Proud Hound is a streetcar suburb coffee shop with Southern diner DNA. Located on a commercial stretch of Montgomery Road, in Silverton, its cavernous, 2,000-square-foot industrial interior is softened with buttery yellow and ocean blue-painted walls. A Millennial-era soundtrack is set to a volume that never gets in the way of conversations or, for those typing away on their laptops, deep concentration.
As I waited in line to order, two young women, both with sketchpad leg tattoos, compared notes on their favorite places to hike, while two young mothers sat at a table rocking their strollers to and fro, lamenting the lack of sleep each got the previous night. Lucky for them, Proud Hound’s coffee is excellent, especially − in these summer months − their cold brew, which is smooth and mild without being watery or bland.
But what makes Proud Hound a true standout is chef Kierstin Dudley’s riffs on hearty breakfast, brunch and lunch favorites. Dudley’s menu is loaded with specialties from the North, South and beyond. Breakfast sandwiches are topped with goetta and locally made cheeses from Urban Stead Cheese in East Walnut Hills. Juicy fried chicken is marinated in a house-made coffee dry rub. A veggie sandwich is stacked with shiitake mushrooms, cabbage, Japanese barbecue sauce and vegan yum-yum sauce, all served on two slices of addictively seasoned toast.
If you’re looking for something more substantial, please allow Dudley to take aim at your appetite with mains such as chicken fried steak (a German riff using chicken schnitzel smothered in sausage gravy), and a fluffy stack of pancakes with maple syrup, whipped cream and macerated strawberries that would make IHOP hop with envy.
“I make things that sound good to me and don’t worry too much about staying inside a box,” Dudley told me. “I aim for comfort and taste.”
Dudley grew up in Indiana, but her culinary journey reached full steam in Greenville, South Carolina, where she worked at a family owned restaurant that nurtured her appreciation of Southern cuisine. Among her greatest takeaways was a deep understanding of grits in all their cheesy, heavily creamed glory. Dudley offers four varieties of grits at Proud Hound with toppings such as corn flake hot chicken, sausage and peppers to kale and artichokes and tomatoes.
On my most recent visit, I ordered her Grits Done Right, which arrived at my table with an X-marks-the-spot of bacon from a fifth-generation family owned farm in Indiana, roasted tomatoes, a generous heap of scallions and chives and a perfectly cooked egg-over-easy that let the jammy yolk flood the bowl when I poked it with a fork.
Dudley uses Kentucky milled Weisenburger stone-ground yellow grits, cooked low and slow for around 45 minutes before she adds heavy cream and a medley of cheeses that include local favorites Urban Stead Street Ched cheddar and Urban Stead quark.
Mix all of that together and you’ll get tangy tomatoes, chewy bacon and crunchy chopped scallions and chives in every beautiful bite. And while this is a Southern dish through and through, it’s also a reminder that − thanks to chefs like Dudley − this city, nestled deep in a valley between North and South, continues to reach for a cuisine all its own.
Proud Hound Coffee, 6717 Montgomery Road, Silverton, 513-987-1299, proudhoundcoffee.com.
Highly Recommended is a weekly spotlight on some of food writer Keith Pandolfi’s favorite finds as he eats his way across Greater Cincinnati. Find more of his recent food writing here.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: This coffee shop is also one of Cincinnati’s best Southern-style diners
Reporting by Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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By Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
