New Basement Café Brings Food And Music To Birmingham City Hall

From the City of Birmingham:

March 8, 2022

By Marie Sutton

In 2014, Tremayne Thompson found himself at a crossroads. The former gospel singer and corporate executive was standing in front of a sizzling grill at The Waffle House, being yelled at because he was too slow on the bacon.

He had left his white-collar job to learn the restaurant business, and the intensity of his first day had him considering quitting before his shift was over.

“I called my wife, Karen, and she reminded me that this is only the beginning of what is the real goal,” he said of their aspirations to open their own business. “From then on I took a different approach.”

Six months later, Tremayne was one of the fastest on the grill and named a district manager. Not long after that, his goal was realized. He and his wife opened The Perfect Note Live Music and Dining.

The dinner theater launched in 2016 as the first African American-owned venue in Hoover. As a former singer in the Gospel group Fully Persuaded and past operations director for a popular jazz radio show in Chicago, Tremayne was able to marry his music connections and restaurant expertise. Perfect Note features an impressive roster of regular jazz and R&B performances and Sunday Soul cuisines of everything from oxtails to shrimp and grits. In 2018, the venue was voted as among the top places in 50 states to go for Black-owned businesses in The Huffington Post.

Now, the couple has brought a café version to Birmingham in the basement of City Hall. Mondays through Fridays, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., folks can get breakfast and lunch that is “American cuisine with a Southern twist” at Perfect Note Express, The Café with Soul. Menu items include traditional breakfast sandwiches of bacon, sausage, and eggs, as well as grits, waffles, and ala carte items. Lunch features shrimp and grits, fried catfish, and lemon pepper wings and fries. Prices range from $5 to $14.

“I want everybody in the city come on down,” Tremayne said. The couple also plan to feature live music at least once a week during lunch. “We want it to be the hottest talked-about place in Birmingham.”

“I am excited about the opportunity for Perfect Note to expand its footprint,” said Chaz Mitchell, chief of operations for the City of Birmingham. “Now citizens and employees of the city will be able to enjoy the Perfect Note experience.”

In the right place at the right time

The Thompsons had always wanted to open a downtown location. People would often ask them to, Tremayne said. Karen has a real estate development company, and the two of them were at city hall doing some business. One of their Perfect Note customers spotted them and mentioned that the prior basement restaurant was leaving. The couple went downstairs to check out the space and immediately started feeling that it could be the right place for a second location.

“And it is funny how God makes a way of bringing things together.”

Eventually, they plan to offer catering and delivery services as well as host karaoke with a live DJ. “We want to make the café very interactive.”

Tremayne’s Waffle House training certainly prepared him, he said. After getting The Perfect Note Express off the ground, they have plans of opening a third location in Atlanta.

“Don’t tell me what God can’t do.”

This press release was produced by the City of Birmingham. The views expressed are the author's own.