Many of you may have frequented an old school drugstore in your hometown and experienced the classic soda fountain. As the carbonated soda is dispensed—waiting for a splash of syrup to be mixed in with a long stainless steel spoon— you watched in anticipation, thinking, this soda would pair nicely with a toasted pimento cheese or tuna salad sandwich. I enjoyed this very experience in my hometown of Grandfield, Oklahoma, at Harvest Drug & Gifts. I would walk from my elementary school and in middle school catch a ride downtown to have lunch with my siblings many times over those years and have fond memories of those lunches.
Remedy, located on the rejuvenated and freshly scrubbed lower Greenville Avenue in Dallas is the newest creation of Elias Pope, owner of nearby Paleo focused HG Sply Co., and is helmed by Executive Chef Danyele McPherson. McPherson formerly served as Chef de Cuisine of The Grape and was a contestant on Top Chef. According to Elias, whom we met at the conclusion of our meal, the renovation of the space took longer than expected, but they are pleased with the results of their efforts.
The space is narrow but has high ceilings with beautiful art deco chandeliers that line the center space and etched mirrored arches that frame the space. Elias shared that they etched the glass themselves with each piece taking a significant amount of time to complete. The space isn’t overly fussy and leans toward minimalism with neutral grays and muted colors. There are booths along the wall and in the center, the seating is a theme seen in HG Sply Co., that looks as if it was plucked from a postmodern furniture catalog making for a comfortable seating environment.
As you take in the menu, you will notice the iconography around the border representing the staff, describing menu items or featuring witty comments. These icons frame a simple menu broken into appetizers, salads, sandwiches and in the center, breakfast/brunch selections. The back of the menu reveals that the origins of the drink menu are firmly rooted in soda fountains with some compelling options along with craft beers.
We selected Texas Grapefruit and Hystrix Lime sodas as our beverages for our late lunch and dove into the menu from there.
The two most popular appetizer items are the jalapeno-chive hushpuppies served with hot sauce
butter, and their house made pimento cheese served with warm buttermilk biscuits and a side of pickles canned in house. Our server informed us that Remedy’s pimento cheese is different from store bought because it features much more cheese versus other ingredients. We took her recommendation. Smearing the very cheesy pimento spread on the warm buttermilk biscuits took me back to those drugstore lunches and was a fabulous way to begin our meal on a cold, rainy day. Next up, we selected Remedy’s BLT which stands for pork belly, lettuce and tomato on griddled challah bread slices smeared with a green tomato chow-chow and citrus-black pepper cream cheese. The pork belly is cured on-site and this sandwich is rich, flavorful and more than enough to share along with the side of fries. To finish off our meal, we had a difficult decision to make between their rotating cast of pies, a shake or a sundae. We chose a banana ice cream sundae topped with shaved coconut and whipped cream. The ice cream is made fresh on-site (you see the theme of made from scratch on site continues) and it tastes just like the bananas it is made with.
Remedy is a back-to-basics eatery that excels at creating dishes that are simple yet flavorful by keeping the menu pared down. Take your date or a small gro up for an outing there soon.