Southland tales
Prelude (FiDi)
RESTAURANTS • First Word
The Skinny: Opened in August and tucked inside the Financial District’s luxe Jay Hotel, Prelude is folding Alabama’s foodways into Californian fine dining.
The Vibe: A teal-tiled kitchen is wide open to the primary dining room, where leather banquettes and chevroned stained glass panels punctuate a blend of earth tones and eucalyptus wood. Downtown evening light filters in from expansive windows to the wooden tables in the center of the room.
The Food: A dirty-rice-stuffed fried chicken wing is a perfect introduction to the neo-nostalgic style of chef Celtin Henderson-Jones, an alum of Niku Steakhouse and Commis. Gulf red snapper served like a torchon (with cajun shrimp mousse) feels a bit stiff, but that's quelled by the silver spork provided for the pillowy smoked catfish dumplings and crayfish etouffee. A crispy Duroc pork chop comes with Tierra hominy grits and a choose-your-own adventure row of garnishes, like pickled shrimp and crispy Benton's ham.
The Drink: The bar is a pleasant hideaway, tucked away from the main dining room facing the corner of Clay and Battery Streets, midway between the emerging Transamerica Pyramid social scene and One Maritime Plaza. Bar director Franco Bilbaeno's cocktails are as central to the experience as the food. Consider the Southern Roots, with brown butter, sweet potato, Maker's Mark, and fermented Jimmy Nardello pepper, and the Vodka P.F.C. Martini, with clarified buttermilk, black garlic, black pepper, pickle brine, and fried chicken skin garnish. Meanwhile, master somm Morgan Harris has stories to tell from the Cali Central Coast to Piemonte in a wine program that aims high.
The Verdict: Prelude's take on fine Southern comfort isn’t as much a careful replication of that region’s dining as a playful take on how a Californian imagines it could be. –Adrian Spinelli