Philly's McDavid fires up his latest: Down Home Grill

Nation's Restaurant News, March 8, 1993 by Paul Frumkin

PHILADELPHIA -- Jack McDavid, the celebrated chef-owner of Jack's Firehouse, is hoping to heat up the city's dining scene with the opening of his latest restaurant, the Down Home Grill.

Located in the Center city area on Spring Garden Drive, the week-old American-style restaurant also shares space with a full-service retail bakery and a 40-seat espresso bar.

McDavid, who is widely known for his fierce allegiance to locally raised products, said the 5,000-square-foot operation would be anchored by a menu of moderately priced grill dishes. He also estimated that at least 85 percent of the ingredients he uses would be organically raised.

While the outspoken Virginia-born chef has gained national attention for his pricier regionally influenced menus at Jack's Firehouse, he said that checks at the more casual Down Home Grill are expected to be considerably less expensive. "Dinner runs about $42 at Jack's," McDavid noted. "The grill will be closer to $14."

"We'll try to serve some inexpensive cuts of meat -- top round or sausages -- things that aren't necessarily popular in Philadelphia," he said. "We'll do Yankee pot roast for about $6 and lamb stew for maybe $4.50.

"I can get salmon for $3.10 a pound, and it's beautiful. We can serve it dirt cheap, and we're gonna do it.

"We'll also play with scallops, squid, sardines; we'll play with a lot of things," he said. "The menu will probably change every week."

McDavid said he also plans to do more with pasta and grains. "I think that grains are more important in our diet, so there'll be a lot more emphasis there," he said. "And they're also very inexpensive for me to buy."

He indicated that, for the most part, the "handmade, home-grown" philosophy that already prevails at Jack's Firehouse and his first restaurant, the Down Home Diner, will extend to the Down Home Grill as well. His often-complex dishes are marked by the use of handchurned butter, homemade ketchups as well as various condiments and produce he and his staff have "put up" for out-of-season use. He plants his own lettuce in the attic of the Firehouse and grows his own mushrooms in the basement. He has also gotten permission from local authorities to use a greenhouse across the street that had formerly been the property of the Eastern State Penitentiary, a prison that has been closed since the 1960s.

McDavid also estimated that he uses more than 250 small suppliers, farmers and growers from around the area, and he advertises his philosophy by wearing a uniform of blue bib overalls and a red-and-white tractor cap blazoned with the words, "Save the Farm."

"I get the best products in the world from this area," he declared.

The bakery -- which will prepare baked goods for Jack's Firehouse and the Down Home Diner -- is also expected to be priced inexpensively. "We'll sell rolls for 10 cents a piece and loaves of bread for $1.25," he said. "I never understood why some people charge you $2.50 for a loaf of fresh-baked bread when it maybe costs 20 cents to make. Yes, I know it takes wonderful talent to make bread. But when you're making a bunch of it, it really doesn't cost that kind of money."

With 110 seats, the Down Home Grill is the largest restaurant McDavid has yet opened. Both Jack's Firehouse and the Down Home Diner have about 65 seats each. Moreover, he believes this grill is situated better than the other two restaurants.

"This is a good location -- the best location of any place I have," he said. "Anytime I open a place, I think it will be successful. And so far we've been lucky. We haven't missed one yet. This may be the first, but we think it will be extremely popular."

Planning for the crowds, he pointed out that "The restaurant opens up into the espresso bar and bakery, so if it gets real crowded, one area can spill over into the other."

He predicted that if the grill takes off, it could generate as much as $5 million annually.

The restaurant's decor is also expected to be popular too. "The walls are graffiti," he explained. "We went out in the streets and got some of the best graffiti artists in the city. We've got murals done with cans of spray paint. It's politically motivated. And that's going to be part of the image. I'd hate to be a politician in Philadelphia."