Happy Together

ome late October, things will be cooking again at 24 S. Cooper. Many Memphians have watched this address change names and hands over the last two years. It has gone from Puck's to Ben's, and now Koto. The whole thing started when Linda Waller opened Puck's, a cozy, bistro-style restaurant. After her initial success, Waller changed business hours, closed, reopened, and finally went to Jimmy Ishii, who owns Sekisui.

Back at Puck's, Jean-Claude Prevot, former owner of Ben's on Madison and then downtown, started helping out in the kitchen, while Waller ran the front of the house. When personal conflicts arose, Ishii asked Prevot to take charge, thus the name change to Ben's. This restaurant was short-lived, but Ishii still believed the space had potential. He finally turned to friend and chef, Erling Jensen.

Born in northern Denmark, Jensen went into culinary school at the age of 15. In 1975, he cooked for the Danish Embassy in Washington, D.C., and after travels back and forth from Europe to the United States, Jensen settled in Memphis in 1989. For seven years he was head chef at La Tourelle, and last year he opened his own restaurant, Erling's. With the success of his own establishment, it's not surprising that he would want to expand. This partnership between Jensen and Ishii seemed the perfect way to do just that and to introduce a unique, hybrid menu.

"Ever since Jimmy brought the idea to Erling, we've been experimenting," says Jennifer Hood, as she prepares to head up the kitchen at Koto. She explains that for the last three months, Ishii, Jensen, she, and Jim O'Brien, who will work with Hood in the kitchen, have been actively coming up with recipes and using friends as taste-testers. "The common goal," says Hood, "has been to mix the clear and healthful part of Japanese cooking with the richness of French cuisine." With this fully collaborative menu, these chefs have juxtaposed two very different cuisines to find great textures and innovative sauces.

With the responsibilities of running their own restaurants, Ishii and Jensen will not have time to run Koto. They have made an important step by handing the kitchen over to Hood and O'Brien. Both of them have been assisting Jensen in his restaurant, and being thrown out of the nest like this is the chance of a lifetime. Hood, who's been in Memphis for four years, got her start at Cafe Roux and eventually moved on to Maxwell's, where she was in charge of vegetarian specials and soups. There, she was able to experiment with different flavors and textures, and it was at Erling's that she was able to refine her techniques. Alongside her has been O'Brien, a newcomer to Memphis. He has worked in several restaurants in St. Louis and, before Erling's, briefly worked at In Limbo.

Koto will not only have an interesting menu, but an interior to match. With the opening getting closer and closer, construction workers, designers, and artisans are working around the clock. With its red walls, fountain, and smoked glass, the ambiance is sure to bring a mature yet funky touch to Overton Square. The big surprise is that the prices will not be astronomical. Entrees will be between $15 and $20, and appetizers will be in the $5 to $8 range. This will make Koto accessible to different types of diners, thus taking it another eclectic step in the right direction.

Eventually, Jensen and Ishii would like to expand the restaurant to make a wine bar, but as is, the 48-seater is sure to make an impressive start. The chefs and artists involved with Koto have worked hard to create something wonderful. It is so rare these days to see people work together for a common goal, and that is exactly how Koto came about. Experimentation has been the key, and if all goes well, it will be a key to good -- and lasting -- things to come.