James Avery‘s latest restaurant is a homecoming, in more ways than one. Palmetto Southern Kitchen + Bar isn’t just a return to Asbury Park dining for the Spring Lake native of “Hell’s Kitchen" fame. It’s a return to Avery’s roots — his father is from Georgia. Avery’s newest project opened in March on the Asbury Park boardwalk, occupying the space that once housed The Break and the Langosta Lounge. It is the first restaurant Avery has opened since closing The Mainstay (which previously was his popular seafood spot The Bonney Read) and selling The Black Swan Public House to BarCo Brands. It’s also the first restaurant Avery has opened as part of his partnership with BarCo, which formed earlier this year. “(BarCo) already had an idea to do a Southern-style restaurant on the boardwalk,” Avery told NJ Advance Media last week. “I helped them being it to life.” Palmetto aims to capture the “easygoing charm of Charleston, South Carolina,” according to the press release that announced the restaurant. Given his family’s background, enlisting Avery was a logical choice. “With my father being from Georgia, I have a very deep connection to the South and seafood,” Avery said. “So for me it was a very easy concept to execute.” Palmetto is providing the shore and entire state with a cuisine we haven’t been accustomed to with fresh seafood, rice dishes and po’ boy sandwiches native to the islands of South Carolina and Georgia. The dimly lit, charming eatery located right along Asbury Park’s boardwalk, serving up a food the area is lacking, has great potential. But is that potential fulfilled? Let’s dig in. It is important to note Palmetto serves Southern food — not soul food. The distinction may be easy for the average New Jerseyan to miss. But Palmetto’s offerings are more akin to Southeastern coast-based cuisine (think coastal Georgia or South Carolina) than soul food from New Jersey gems like Sweet T’s in Montclair or Corrine’s Place in Camden. This menu isn’t filled with fried chicken, catfish, yams, mac and cheese and collard greens like you’d find in Alabama or Mississippi. It is instead focused on fresh seafood and rice dishes influenced by the Gullah population — African descendants who inhabited the coastal islands of South Carolina and Georgia. This entails more grain-based dishes using grits and rice, vegetables and bold spices found in West African food. The restaurant shows off Avery’s interpretation of this cuisine with items like baby gem caesar salad ($16) with biscuit croutons, black pepper and buttermilk dressing — a bold take on a non-traditional Southern food item. The crispy, fresh lettuce and sweet dressing are tasty and familiar enough, but the hints of fresh black pepper and unconventional croutons take the salad to the next level. The biscuit croutons could make for a great snack by themselves. They’re just as crunchy as your traditional crouton but even heartier and more flavorful. Cornbread ($8) is a southern food staple and Palmetto clearly understood the importance of nailing this side. Each bite of the warm, moist bread was an explosion of sweetness accented by an outstanding honey lavender butter. It was undoubtedly my favorite item from Palmetto. The boneless fried chicken ($26) served over mashed potatoes and green beans was blanketed by a pleasant southern gravy — which was the highlight of the dish. The rich and creamy but not overly heavy dressing complemented the mashed potatoes beautifully. It’s a simple combination, but one you have to get right at a restaurant in this genre. And Avery certainly does. I loved the gravy and biscuit croutons so much that I would eat a bowl of the two southern dishes like a bowl of cereal. Any self-respecting Southern restaurant will have banana pudding ($12) on its dessert menu. Luckily, Palmetto falls into that category — and mostly aces the dish. The pudding consistency was a touch on the runny side but the flavor was outstanding. The bananas within the pudding were vibrantly sweet and flavorful, and the unorthodox topping of candied and sugary flambeed bananas elevated the sweet treat even further. As good as the gravy and mashed potatoes were, the accompanying fried chicken was a letdown. The boneless chicken was juicy and tender, but something was off with the breading. It seemed more like a tempura batter than a seasoned, flour-dredged fried chicken. The blandness of the breading meant any chicken that wasn’t covered in gravy was lacking in flavor. Palmetto checks a lot of Southern eatery boxes, but it missed on this one. Shrimp and grits ($32) is another Southern cuisine staple, so it was no surprise to see it featured on Palmetto’s menu. But I was underwhelmed by their take on the dish. The grits was cooked nicely, and the obviously fresh shrimp was as well — not rubbery from being overcooked or sitting in the hot grits too long. But the dish was overpowered by a bold and harshly spicy shellfish gravy that was reminiscent of a jerk sauce. A butter-based sauce would have been more harmonious with the shrimp and grits. It would be an understatement to say the vibe of Palmetto is anything but immaculate. The dimly lit boardwalk-adjacent eatery features a small stage for live music performances, a stylish irregularly shaped bar, chic seating arrangements of tables, booths and high-tops throughout the dining room. Ornate chandeliers hanging from the ceiling add even more to the ambiance Outdoor tables along the boardwalk are covered by bright red umbrellas that are sure to grab your attention if you’re strolling by. The indoor and outdoor dining spaces are separated by a garage-like glass door that’s opened when the weather permits, providing indoor diners with a nice breeze from the nearby Atlantic Ocean. The view of the boardwalk and beach mesh perfectly with the Southern coastal cuisine, providing diners with a sense of breeziness as they admire the ocean through large glass windows. The bottom line From melt-in-your-mouth cornbread and succulent caesar salads to savory southern gravy and sugary banana pudding, Palmetto does an impressive job of bringing an untapped cuisine to the Jersey Shore. Palmetto bolsters an already prominent Asbury Park food scene with a swanky interior design, breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean from the boardwalk and an underutilized cuisine. Shrimp and grits, fried chicken and biscuits aren’t foods we typically consider boardwalk food. But Avery’s latest restaurant suggests we should. More food coverage: Beloved chicken chain finally opens in N.J., but with limited menu. Here’s my review.A Caribbean-inspired Chinese restaurant is boldly stretching N.J.’s culinary boundaries Legendary N.J. pizzeria closed by state reopens. But it may not be for long.Bojangles finally announces N.J. opening date. Here’s what we know.The pizza we named No. 1 in N.J. is finally back ... but it’s in Philly. Is it just as good? 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