Grand opening for Jaqueleen’s Southern Porch set for next weekend
Back in June, The Chronicle reported on a woman entrepreneur who intended to bring a fine dining establishment to rural Garfield. Since then, sophisticated Jaqueleen’s Southern Porch has had held a soft opening and has set a date for the official christening of the eatery. The Chronicle’s Lauren Canady has the latest:
Jacqueleen’s Southern Porch will hold its ribbon cutting ceremony and grand opening next Saturday, February 12. The upscale southern restaurant is situated at 408 Monroe Street in Garfield. From the outside, the eatery looks like an old southern home with a porch that would make your grandmother jealous. On the inside, however, a fully furnished commercial kitchen churns out mouth-watering country staples.
The owner, Jacqueleen Boatwright-Daus, was raised just outside Garfield and has always called that place home. Boatwright-Daus left the area to do big things, like becoming a licensed realtor, CEO of Juanderful Enterprises LLC, having two sons, and being crowned Mrs. Georgia 2016, but she has come home to flip a 1915 country home into an elegant eatery that merges her love for fine dining with southern cooking.
Each dish and dining room of Jacqueleen’s Southern Porch is lovingly named after members of Boatwright-Daus’s family and family friends. For those looking for an upscale date night, take a trip down to Garfield for Frankie Mae’s Frickin’ Fried Green Tomatoes or Amarie’s Apple Pie to be enjoyed in the lavishly decorated “Cora’s Tea Room,” or take a different approach to Sunday dinner in the pass-to-serve “Hanish Dining Room.” The screened and heated porch is equipped for game-day viewing with two televisions.
The recipes for the sentimentally named dishes all come from Boatwright-Daus herself, who is a constant presence in the kitchen to ensure consistency in taste and precision in her recipe-driven philosophy. The fine-tuned recipes will be situated on beautiful dinnerware and white tablecloths donned with flowers.
Jacqueleen’s Southern Porch takes residence in a centennial southern house. Original features of the home, like the uncovered and restored hardwoods and nostalgic old porch, add to the atmosphere. The original floor plan with individual rooms makes for a more intimate and private dining experience with social distancing capability. The ambiance is complemented by jazz music played throughout the evening.
To ensure an upscale experience, Jacqueeleen’s Southern Porch asks guests respect a dressy-casual dress code. Boatwright-Daus ensures that the chore of dressing up is worth it. A friend of the owner joked, “If I have to rent a gown, it is worth it to get some more of those shrimp and grits!”
We’ve all heard that necessity drives innovation, right? Well, Boatwright-Daus has garnered a creative solution to a nationwide problem. After running into some staff hiring issues, Jacqueleen’s Southern Porch recruited the help of “Bella,” is a robotic artificial intelligence from a company in Texas that has the ability to work as a hostess, seating guests and running errands for the kitchen. She is interactive, mobile, and can even sing “Happy Birthday.” If the food isn’t enough, the novelty experience of getting served by “Bella” warrants a trip out to the country.
Of course, Bella can’t do everything. Boatwright-Daus invites hard-working, friendly folks looking for work to send their resume to jacqueleenssouthernporch@gmail.com. The business is hiring for all positions. In the kitchen, Jacqueleen’s Southern Porch is looking for experienced cooks with a willingness to learn something different. In the dining rooms, the brand hopes to hire servers with personality and a genuine love for people.
Jacqueleen’s Southern Porch will be open from 1 to 9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday as well as from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
The ribbon cutting next Saturday will take place at 10:30 a.m., followed by the grand opening from 1 to 9 p.m. Boatwright-Daus, Bella, and the other staff welcome anyone to come to sit out on the front porch, take a look around the gift shop, or dive into some good home-cooking in the dining rooms. For more information, the menu, and reservations, visit https://www.jacqueleenssouthernporch.com.