Chef Ben Welch, a 2022 James Beard semifinalist nominee for Best Chef Midwest who was formerly involved in local concepts including Big Baby Q, The Midwestern and Botanica, is about to have both hands extremely full: Come September – if all goes to plan – he’ll be swinging wide the doors to two new restaurants. Both are under the same roof at 4156-58 Manchester Ave. in the old Beast Butcher & Block space in the Grove.
While Lucy Quinn (the name of the South-inspired pop-up he launched six years ago) takes the form of a traditional restaurant serving large and small plates for up to 100, Welch is calling Little Lucy – with seats for up to 50 people – a “diner.” Named for his maternal grandmother, both will honor that beloved matriarch by serving the kinds of Southern foods at the core of Welch’s notoriety, and his soul. “I grew up on these foods,” he said. “Everything about this is meaningful to me.”
Among other more logistical things, Welch is at work on introductory menus for the two concepts. He said he’s thinking Missouri soul food for the dinner-only Lucy Quinn: crawfish pie, salmon croquettes, fried catfish with spaghetti puttanesca alongside. Meanwhile, Little Lucy – not a diner in the “breakfast sense,” but an intimate space with an open kitchen – will offer a choice of “sandwiches and not sandwiches” such as a vegan cheeseburger (likely made with butter beans and rice), peel-and-eat shrimp, toasted ravioli with Cajun cream, a Southern-fried tripe sandwich and a crispy, smoked turkey leg. Desserts will keep things sweet: Between the two establishments, expect treats like icebox pie, banana pudding, fried beignets, and, without question, Welch’s German chocolate cake – an inspirational childhood mainstay. “The base, here, is love,” Welch said.
The two restaurants amount to 6,000 square feet. As for the respective vibes, Lucy Quinn will be a brighter space hung with pieces from Welch’s personal art collection. Little Lucy sounds moodier – darker, more “night”; and also open later (food service will begin at 11 a.m; the bar will close at 1:30 a.m.). And there definitely will be tunes: Hip-hop, R&B, et cetera. “A funky little urban diner,” is how Welch explained it.
Because Welch is respectful of the proximity to Rick Lewis’s Grace Meat + Three (a bastion of fried chicken in this town), he said he will probably limit the availability of that essential Southern specialty to the weekends. “I want to add to the Grove, not take away from it. There’s room for both of us,” Welch said.
As for the optics, Welch said to expect blacks and greens; and possibly a “haint blue” ceiling in the Lucy Quinn vestibule. That paint color was traditionally used in Southern porches to throw off spirits (by mimicking sky or water). One whiff of the delicious food, though, and we say it’ll take more than paint to keep the spooks – or fleshier souls! – away.
This article appears in May 2024.