The opening date has arrived for Rapscallion, the new restaurant on Greenville Avenue from brothers Bradley Anderson and Brooks Anderson and chef Nathan Tate: Tuesday, July 7.
Located in the same tri-cornered building as Yucatan Taco Stand and B B Bop, Rapscallion will be a neighborhood bistro similar to Boulevardier, its Bishop Arts sibling. But instead of French food, Rapscallion's menu is influenced by Tate's Southern roots, with some products from his family farm.
There are two forms of chicken: rotisserie and "Nashville" hot-fried. Other entrees include short rib steak, fried catfish with littleneck clams and black-eyed peas, a grass-fed burger and a pork "collar" with plantains. Prices range from $14 to $25.
Sides include mac and cheese, hush puppies and fried okra, and run $7 to $10.
"Snacks" include scallions wrapped in pancetta, pork belly cracklins, spiced potato chips, fried pickles and cabrito kebabs, prices from $5 to $9.
Under "vegetables and grains" is a dish called "fried sorghum" that includes smoked oyster mushrooms, Napa cabbage and spring peas. Greens consist of fermented collards and Chinese water spinach, and there are cauliflower "steaks" with Okinawa white barbecue sauce.
Chef de cuisine Jonathan Peters is a Texas native who most recently was chef at Chamberlain West Hollywood and Palihouse in Los Angeles before joining the Rapscallion team. His background includes working with noted chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, Brendan Collins, Alain Giraud, Warren Schwartz and Eric Greenspan.
Peters and Tate will be working on a piece of equipment that doesn't usually have a brand name: a J&R Manufacturing wood rotisserie and grill. Steaks will be dry-aged in a refrigerator located behind the Rapscallion bar in full view of the guests. Like Boulevardier, Rapscallion will boast a raw bar with oysters, pickled shrimp and other seafood specialties.
The Andersons also own Veritas, so the wines are exactingly conceived, with an all-American list of 126 bottles, 60 of which are $50 or below.
"Just as the food menu has surprising twists and turns, so does the wine," says Brooks in a release, with "lesser-known grapes" such as Arneis, Roussanne, Trebbiano, Carignan, Nebbiolo and Valdiguie. That doesn't sound very American! But the list will also feature more common varietals associated with the world of American wine.
Cocktails by Eddie Eakin will focus on spirits distilled from grain, cane and agave. In addition, Rapscallion will offer martini service with house-pickled garnishes to pair with Rapscallion’s oyster selection. The beer selections, like the wine, will be 100-percent American-made products.
Rapscallion will add a little fine-dining flair to Greenville Avenue.
