EVANSVILLE, Ind. —Creating a restaurant is a journey full of joy, trials and the overwhelming fulfillment of taking an empty space and making it your own.
“I came downstairs at one point and said, ‘I’m gonna vomit,’” chef Jeremiah Galey said.
Opening a restaurant is hard.
Amy’s on Franklin was highly anticipated and has been well-received, but owner Amy Word-Smith and chef Galey are still taking deep breaths and reveling in the smoothness of operations since the doors opened — because getting there was one heck of a ride.
“It was crazed,” said Word-Smith with her hearty laugh. “We opened three weeks ago, but it feels like years. We worked 18-hour days. I was ordering stuff online and praying it would come together. I had six chandeliers in my outbox, and I’d flip through going ‘This one. No, this one. No, this one.’ Something would show up in a box, and I’d be like ‘oh, thank God it matches!’”
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One week before opening
“There were times I’d be running around down here and Jeremiah would come down and say ‘We’re not gonna be okay,’ and I’d say ‘it will be okay!,’” said Word-Smith. “Thirty minutes later, I’d be like ‘Oh my God we’re not gonna be okay,'and Jeremiah would be like ‘IT WILL BE OKAY!’ Everything was down to the wire.”
One day before opening
The drain had to be reconfigured, equipment had to be moved and inspectors from the building commission didn’t sign off on everything until 3 p.m. Menu prep and final cleanup couldn’t begin until that wasdone. If one thing was wrongopening would have been delayed, but it was a go. Staff worked until 5 a.m. getting ready.
“There were construction guys up there going, ‘It’ll take a couple days to clean this up,’” said Galey. “I said, ‘It better not.’”
Opening day
Every pot, pan, glass, dish and utensilhad to be washed. Some of the staff didn’t work out so Galey had to call his girlfriend and brother to come work. It was his first time ordering from a new supplier and half his order didn’t arrive. Chairs and tables were being arranged in the dining room. Fleets of friends and family were out buying ingredients and last-minute necessities.
“The final straw was when I pulled my brioche buns out of the oven,” said Galey. “I’d tried to rush them, and they didn’t rise. That’s when I thought I was going to be sick.”
“At least we only invited our moms and grandmas to the first night opening,” said Word-Smith. “They weren’t going to blast us on Facebook if the duck carnitas weren’t ready.”
Amazingly, somehow, it was allokay.
Details of Word-Smith’s deal to buy the building, as well as her sale of the Dapper Pig, swirled for months before crystallizing last winter.
The new business fulfills dreams of both Word-Smith and Galey, who have been in the food and beverage industry for years but have never opened a kitchen completely from scratch.
“Lamasco had been there since 1934,” said Word-Smith. “At the Dapper Pig, when we put it together I had a partner, and I was more involved with the bar and business aspect, not the kitchen, so I wasn’t such a part of that development. This place will be the first that is fully mine. I can take 10years of experience and learning and mistakes and put it all together.”
She always appreciated the bright purple building across the street from Lamasco from an architectural perspective. The exposed brick walls, long narrow shape and industrial feel offered a palate on which she knew she could build an exceptional interior.
“Everywhere I have worked has molded me as a chef,” Galey said. “I’d been thinking about a menu for a place like this for a while, and when Amy asked me I was like, 'Here you go,' and we started working with it. I believe there is a time and place for everything, and if you embrace what you love, it will be really good.”
Some menu highlights
The AOF ribeye is dry-aged in a butter cure for 35 days before being seared to order.
Lovers of duck confit and pork carnitas will enjoy the Asian spiced duck carnitas. Pork carnitas are available as well, notably tossed with hand-cut fries and cheese curds into a Midwestern version of poutine.
Many components of the menu are available by the pound in the AOF Market section. Here you’ll find an assortment of smoked meats including brisket and pastrami, house bacon, ribs, pulled pork, chuck eye, beef shoulder, turkey breast, pork belly and more.
A humidor on the second floor offers a leathered lounge atmosphere and a selection of cigars for your postprandial enjoyment with a glass of wine.
In the coming months, the back patio will be completed and outdoor dining added.
“To come back to Franklin Street, which was my home, was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” said Word-Smith. “Here this wonderful building is right across from Lamasco, so I absolutely had to make this happen.”
“After everything, I’ve never seen a restaurant opening go so smoothly,” said Galey. “We were all in shock about howit actually happened. Then we all went home and slept like the dead.We were exhausted."
If you go
Amy’s on Franklin is located at 1418 W. Franklin Street
Phone:812-401-2332
Hours:
Wednesday – Thursday and Sunday 4-10 p.m.
Friday – Saturday 4-11 p.m.
Closed Monday and Tuesday.
