A Look At Memphis' Acre

Wally Joe of Acre in Memphis, Tenn., doesn't like to define his menu as Southern or French or Asian — and especially not fusion. He wants his and chef Andrew Adams' food to speak for itself. "Acre is a small fine dining restaurant in Memphis," Joe said. "We spent so many years coming up with the concept... It's really a reflection of all our years and the way we cook in the Mississippi Delta, in Memphis, our travels, our heritage. We really focus on what is fresh, what's seasonal... We are really focused on lots of fresh seafood for instance right now there's a wild striped bass with pork belly dumplings and shrimp broth. It's one of the things that reflects who we are."

Joe believes that all of his influences have played into creating the menu today: "We grew up in the Mississippi Delta, which nobody realizes is actually a very large Chinese-American population from the 1920s to the '80s," he said. "I use all that, my experiences growing up there, and then what we find locally, the vegetables, pig farmers, and lamb farmers, so we try to incorporate all of that into our menu."

Watch the video above to get an inside look at one restaurant in Memphis you don't want to miss!