The Grey
Restaurant information
EstablishedDecember 2014[1]
Owner(s)John O. Morisano
Mashama Bailey
Head chefMashama Bailey
Food typeAmerican
Southern
Dress codeCasual
Street address109 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
CitySavannah
StateGeorgia
Postal/ZIP Code31401
CountryUnited States
Coordinates32°4′47.53″N 81°5′51.63″W / 32.0798694°N 81.0976750°W / 32.0798694; -81.0976750
Seating capacity60[1]
ReservationsYes
Websitethegreyrestaurant.com

The Grey is an American and Southern restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, United States. It is co-owned by John O. Morisano and Mashama Bailey, the latter of whom also serves as head chef.

History

Based in New York City, John O. Morisano moved to Savannah, Georgia, part time. While there, he bought a former Greyhound bus depot in downtown Savannah, which he had toured in March 2012.[2][3] He bought the building in March 2013 for $945,000.[3] The depot closed in 1964. When it was operating, the depot was racially segregated with separate waiting areas and restrooms for blacks and whites. Morisano planned to open a restaurant in the depot and was introduced to Mashama Bailey through Gabrielle Hamilton. At that time, Bailey was a sous chef at Hamilton's New York restaurant, Prune.[2]

Design and ambiance

The Grey is located inside a former Greyhound bus depot in downtown Savannah. Morisano invested millions of dollars to make the restaurant Streamline Moderne in style and design.[2] Parts and Labor designed the interior and Felder & Associates were the architecture firm.[3] The depot's former diner became the Grey's dining room. Curved booths are blue, representing the Greyhound bus logo. The bar is horseshoe shaped. There are numbers painted on the walls representing the station's former boarding gates.[2] The kitchen is the former ticket booth.[4] The Savannah Morning News' Julia Ritchey described the look as similar to Edward Hopper's Nighthawks.[3]

Artwork in the restaurant includes works Adam Keuhl, Marcus Kenney, Betsy Cain, and a photograph of James Cleveland performing at the First African Baptist Church in Savannah by photographer James Cleveland.[2]

Cuisine and beverages

When the restaurant first opened, Bailey called the cuisine "port city Southern food." Today, the restaurant remains primarily Southern in style with African influences. African influences include the use of Kanni sauce from Senegal and harissa.[2] Bailey also pulls influence from European cuisine, including in one of her signature dishes: foie gras and grits.[5] To find inspiration for the menu, Bailey read books by Edna Lewis. At one point, Bailey designed the entire menu around different chapters of Lewis' In Pursuit of Flavor.[2]

The menu changes regularly. Appetizers may include oysters, benne seed crackers and chutney, and watermelon salad.[2][4][6] Main dishes may include Country Captain. Side dishes are offered, including smoked greens.[2]

The restaurant has a full bar, with cocktails including gimlets.[6]

Reception

In 2015, Ingrid K. Williams visited the restaurant on behalf of the New York Times. Williams praised the decor, a pork shank prepared with cane sugar, greens and cornbread, and the desserts. However, in the same review she said the restaurant was still "ironing out kinks" citing an overcooked roasted sea bass. That same year it was nominated for a James Beard Award.[1]

In 2017, The Grey was named Eater's 2017 Restaurant of the Year.[2] The following year, The Grey was named one of Time's Greatest Places.[5]

The Netflix documentary series "Chef's Table", directed by David Gelb, featured The Grey in the first episode of season six.[7][8]

The Grey Market

In Fall of 2018, building on the success of The Grey restaurant, Bailey and Morisano opened a secondary concept in Savannah called The Grey Market. "The Grey Market combines their love for New York City bodegas, the true lifeblood of any New Yorker, with the history and convenience of the Southern lunch counter,"[9] and provides walk-in counter food service and pantry items.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Williams, Ingrid K. (28 May 2015). "Restaurant Report: The Grey in Savannah, Georgia". The New York Times. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Addison, Bill (8 November 2017). "The Grey Is the Restaurant of the Year". Eater. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Ritchey, Julia. "New restaurant The Grey opens with gusto". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  4. 1 2 "The Grey". Zagat. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  5. 1 2 "The Grey: The World's 100 Greatest Places of 2018". Time. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  6. 1 2 Cole, Jennifer V. (13 October 2015). "The Best New Restaurants in America 2015: The Grey". Esquire. Retrieved 7 May 2019.
  7. ↑ Morabito, Greg (2019-03-01). "'Chef's Table' Recap: Mashama Bailey Tells a Fresh Story About the South". Eater. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  8. ↑ Dennis, Zach. "The Grey, creator of Husk featured in Netflix's 'Chef's Table'". Savannah Morning News. Retrieved 2022-08-02.
  9. ↑ "The Grey Market". Visit Savannah. 2022-10-12. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
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