Chef Patrick Reilly, originally from Ireland, and his wife Deni are hosting a series of 10 themed dinners, one for each year they've served delicious food at The Majestic Grille in downtown Memphis. We were excited to learn that Chef Reilly was planning an all-vegetarian feast as one of the "Ten 'Til Ten" dinners.
The menu he is working up sounds amazing. It'll be a salute to the South's seasonal produce with dishes like his amazing Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Roasted Shiitake Mushrooms and Artichokes and another favorite of ours, Ratatouille with White Bean and Tomato Ragout. There'll be several passed appetizers like Berbere-Spiced Okra and also Apple Jelly and Goat Cheese Rangoons. Dessert will be a Cherry-and-Apple Crumble with Custard. There will be five courses in all, each paired with wines that complement each dish.
So you can get to know one of Memphis's best chefs a little better, we asked Patrick Five Quick Questions:
1. TCV: What are some of your earliest food memories?
PR: "My father was an avid gardener, and I remember going down to pick lettuce or parsley for dinner. We had (and my sister still has) rhubarb plants that we dug up and brought with us when we moved house when I was like seven. There is nothing in the world like first spring rhubarb tart. The first dish I ever made was oatmeal cookies. I was eight years old."
2. TCV: Being a chef seems both difficult and rewarding. Tell us about your decision to feed people for a living.
PR: "I have wanted to be a chef since I was a child. I have no idea why but it appealed to me; I seemed to have a knack for it. I love food, and I love the reaction I get from people when they taste something that they really enjoy."
3. TCV: Why do an all-vegetable dinner as a part of your '10 for 10' dinner series? Why limit yourself like that? ;)
PR: "I wouldn’t call it limiting in the least! In the 80’s, I worked under Chef Paul Gayler at Inigo Jones Restaurant in London. He was a pioneer of vegetarian cooking in French haute cuisine. We had a ten-course vegetable tasting menu available each night, and in the spring, we had an entire menu devoted to asparagus. These dinners are a way for me to cook different styles and cuisines which I would otherwise not get a chance to do."
4. TCV: What’s the secret to longevity in the restaurant business? It must have something to do with family, right?
PR: "I don’t know if there is a secret. We just try to provide the best and most consistent experience we can. We love what we do. There is no doubt in my mind that our staff is the biggest factor in our success. We have an amazing team of people here, some of them since the day we opened. And we just make it our priority to do right by them, and that just seems to work out best for everybody."
5. TCV: What is the one dish that you make that connects your Irish heritage with your Southern American sensibility?
PR: "Meat was considered a luxury and was used almost as a seasoning; while here, the common crops were rice, beans, and corn, among others, in Ireland, it was potatoes, roots, and vegetables like kale and cabbage. So on one hand, you have rice and beans with maybe a ham hock thrown in for flavor, and on the other, you get 'colcannon' which is mashed potatoes with onions, kale, leeks, or cabbage -- or a combination -- and a fistful of chopped bacon or ham."
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