Beginnings

ACRE grew out of the desires of three transplanted Southerners in search of something they were missing. Chef, partner and general manager Wally Joe (born in Hong Kong and raised in Cleveland, Mississippi) was in search of a restaurant home where he could fully realize the depths of his talent and fully explore his fascination with the endless possibilities of honest, simply prepared food. Partners Mary and Frank Stanley, food lovers and longtime Memphians (she from Georgia, he from Washington, D.C.), were in search of a place to dine that was not only close to home but that looked and felt like home, as well.

ACRE is the result of their mutual search for a place for all of us to celebrate and enjoy the pleasures of the table.