If you're expecting a predictable menu, Chef Jeff Keeney wants you to know upfront: you should probably look elsewhere. "If you're looking for Outback or Longhorn, I'm not the person for you," he says.
On Monday, June 1, the veteran area chef launches Savoré, a five-course pop-up dining experience at the Westminster Riding Club, and if the community shows up, he plans to keep it going. "Wherever it takes us, is where we're gonna go."
Keeney has a culinary résumé that runs deep: he once worked for free as a dishwasher at the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Florida for seven months before earning his way into the kitchen as a cook — "that's where I learned a lot of my craft," he said — spent years at The Harryman House in Reisterstown, and has owned five restaurants, including Doobies in Canton, a 40-seat neighborhood staple he ran for seven years, and Crazy Lil's in Federal Hill.
A recent Hampstead venture by Kenney, The Chef Jeff Experience, was the proving ground for the kind of boundary-pushing cooking he aims to bring to Savoré.
"We did a lot of stuff there that I never thought we'd do. Beef heart was a popular thing; snakehead was a popular thing. We kept pushing it." His approach to menu development is equally instinctive: "I would say, ‘I'm going to run this because I want to try it myself’ — and then it would sell out."
For Keeney, this pop-up feels less like a business launch and more like a creative reckoning. "I'm 52. I've been doing this since I was 12," he said. "I want people who want to push me. I want to reinvent food."
Savoré is Kenney’s first pop-up ever, and he'll be doing it with a bare-minimum kitchen, which is one of the things he finds appealing about it. "I'm trying to push to make everything unique and different."
The five-course menu at Savoré on June 1 will feature:
Pan-Seared Scallop — Roasted beet & honey purée, microgreens
Watermelon & Goat Cheese Round — Fresh herb salad
Filet Tips au Poivre — Creamy polenta, celery root purée
Salmon Carpaccio — Piri piri oil, toasted nuts, jasmine rice
Glazed Banana Ice Cream
The full meal is priced at $55 per guest, and Savoré is BYOB. Whether the Savoré pop-up becomes a regular fixture at the Westminster Riding Club depends on how June 1 goes, but Keeney seems ready for wherever the road leads.
For reservations and more information, visit savore.net.
Photo: Watermelon, goat cheese round, herb salad by heychefjeff on Instagram