them, and knew they were both passionate about good food. He set up a meeting between English and the Richeys, which resulted in a friendship and capital for Iris and for The Second Line (including Glisson’s services).
“I knew they were always looking for investments, but I also knew this went beyond that,” Glisson said. “When I met Kelly, we had an instant bond, and I felt they would feel it, too.
“I introduced them, with all the caveats about everyone being adults and making their own decisions, and left them alone to talk.”
Glisson, who visits the restaurant several times weekly to check on artwork, adjust curtains and generally fiddle with the décor, said he later heard his partner, Jay Hester, discuss his take on the introduction.
“I overheard him talking to someone, and he said he couldn’t believe I did it. He said, ‘He introduced him, and we didn’t even know if he could cook!’”
But English inspires loyalty like that, Glisson said.
“He could ask me to do anything, and I’d sure try to do it,” he said. “I look back on when I was just starting out in business, and I wish I’d had someone like me pulling for me. I saw this young kid, and I knew he deserved everything that he’s now gotten — and he’s young, so there’s more to come.”
When English visited the Madison Hotel while scouting sites for his wedding reception, he met Jeff Frisby, now his general manager. They also clicked.
“I was so impressed with him,” English said. “I told him what I was doing and gave him my number and told him to call me if he was interested. I basically stole the hell out of him.”
“He stole the hell out of the whole staff,” Frisby corrected. He called English the next day and said, “I want to come work for you, and I want to bring the best servers in town with me.”
English: “I said, ‘OK. I’m into that.’”
There’s been very little turnover since the restaurant opened.
“Everybody that opened in the front of the house is still here,” English said. ‘Everybody here is passionate about it being a great place.
“A lot of people have given so much to Iris. As a chef, that has been such a blessing to me. It’s how we’ve been able to build the reputation we have.”