New Memphis restaurant JEM serves up 'approachable fine dining': Here's what to expect

The childhood dream of a Memphis chef became a reality Thursday with the opening of Downtown's newest restaurant, JEM.

Located at 644 Madison, JEM (short for Just Enjoy the Moment) is the culmination of a short, yet already extremely successful career for Mobile, Alabama, native Josh Mutchnick, who has worked at numerous high-end restaurants across the nation, including four Michelin-starred ones.

Now, alongside his wife and fellow co-owner Emily, he’s brought a vision wholly his own to Downtown Memphis.

“[When COVID happened] I feel like everyone just took a big collective breath… and realized the world’s crazy,” Mutchnick said. “I want to create an experience where you can come in, ‘just enjoy the moment’, put a pause on everything, have a great meal, have a great conversation… then go back to being crazy."

Changing the restaurant industry

A driving force behind Mutchnick’s vision for the restaurant comes from his extensive prior experience in the industry. He wants to move away from the pretentiousness and stressful environments prevalent in so many top-of-the-line restaurants, while still retaining a high-caliber feel to the service and food.

“I love my industry, and I love the restaurants, but it's insane. It's crazy. Substance abuse, mental health, crazy hours, the list goes on. There is pretention everywhere,” he said. “But for me, for my happiness, it's about laughing and creating those types of moments. I would rather sacrifice the perfection and laugh."

That extends to his staff as well. Based on his own experience getting burned by former employers, Mutchnick has implemented tip sharing, higher base server pay and is giving full benefits to his employees.

“For a long time I've been told, that's just how the industry is,” he said. “I've worked at places where the cooks can't afford health care. They can't make rent. And then the owner drives off in a Porsche. I don't want to have a successful restaurant at the expense of exploiting people that are passionate about what they do.”

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Another small part of creating that “approachable fine dining” experience that’s comfortable for customers is JEM’s food dictionary. At the bottom of each menu is a small reference for food words such as “foie gras,” which the reference explains is simply duck liver. Mutchnick wants to hit a fine line between “approachable and pandering.”

“I know I've eaten at restaurants across the country where I read something on the menu, and I'm like, I don't know what that means,” he said. “It's a way that I can get excited about ingredients and about processes, and still call them by their proper name without being intimidating.”

What's on the menu at JEM?

Mutchnick described the menu as “American, with a little bit of global influences.” Take JEM’s Hamachi Crudo, a Japanese fish often found in Asian restaurants, but in this case served with pickled local peppers, roasted and charred okra, lemon aioli and local jasmine rice.

A prime example of this approach is the Italian Porchetta, a pork belly seasoned with herbs and garlic, cooked overnight and seared. “I’m going to serve that up with polenta cake, which is Italian, but also collard greens,” he said. "I’m going to take the pot liquor, clarify it and make it a pot liquor consummate. And so it’s this saucy, Southern homey dish, but [with] this classic Italian protein."

The small dessert menu is full of flavor: Highlights include a waffle mousse cake that melts in your mouth, and bread pudding, a rich dessert created with yuzu curd (an East Asian citrus fruit), strawberry-vanilla compote and vanilla crème anglaise, a custard used as a sauce.

The menu won’t be static — Mutchnick plans to add both seasonal dishes and his own experimental plates as time goes on.

“The best type of food is local seasonal stuff, and so I want to highlight that when something comes in season, and it’s delicious,” he said. "When it comes to experimenting… I’m the type of person that makes like five iterations of [a meal]. I’m putting myself out there with my food, and I want to make sure it’s the best and most accurate representation of who I am.”

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A clear vision, and a dream

JEM’s design is clean and open. Mutchnick went thrifting for some of the art that hangs inside. As you walk in, a huge green and purple mural created by Ivy-Jade Edwards proudly displays her interpretation of JEM’s logo. Most importantly, the kitchen is in plain view of the dining area. Mutchnick wanted eating at JEM to be an experience, akin to watching chefs make sushi at a sushi bar.

“Our open kitchen is part of the energy, part of the action,” he said. “So guests get to see us cook, and selfishly as cooks, instead of [the food] just walking away and disappearing into the aether, we see it set down and someone eat it. That’s one of the best things, when you get to see people actually enjoying your food.”

Mutchnick was quick to give credit to his wife and co-owner Emily Mutchnick, who has mainly worked on the business side of opening a restaurant.

“I couldn't be doing this without her at all. She has the impossible task of putting up with me,” he said laughing. “It was the dream for her to have a business, and a dream for me to have a restaurant. It’s the dream.”

Jacob Wilt is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal. You can reach him at jacob.wilt@commercialappeal.com.

JEM

Address: 644 Madison Ave.

Hours: 5-9 p.m. Wednesday-Thursday; 4:30-9 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Online: jemdining.com

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: New Downtown Memphis restaurant JEM opens: Here's what to expect