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Laura Lee's fried clam-strip sandwich (Photo by Justin Chesney)
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Laura Lee's Old Sober egg noodles (Photo by Justin Chesney)
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Laura Lee's steak tartare with green-tomato relish and soft egg (Photo by Justin Chesney)
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Laura Lee's Illegal Smile cocktail (Photo by Justin Chesney)
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The bar at Laura Lee's (Photo by Justin Chesney)
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Laura Lee's lemon chess pie (Photo by Justin Chesney)
With four restaurants under her belt and another Garnett’s Café recently opened, the last person you might expect to see running food during a busy Sunday brunch is Kendra Feather, owner of the aforementioned eateries, and a one-woman powerhouse. Rarely does anything in the business come together without an owner willing to roll up their sleeves. After opening The Roosevelt, Ipanema Café and Garnett’s, this is what Feather knows well, and this is exactly what’s happened at Laura Lee’s, her take on the neighborhood fern bar, tucked neatly south of the river in Forest Hill.
People have different ways of gauging the beginnings of a meal, and mine — at least at brunch — is the Bloody Mary. Here it arrives as it should, filled to the brim and with local Texas Beach mix. Upon scanning the contemporary-American menu, fried oatmeal jumps out, and before we can ask, we realize we’re in good company. We overhear several tables wonder, “What is fried oatmeal?” As it turns out, it’s exactly that: pressed oatmeal, flash fried, giving it a rectangular hash-brown effect of crispy exterior and soft interior. This, atop a small pool of maple syrup, is topped with egg and two strips of bacon: It’s simple yet brand-new, and comes across so deliciously elegant and savory.
The “Old Sober” arrives with egg noodles, pork belly, veggies and a sunny-side up egg, all in a gochujang broth that gives it savory, sweet, spicy flavor with a hint of the fermentation you’d recognize in kimchi. It isn’t a dish I expect to come out of this kitchen, but I’m so happy it does. To accompany the mains: cheese grits perfect as they are and a cheddar biscuit that might just remind you of a chain-restaurant version — something something lobster in a reddish hue — but these are made in house, with a perfect hit of Old Bay. But we can’t stop there. To round out breakfast, a to-go order is in order, because how many spots offer fried clam-strip sandwiches for brunch? Tender, simple, delicious.
Back for dinner, we enter a visibly crowded but somewhat calmer scene. That same neighborhood sense of welcoming draws us back in and service is humming, with everyone on staff pitching in to lend a hand. I have to laugh ordering the “Illegal Smile,” a cocktail of scotch, crème de cassis, ginger liqueur and lime, promising to pull out my John Prine vinyl before week’s end. For the oenophiles, Laura Lee’s provides a satisfying list of draft wines at $12 and under, with a bottle list falling in the $30 to $40 range — fairly affordable, no matter how you pour it.
Chef Scott Lewis’ menu — friendly to those gluten-free or vegetarian — with some creative options for kids, makes this an enjoyable dining experience for the entire family. The steak tartare makes the list of the best I’ve tried, and when I ask whose mustard accompanies the dish, providing an ideal spicy component, the answer is simple and common to most of my questions: It’s made in house.
Pairing corn with corn may seem excessive, but polenta, fresh kernels, asparagus, pea shoots and a soft-fried egg are an inspired combination. The pop of sweetness from the kernels mixed with the creamy polenta is exactly the textural party you want on a plate. Steak arrives perfectly cooked atop a salad, medium rare on a bed of fresh greens drizzled in ranch that is, you guessed it, made there. The pressed pork shoulder, two square patties crisped on the outside atop collards and cheddar grits, bears more of a resemblance to scrapple — a surprise, but not an unwelcome one. The mac ’n’ cheese arrives all rigatoni and not gnocchi, as advertised online, but no matter how you serve it, gooey cheese and bacon works on just about anything.
As darkness starts to settle outside, we finish with a lemon chess pie with raspberry compote and whipped cream: a tangy end to a memorable meal that keeps bringing me back to John Prine’s final lines of “Illegal Smile”:
“Well done, son of a gun.”
4 out of 4 forks
3410 Semmes Ave.
804-233-9672
Hours: Monday to Thursday: 4 to 10 p.m.; Friday and Saturday: 4 to 11 p.m.; Sunday: 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4 to 9 p.m.
Prices: $5 to $25, handicapped-accessible
