Chef Theresa Schuenke describes herself as a “nostalgic cook.” 

“I want you to taste a dish and think, ‘This feels so familiar, but I can’t quite place it,’” she said. She started cooking as a kid trying out new recipes from her mom’s Betty Crocker cookbook. 

Schuenke moved to Memphis from Milwaukee in early 2025 to run the kitchen at Cooper-Young’s Fawn restaurant. She’s also the guest on this week’s “Sound Bites.”

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We talked at length about the food at Fawn, her chef origin story and how a farm-to-table restaurant looks beyond the concept’s trendy 2015 moment. Hint: It’s all in the affection for local, fresh produce.

She also announced a Midwest Supper Club-themed dinner Fawn will host. 

Let me warn you: This is not the episode to listen to while you’re hungry. We worked up an appetite discussing Shuenke’s creations: miso deviled eggs, sweet potato gnocchi with a celery root “pastrami,” braised short rib with a blueberry demi-glace, Welsh rarebit with a Norwegian-style cheese topped with fresh Jones Orchard peaches and slices of peppery watermelon radish aka the Welsh rarebit, duck confit with braised greens, steak with a butternut squash roll, a porchetta with Home Place Pastures pork belly. 

Listen to the full interview below.

Fawn is at 937 Cooper St.