Helmed by the hospitable husband-and-wife team chef Michael Lindsey and Kimberly Love-Lindsey, Lillie Pearl, opened in November 2020, comes alive with a sense of place. That place is the shade tree of Lillie Pearl’s logo—an homage to the older generations and the youthful memories of shucking corn and listening to the stories of the Gullah Geechee in the Carolinas. Lindsey translates those stories into dishes, like a smothered pork chop served with smoky hoppin’ john with crispy rice and braised short ribs with collard green risotto and a smattering of benne seeds.
At lunch, which is popular enough among the downtown Richmond crowd to require reservations, Lindsey’s five-alarm smashville fried chicken sandwich is the star. Be prepared to mop the sweat from your brow. Supper is where Lindsey really gets to connect with his heritage, in dishes like obe ata braised lamb shank, with a Nigerian tomato-and-pepper sauce and jollof rice. He’s is a master of fried chicken (and his fried chicken pop-up, Buttermilk + Honey, is a further testament to that fact), conjuring a bird with a crispy, well-seasoned breading that protects the impossibly juicy meat within.
Brunch is where Lindsey is having the most fun, with a gut-busting short rib breakfast burrito with a punchy green chile queso and a peach cobbler french toast. The move is to get one of each and then share them (or not) among your dining companions. Lillie Pearl’s beverage menu complements the Southern roots of the food with cocktails like the Steel Magnolia, with orange gin and a combination of citrus and clove, and the Return of the Mack, with bourbon, maple syrup, and walnut bitters.
Lillie Pearl feels like an opus for this duo of career pros. After years of being part of the team realizing other people’s visions, this one is personal, and it shows in every detail. Here, the Lindseys are not just cooking for themselves but for their whole family and, luckily, for all of us. @lillie.pearl.rva
