{"id":80200,"date":"2019-10-03T07:15:01","date_gmt":"2019-10-03T12:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=80200"},"modified":"2019-10-02T22:04:01","modified_gmt":"2019-10-03T03:04:01","slug":"julep-steakhouse-flights-a-conversation-with-owner-clint-boutwell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/julep-steakhouse-flights-a-conversation-with-owner-clint-boutwell\/","title":{"rendered":"Julep Steakhouse & Flights: A Conversation with Owner Clint Boutwell"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

He\u2019s got five restaurants under his eye, but Chef\nClint Boutwell <\/strong>doesn\u2019t have his sights set on a Star or a Beard. Clint is\nhere for one thing: to serve quality food that is, well, approachable. When I\nhad the opportunity to sit down with Clint and discuss his recently opened Julep<\/strong>,\nI wasn\u2019t surprised he wanted me to come again during service hours and let me\ntry the menu. A few days later I was able to try some of his favorites, which\nwe\u2019ll discuss in a moment, but most inspiring was hearing how this\nMississippi-local restaurateur has come to find his place in the kitchen,\nobserving how he empowers his staff, and witnessing how he is challenging the\nOxford culinary scene to reexamine how they consume fine dining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Julep Steakhouse & Flights’ Lemon Drop Flight.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Serving Fish for B.B. King<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Clint Boutwell began his career in Greenwood,\nMississippi<\/strong>, working for a utility company when a friend of his and head\nchef at Giardina\u2019s<\/strong> restaurant asked him to hang out with him at work at\nthe restaurant one night. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the restaurant had been in operation since\n1936, Fred Carl <\/strong>had recently acquired Giardina\u2019s with the intention of\nplacing it inside of the present-Alluvian Hotel<\/strong> he was remodeling.\nBoutwell eventually was offered a job on saut\u00e9 at the restaurant, and the\nopportunity to switch from the utility industry to one that he could see\nhimself in long term. Three weeks after the new restaurant location opened at\nAlluvian, with Boutwell on saute, their kitchen fed B.B. King<\/strong> and 25 or\nso of his guests with only a few-hours\u2019 notice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boutwell was challenged to execute new saut\u00e9 methods\nhe had only just learned that week in order to meet the accumulating ticket\norders. The first time he landed and mastered flipping two fish in a skillet to\npull double duty was the moment he knew: this adrenaline rush life of the\nkitchen was for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Julep Steakhouse & Flights’ Lobster Corn Dogs.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had no choice but to try to do what I had only\ndone a few times before . . . flipping the fish in the pan with no spatula,\u201d\nBoutwell said. \u201cI tossed the single fish in the air and it landed with a little\nsplash of oil on my arm and it burned. I just kept going.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boutwell moved on two fish at a time to meet the\ndemands of his head chef, spout orders over the flames and pouring on more\nheat. \u201cI grabbed each pan, on in each hand, each pan holding two red snapper,\nflipped them up in the air and they landed perfectly! At that moment an\nadrenaline rush came over me I\u2019d never experienced. At that moment, while\ncooking B.B. King\u2019s fish, I knew then I wanted to become a chef.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chef Boutwell is the owner of five restaurants: Oxford\nGrillhouse<\/strong>, Julep<\/strong>, The Grillehouse Southaven<\/strong>, Attaboy!\nBrick Oven Pizza & Wings <\/strong>(Southaven), and his most recent addition, Tipsy\nTexan Grill & Cantina <\/strong>(Southaven).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Julep Brings Steak + Flights to Oxford<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

There aren\u2019t many places in Oxford to find a premium steak, and Clint Boutwell answered the call in 2011 when he opened Oxford Grillehouse on Jackson Avenue, next to Rice and Spice<\/strong>. He later relocated to the Historic Oxford Square below Rooster\u2019s Blues House<\/strong> in 2013 and brought his Giardina\u2019s inspired curtain booths to pay homage to where he started his culinary career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Julep’s Steakhouse & Flights’ Wasabi Boom-Boom Shrimp.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I could have added 50 seats onto Oxford\nGrillehouse, I would have done that. I couldn\u2019t, so I set out to try out a new\nconcept and still offer steaks to provide more of what my customers want.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Julep menu boasts many of the familiar fan\nfavorites from the Oxford Grillehouse menu with some locally-inspired favorites\nlike the Catfish Lafitte (Downtown Grill<\/strong>, in the current and renovated Bour\u00e9<\/strong>\nlocation) and Cabernet Glaze (an ode to Yocona River Inn<\/strong>). The largest\ndifference, and my favorite of the evening, were the flights that Julep offers.\nPerfect for a person like me who wants to try a smorgasbord and not just stick\nto one entr\u00e9e. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the appetizers, you won\u2019t be disappointed with\nthe Korean bulgogi BBQ sauce and wasabi pea-smothered calamari or the salmon\nflight (the smoked salmon on cucumber and toast was gorgeous and life\nchanging). On the salad flight (yes! A salad flight) my favorite was definitely\nthe \u201cA Berry Good Salad,\u201d that boasts spring mix, a house made strawberry\nbalsamic vinaigrette, seasonal berries, red onion, cucumber, herbed goat\ncheese, and toasted almonds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Julep Steakhouse & Flights’ Sip Happens (Wine Flight).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The main courses are where it\u2019s at. Chef Boutwell\nbrings his steaks he is known for in Oxford front and center with the Lobster\nOscar Heart of Ribeye, resting on top of grilled asparagus and smothered with a\ngarlic saut\u00e9ed lobster meat\/smoked tomato hollandaise. If filet is more your\nstyle, definitely give the porcini and portabella marsala with melty blue\ncheese topped-filet your undivided attention. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have room after that, Ryan Glover<\/strong> from the bar will happily entertain your taste buds with his Yoo-hoo inspired flight with a Strawberry, Cookies and Cream, and Chocolate Yoo-hoo cocktail trio. Pair that with Avril Tatum<\/strong>\u2019s Soda Pop Flight desserts and you\u2019ll be waddling to your metered parking spot with a host of Instagood shots to rave home about.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Julep Steakhouse & Flights’ “Bubbles of Passion” cocktail.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Julep Steakhouse & Flights’ Salad Flight.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

He\u2019s got five restaurants under his eye, but Chef Clint Boutwell doesn\u2019t have his sights set on a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1009,"featured_media":80207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[15399,15404,2993,15400,15405,9038,1504,15396,15072,15401,5,15398,15403,15397,15395],"class_list":["post-80200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-food","tag-attaboy-brick-oven-pizza-wings","tag-avril-tatum","tag-b-b-king","tag-clint-boutwell","tag-fred-carl","tag-giardinas","tag-greenwood","tag-julep","tag-julep-steakhouse","tag-julep-steakhouse-flights","tag-mississippi","tag-oxford-grillhouse","tag-ryan-glover","tag-the-grillehouse-southaven","tag-tipsy-texan-grill-cantina"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/2019-10-02-JulepSteakhouse.jpg?fit=620%2C349&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1009"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80200"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80200\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}