The Kitchen

The Kitchen
Shelby Farms Park
415 Great View Drive East, Ste. 101
(901) 729-9009

I got an invite to try brunch at The Kitchen last week. It was their soft opening, and therefore free of charge. My mom and my niece joined me and the monkeys (Satchel, 14, and Jiro, 12).

It took us all a minute to find it. I had just assumed it was where the Visitor's Center was/is, but it's actually around the lake a bit. And I didn't realize it had its own entrance off of Walnut Grove. Anyways, it was pretty easy to figure out where it was once I narrowed down where it wasn't.

It's huge.



The inside is lovely and the patio is definitely the thing of patiosexuals' dreams.




We dined outside, which was lovely, but a bit windy. We had to hold our menus with both hands to keep them from flying away!



(The dinner menu is here.)

The waitress took our drink orders and everyone went with water. I decided against a cocktail in favor of ice coffee. The waitress said they didn't actually have ice coffee but they could pour regular coffee over ice for me. I told her it was no problem and that I could drink hot coffee.

A few moments later she brought out ice coffee, which was perfect.

It took us a minute to decide on our food order as it seemed everyone wanted to have a unique order. In the end, the monkeys went with the Farmers Breakfast (your standard eggs, bacon, toast, etc.) ($13), my niece and I with the Gulf Shrimp salad ($16), and my mom chose the Pasta Bolognese ($18) with the sauce on the side (only because she hasn't been feeling well).

I can't remember what we talked about while we waited for the food because it came out super fast. Soon (almost) everyone was all smiles.




Turns out they brought three farmers breakfasts and only one shrimp salad, so I took a farmers breakfast for the team.



"Oh, the eggs are just the way I like them," I noted. Then noticed that the monkeys both had their eggs over easy too.

"They never asked how to cook the eggs," Jiro said, clearly wishing his were scrambled, though he didn't complain. (He just didn't eat them.)

The shrimp salad was very pretty and I did get a taste of it.



The pasta looks a little naked, but even so, my mom loved it. The sauce on the side was super delicious, she just couldn't tolerate it.



Satchel also had a side of grits ($4), which were served with apples, raisins, brown sugar and cream. I think maybe the Kitchen has grits confused with oatmeal? Anyways, he said they were ok. He was hoping for the standard kind with butter or cheese. (They actually have grits listed under sweets as Breakfast Grits and as a side as Hannah Farm Grits, so maybe he just wasn't clear enough when he ordered?)

I asked everyone how they liked their meals and everyone was pleased, but I thought it was funny that Jiro pointed out that he could have the same breakfast a lot cheaper elsewhere. I explained that the Kitchen is all about supporting local farmers and doing the eco-friendly thing, and that it adds up.

It really adds up! Though our brunch was complementary, we did see the check: $92.

So, I've been trying to think of scenarios in which I'd go back to the Kitchen. One of their other goals is to be a neighborhood meeting place. That seems like a stretch considering the location. Maybe I'd meet someone from Collierville half way? Go after a long bike ride? When someone else is paying? (Kidding. Sort of.) Maybe just have a drink? I'm not sure yet.

I peeked in at the Kitchenette, which is the Kitchen's grab-n-go spot in the Visitor's Center. I think it will definitely get a lot of business.

Y'all tell me what you think.