First Look: The Cut on Cherokee Street

Editor's Note: The Cut has closed.

Ari Jo Ellis is sharpening her knives for the first service at The Cut, her new restaurant inside The Fortune Teller Bar at 2635 Cherokee St. Doors open tonight, Sept. 1, at 5 p.m.

As The Scoop reported in August, The Fortune Teller Bar’s owners approached Ellis (Sauce Ones to Watch class of 2016) with the opportunity to run a restaurant out of their kitchen a few months after The Little Dipper closed. Ellis has long had an interest in whole-animal butchery, working at Bolyard’s Meat & Provisions, Quincy Street Bistro, Southern and, most recently, Kitchen Kulture.

The Cut’s menu consists of five regular sausages and one special, along with a handful of side options. Customers can try classic bratwursts with beer mustard and sauerkraut or more creative options like the Cherokee-rizo, a nod to the neighborhood’s Mexican heritage. Plant-based eaters won’t be left out, either, with a tofu-based sausage using local Mofu tofu, navy beans, nutritional yeast and spices. All sausages are served on buns from Vitale’s Bakery.

Side options include backyard grilling classics like baked beans and cole slaw, as well as Rap Snacks chips and a “wild card” side that will change depending on that week’s produce delivery.

Ellis will break down about two whole hogs a week (sourced from Such and Such Farms) to create her sausages and some condiments and specials. Ellis said she also hopes to sell some cuts and links for customers to prepare at home.

The Cut will be open Wednesday to Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight and Sunday from 4 to 11 p.m. Here’s a first look at what to expect from The Cut inside Fortune Teller Bar tonight:

Catherine Klene is managing editor, digital at Sauce Magazine.