Salt | Soy and Alchemy are combining in Cooper-Young: What we know about the new spot

Broad Avenue Arts District restaurant Salt | Soy is on the move. In fact, the dining concept is returning to its roots.

Salt | Soy began as a pop-up between chefs Nick Scott and Brad McCarley. The duo hosted their first fusion menu at Scott's Midtown Memphis bar and restaurant, Alchemy.

Scott announced July 24 that he has decided to combine his two restaurant concepts — Salt | Soy and Alchemy — into one concept. The new concept will be named Salt | Soy: Cocktails by Alchemy and will be located in the current Alchemy location at 940 Cooper St.

"We will be combining Salt | Soy's menu with Alchemy's cocktail program," Scott said. "Alchemy's food menu has been lacking and Salt | Soy's cocktail menu was lacking. So we are going to put the two together in Cooper-Young."

Expect to see the full Salt | Soy food menu at the combined concept. Several of Alchemy's customers' favorite food offerings will also be adapted and added to the menu. Scott said the larger kitchen will enable his team to expand the Salt | Soy concept beyond what they could do in the Broad Avenue location.

Scott describes the fare at Salt | Soy as "New American — Asian Inspired."

Fried Chicken and Dumpling Dumplings, Salmon Crudo with Truffles, and Louisiana-inspired “Dirty” Fried Rice with chicken livers and oysters are just a handful of the original dishes you will find on the menu.

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The Southern/Asian fusion menu focuses on Japanese Izakaya small plates. The dishes are to be shared, allowing guests to sample many different options on each visit.

Salt | Soy opened in March 2021 at 2583 Broad Ave. in the former Lucky Cat restaurant space.

A number of factors impacted this decision. Since opening, Scott said there have been problems with the building as well as crime in the neighborhood. Also, his partner at Salt | Soy, McCarley, decided to leave the restaurant to work full-time on the new Buster's Meat Market. When the air conditioning went out recently, he decided to shut down the restaurant and not renew his lease.

Since last week, Salt | Soy has been operating as a pop-up in Alchemy.

Scott, who purchased Alchemy in 2016, said he has improvements planned for the Alchemy building and expects a transition period as they work to fully launch the new concept.

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Jennifer Chandler is the Food & Dining reporter at The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at [email protected] and you can follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer. 

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This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis restaurants Salt | Soy and Alchemy combining in Cooper-Young