Matt Taylor Becomes Head Honcho at Market Street Kitchen; Robert McGrath Stays On as Consultant

If you loved Matt Taylor‘s memorable Southern cooking at Metro Brasserie and Noca, here’s a bit of good news: His new lunch and dinner menus — loaded with Southern-inspired dishes he’s given a decidedly eclectic spin — roll out Wednesday at Market Street Kitchen.

See also: — Matt Taylor Joins Robert McGrath at Market Street Kitchen, Slated to Open in September — Chefs Robert McGrath and Matt Taylor to Debut Signature American Dishes at Market Street Kitchen Tomorrow

Hired late last summer as chef de cuisine, Taylor replaces his old friend and mentor Robert McGrath as executive chef while McGrath moves into a restaurant development and consulting gig with Market Street’s Keeler Hospitality Group, which also own restaurants in Oregon and Nebraska. The reason for the switch-up?

McGrath is scheduled for ankle surgery next week, and although he hopes to be up and about by the end of April, standing all day in a kitchen surely won’t be what the doctor orders.

He has no hard feelings, however, about Taylor’s ascension. For starters, the two have a history, given that Taylor worked for McGrath at Pischke’s Blue Ribbon back in the day.

The new menu reads edgier with plenty of Southern inflection. Think:

Fried green tomatoes with rock shrimp remoulade, dill and MSK hot sauce

Pork grillades with fried corn tortilla and coddled egg

Jalapeño hushpuppies with Crystal’s ranch, chow-chow and Vietnamese vinaigrette

Daily gumbo sided with horseradish potato salad

New York strip with marrow butter, duck fat potatoes and warm collard-kraut

Carolina rice-grit risotto with crudités of spring vegetables and rosemary breadcrumbs

And from the roast-house (limited availability)

Sweet tea-marinated chicken with warm bread salad, roasted garlic, Wilcox tomatoes

Peking duck breast with butter beans, andouille sausage and tomatillo chow-chow

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