Five Senses Restaurant Transforms Event Space Into a Market

During the last month of quarantine, while many have been working on jigsaw puzzles and DIY home maintenance, Mitchell Murphree of Five Senses Restaurant and his staff have been thinking of new ways to utilize the event space next to the restaurant, located in the Georgetown Park Shopping Center. They decided to open a small gourmet deli/grocery store and call it Five’s Corner Spot.

“We had a lot of items at our disposal to stock a store,” said Murphree. “We got creative with some meal kits, like Blue Apron provides, and make your own dishes, …some of our more popular in house made dishes such as our hot country ham dip, and some products from our local farmers…Also, local crafted products such as soaps, face masks, and lip balms.”

With parties and events still on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Murphree needed a way to use the event space which would be standing empty once the restaurant reopened on Friday, May 8. While the idea is a temporary fix to the problem, Murphree says that a deli/local market is a possible business option for the future. First, he wants to get some practice at it in the short run and see what kind of response the project gains.

So far, response has been good. The breads and chocolate caramel pies are a constant sell out. Face masks are also a fast sell with the need for everyone to stay safe and mask up with the continued fight against the pandemic. Recently they sold out of their Beef Stew to Go. Two things Five’s Corner Spot has plenty of, at the moment, that are much coveted at local grocery stores are yeast for breadmaking and toilet paper.

As sheltering at home as much as possible is still strongly suggested, Murphree has also had a good business with his meal kits. The kits have all of the ingredients pre-measured, with a copy of the recipe, and the necessary cooking pan.

“We have shrimp and grits,” said Murphree, “we did a Coq au Vin – a red wine braised chicken dish made famous by Julia Child. We are going to be doing a pot roast make-at-home dish soon with Farrar Farm beef.”

Murphree says that the time varies on how long it takes to make the various dishes, some take 30 minutes and some, like pot roast, takes about three hours of total time. However, the active time to measure and chop up all of the ingredients will be much shorter, as Five Corner Spot has already premeasured and/or pre-prepped many of the items necessary to create the gourmet delight. There is no waste and little clean up.

Many Five Senses and Steak House Five favorites will be featured to take home. These foods include lots of pies like fudge pie and Kentucky derby pie; baked items like their Steak House Five sourdough bread, hummus, pimento cheese, and garlic and cheese cream sauce. Other options include pre-packaged gourmet items that usually have to be purchased in large quantities and often go to waste when making a recipe that calls for much less, including artichoke hearts, andouille sausage, and house-made pesto. They offer a selection of fresh seafood – such as wild Alaskan halibut and wild American shrimp. There are also wines and gallons of specialty drinks to go.

Local farm products include Haskell Evans jams, sweet potatoes, honey, Four-K Farms lettuces and radishes, and stone ground grits from Shelton Farms in New Market, Tennessee.

Five’s Corner Spot is open from noon until 8:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information about the gourmet market, visit Five Senses Facebook page.

Five’s Corner Spot
1602 W. Northfield Boulevard, Suite 512
Murfreesboro, Tennessee
615.867.4155
Five Senses Facebook Page
Hours: 12:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m., Tuesday through Saturday.