Local ingredients shine on Tallulah’s restaurant menu

Though Russell Jones’ Tallulah has only been open a short time in the former Dianne’s on Devine, customers already have selected favorite dishes from his seasonally changing menu and are coming back for them time and again.

Dishes like the charred Brussels sprouts with tahini and benne seeds, currently on the lunch and dinner menus.

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“(It’s) by far one of our most popular dishes,” Jones said. “It’s vegetarian and vegan, (it’s) great as an appetizer or a side to share at the table. The Brussels sprouts are charred in a hot cast iron pan, tossed with soybean oil, garlic and lemon. The tahini adds a creamy earthiness and the benne seeds and house-made togarashi add depth and spice.”

Another favorite is the house-made ricotta tortellini with City Roots turnips and turnip greens.

“We make a pasta dough, roll out the pasta into long sheets and then cut out large rounds, pipe with house-made ricotta and then fold each into tortellini,” Jones said. “The tortellini, once cooked, is tossed with sautéed turnips, turnip greens and garlic, and the plate is finished with a turnip purée. The dish is comfort food and a perfect example of using the best of what we can find and using the whole ingredient – we get the turnips from City Roots and use the whole vegetable.”

The whole crispy fish with garlic, “pow-pow” sauce, cilantro and baby carrots is also popular, Jones said. That dish is inspired by a Thai style fish.

“We get a daily catch fish so the fish changes based on what is caught. The fish is scored, rolled in rice flour and then deep fried. Once it is fried, we toss it with ‘pow-pow’ sauce which is a combination of Thai chili, shrimp paste, garlic, mirin, soy sauce and fish sauce,” Jones said. “The whole fish is served with a herbs and City Roots carrots.”

Jones uses local ingredients whenever possible, including carrots from City Roots, squab from Palmetto Pigeon and pork from Carolina Heritage. All of the menu items can be divided into four categories representing regions of the state: Lowcountry, which focuses on seafood; Sandhills, featuring meat, poultry, and game; Piedmont, featuring vegetables; and Appalachia, featuring “methods of food preservation” – curing, pickling and smoking.

How did Tallulah get its start?

Though Tallulah is the first restaurant Jones has owned, it’s the fourth he has opened. For the past 12 years, the Dreher High School graduate has lived in Washington D.C., where he attended the French culinary school L’Academie De Cuisine and then worked as a chef at fine dining restaurant Le Paradou, Restaurant Eve and, most recently, the high-end bar and restaurant Jack Rose Dining Saloon.

Jones’ first job in a real kitchen was in Columbia at age 19 at Rosewood Market with chef Benoit St. Jacques.

“I learned what fine dining and real work in a kitchen really was,” Jones said. “I worked there three-and-a-half years and just loved the atmosphere in the kitchen and the camaraderie,” Jones said. “Benoit was my first chef to show you how to do things. I just kind of fell in love with it.”

He further developed that love in Washington at some of the capital’s most successful restaurants. In fact, Jones was getting ready to sign a deal last spring with Jack Rose to open another restaurant in the city when his dad called with a proposition: Come home and open a restaurant in the space formerly occupied by Dianne’s, at 2400 Devine St.

After talking with Dianne Light, who still owns the 2400 Devine St. location and is leasing it to Jones, he learned there was a group of investors in Columbia who simply wanted to see a good restaurant go into the space but did not want to operate or oversee it. They agreed to back Jones in the eatery, which he named Tallulah in honor of his great grandmother.

What does the place look like?

Before housing Dianne’s on Devine, the building, built in 1954, served as The Peddler Steakhouse and Griff’s.

“We took the back kitchen down to the dirt,” Jones said.

The end result is a crisp, modern, sleek design throughout the dining space and bar area that features white coffered ceilings, custom-made pedestal tables with elaborate decorative footwork and thickly padded cream-colored leather seats with upholstered backs. Creamy white and dark blue velvet serve as the color scheme throughout the space, including in the glassed in area just off the main dining room that can be reserved for private parties.

Who eats here?

Though the restaurant might appear to be high-end, Jones’ goal for Tallulah is that it appeals to everyone.

“If you want to get dressed up and come in for a birthday or anniversary celebration or the like we can certainly accommodate that, but we don’t want anyone to feel like they have to get dressed up to come here,” Jones said. “If you want to dress up nice and come in, put a coat and a tie on, fantastic. If you want to come in in a Slayer t-shirt and some bluejeans and grab a snack and a beer at the bar, awesome. The full menu is available everywhere, so it’s going to be about finding what space you’re comfortable in. ... We don’t want it to say, ‘Oh Tallulah is just fine dining and it’s expensive and people only go there for special events.’ You can make it your special occasion destination but it’s not that exclusively.”

This story was originally published May 10, 2017 at 2:27 PM with the headline "Local ingredients shine on Tallulah’s restaurant menu."