EAT DRINK CHILL
Alchemy’s elixirs, small plates make for Cooper-Young oasis
There’s a handful of places around town where I meet friends for a bite or a drink when I’m not working. While there are many places I’d like to visit again and again, none of us is made of time; we must spend it wisely.
Alchemy in Cooper-Young is one of those places where time can be pleasantly frittered away over cocktails and small plates, where laughter and convivial conversation waft across the big, slick but comfortable room, where a community of strollers and runners can be watched through the big windows, where friendly dogs on leashes stop for a quick chin scratch from those settled on the small patio. Cooper-Young in general has recovered nicely from the temporary hit it took from the revitalization of Overton Square; the crowds are back.
I’ve never eaten a bad dish at Alchemy — some are better than others, of course — and I’ve never had a bad drink. I was there last month for the tasting of this year’s house bourbon, which turned out to be W.L. Weller barrel 49. It was the Friday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality, and it was a festive night in Cooper-Young; a celebration was taking place in front of the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center. A specialty cocktail is created daily and that night, bartender David Parks whipped up a concoction he named Marie Antoinette Scalia. Taking it all in, I was struck by how solid Alchemy has remained through a number of changes, and how unusual it is for a restaurant that isn’t chef-driven to stay so vibrant.
But Alchemy started with a chef in the kitchen. Karen Roth, who had been at various places and most immediately before Alchemy at Erling Jensen: The Restaurant, opened the restaurant with owners Bert Smythe, John Littlefield and Stewart Wingate (along with former general manager Ben McLean, now at Belly Acres) in November 2011. While she created many of the dishes that remain today, mixologists were hard at work creating a fabulous cocktail roster, and many of those remain today, too. Still, things have evolved.
A year later, Nick Seabergh, who had been with John Currence at City Grocery in Oxford, took over the kitchen when Roth left and stayed until May 2014 (a Nashville-bound deserter). After two strong and influential chefs in the kitchen, Smythe and company decided to forgo a chef. Instead, two exceedingly capable cooks, Catrina McKee and Celina Webb, already with Alchemy, took charge. The food is as good as ever, continues to rotate periodically (new items have recently
been added), and I can’t tell that there’s a cook instead of a chef preparing my food.
First to brunch. Served on Sunday only, this is well worth adding to the list of places to end a long week or jump-start a new one, depending on how you view your Sunday. Many cocktails are $5, and you’ll be given a sushi-like menu to build your own Bloody Mary. Choose your rimmer, your heat level, your mix (two house-made, one of those vegan, plus V-8, tomato juice or Clamato) and from a laundry list of garnishes. Pick your Bellini from a list of a dozen fruit purees, go for a simple mimosa — the choices go on. Everything at the bar is fresh, there are herbs to muddle, fruit to squeeze, syrups just made, so if you want something else, just ask. It was scorching hot on Sunday; I asked for a refreshing drink of grapefruit, vodka, rosemary simple syrup and lime zest, a cocktail I make at home. The bartender had never heard of it, and didn’t have rosemary syrup, yet turned out a drink that was exactly what I wanted. Bravo.
The heat didn’t impair our appetite, and we ordered too much food yet managed to make a respectable dent in it. The loaded grits, a bowl of cheesy grits topped with Benton’s bacon, peppers, onion, country ham and an optional fried egg, was superb. I was tiptop on Sunday, but if I’d been in need of rejuvenation, that dish would’ve restored me. The biscuits were as good as any I’ve had and better than many, big and light, but sturdy enough for the sausage gravy.
Alchemy offers four poached egg dishes, though the corned beef hash wasn’t available when we were there and Smythe says it’s probably coming off the menu. There’s a pulled pork and barbecue sauce version, crab cake Benedict, or shrimp and bacon hash, which was an excellent choice. A slab of toasted sourdough was topped with skillet-browned bacon lardons and shrimp, seasoned with cayenne, thyme, garlic — bold spices — and topped with salsa fresca, cotija cheese and two perfectly poached eggs. Divine.
At dinner — Alchemy is not open for lunch — the menu is divided in thirds: To Begin, To Share, and Small Plates. But really, it’s all made to share — the concept is hearty tapas and creative cocktails. That’s not to say you can’t order and keep your food to yourself, but come on, don’t be that guy. Part of the fun here is sharing the excellent smoked shiitake salad, the lush bacon-wrapped figs with a salad of spinach and basil in a tart bacon dressing (brand new to the menu), the fried oysters, the sweet and smoky brussels sprouts. The chili roasted fish tacos with toasted cumin slaw are a longtime favorite; the Southern antipasta has gotten a recent revamp and now includes smoked chicken salad, pimento cheese, sweet pea ricotta and house-made pickles, along with the most addictive, impossibly thin crostini in town.
Want something heartier? Mac and cheese is killer, the sliders will fill you up, the grilled cheese and tomato soup will do the same while it soothes what ails you — and if it doesn’t, well, there’s always the bar.