Each month we will be featuring one to two Pepper Place tenants! We will be sharing their stories to give you a look behind the curtain at their businesses, their upcoming projects, their goals, and more! For this month we interviewed Dean Robb of Blueprint on 3rd.
What was your inspiration for Blueprint on 3rd?
It was based on the needs of the community in & around Pepper Place. There wasn’t another place like Blueprint’s menu or style of cuisine. It’s a beautiful building Cathy [Sloss Jones] let me build out from scratch, so it was the perfect landscape to be inspired and create something funky, fresh, and cool.
What’s your favorite part of running a restaurant?
Daily interaction with guests, employees, plus our food and wine purveyors. In the restaurant business, there’s simply nothing boring, it’s real day to day life. Plus, I love fresh food & people–and Blueprint combines these aspects perfectly.
Why did you choose Pepper Place for your restaurant?
I love the revitalization of this area. Cathy and I have been friends for decades. The Sloss team was receptive to my crazy ideas, and we were wanted here. The building has great bones and allows for a big bar, which I knew I wanted with plenty of indoor and outdoor seating.
Do you have a favorite dish on the menu?
Not really: I love all of them on any given day simply depending on what I’m hungry for, which is why we keep such a variety of dishes on the menu. Huck [Blueprint’s Executive Chef] does such a wonderful job of providing a great variety of simple, fresh food prepared correctly, yet innovatively.
What’s one thing anyone who eats at Blueprint on 3rd must try?
If you like fresh oysters, our oyster shooter is part of my wife, Jenny’s, and my history. Otherwise, go with what’s most fresh for the season.
As an editor’s addition – no visit to Blueprint would be complete without an order of the baked pimento cheese served in a cast iron skillet with charred pumpernickel bread. Gotta’ try it, if you haven’t!
Want to taste the delicious cuisine at Blueprint for yourself? Visit their website here to make a reservation!
