The Heart Behind
the Hearth
Two friends, a shared obsession with fire cooking and craft cocktails, and a neighborhood that felt like home.
Born from a Backyard Cookout
It started the way all good things do — over an open flame with cold drinks in hand. Marcus Reeves and James Calloway met in culinary school at Johnson & Wales. Marcus was the grill obsessive, the guy who’d stay up until 3am tending a whole hog. James was the cocktail nerd, infusing spirits in his dorm room and reading about bitters like other people read novels.
After graduation, they went separate ways. Marcus spent a decade in Charleston’s finest kitchens — Husk, FIG, and eventually running the grill program at The Ordinary. James built cocktail bars in Savannah and Atlanta, earning recognition from Tales of the Cocktail.
In 2022, they reconnected at a mutual friend’s wedding in Jacksonville. One conversation over a bonfire changed everything.
“Cooking over fire isn’t a technique — it’s a conversation. The wood speaks, the flame listens, and if you’re patient enough, the food tells you when it’s ready.”Marcus Reeves, Executive Chef
A Riverside Institution
Jacksonville’s Riverside neighborhood has always been a place where art, community, and good taste converge. When Marcus and James discovered the century-old building on Riverside Avenue — a former woodworking shop with soaring ceilings, exposed brick, and original heart pine floors — they knew they’d found their home.
The renovation took eight months. Every detail was intentional: the custom white oak bar hand-built by a local craftsman, the open kitchen anchored by a wood-fired hearth, the intimate 68-seat dining room designed to feel like a dinner party rather than a restaurant.
Ember & Oak opened its doors in the fall of 2023, and Riverside hasn’t been the same since.
Marcus & James
Marcus Reeves
Executive Chef & Co-FounderJames Beard semifinalist. A decade in Charleston’s finest kitchens. His cooking is rooted in Southern tradition but unbounded by it. As comfortable breaking down a whole hog as plating a delicate crudo.
James Calloway
Bar Director & Co-FounderCertified sommelier with a background in craft cocktails. He runs the bar and front of house with the warmth and precision of someone who genuinely loves hospitality.
From Farm
to Flame
We believe great food starts long before it reaches the kitchen. That’s why we’ve built lasting relationships with the people who grow, raise, and catch our ingredients.
Congaree and Penn Farm supplies our heritage vegetables. Mayport shrimpers deliver wild-caught Royal Reds straight from the boat. Our beef comes from Grass-Fed South, dry-aged in-house for 28 days.
We source oysters from Panacea on the Gulf Coast, honey from a beekeeper in St. Augustine, and mushrooms foraged by a woman named Ruth who knows more about the North Florida woods than anyone alive.
James Beard Semifinalist
Best New Restaurant
Jacksonville Magazine
Best New Restaurant
Food & Wine
Best Bars in America
Eater
Essential Restaurants, Southeast