Business Pulse – New restaurant coming

Get ready to eat!

Of all the things that really get Warren countians talking, new restaurant openings have to be right up there near the top of the list. Armed with that knowledge, I’m especially excited to bring you this week’s Business Pulse. 

Murdock’s will be opening at McMinnville Country Club June 1. For those who have made their way to Boskey’s Grille in Coffee County, Murdock’s may feel familiar. The ownership group of John Richardson, Marshall Murdock and Roel Srofe behind Boskey’s at WillowBrook Golf Club is launching Murdock’s, bringing much of the menu and atmosphere from that popular destination here to Warren County. 

Marshall said the decision to expand their operation to Warren County was prompted by the opportunity. “We were looking to grow and are in a position to grow. We’ve grown as far as we can where we are right now so we were looking to branch out in surrounding areas and this place became available. Everything just seemed to fall into place for us. Our business model with Boskey’s, catering to golfers and serving fresh food cut and prepared in-house, it’s been working for 16 years now and we’re bringing that model here to McMinnville to do the same thing. We want to cater to golfers and create a unique atmosphere for guests and to be open to the public. A lot of people from McMinnville are already coming to Boskey’s, so we’re going to be closer to home for them,” Marshall said.

The trio says they are starting by bringing the same recipes from Boskey’s and about half of the existing menu to Murdock’s to start out. “We want to start smaller and then grow it from there based on what our customers tell us they want. The kitchen here is a lot larger than at Boskey’s so it gives us more availability to do things like quesadillas. We’ll have prime rib on the weekends. We’ll have ribeyes, Hawaiian ribeyes, sirloins, chopped sirloins. We’ll see what people want and grow it from there,” Marshall said.

“All the important items are coming,” added John.  “We’ve got to get a feel for how we’re going to be supported. Our forte is golf, fine bourbons and steak.”

Roel interjected, “That is one thing that will be a little different initially. Starting off, we won’t have the selection of fine bourbons. While a lot of the food is transitioning over, we will have select beers. We’re big on supporting local businesses so we will have Common John, Calfkiller and Bearded Iris..”

“Our plan is for the liquor by the drink and wine to come. We sell a lot of wine and high-end whiskey at Boskey’s. We’ve kind of established our mark and have been noticed by the CEO of Sazerac,” John said.

While Murdock’s will certainly share roots with Boskey’s, its not looking to be a Boskey’s 2. “Boskey is David Burris’ grandfather’s name. That’s where we got that name when we first opened in 2007. Boskey’s will only ever be associated with WillowBrook. We won’t expand on that name. My last name is Murdock. I opened Boskey’s as the executive chef, putting in a lot of the recipes, a lot of which are still used today. When we started talking about coming in here, at some point I think we all just decided to use that name,” Marshall said.

“We had to put his name on the door to keep him involved,” John joked.

The group has certainly established themselves in Coffee County and are excited about the new opportunity they are seizing in Warren County. John said, “McMinnville has supported us for a while and we’re excited about bringing this here because the excitement we’ve been shown is unbelievable, and it’s enough to make you nervous. We want to do good and we’re really, really excited about being in Warren County. I married a Warren County girl. Her family is from Centertown, Jacksboro and Morrison. Her grandfather was the mayor of Centertown for 60 years, Arthur Lorance, and my brother-in-law, Ryan Lorance, builds houses here.” 

Murdock’s is eager to embrace its new home and is looking forward to being a part of the community. “If anybody’s got any Warren County sports memorabilia they’d like to donate, we’d love to have it to hang in here. We’re not really a sports bar but we want to support Warren County,” John added.

Roel has also felt the excitement from the community about the move. “I work at Bridgestone and have met a lot of really good people here. I wish I had a dollar for every person who has stopped me on the floor and asked, ‘when are y’all opening up?’ It’s cool to see that level of excitement.”

The restaurant is open to the public; no country club membership is required, although members will get a discount. Murdock’s also offers catering and has great flexibility with a large conference room and multiple TVs synced together which can be tied into by laptops. “We want the community to know, weddings, conferences, whatever, you can come here, we can bring it to you, we can serve it to you, you can serve it. We can price it out however you want” John said. 

Murdock’s is located at 616 Country Club Drive and can be found on Facebook.

Cultivating

a business

Shelby Wanamaker has turned a hobby or, as she calls it, perhaps an obsession, into a business with Dainty Dani’s. Named for her one-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Dani, Wanamaker’s business is selling houseplants. Born out of a hobby that was outgrowing her house along with a desire to spend more time with her daughter, the business has bloomed.

“I was born and raised here. I moved to Murfreesboro after I graduated from nursing school. I’ve been a nurse since 2017. I’m staying home with Dani now so I’ve turned my hobby/obsession with plants into this,” Shelby said while gesturing to a wall full of greenery. “My house got full of plants but I wanted to keep buying them and dealing with them so I thought I’d sell them. It’s a good way to get my wish-list plants. Dani is the reason I’m doing this, so I don’t have to clock in anywhere. I can be with her. I usually bring her with me. She helps water them.”

Dainty Dani’s has booths at Renewed Creations at 213 E. Main St. and Trendy Trunk Too at 1704 Smithville Hwy. In addition to selling houseplants, Shelby can assist you in turning your thumb a little greener. “I offer personal workshops where I come to the person who books it and I also hold workshops at the Knotted Twine in Rock Island. In the workshops, I do terrariums with a glass bowl with dirt, rocks, sand, mosses and succulents,” Shelby said. In addition to plants, Shelby also sells vintage and vintage-inspired vessels for plants and other plant-related accessories.

Until next time,

same biz time,

same biz page

Thanks again for reading and thanks to Ben Lomand Connect for sponsoring the page. Send me your business tips and suggestions to (931) 473-2191 or editor@southernstandard.com.