Porcellino’s Craft Butcher
Pain au Chocolate, Corn Muffin with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Icing, Pecan Croissant
Cold Brew from Relevant Roasters of Memphis
Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Biscuit
Cinnamon Roll
Pimento Cheese Gougeres
Dutch Baby
Almond Butterscotch Coffee Cake Bread Pudding with Malted Chocolate Gelato
At this point having thoroughly enjoyed dinners at both Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen and Hog & Hominy it seemed only logical to spend our last breakfast in Memphis at Porecllino’s, the craft butcher, café, and purveyor of local provisions helmed by Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman located next door.
Recently opened, and garnering nearly as much acclaim as the two siblings to which it provides its meats, a morning visit to Porcellino’s is perhaps as “European” an experience as can be found in the state of Tennessee, and greeted by a friendly young man who acted as host, server, barista, and a great source of knowledge about the products and the city it was with quite an order that our meal progressed – the items rolling out in four courses precisely as requested while bold coffee was sipped and the space explored.
Sourcing almost everything used in-house from local purveyors, many of which were also featured on shelves or in a refrigerator case, it was with a trio of pastries that the meal began, and slowly cut up for sharing one would be hard pressed to name a more decadent use of cornmeal than the toothsome iced muffin, nor a more impressive non-traditional croissant than the $7 pecan packed pastry – its shatter on par with the oft-revisited favorite at San Francisco’s Knead Patisserie despite less arching and levity as far more nutty flavor was packed into the still-warm core.
Moving onward to savories and items freshly prepared in the kitchen it was admittedly taking a bit of a risk that the Bacon, Egg, and Cheese biscuit was ordered given the poor quality of the buttermilk round at Hog & Hominy, yet despite supposedly being the same recipe the version at Porcellino’s was superior in every way, the flavors more pronounced and the crumb far more moist – a buttery lightness found where density once prevailed as the smoky bacon, aged cheddar, and fluffy eggs sat atop a rise nearly twice that of the one offered at a similar price with sausage gravy the night before.
Unfortunately receiving the pimento cheese gougeres a bit deflated despite flavor and texture that were bold and almost ethereal, respectively, it was next in a cinnamon roll topped with molten frosting that we indulged and with aromatics that greeted the nose from nearly a foot away it was in quickly dispatching the roll that a tiny Dutch Baby was divided up, the crisp ring surrounding a soft center teaming with lemon that would have only been better if served in a full-grown portion, though at $5 the effort invested in the tiny cast iron version was perhaps the bargain of the morning, and certainly not the sort of thing seen anywhere else before.
At this point again singing the praises of Memphis’ native born Chefs, it was finally an item from the section listed as ‘Dessert’ arrived, and tossing any semblance of discretion to the wind whenever bread pudding is offered the daily Almond Butterscotch Coffee Cake composition was a $7 stunner, the flavors and textures diverse but complimentary thanks to a rich infusion of custard while rich chocolate gelato with light notes of malt slowly melted at its side.
http://porcellinoscraftbutcher.com/
