Raven & Lily moves to Collierville
The popular Oakland restaurant Raven & Lily has moved into the former Brooks Pharm2Fork space in the Collierville Historic Town Square.
The restaurant opened Aug. 1 for reservations only and continued to serve dinner only through Aug. 7. Lunch service was set to start Aug. 8. Regular service hours, which include breakfast all day on Sunday, start the weekend of Aug. 18.
A family-owned restaurant, Raven & Lily is the creation of chef Justin Young and his wife, Amy. Young worked for many years under Erling Jensen at both La Tourelle and at Erling Jensen’s before opening his own establishment near his home in fall 2016.
“We loved it in Oakland. The community really embraced us,” Young said. “But when we learned about this spot closer to town, we knew it was an opportunity we couldn’t refuse.”
The space at 120 E. Mulberry is a little smaller than the Oakland location, but thanks to the bar, Young said they have about the same number of seats.
“We did a little renovating to make the space work better for us,” he said. “We removed a wall and added banquettes.”
Young plans to serve a similar menu as the one at his original restaurant.
“I describe our menu as ‘modern Southern.’ It’s comfort food,” he said. “We built the restaurant on our shrimp and grits.”
Young’s version of shrimp and grits is topped with spicy andouille, tasso ham and caramelized onions.
Fans of the original location will be glad to hear that the over-the-top RL Burger — two 4-ounce burger patties topped with a fried green tomato, caramelized onions, house-cured bacon and a fried egg — is on the new menu.
Young said his favorite dish on the menu is the curry lamb risotto with fried oysters.
“It’s topped with a basil pistou and our house-made lamb merguez sausage,” he said.