Southern Comfort, Modern Elegance: How Cornbread & Caviar Is Feeding Southeast Queens
- teams721
- 18 hours ago
- 4 min read
The primarily residential area of Southeast Queens in NYC is known for a few things historically: being an epicenter and home for jazz greats such as Ella Fitzgerald, John Coltrane and Count Basie – and the home of one of the biggest airports in the country in JFK Airport.
Could it soon be known for upscale Southern cuisine? Quite possibly.
Autumn Bellamy has built a name as a successful full-time influencer & content creator, and has since transitioned into a multifaceted businesswoman and marketing phenom. Her recent soft launch of her take on deeply rooted Southern cuisine, Cornbread & Caviar, is making waves.
Bellamy, who grew up in the Springfield Gardens section of Queens, NYC, now lives on Long Island. She notes that as she got older, she noticed that there was no sit-down Southern restaurant on her side of town, no place where her community could enjoy a meal that was rooted in Southern cuisine and culture. After almost two years of planning and development alongside business partner Kevin McClean, she set out to change that. “I wanted to bring something both Southern & upscale to the community – there’s never been anything like this before over here”, she notes.
Before there was Cornbread & Caviar, though – there was Hip Hop Burger.
Originating in Brooklyn just before the pandemic, Bellamy’s first venture into the restaurant world reopened in the Rochdale section of Queens in 2024. Named Hip Hop Burger, it is a fast casual, takeout only restaurant featuring gourmet burgers, chicken sandwiches, and other fun bites. Their wildly popular burgers feature fun names that celebrate hip-hop, a nod to Bellamy’s marketing skill and prowess that builds on the same personal brand she’s spent years developing.
Today, between the two restaurants, Bellamy oversees branding, marketing, guest experience, and operations, bringing the same attention to detail that built her online following into every aspect. She notes as we chat, “I grew a successful business by being myself and using my influence, but I also had an incredible team, strong leadership, and the right resources around me. Success is never built alone”.
Cornbread & Caviar takes that community-first, "success is never built alone" energy to a different level.
The 52-seat upscale restaurant concept combines the elegance of modern luxury with the comfort, hospitality, and flavors of a down home meal – right down to the name. According to Bellamy, the Cornbread from the name represents Southern cooking, with the Caviar representing upscale elegance. “I wanted people to feel like they were coming home to a well cooked meal, in a space that they could dress up and bring their families to,” she notes as we chat, the onyx marble inlaid table holding up decadent macaroni and cheese in a cast iron pot to corroborate her point.
The space does exactly that – its moss forest walls are adorned with beautiful homages to Southern Black women, and surrounded by earth-toned and charcoal colored seats, a perfect match for their onyx marble tables. Globe chandeliers add elegantly modern highlights, along with lily-shaped, fluted brushed gold fixtures, topped off by a chic, pearl white tiled marble bar.
So, what makes a beauty and fashion influencer who’s a wiz at marketing decide to open not one, but two completely different restaurants? Bellamy says it’s a combination of a love of business, a desire to impact her community, and a quest for a bit of a challenge – three things that Cornbread & Caviar bring together in a loving way.
I visited the restaurant on three separate occasions before meeting with Bellamy, first exploring the menu on my own, then twice more with different friends. Each visit brought me a sense of well crafted meals, of dedication to both a plate that could be eaten with one’s eyes as well as enjoyed with their palate.
The menu is chock full of Southern classics like cornmeal crusted catfish, slow cooked collard greens, and cast iron cornbread dripping with a housemade peach butter, speaking to the intentionality of flavor and authenticity. It merges well with more modern options – a pan seared branzino over couscous and quinoa offers a lighter yet flavorful option for those who seek flavor without the higher calorie count.
I started my experience there with two server recommendations: a Peach Cobbler Old Fashioned drink, made with Bulleit Bourbon and peach puree, as well as their deep fried deviled eggs. While the sweetness of the old fashioned wasn’t a favorite for me as a classic old fashioned lover, the fried deviled eggs were a pleasant surprise. The crisp of the egg whites and the creamy savoriness of the filling worked really well together.
It definitely was an elegant and fun twist on a Southern classic.
I shifted my sights drink wise to Cornbread & Caviar’s play on a sidecar cocktail called The Luxe Pour, pairing the popular D’usse cognac with Cointreau and a touch of sweet – just in time to go with my entree: a coffee and herb crusted lamb chop that rested on a sweet potato puree, paired with their macaroni and cheese and collard greens.
Every single thing on my plate was perfection: the lamb chops were seared and perfectly medium, the macaroni creamy, rich, and decadent, and the collard greens tender and flavorful, with the perfect amount of acidic umami. The portions were the perfect size, not leaving me over or underwhelmed.
Outside of the food, what stood out most to me was the service. Bellamy and her team embody the homage of Southern hospitality. My server, Destiny, was pleasant and engaged, with great knowledge of the menu, the flavor profile of each dish, and how the drinks would work with everything. Her suggestions were top tier – old fashioned aside – and she checked in frequently enough to stay in tune without becoming overbearing.
Cornbread & Caviar is absolutely what I would call a success — the perfect combination of Southern comfort and modern elegance, and exactly the kind of restaurant Southeast Queens has deserved for a long time. With a grand opening slated for August, now is the perfect time to get acquainted with it before the rest of the city catches on. Make it one of your stops the next time you find yourself in NYC!