Climbing up the food chain: Dave Horn, Taylor Hughes open SoHo Standard downtown next to sister restaurant SoHo Social

The owners of SoHo Social, Dave Horn and Taylor Hughes, opened a sister restaurant right next door in January.

SoHo Standard is on the corner of 29th Avenue South and 19th Street South in downtown Homewood. It features a menu engineered by Hughes and chef Terrill Brazelton that includes steak, fish, crab cakes, duck and quail, along with appetizers, salads and sides, such as smoked gnocchi macaroni and cheese.

Hughes said entrée prices will hover around $30, but smaller items — homemade bread with duck fat, for example — will cost less.

“It’s just things presented in a different way that you may not always see or would have thought to do,” Horn said, “but the actual flavors and the food itself immediately seems very familiar and very comfortable.”

SoHo Standard is the fourth restaurant for Horn and Hughes. Horn purchased Mudtown Eat & Drink in 2007 and opened The Ridge Eat & Drink in 2011. Both are in Vestavia Hills. Hughes began working in The Ridge kitchen within months of its opening after his grandmother helped get him an interview. She was in the same garden club as Horn’s mother.

“His mother and my grandmother kind of worked some back channel to set up an interview between Dave and I for me to start working and cooking up there,” Hughes said. “I didn’t have really hardly any restaurant experience.”

Hughes was taking culinary school classes and working in catering at the time. Horn said he did his mom a favor in hiring Hughes, who quickly became an asset.

Horn spotted his passion and potential shortly after bringing him on board.

“He wasn’t scared of anything, and he wanted to know everything, which is good,” Horn said. “You don’t have too many people who come in and don’t shriek at some of the things that you may have to do as a new employee in a kitchen. He did everything. He was excited to get into it.”

It didn’t take Hughes long to ascend the food chain. He became a leader in the kitchen at both Mudtown and The Ridge, juggling the role of kitchen manager and chef.

“From a recipe development standpoint, menu development standpoint, things a ‘head chef’ would do, yeah, that’s what I was doing,” Hughes said, “but I was also the one back there cooking, cleaning.”

Hughes worked for Horn until leaving to pursue another opportunity in 2016. But the two kept in touch during Hughes’ absence and eventually rejoined forces. When they did, they decided to open SoHo Social as co-owners.

“This one, just kind of through the connections of friends and family friends, just fell into our lap,” Hughes said. “It was the right place, right time, right opportunity for us to say, ‘Hey, I think this is the one that’s probably going to be our best bet.’”

The pair opened SoHo Social in February 2017, with Horn spearheading the business side of the restaurant and Hughes overseeing the food.

“The first year and a half, two years, they were hard, and they were really hard for him,” Horn said. “Taylor lived here, and I’m not exaggerating too much by saying he lived here for 16 months maybe.”

SoHo Social is bigger than Mudtown and The Ridge and serves a higher volume of guests. In the beginning, Horn said it felt as if he and Hughes were “drinking from a firehose” as they navigated the learning curve.

They also made changes to their menu.

“Now, our food here kind of fits the name. It’s social,” Hughes said. “It started, I guess we tried to call it kind of upscale Southern bar food, that evolved into more of like, ‘Hey, here’s this place to come hang out. If you want a burger, great. If you want a taco, awesome.’ It kind of checks a lot of boxes.”

Hughes and Horn announced in June 2019 they would be opening SoHo Standard, which was described in a press release as having a “simple, more upscale” menu and “relaxed, yet refined” atmosphere.

The opportunity to expand presented itself when Market Table closed in late May after two years in business. The two SoHo restaurants will share kitchen space, along with food and labor resources, Horn said.

“We’ll be able to kind of use both spaces to play off each other,” Hughes said. “If you’re waiting on a table at one, go have a drink at the other.”

SoHo Standard has an 18-seat bar and will be able to sit more than 50 people. It will accept reservations and walk-ins, with plans of opening Monday to Saturday from 4-10 p.m.

Hughes said those hours could change, as could the contents of their menu. It all depends on what their guests tell them.

“We’ve always sought to be very community-driven,” Horn said. “We want to be your restaurant, so we want to do what you want, and I think that’s been a key to our success everywhere.”

For more information about SoHo Standard, visit standard.sohosocial.bar, search @SoHoStandard on social media or call 205-423-8080.