Nelson Green’s garden floats out of the kitchen in a parade of appetizers and entrees. The Friday night crowd at Harper House follows each dish with hungry eyes. When a plate arrives at the able, its colors and presentation are savored. This is as much a feast for the senses as the stomach.
Green co-owns Harper House with business partner and fiancé Chris Daniels. No fewer than seven varieties of heirloom tomatoes grown by Green herself can be found in recipes at the South Main Street restaurant.
Homegrown ingredients are an important part of the image Green and Daniels work hard to deliver: a family dining experience with all the variety that American cuisine has to offer.
“(Our approach) takes extra effort, but we hope people here will embrace it,” Green says.
Green, who graduated from Hopkinsville Middle School and Clarksville Academy, spends her days tending the garden at her home in southeast Christian County. She grows fruits, vegetables, legumes and herbs.
On Wednesday through Saturday nights, when Harper House opens, Green brings the ripened produce to the restaurant to be turned into salads, sides, sauces, seasonings and surprises.
The heirlooms, for instance, act as buns for the popular BLT Salad. The tomato is sliced into three ruby-red sections and stacked. Sandwiched between the pieces is a slaw of cucumber, corn, green beans, sweet onion and pepper. The dressing is a peach vinaigrette with distinct notes of ginger.
Chef Lane Meinert incorporates Green’s produce into local standards such as the Kentucky hot brown as well as imports such as crab and shrimp ceviche.
Regulars Mike Cayce and wife Helen enjoyed the cabbage-mushroom stir fry that went with a recent seafood special called Chinese grouper. The Cayces come on a weekly basis because they consider Harper House to be “as good as any restaurant in Nashville.”
In fact, Nashville, Tenn., is where Green and Daniels get their seafood. They drive down every week to buy fresh fish, crabs and shrimp from purveyors who get it direct from the coast.
The long, expensive trip was a big risk for a start-up restaurant. But the bet quickly paid off.
Graham and Mary Alice Duncan came to Harper House specifically for the seafood. Mary Alice kept hearing friends rave about the quality and freshness of the fish.
“I knew (Graham) would like it because of the fish,” she said.
Finding a good meal was especially important that night because the Duncans were celebrating their 54th wedding anniversary. Graham had the grouper, Mary Alice the filet mignon with asparagus.
Daniels said family occasions are reserved at Harper House frequently.
“We designed the restaurant with families in mind,” Daniels said.
And then there’s the pie. What could say “family” better than mom’s apple or peach pie a la mode? Yes, you read right. Green’s mother Mary K. bakes the pies - sugary crust and all - at her home and sends them to the restaurant.
Green and Daniels remodeled the building before opening last October. Although both had designed or help start up numerous restaurants, including trendy eateries in Nashville like Bound’ry and Crow’s Nest, it was always for someone else.
Harper House was their first attempt to carry out their own vision. Having traveled the country, they brimmed with ideas for dishes and décor. That’s why the menu is an eclectic mix of recipes from California to Florida.
But all their great ideas had to be organized around what they knew deep down about Hopkinsville.
“It’s a family-oriented place, rooted in tradition,” Green explains. “We wanted to pay homage to that.”
Menus, directions and online reservations are at www.harperhouseky.com. |
