A brand new full-service restaurant called Public Bistro will be making its debut in the heart of Cooper-Young, located at 937 S. Cooper St.
Kate Ashby, the owner of Knifebird, is opening this concept in the former Sweet Grass/ Next Door, according to the Daily Memphian. She and her husband, Kyle Bankston, are opening Public Bistro to bring the area a new high-end sit-down restaurant and a way for Ashby to get back to her restaurant roots. She envisions Knifebird as an optimal destination for before or after dinner at Public Bistro. Customers can expect sandwiches, salads, and entrees from Chef Sam Long. Public Bistro will open in late September 2023.
“Public Bistro seemed like the right name for it being an American bistro — a place for dinner on a Tuesday or a fancy dinner,” Ashby tells the Daily Memphian. “The name seems so generic that it’s boring, but we’re really just trying to feed the public and have a spot for anyone in the neighborhood. At Knifebird, you can wear yoga pants or have a birthday event and get dressed up, and that’s the goal for the Public Bistro. I like to say it will be like if Houston’s and Huey’s had a baby. People want to go somewhere lively and have a meal and dress up or not dress up. There will be no TVs at Public Bistro, which might make some people upset, but you can walk anywhere else in Cooper-Young, and you can watch the game. Going out, to me, should be about the people you’re eating with.”
Ashby opened Knifebird at the corner of Cooper Street and Central Avenue in 2019. However, opening the restaurant alone led her to operate a cold kitchen with food not being a priority. Now she and her husband can provide the area with a much-needed upscale sit-down restaurant concept. Before this, she opened several restaurants in New York with James Beard Award-winning restaurateur Stephen Starr. She has worked as a server, maitre d’, and general manager in the Northeast.
