A taste of Dixie on Fillmore

Jan Newberry

Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, and okra succotash are not the kind of dishes you expect from a cook raised in London. David Lawrence, chef at the new 1300 Fillmore, trained alongside some of Europe’s most famous chefs in Michelin three-star restaurants before coming to the United States in 1988. He fell in love with the flavors of the American South when he was invited to cook for a Black History Month event at the James Beard House in New York. “I’ve wanted to do a Southern-influenced menu ever since,” he says. At his restaurant in San Francisco’s newly restored historic jazz district, Lawrence has applied European technique to what he calls Soulful American cuisine. On his menu, between the oyster bisque and the shrimp and grits, is one of the most irresistible dishes in the city—shrimp hush puppies. “They remind me of corn dogs,” says Lawrence, “and who doesn’t like those?” Plump, sweet freshwater shrimp are dipped in batter made from finely ground organic cornmeal, then fried up crisp and tender. Lawrence adds an ancho chili rémoulade on the side to give the dish what he calls “a California slant.” The rest of us just call it delicious and order another plate.

1300 Fillmore: 1300 Fillmore St., S.F., 415-771-7100