Southern Sophistication at Seersucker

This pretty little jewel showed up on Smith Street in the last eight months and the Southern-influenced menu combined with a sleek, but warm, modern aesthetic caught my attention. I just love a Southern brunch but was a tiny bit afraid of what I assumed would be a preponderance of chicken-fried, dishes ladled with gravy. I ate there with one of my favorite eating buddies, Karena, recently, and was pleasantly surprised with the sophisticated, and well-executed, menu. I LOVE that they had New York Riesling on tap and a reasonable wine list. I don’t know why more Brooklyn spots don’t learn that if they carry decent wine, reasonably-priced, we will drink it and drink a lot of it.

We had a Southern Snack tray to start with, and it was a board studded with an assortment of interesting pickled things, a smoked-cheese pimento spread with fresh potato chips, and salty and delicious thin slices of Serrano ham from Virginia. The elements of the plate satisfyingly hit three of the key tastes of the tongue: salty, sweet, and sour. The pickled watermelon rind, cherries and okra were joined by a little crudite for crunch. I was surprised at how much I loved the sour-sweet taste of a pickled cherry. The shrimp and grits had big shoes to fill as we both have had some amazing versions over the years, and it didn’t disappoint. I especially loved the light mushroom sauce it was topped with that added real depth to the dish. The grilled pork chop over hominy, ham and turnip greens was done to perfection, not dry like so many I’ve had in restaurants. We shared the two dishes and they complimented each other well. The chef knocked it out of the park with the salted caramel rice pudding with sugared pecans, macerated plums and raspberries. The way the flavors complimented and balanced each other was awe-inspiring. We had a little late-harvest Gerwurtztraminer from Sonoma and it was a sweet, but balanced, companion served in a lovely 2 oz glass.

Delicious and not a chicken-fried anything in sight.