Justine's at the Pillars

By Cynthia Wong

Cuisine editor

I was never a great fan of The Pillars. Their food was a bit heavy and too traditional for my taste. Nonetheless, when I heard Justine’s had bought the old Mobile institution, restoring and remodeling it to their taste, I was saddened that not only what had long been considered the nicest restaurant in town would be no longer, but also that the group from Justine’s was taking it over in a manner considered somewhat graceless by many local chefs and diners.

I am an even less great fan of Justine’s. The three times I dined at Justine’s Courtyard and Carriageway, the reception was unfriendly, holier-than-thou; the food heavy, unimaginative, overpriced.

That said, I must confess I went to Justine’s at The Pillars with lowered expectations and a fair amount of trepidation, yet despite all of these factors, I can’t give it a bad review.

Reception is still snotty. Diners enter the foyer and for lack of a stationed hostess, go unnoticed by the bar staff, separated from the lounge area by curtains. My dining companion and I did reserve a table fairly late in the evening, 9 p.m., and were a bit late arriving, but we were ignored for several minutes, even after poking our heads into the bar area and apologizing for our lateness.

Owner Regina Shipp finally greeted us with an uppity attitude that I first became familiar with when I called a month earlier to ask about their purchase of The Pillars. I dislike chefs and restaurant owners who try to butter up the press, but at the least a small measure of friendliness should be expected from a proprietor offered free publicity.

This is no longer the ‘80s, when restaurant staff attitude was acceptable, almost de rigueur, and that regardless of the reservation’s hour, diners should never be greeted as though they were unwelcome or as though it is the restaurant doing the guests a favor letting them through the door. Justine’s at The Pillars may very well – and to a certain extent, justifiably – say it is Mobile’s finest restaurant, but Le Cirque it most definitely isn’t.

The service staff made up for the initial rudeness and was obliging, gracious and efficient, yet unobtrusive. We were, however, pushed out the door a bit, and while I can understand the staff’s desire to go home at a decent hour, I believe that guests willing to pay $140 for dinner for two can be given room to relax just a little.

For starters, I chose the whiskey smoked shrimp, and my companion chose the gumbo, which was quite tasty, if slightly on the too-thick side, full of thick pieces of sausage and lump crabmeat, and most delightfully, tender, yet whole, chunks of okra. The shrimp, however, were not as delightful. Presented in extremely outmoded cocktail form, dangling from the edge of a foodservice goblet stuffed with salad greens, the six shrimp were overcooked, nearly crunchy and tasted, as my friend pointed out, like KC Masterpiece barbecue. At $9, they were also ridiculously overpriced.

Although several seafood dishes are offered as entrees, the meat dishes are what seem most appealing. A good friend who is both an excellent cook and a knowledgeable diner insists that the best way to gauge a chef’s skill is through their fish dishes, a philosophy to which I subscribe. However, the seafood dishes at Justine’s at The Pillars were unappealing to me: the snapper and shrimp au gratin sounds heavy, béchamel-dosed; the specialty orange horseradish salmon seems belabored-I want salmon to taste like salmon; the black sesame tuna, overdone by a good decade.

I chose the Stilton-stuffed filet topped with jumbo lump crab, and my friend chose the butterboy, a 10-ounce filet covered with sizzling garlic butter. Both entrees were accompanied by mashed potatoes and button mushrooms, which were nicely cooked but were not the best flavored.

The restaurant serves only Black Angus beef so wonderfully tender it barely needs nudging with a knife to be sliced, and both filets were expertly grilled, seared on the outside and perfectly rare in the middle. My Stilton filet was also dressed with an applewood smoked bacon butter, which was very delicious and well-cooked. Stilton is a powerful blue cheese, pungent to those who like it, overpowering to those who are less enamored of it. The portion of Stilton was generous, if a bit excessive, and instead of enhancing the filet, all but masked the beautiful flavor of the beef.

Therein lies what I feel is the problem with Justine’s at the Pillars. Although I prefer lighter cuisine, I do enjoy a very rich meal once in a while, but regardless of the amount of butter slathered on food, I believe that ingredients should be allowed to stand on their own. Heaviness can be balanced so that dishes, while rich or sauce-based, do not have one single uniform, dairy-dominated flavor, but a range of complex flavors enhanced by butter or cream. It was difficult to taste anything in the dish other than the butter and the Stilton.

While the entrees were delicious and carefully prepared, they were also, like the desserts, very regular. A heavy chocolate mousse cake of sorts was on offer, along with a turtle cheesecake and crème brulée. The custard was nice, delicately flavored with vanilla and topped with a glass-thin coating of caramelized sugar, but is also a dessert so overdone and ubiquitous it may very well make an appearance at Ruby Tuesday’s.

I enjoy traditional cuisine very much, but if Justine’s at the Pillars would like to present itself as “the only fine dining choice in town,” as Mrs. Shipp has put it, the restaurant must justify the $18-$36 entree prices with at least a bit of innovation, which upon this visit, it could not do.

Chef Shipp, having been educated at the Culinary Institute of America, must surely know a thing or two about seasonal ingredients, such as game and mushrooms. I would pay top dollar for a well-crafted tasting menu or, for that matter, a bit of foie gras. It is clear that Mobile diners are also quite educated about food, as evidenced by the surfeit of very good, successful local fine dining options, and Chef Shipp would do well to step up to the plate and prove his food is as good as his wife’s word.

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