Eat at P.O. Press Public House & Provisions
When you sit down at the table at P.O. Press Public House and Provisions for Sunday brunch, take my advice and go ahead and place the following order: a basket of biscuits, an order of bacon and your choice of brunch cocktail. Then, you can leisurely peruse the menu, a feat that might take a minute with all the tempting offerings from which to choose. P.O. Press’s menu items are not your everyday brunch fare.
Located just off the historic Collierville town square, P.O. Press Public House and Provisions opened last October. And for a girl who spends most of her time in Midtown, I can say without any hesitance that P.O. Press is worth the drive.
The restaurant is the creation of caterer Jimmy Gentry, chef and owner of Paradox Catering, and Chris Thorn, a well-respected sommelier and restaurateur. Gentry runs the kitchen and Thorn manages the front of the house. The restaurant is currently open for dinner and Sunday brunch.
Let’s get back to talking about those biscuits and that bacon.
The biscuits ($9 for a basket of three) are as unique as they are big. Sous chef Cole Jeanes, who many may remember from his restaurant Kinfolk in the South Main Market food hall, added his specialty to the brunch menu when he joined the kitchen team. Jeanes describes the biscuits as “more of a drop biscuit than a layered style biscuit.” On the savory side, they are flavored with herbes de Provence and get their richness from European butter. They are cooked in a pan that has been brushed with duck fat, to give the bottom a caramelized crunchy texture. Served warm, the top is brushed with honey butter and sprinkled with Maldon sea salt flakes. P.O. Press serves them with a seasonal housemade jam. Jeanes will be leaving the restaurant in March to join the soonto-open Comeback Coffee in downtown Memphis, but Thorn assured me the biscuits will remain on the menu at P.O. Press.
The bacon is also an original. Gentry cures and smokes pork belly inhouse to make his crispy hickory-smoked bacon. You can order it to share for two ($5) or four ($9), depending on how many guests are at the table.
Gentry has teamed up with City Block Salumeria to offer a selection of house and locally cured charcuterie on both the dinner and brunch menus. It’s a great way to start your meal.
A farm to table concept in the true sense of the term, the menu at P.O. Press is dependent on the offerings that local farms can produce, sometimes changing daily but always changing seasonally. Gentry sources his beef from Claybrook Farms, a large part of his produce from Winchester Farm, mushrooms from Bluff City Fungi, and eggs and dairy from Marmilu Farms.
At dinner, vegetables are given a starring role, with an entire menu section devoted to produce. Brunch, our subject today, doesn’t have as much of a focus on vegetables, but the commitment to locally sourced ingredients is a theme throughout the offerings.
Those Marimilu Farms eggs not surprisingly show up on many of the brunch dishes. In most cases, the eggs are cooked to a perfect 63 degrees, creating the ideal soft-boiled egg.
Corn Mash ($13) is a featured produce offering on the dinner menu, and Gentry gives this popular item a brunch spin for his Sunday menu. Gentry whips stone-ground grits with fresh corn and mascarpone to create this bowl of rich, creamy goodness. Gentry tops it with a seasonal vegetable, on a recent visit it
was roasted kabocha squash, tallow roasted pepitas, cheek bacon and one of those 63 degree eggs.
Brisket ($16) is another brunch item. It is a dish that is pretty simple and straightforward, but beautifully executed. Served over creamy grits, the thinly sliced brisket is fork tender and flavorful. This dish also is served with a 63 degree Marmilu Farms egg.
Venison ($18) also has a prominent place on Gentry’s menu for both brunch and dinner. On one brunch visit, the venison was country-fried and served with kimchi marinated yams and a chimichurri sauce.
Gentry describes his menu as “common ingredients that have been elevated with modern techniques.” Both the corn mash and country-fried venison dishes are prime examples. As you can tell by the descriptions of the dishes, this is not the same brunch fare you will find at a breakfast joint. Instead, it’s a breakfast-orientated reflection of the restaurant’s dinner menu. Dishes are also artfully plated. The smoked salmon ($12) offering is almost too pretty to eat. House-smoked salmon is served over wedges of focaccia and garnished with ribbons of cucumber, pickled red onions, capers, fresh dill and compressed apples. Even a bowl of yogurt ($8) is a work of art with fresh berries, granola and a fruit puree swirl.
If not hungry for breakfast items, P.O. Press does offer a seasonal fish dish and a roast beef hoagie ($14) with au jus sauce, beer cheese and sweet potato fries. To complement the food, P.O. Press offers an extensive bar program, that may be one of the best in town.
“Great food serves a great beverage,” Thorn said. “We have worked hard to offer the perfect cocktail for before or after dinner.”
Bartenders Nick Manlavi and Mitchell Marable created the craft cocktail program. The bar has a more artisan focus, using domestic spirits from smaller distillers as well as using handcrafted bitters, shrubs and other such mixers.
“We are making cocktails like they did pre-prohibition,” explained Marable. “You can always make something better than you can buy.”
All the cocktails are named for albums, songs, or musical groups. The cocktail menu changes about every three months, with a new menu just released last week.
Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining Reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer.