Pillar just opened Dec. 8, 2024 in the Bishop Arts District by chef/owner Peja Krstic. It was in the 98-year-old space previously occupied by Boulevardier. The menu had cross over from the restaurant’s previous occupant as well as with his other current restaurant Mot Hai Ba. Krstic named this after seeing a photo of Ernest Hemingway’s boat Pilar in Key West, but since this was not all seafood it became Pillar, an American bistro. It’s a deep space with some table seating and the bar with seats at the front and a combination of booths and tables in the back portion nearer to the open door to the kitchen. The space had a concrete floor, a brick wall opposite a wallpapered one, a painted wood ceiling and music in the background. Shelves by the front door were filled with articles and books whereas the shelves in back were filled with glassware and wines, which are mostly of the natural variety. We had a fairly early reservation and you could still talk but the evening moved slowly and the noise level got pretty loud later in the evening. One huge benefit of the place was a parking lot right next to it, which is a real plus for places in this area. The service was super friendly but slow and the food was varied but all on the better side of the curve. Some items were outstanding however I hope as they get established, they will introduce specials that vary the menu slightly and work on the kitchen’s efficiency. Give it a try and let me know what you think.
Set-Up
Food
Nashville Hot Oysters are sold by the piece. They are Nashville-style fried Murder Point oysters, served on the half shell and topped with house hot sauce and relish. These were crunchy and delicious with lots of flavor and a slight spicy kick. A touch of sweetness was in the sauce too. I could’ve eaten a plate of them.
Crispy Meat Pies come 2 to an order and were described as crispy, butter pies filled with braised brisket, confit leeks, bell peppers and celery and served with a lemon twist. They were almost square, like a big ravioli and the lemon wedge was squeezed on them at the table. I did not find the crust that buttery and the filling was not bursting with flavor. The filling was juicy and tender but they paled in comparison to the oysters.
Grilled leeks were steamed leeks grilled over binchotan and served with butter-poached crab and hazelnuts, then topped with an orange and brown butter vinaigrette. Back to excellent again on this one. The leeks had lovely flavors with a good char on the edges. The sweetness of the orange added to the good sauce and the mild good-quality crab meat. The leeks were hard to cut but well worth the struggle. The crisp of the roasted hazelnuts was a crowning glory.
Pork Rib Cassoulet was brown butter braised pork short rib lightly kissed over the grill and served with leek cowboy beans and then topped with grilled apple chutney. This had a wonderful depth of flavor in the tender pork and the perfectly cooked beans. The apple chutney really elevated the flavor to another level. It was a perfect dish for a cool evening.
Shrimp and Grits contained 5 garlic-marinated shrimp grilled over coals and served on lime butter-cheese grits in a shellfish curry. This was nicely spicy with good depth of flavor but I kept finding bits of shrimp shell in the grits. The shrimp do come with the tail shell intact so maybe some floated off in the cooking. It was messy to get them unshelled and the server kindly brought a plate to put the discards on. It was good but the pork was better.
The Coconut Cream Pie was a rich toasted coconut custard in a flaky all butter crust topped with fluffy meringue and finished off with lime zest. The lime zest on top was an interesting touch but it worked. The custard was on the thick side but perfect when mixed with the sweet light meringue, which was browned to perfection. The crust was almost like crispy croissant dough which I adored but my husband thought was tough and not ideal. Lots of toasted coconut gave this tremendous flavor and I adored the whole thing. Each part of it was good on its own, you didn’t need it all together to make it work. This one will surely be ordered again for me, on our next visit.
