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MLG has since closed. For information on Sweet Pete’s visit this site.
The historic Seminole Club in Downtown Jacksonville has hosted a number of notable diners, including Presidents Teddy Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. All three ate at the Hemming Park landmark before it sat vacant for nearly a decade. It seems only fitting that the person to breathe new life into the space would be a more modern sort of celebrity—a reality television star. Marcus Lemonis, of CNBC’s The Profit fame, renovated the property in 2014, turning it into a 23,000-square-foot confectionary emporium that housed candy shop Sweet Pete’s and the Candy Apple Café. Candy Apple closed its doors in August 2018 and, in November, Lemonis’ new fine dining eatery, MLG, took its place.
This is the second location for MLG (the first is in Chicago), whose interior offers a stark, modern backdrop for creative plates of “New American” fare. Chef Rodrick Smith, who previously ran Jax Diner and Mother’s Cafe & Bar, helms the kitchen, offering his take on the Chicago location’s menu. Expect upscale riffs on classic country club fare: a New York strip served with roasted garlic ($25), shrimp scampi with angel hair pasta ($22) and, in a nod to the South, a fried chicken and collard green meal ($18). It might be hard to pass up those heartier dishes but the macadamia nut grouper ($25), with wilted spinach, glazed gnocchi and sun-dried tomato, is the true gem of the entrée offerings. The starters are a bit more disjointed, offering a mash-up of plates that, while trendy enough, don’t necessarily complement the main dishes. Our advice? Bypass the #Hollywood avocado toast ($8 and yes, it comes with a hashtag) and the fried cheese curds ($9) in favor of the wild mushroom flatbread ($9), splashed with truffle oil and a hefty sprinkling of fontina cheese and spinach.
Being that it’s nestled within a sweet shop, desserts aren’t hard to come by. The restaurant’s Key lime pie ($8) is shipped from the Key Lime Pie Co., another of Lemonis’ business ventures. It’s hard to go wrong with Farrell’s Famous Ice Cream Sundae ($7) which, with its three scoops of vanilla ice cream, caramel and chocolate sauces, whipped cream, and cinnamon cookie, will have you feeling like a kid in a candy shop.
