by Michele Newbern Gillis
Staff Writer
After 50 years as a homestyle Southern restaurant, the Homestead Restaurant in Jacksonville Beach has undergone major renovations and will offer a new concept.
“In keeping with the Southern flair of the Homestead Restaurant, just not family style, we are trying to offer something a little different,” said Teresa Brown Pratt, who owns the restaurant along with Malcolm Marvin and his wife Kathy. “We are offering new Southern cuisine representative of restaurants in Charleston and Savannah, which use traditional Southern ingredients, but are a little more upscale.”
The Marvins and Pratt bought the Homestead in late 2001 from Steve Macri, whose father bought the restaurant from the Johansen family in 1975. The three also own First Street Grille in Jacksonville Beach.
They’re aiming at an early October opening.
There has been almost $500,000 in renovations, including removing the front of the building, adding a new section and an outside deck.
“The entire front came off and we completely reconstructed the bar and front porch area,” said Pratt. “The kitchen was completely redone and the floors had to be taken out and re-poured.”
While much of the structure remains the same, they had to strip the interior logs and grouting and redo them. They also installed new tile and carpeting.
“Basically, everything in the building will be completely new, including the furnishings,” said Pratt. “We were trying to keep the theme of the old restaurant with the log beams throughout the new addition as well. We reconstructed the copper top bar with wood logs and copper. It was just a skinny bar; now we will have 20 seats at the bar and about 38 table seats in bar area.”
There will be about 40 seats on the new outside deck on the east side of the building and about 80 seats in the dining area.
“Our dining room is non-smoking, the bar seating will be our smoking area,” said Pratt. “We know over the years when the restaurant was in its heyday, it really didn’t have a waiting area and we wanted to make it more comfortable for people waiting for a table and to give more dining seats as well. “
Because the restaurant will be closed for lunch, the owners are hoping to host private functions during the day, including weddings, rehearsal dinners or other catered events.
The building is not the only thing being renovated; there will be a new menu.
Don’t panic, though, the two main items — fried chicken and fried shrimp with mashed potatoes, creamed peas, coleslaw and biscuits — that made the restaurant so popular over the years will still grace the menu. There’s also two new chefs: Scott Jinks, who used to work at bb’s, and Paul Dowell, formerly of Gio’s Cafe.
“We will keep the homestyle feel, but the food itself will be a little more upscale,” said Pratt. “We will still use Southern ingredients, but they will be prepared a little different.”
For example, the appetizer menu will feature fried green tomatoes with Parmesan crisp red pepper coulis and goat cheese, peanut crusted calamari and fried okra with sweet and sour datile pepper sauce and sautéed chicken livers with caramelized onions and cheese grits.
Entrees will include spicy shrimp and tasso Creole with grits, marinated hanger steak with redneck potato pie and other items such as duck, quail, salmon and tuna. Desserts will include sweet potato creme brulee and homemade cobbler with vanilla ice cream.
Pratt said the expanded bar area will have a larger selection of wines and exotic drinks.
The new menu was designed to entice the regulars to return, while bringing in new customers.
“That’s why we kept the fried chicken and shrimp on the menu as well as the fried chicken livers and gizzards at the bar for the regulars,” said Pratt.
Another feature that may or may not return is Alpha Paynter, the restaurant’s famous ghost.
“We have heard tons of stories,” said Pratt. “We are hiring three of the girls back that used to work here and they’ve told us stories of music that was turned off, coming back on full blast and tubs filling with water where there was no plumbing. Recently, we thought we heard someone at the door, but when we opened it, there no one was there. Also, the painters were visited recently by a lady who said she was paranormal and needed to get upstairs. She said she has been in contact with the lady upstairs and she is very disturbed. She said the woman told her there was too much going on and that they needed to leave. Four or five different people have seen her and have all given same description: her hair was up and she was wearing a long skirt because she didn’t like to show her ankles.”
What will Pratt do if the ghost returns?
“We’ll see. I hope if something does happen that I’ll be able to go back in again,” said Pratt.