TURTLE PUNCH CAKE (at top) is made with four different chocolates, a secret ingredient, drizzled with Dee Metro’s caramel sauce and topped with pecans. Five-cheese macaroni (on left), slow-baked and topped with bacon, and seafood and andouille sausage étouffée over rice is shown (on right) are among the popular dishes at DJ’s Southern Komfort Kitchen in Ridgefield. Photo courtesy of Viki Eierdam
DEE METRO smokes her brisket 10-16 hours, braises it the next day for 6-9 hours, lets it rest, cuts it and then, on day three, glazes it. Photo courtesy of Viki Eierdam
RIDGEFIELD’S ORIGINAL LIBRARY has been transformed into DJ’s Southern Komfort Kitchen. The door to the far right is the original door to Priscilla’s Study Club, a private club of the ladies who founded the first Ridgefield Free Library. Photo courtesy of Viki Eierdam
Ridgefield’s Metro Wine Bar switched gears back in February, changing their name to DJ’s Southern Komfort Kitchen and their focus to Southern food with a little Cajun on the side.
Dee Metro, owner and chef, said, “We try to keep it mellow but if you want it hot, you just let me know and that’s not a problem. We can definitely spice it up for you.”
In December of 2012, Metro opened up her business as a wine bar and restaurant but many people weren’t aware that food was available and the wine bar limited their customers to an adult-only location. DJ’s Southern Komfort is a more family-friendly option. Walking into the establishment, the main dining area on the right is separated from a 21-and-over bar to the left by an amply-sized entryway.
Metro’s focus is fresh, local and homemade. DJ’s makes all their own meat rubs, sauces, glazes, dressings and gravy. Metro buys local, organic vegetables from NW Organic Farm and Millennium Farms, both located in Ridgefield. The owner also walks the talk with seven organic tomato plants, herbs, kale and collard greens growing in the restaurant's garden. She purchases all her plants from her close friend, Joyce Haines, owner of NW Organic Farm.
It was Haines who encouraged Metro into the catering business when she began 10 years ago. Haines operated her own catering business and gave Metro some tips and pointers. They worked together on a few earlier events and she even entrusted some of her recipes to Metro. From there, Metro expanded into a full-fledged dining establishment, but still offers catering with a wide variety of food options available.
At DJ’s Southern Komfort, diners can expect all meats to be smoked onsite for 12 hours. Her most popular dish is the homemade macaroni and cheese. Made with a five-cheese combination and slow-cooked, it’s “pretty amazing’’ as Metro says. Other favorites including blackened catfish, brisket and pulled pork are also right up there in the customers’ minds.
Past specials of the week have been smoked andouille sausage paired with red beans and rice, southern bacon-wrapped meatloaf, barbecue pulled pork with smoked potato salad and shrimp and andouille sausage étouffée, which is a traditional Cajun/Creole dish served over rice.
The front porch of the establishment is an inviting place to enjoy a glass of sweet tea with lunch or choose from their still-impressive local wine selection. Metro also has plans to complete an outdoor kitchen, add brunch on Sundays and host music events in her outdoor entertainment space.
Currently, live music is scheduled every Friday night in the bar and musicians drop in occasionally on Saturday nights (check the Facebook page for updates). Another feature of the lounge is Texas Hold’em poker scheduled every Thursday night from 6:30-9:30 p.m.
Incorporated into DJ’s is Metro’s love of area history. A tip of the hat to the fact that the main dining room was the original Ridgefield Free Library, it’s now affectionately known as the Library room.
As Metro tells it, a group of women in town, who called themselves the Priscilla Study Club, convinced the owners of the old creamery to part out the building. The recycled wood was then used to build Ridgefield’s first library in 1933. One of the original doors to the church across the street (circa 1883) and the original door to the Priscilla Club inside the library (which is now the bar) have been transformed into a faux wall in the restaurant. Some of the church pews, a pulpit shelf, bricks from the original high school and family heirlooms of well-known Ridgefield resident, Bill Bartell, are incorporated in the décor, as well. Metro intends to display the original contract for the library and various other historic town documents in glass cases as time permits.
Metro and her staff have a can-do attitude and are excited to share the many restaurant changes with area residents. DJ’s motto is “Enter as a guest and leave as a friend.’’ Metro echoes that philosophy.
“We let our clients kind of dictate our menu and our wine list and, if there’s something you want that we don’t have, we’re willing to find it and bring it in for you,” Metro said.
DJ’s Southern Komfort Kitchen is located at 112 S. Main Ave., Ridgefield, and is open for lunch Tue.-Sat., 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and for dinner Thu.-Sat., 5-9 p.m. For more information call (360) 887-8888 or find them on Facebook.
