I am often haunted by memories of food once enjoyed at restaurants that closed long ago. When a restaurant shuts its doors, all the dishes once offered from that menu can be lost for ever. I miss the great food served at 61 On Teur, a favorite Midtown haunt on Madison Avenue at Morrison. Harry Nicholas owned On Teur until 1996 when Derk Meitzler and a few other investors took over at that location until 2003 under the name 61 On Teur. Harry later returned to the restaurant business with Harry’s Detour in Midtown and Downtown with many of the same dishes. With Harry no longer with us and both restaurants now closed, I long for dishes like Steak Saigon, Steak Henri, the Kingfield, Chicken Bangkok and my favorite – Chicken Newport.
The Greek spices, sautéed mushrooms in a lemon and white wine sauce, and the feta, parmesan and mozzarella cheeses in Chicken Newport create a rich, savory dish. When dining at On Teur, I frequently ordered this dish with a side of spanakopita.
Four years ago, I asked my friends on Facebook to help me recall the ingredients for Chicken Newport. With their good memories, I was able to reconstruct a close approximation that was rather tasty. After my first try, Valerie Meitzler, Derk’s wife, provided some missing details in the recipe that I first posted on Facebook. The corrected recipe appears below. At the time, Derk Meitzler was working for Local at the Overton Square location and featuring Chicken Newport as a Friday lunch special. I had the pleasure of eating Chicken Newport and met Derk.
I’m grateful to Valerie and Derk for their help in recreating this dish.
If anyone has leads on the following recipes from Harry’s or Derk’s legacy, please let me know: Steak Saigon, Steak Henri, The Kingfield, and Chicken Bangkok. I want to make these!
Chicken Newport
Ingredients:
- 1 lb Chicken tenders
- 1/2 tbsp Greek seasoning (oregano, basil, thyme)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 6-8 cloves of garlic, sliced
- 2 8-oz packages of sliced white button mushrooms
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- 4 scallions, chopped
- 1/3 cup chopped Italian parsley
- 4 lemon wedges
Instructions:
- Rub Greek seasoning and 1 Tbsp olive oil into chicken tenders. Heat remaining tbsp olive oil in a large skillet in and then sauté tenders until light brown.
- Add chopped garlic and stir until fragrant. Add mushrooms and a little kosher salt. Sauté for 8-10 minutes. While mushrooms are cooking chop your parsley and scallions (both add a nice flavor at the end).
- Mix all three cheeses together in a small bowl.
- When most of the water is reduced from the mushrooms add white wine. Cook until wine reduces by half. Be sure to deglaze the skillet with a wooden spatula or spoon. Add butter and stir.
- When chicken and mushrooms are heated through, remove skillet from heat. Stir parsley into mushrooms. Pour mushrooms and sauce onto chicken.
- Plate chicken and mushrooms. Sprinkle mozzarella, parmesan and feta cheeses onto chicken.
- Garnish with some more parsley and serve with lemon wedge for drizzling at the table.
Another version of this post first appeared in January 2013 on a blog I no longer maintain. The featured header image for this post comes from the Fredric Koeppel Restaurant and Menu Collection, Memphis and Shelby County Room, Memphis Public Library & Information Center.
Place at the Table 
let me just tell you that I love you! I loved On Teur and followed it to it’s various locations around town. I miss all of their food so much. They had some wonderful dishes and I really appreciate you working so hard to recreate this one. I am trying it tonight and I’m super excited.
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Thanks Anna. Let me know how it turns out for you.
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so good! I’ve made this several times now. Great job duplicating the recipe, its just as I remember…delicious 😋
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I want the KIngfield recipe….
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Did you ever get it? I would like it as well.
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Jennifer Biggs published the Kingfield recipe at
https://dailymemphian.com/article/22750/recipe-exchange-chicken-kingfield-from-harrys-on-teur
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Derick now runs the kitchen at The Vault in Memphis and is serving Newport. He is opening a new place on Front St (The Paramount?). Hopefully he will serve more of Harry’s stuff.
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