Local Style at Local 11 Ten

April 2009

Design – Décor – Food

By Christy Simo

For Reed Dulany III, local is everything. He feels so strongly about the movement, it’s even part of his Savannah restaurant’s name: Local 11 Ten.

“Using these local goods is something our patrons recognize, not something that’s obscure that we flew in from somewhere,” Dulany says. “It’s supportive of the community and of our region. The name of the restaurant is Local 11 Ten, so it’s really the center of the vision of our restaurant.

Located in historic Savannah, just south of Forsyth Park, Local 11 Ten offers southern food with a European flair. He and his wife, Meredith, opened the restaurant in September 2007 after noticing a lack of area restaurants using local produce.

“I’m from Savannah, and I’ve lamented the fact that there wasn’t, in my view, a contemporary, local-based restaurant here that someone put a lot of thought and detail into the design of the restaurant itself, and the food and just the whole experience.”

So, Dulany, who also owns Savannah-based Dulany Industries Inc., opened one himself.
The restaurant, located at the corner of Duffy and Bull streets, sits in a rehabilitated 1950s-era Savannah Bank building — atypical for a town that features many of its restaurants in historic houses.

The design, which was created by Savannah-based ReThink Design Studio’s Joel Snayd, along with Meredith, incorporated the old bank vault into the design. Cream-colored exposed brick walls and natural woods mixed with steel-front doors, a dark concrete floor and beadboard ceiling inject the new into the old — which is just what Dulany set out to do with his restaurant.

The local vibe stretches to the walls, which feature portraits from Savannah artist Troy Wandzel. A custom wood community table sits in the middle of the dining room, and a semiprivate table that seats six is in the old bank vault, which now features cork walls and an antique brass chandelier.

“The look of it is really fantastic and is really different than anything else in Savannah by a long shot,” he notes. “It’s meant to be a real communal, relaxing, neighborhood sort of place.

“We wanted a place that you felt comfortable coming in a coat and tie, or you felt comfortable coming in jeans and a T-shirt. It’s a stylish, casual elegance. The food, of course, reflects that.”

Southern With a Twist
Chef John Rodgers, who hails from Asheville, NC, and was previously the restaurant’s sous chef, bases the menu on local produce, unique pairings and bold flavors.

“He’s just a phenomenal guy. He had the vision and the background of a southern— but a new southern — take on things,” Dulany says. “He adds more of the casual, elegant flair to it. He grew into the role, and we couldn’t be more thrilled with him.”

Many dishes incorporate day-boat seafood caught daily from Georgia’s coast as well as vegetables and herbs from neighboring farmers.

The restaurant uses local food whenever it can, such as day-boat soft-shell crab, and figs and loquats grown just down the road. Some of the local producers and growers they work with include Thomasville-based Sweet Grass Dairy, Savannah-based Back in the Day Bakery and bacon from Benton’s Smoky Mountain County Hams in Tennessee.

“The food comes from local purveyors as much as possible,” he says. “It makes you feel good to support local vendors. It makes you feel confident in the goods that you’re getting because they are from someone you’ve talked to, that you relate to, and it’s not some nameless truck delivering things.”

The menu reflects the use of local produces, rotating seasonally so as to use what’s fresh during different parts of the year. It also keeps local patrons coming back for more.

“We also want the menu to change at least four times a year so it’s seasonal. That’s something that’s very important to me and to the locals,” he says. “There are restaurants here that I took my date to when I was 16 that have the exact same menu today. They’re good, but you can’t do that with what we’re trying to do. We wanted it to move with the seasons. If you’re going to have a dish with heirloom tomatoes, you’re going to have it when it’s in season.”

Arty Schronce, the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s Director of Public Affairs, agrees.
“What a lot of the chefs and restaurateurs are finding is that people want what is in season. People know the product is better, and they understand the environmental aspect,” he notes. “People want to know where their food comes from, reduce their carbon footprint and support the local economy.”

Daron “Farmer D” Joffe is just one of the farmers from which Local 11 Ten gets its fresh produce. Joffe also collaborates with Chef Rodgers to plan four seasonal “farm-to-table” dinners each year.

“In between courses, the chef and I talk to the diners about what’s in the dish and a little bit about growing it, its nutritional value and its connection to the rest of the farm,” Joffe says. “It gives them a sense of connection to the food. It’s very educational. It’s cool to learn while you eat and eat with the seasons.”
The local produce doesn’t stop at the menu, but stretches back behind the bar. The cocktail list varies depending on what’s in season and what local farmers are growing. One such drink is the Scarlet O’Hara’s Secret, which is a combination of South Carolina’s Firefly Sweet Tea Vodka, Lapsang souchong tea and peach schnapps.

“As much as we can, from the bread, to as many of the vegetables, to obviously the fish, some of the meat, particularly the charcuterie — anything we can, we get local,” he says. “And we’re going to increase that. We’d love to be 100% local, but it’s hard to do.”

While many of the local vendors that work with the restaurant have been there since it first opened, Chef Rodgers is currently meeting with and developing relationships with more purveyors of local goods.

“We love supporting local businesses and sharing those local businesses with our customers,” Dulany says.
That sentiment extends past the restaurant as well. Eventually, Dulany wants to work with local farmers to start a small organic farm to supply produce to his restaurant, and eventually other area restaurants and families who would be interested in a community-supported agriculture arrangement.

“I have one child and another on the way, and it’s something that I’d like to do for my family,” he says. “We believe in the organic movement — I believe in it personally. It’s not a 100% driver of the restaurant, but it certainly is something we want to support as much as we can. It’s tied very closely into the local fare. So, as much as we can get local, we are.”

For now, Dulany is satisfied with just bringing locally grown fare to Savannah.

“You’re getting fresher things, you’re getting them faster and you’re supporting a great deal of business in the state,” he says. “It’s something that we should put some efforts into — buying locally. It’s an overused sort of word, but there is meaning behind it and a tremendous amount of value.”