This newspaper recently spotlighted the surge in locally owned businesses on Liberty Street. Last Wednesday, a friend and I checked out two of the newest entries: Liberty Street Gallery and Liberty Street Grill.
That same night, local merchants had banded together for the first Holiday Open House on Liberty Street. The event was announced relatively late and the turnout seemed a little thin, but there is considerable potential for similar gatherings in the future.
Meryl Truett’s Liberty Street Gallery had its grand opening on the same night as the Holiday Open House. Located at 128 W. Liberty St., the gallery is nestled beside Salon Della Vita near the corner of Barnard Street.
Truett, a photographer who in recent years has been printing her southern landscapes on antique ceiling tiles and other historic materials, is well known in the local arts community, so it was no surprise to see so many artists and arts advocates on hand.
Liberty Street Gallery features Truett’s own work and pieces by three other excellent artists.
Visitors to the cozy gallery can see richly symbolic paintings by Melinda Borysevicz, owner of The Studio School at 1319 Bull St., and evocative photographs by Tobia Makover.
Danielle Hughes Rose’s jewelry, which projects an interesting combination of strength and fragility, is beautifully showcased in an eye-level display.
Despite being home to so many artists, Savannah has not had a robust gallery scene in recent years. We simply don’t have enough galleries and enough art buyers to support all of the city’s finest visual artists.
So Liberty Street Gallery is certainly a welcome addition.
After checking out the grand opening of Liberty Street Gallery, we walked down to Liberty Street Grill, which opened recently at 529 E. Liberty St. in the space most recently occupied by Brasserie 529.
The new place is under the same ownership as Brasserie. If you’re interested in the backstory, check out Jesse Blanco’s recent coverage in Do Savannah.
The new restaurant’s interior is more casual than but largely similar to Brasserie 529, and Brasserie fans will recognize a few much-loved items on the Liberty Street Gill menu.
Despite December being a slow month for many Savannah restaurants, the new restaurant was fairly busy on the night we attended. Service was prompt and friendly.
There’s a pleasant simplicity to the menu, which serves a variety of meats and seafood. Only one of the dinner entrees is priced over $20.
I had an excellent and filling entrée of grits, shrimp and Andouille sausage ($13), and my dinner companion had a Caesar salad ($9) with a sizable piece of fish added on top (an additional $8).
On my next trip, I’ll likely try the Creole fried chicken with dirty rice ($16). Check out the full menu at http://www.libertystreetgrill.com.
Liberty Street Grill also has a nice selection of reasonably priced beers, wines and cocktails.
By the way, there was a mistake with one of our orders that was so quickly remedied that we thought nothing of it, but we were nevertheless offered a generous discount on our bill. That’s smart customer service.
Liberty Street Grill, which is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, has its own parking lot, and it’s generally easy to find on-street spaces in the immediate vicinity. That gives the new restaurant a big advantage over many other downtown establishments.
Of course, the location is also off the beaten path of tourists, so Liberty Street Grill — like Brasserie 529 — will probably rely heavily on locals.
Several years ago, the east end of Liberty Street was home to a number of retailers that have since departed, but several key spots are now filled by offices, and we’ve seen an interesting mix of residential and commercial investment in that portion of the Historic District.
The new Smith Brothers will open on East Liberty in 2015.
I spend a lot of time on foot and on bicycle in the downtown area, but I don’t travel on Liberty Street very often. Last week’s trek reminded me that the street has some exceptionally beautiful homes, trees, gardens and even sidewalks, especially in the blocks east of Abercorn Street.
I understand why so many people are reluctant to wander areas like the East Liberty Street corridor at night, but downtown Savannah might be at its most beautiful on those quiet nights.
City Talk appears every Tuesday ad Sunday. Bill Dawers can be reached via billdawers@comcast.net. Send mail to 10 E. 32nd St., Savannah, GA 31401.