Big Jones

Big Jones Restaurant Review:

Paul Fehribach’s simple-on-the-surface restaurant emphasizes heirloom Southern recipes, made with seasonal ingredients from local farms and purveyors. House-made charcuterie (pecan wood-smoked andouille, dry-cured tasso with piccalilli) gives way to a menu peppered with revived, historic dishes and family-style suppers, like wood-smoked Virginia oysters, bathed in garlic butter and finished with Creole-inflected mignonette. And while the menu is meat and offal-heavy, Fehribach clearly has a way with vegetables as evidenced by the Death’s Door gin-glazed turnips. The dish of shrimp and antebellum heirloom grits? It’s lovely, striking a balance between creamy, savory and smoky, thanks to mushroom, tasso gravy and house-made Worcestershire components. We like the whiskey-centric cocktails, too (try the pitch-perfect Last Rites, a mix of Heaven Hill Bourbon, green chartreuse and lime juice). High ceilings and bright walls washed in natural and chandelier lighting lend a genteel feel, which is furthered by the offering of afternoon tea.