When the news broke that chef Levon Wallace would be leaving the kitchen at Gray & Dudley to join Strategic Hospitality, questions arose immediate about who would replace him at Gray & Dudley and how the menu might change. (By the way, if you’re looking for some great soft-core food porn, follow Wallace on Instagram to see what he’s been playing around with at Merchants.) The answer to the the two Gray & Dudley questions turned out to be Rob Newton as chef, and really good news for the menu.
One great thing about the restaurants at all the 21C Museum Hotel properties is that they actively encourage the chefs to exert their personalities on the cuisine. Rather than force the chefs to conform to some corporate standard, management wants each restaurant to stand on its own, and each is excellent in its own unique way. Wallace’s cuisine at Gray & Dudley was fantastic, showcasing the chef’s love of simple food made with outstanding ingredients, with nods to his experiences cooking in the South and on the West Coast. And you’ll be happy to know that his GD Burger is still on the menu for lunch and dinner.
But Chef Newton has his own stories to tell, culinary tales of his roots growing up in Arkansas, of his time opening restaurants in hip neighborhoods in Brooklyn and of the international travels that inspire and inform much of his cooking. Although the menu at Gray & Dudley changes frequently at the whim of the chef and based on the availability of fresh seasonal ingredients, dining there is still a great way to take a culinary journey through the mind of a talented chef.
This is especially important for a hotel restaurant in the teeming downtown of a tourist destination. Sure, you might depend on a hotel guest to eat at least one meal on-property during a stay, but that doesn’t keep the reservation book full. Gray & Dudley depends on the patronage of local diners as well, and Newton strives to keep them coming back to see what’s new.
The chef runs the completely open kitchen from the pass, calmly standing at a table that separates the cooking area from servers arriving to pick up plates. Managing a small but dedicated staff, Newton pushes out three meals a day plus handling the room service needs of hotel guests. The menu must balance the needs of a hungry traveler arriving late (and just needing a good burger before bed) with discerning local diners looking to be wowed before a show at the Ryman.
Newton is absolutely up to the challenges. I admit that if you don’t know Newton’s background and history, some of the dishes at dinner might seem to be coming from left field, with a fusion of down-home Southern preparations of classic dishes made with some decidedly Asian ingredients. That’s why I’m telling you so that it won’t be so jarring, and you can be informed enough to go for the ride.
On a recent dinner visit, we were impressed by some of Newton’s more hyper-regional dishes, like a meat and cheese plate featuring Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese and cured Tennessee meats from The Hamery and Benton’s. He offered up a delicious app of lumpia with soy/sorghum dipping sauce that he says will be in his upcoming cookbook, Seeking the South. Another favorite starter was a completely vegan plate. (Yeah, I know right? Chamberlain going vegan for at least five minutes.) It featured beautiful varieties of heirloom carrots roasted and served with a cashew cream.
While Wallace’s food was comforting, Newton seeks to teach and inform, which is perfect for the gestalt of a hotel that has a 24-hour art museum within the same walls as the restaurant. Since we were fortunate enough to have the chef visit the table a couple of times during the meal, I was able to learn about the dishes and the ingredients and the inspirations behind them. The recurring theme was combining Arkansas with Asia, something that makes a lot more sense than you might realize at first.
Both regions are known for cooking with rice and peanuts, ingredients that show up on some of the best dishes on the menu such as the barbecue-spiced peanuts bar snack and Sunburst trout from North Carolina served with green onion, dill, turmeric and peanuts. Arkansas is also the heart of duck-hunting country, and you’ll see duck in several of Gray & Dudley’s entrees. The evening I visited, Newton had just appeared on a local midday show to do a cooking segment where he prepared his new pan-roasted duck dish with apple puree, chervil, curried cashews and apple syrup. I happened to catch that show, so I knew what was coming. I was quite impressed by both the dish and Newton’s ability to cook under pressure on TV — as he had to follow Hans, the flamboyant accordion-playing German from America’s Got Talent. Newton at least held his own.
Newton’s domestic and international passions are best showcased in what I consider his signature dish, duck-fried rice. The kitchen at Gray & Dudley cures their own duck leg hams to use in this delicious dish, and then fries the jasmine rice in duck fat. Newton finishes the dish with a hit of his secret fish sauce/soy spice mix and serves it with cabbage, shiitake and a perfectly fried egg. It’s a dish I could eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner and would happily eat it at all three meals.
As the seasons change, I’m confident that chef Newton will morph his menu to continue to showcase the best ingredients he can source. But because he doesn’t just limit himself to local farm-to-table fare, he has the freedom to experiment with flavors and groceries he finds at international markets in town. That’s still a little local, right? Regardless, it’s a great development for Nashville diners, and if you haven’t been to Gray & Dudley lately to check out what’s going on at 21C, you owe it to yourself to make the trip.
