Lillie Pearl comes from husband-and-wife team Chef Michael Lindsey and Kimberly Love-Lindsey, named for his grandmothers Lillie Pearl and Hattie. Chef Lindsey draws on West African heirloom ingredients and his North Carolina roots in Southern African American cooking, folding in broader global influences to arrive at what the restaurant calls New American cuisine.
The restaurant's identity is tied closely to Lindsey's extended family: his grandparents Hattie and Dave are represented in the logo's shade tree, tied to memories of shelling peas and shucking corn while hearing stories of the family's Gullah Geechee upbringing. His grandfather Dan, a hunter and farmer, stands in for the food itself — a farm-to-table approach rooted in growing and raising what the family ate. His grandmother Lillie Pearl represents the hospitality the restaurant is built around.
Dishes that turn up often include egg rolls, chicken wings, collard greens, short ribs, roasted cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and mac and cheese, with peach cobbler and bread pudding on the dessert side.
The restaurant's identity is tied closely to Lindsey's extended family: his grandparents Hattie and Dave are represented in the logo's shade tree, tied to memories of shelling peas and shucking corn while hearing stories of the family's Gullah Geechee upbringing. His grandfather Dan, a hunter and farmer, stands in for the food itself — a farm-to-table approach rooted in growing and raising what the family ate. His grandmother Lillie Pearl represents the hospitality the restaurant is built around.
Dishes that turn up often include egg rolls, chicken wings, collard greens, short ribs, roasted cauliflower, brussels sprouts, and mac and cheese, with peach cobbler and bread pudding on the dessert side.