Beauty Shop

When I came to Memphis last February for a job-interview, my future-colleagues took me to Beauty Shop, a hip, pretty place in the heart of Cooper-Young. Still housing the domed hairdryers of yore under which ‘Scilla Presley and other Memphis gals stuck their heads, Beauty Shop is the brainchild of Karen Blockman Carrier, who is also the mastermind behind Mollie Fontaine Lounge, Automatic Slim’s Tonga Club, and Dō Sushi and Noodles. Since I moved to Memphis, I’ve visited BS several times, and on each occasion it hasn’t failed to satisfy my veggie cravings.

Your best bet for a veggie meal at BS is an assortment of small-plates from the appetizer menu, coupled with one of the many salads. Now, I’m not usually a fan of assembling a meal from the appetizer menu—when I have to do this it usually means the restaurant has absolutely no veggie entrée on offer. But in Beauty Shop’s case, the appies are plentiful and interesting, and a dinner consisting solely in small plates doesn’t feel like settling. Back in June the Hubby and I ordered way too much food, gorging ourselves on a whole table’s worth of salads and appetizers. We started with the soup, a semi-chunky gazpacho, heavy on the garlic (in a good way) and served at just the right temperature—not frigid, but cool—then moved on to grilled baby artichokes, a glamorous cheese plate, potato gnocchi, and the fantastic BS guacamole, of which you won’t find a creamier specimen.

As I grasped to undo the clasp on my pants, out of the kitchen came the coup de gras: a grilled romaine salad covered in a creamy blue-cheese dressing (sans bacon, which comes standard). Now, I should tell you that I’m a sucker for blue cheese: when I die, they’ll have to pry the block of fromage bleu out of my cold, dead hands. Pair blue cheese with a grilled vegetable and you’ll see this lady packing it in like nobody’s business. For months afterward I was craving this dish—that salty, tangy, smoky goodness engendered by the marriage of the cheesy and the charred.

Last month, Hubby and I hit BS again. The new menu afforded some more season-sensitive options such as a tomato salad with basil and light vinaigrette, and grilled peaches with blue cheese (which, in retrospect, I can’t believe I passed up). Each of us had the soup—a perfectly seasoned squash bisque, served in a large bowl with a smear of pesto on the inside—and glasses of white wine. The grilled romaine salad did not disappoint, and the waitress was happy to bring us extra toasts for our cheese plate once we gobbled them all up.

Just last week I was back at BS, feasting on the grilled romaine with blue cheese (now my usual), paired with a twice-baked potato, one of the Beauty Shop’s many side dishes. Others include a mélange of peas (cutely named “peas and snaps”), sautéed baby bok choy, and creamed corn. I finished with grilled peaches over ice-cream (which, oddly enough, had a slightly blue cheese flavor, but perhaps I'm starting to read it in to everything; I've become the King Midas of blue cheese!).

I should note that the restaurant does feature a vegetarian pasta, which in the past has been ricotta-filled ravioli and potato gnocchi. I had the ravioli on my visit in February, and, while it was tasty, the more interesting veggie options can be found among the appetizers and salads. But that’s no disappointment.

Beauty Shop is located at 966 S. Cooper. Reservations recommended on Fridays and Saturdays; I've walked in unannounced on other days of the week.