Many thanks to Memphis Tourism and I Love Memphis for sponsoring this post. We were given a gift card for our meal and compensated for this review.
Recently, Memphis Travel and I Love Memphis gave us the chance to order a meal from one of our absolute favorite local spots, Acre Restaurant, on them and then share the details with y’all; of course we jumped at the chance! Located in East Memphis, Acre is owned by Wally Joe, and Executive Chef Andrew Adams is at the helm in the kitchen.
We ordered take-out from Acre for dinner, but if you know Justin, you can probably guess that he set up a socially distant photo shoot on the Acre patio just to be able to capture the beauty of Chef Andrew Adams’s plating before he packed up our dishes to go. (Acre uses environmentally friendly paper take-out boxes and bags. This is something in the year of curbside everything that we really appreciate.)
The entire meal was such a treat; in addition, if you are looking for vegetarian, vegan, or gluten-free options particularly, Acre’s got you covered. Let’s see if we can do our amazing date-night meal justice here:
We started strong: The Mixed Green Salad featured Little Gem lettuce, pickled strawberries, and radishes with a buttermilk dressing. The Fairytale Pumpkin-Coconut Soup is a gorgeous ochre color with polka dots of cilantro crème fraîche and microgreens. It looks like a modernist canvas too pretty to eat…though we did just that.
The bread program at Acre is among the best anywhere. Chef Adams orders the flour from California for his Multigrain Sourdough, which comes with cultured butter that’s lightly sprinkled with Maldon sea salt. It’s the cutest, most perfect little boulé, big enough for two.
Don’t let the simplicity of the names of the vegetable share plates fool you; they’re total knockouts to the eye and the palate. Roasted Kabocha Squash (pumpkin seed-herb sauce, apples, and oat croutons), Roasted Cauliflower (cotija, pico de gallo and guajillo chilies), Grilled Broccolini (romesco sauce), and Roasted Baby Carrots (avocado, walnut, labneh and white truffle honey vinaigrette.) We were so inspired because THIS is what we attempt to do with vegetables in our cooking, so we definitely were taking notes. Chef Adams’s decisive additions and spot-on cooking methods completely transform these produce-department staples.
Roasted Chestnut Stuffed Pasta was a favorite for both of us. A whole chestnut is wrapped like a caramel in house-made pasta and tossed in a puréed celery root sauce with a touch of truffle for good measure.
Dessert was a stunner! The Chocolate “Candy Bar,” was light as air with chocolate mousse, peanut wafer, chocolate glaze, and gold leaf glinting back at us as we decided our plan of attack.
Our favorite cocktail was the Fireside Old Fashioned—it’s the perfect fall drink, with a pecan and fruit included.
Currently, Acre is open for dinner Tues.-Sat., and they are happy to provide take-out as well this season.
We love Acre and have celebrated birthdays, cookbook milestones, and anniversaries with dinner or lunch there as well as spending regular old nights with a drink and an app at their gorgeous, cozy bar area. Enjoying our take-out meal together brought back those memories and made us realize that although much has changed temporarily, the talent of our local chefs still shines quite brightly.
Please join us in supporting Acre and our fabulous local restaurants in Memphis in any way you are able to this holiday season! #RallyforRestaurants