By Barry Wise Smith Photos by Jordan Wald
Dyron Powell never planned on becoming a restaurateur. A Cullman native, Dyron had a successful business building steel boat docks on Smith Lake. But he and his wife Sonya loved food—so much so that they attended the weekend culinary program at Culinard, with Dyron doing cuisine and Sonya focusing on pastry. “We just love food and love to cook,” he says.
When the opportunity arose to sell the boat dock business, the Powells took it, bought a motor home and went on the road for seven months traveling and eating at all the restaurants they’d dreamed of. After getting pregnant with their first child, the Powells returned home and bought a house on Smith Lake. Dyron bought land and built six spec houses that he sold, closing on the last one in 2008. Without a set plan, Dyron was recruited to move to Birmingham to work for a corporate recruiting company. “It was not for me,” he recalls. But during a chance conversation at Shaia’s men’s shop in Homewood, Dyron heard that a restaurant in Mountain Brook was possibly for sale—the restaurant was Table in the same spot where Dyron’s Lowcountry is located now.
After dining at Table, the Powells discussed making the leap. “We had never been in the restaurant business,” Dyron says with a smile. “But I told my wife, ‘I think we can do this.’ She of course thought I was crazy.” The Powells bought the restaurant and wrote a menu featuring foods they enjoyed, with influence from their epic RV road trip and meals they had enjoyed in the Lowcountry area of South Carolina. Dyron hired The Modern Brand, and after some research, Dyron’s Lowcountry opened in 2009 focusing on serving fresh, local food made with whole ingredients.
New Chef on the Scene
By 2011, Dyron’s was doing well and had established a loyal, regular clientele. Chris Melville, a veteran of the Birmingham fine dining scene, who had worked in the kitchens of some of Birmingham’s best restaurants—he was Frank Stitt’s Sous Chef at Highland’s and had also worked at Hot & Hot, Arman’s, The Club and others—was rebounding from a difficult period and approached Dyron about coming to work in his kitchen. “This was one badass chef,” Dyron says. He hired Melville as a prep cook, and Melville worked his way up in the kitchen, proving himself at every turn. When Randall Baldwin, the executive chef at the time, left, Melville was ready to take the reins and has served as the Executive Chef at Dyron’s ever since.
In recent years, Melville has focused on making the kitchen at Dyron’s as clean as possible, eliminating all seed oils and more recently doing away with using nonstick pan sprays. “It’s meant adjusting the menu, but it’s something I fully support,” Dyron says. Melville uses beef tallow for all frying applications, sources chocolate without heavy metals, uses flour without glyphosate, sources chemical-free shrimp from Bayou le Batre and uses pasture-raised, antibiotic-free meats, including grassfed beef.
Dyron and Melville have also paid particular attention to building the culture of the restaurant. “I believe that food is better when the energy in the restaurant is good,” Dyron says. “We set a culture of respect here, and because of that over half of the kitchen staff started with me 17 years ago. And as result. we treat our food with the same respect, and our guests can see and taste that.”
In 2019, the Powells added to their business portfolio when they purchased the historic, 93-year-old All Steak Restaurant in Dyron’s hometown of Cullman. These days, he and Sonya take turns visiting the two restaurants throughout the week, staying involved in every aspect of the businesses, including tasting every dish on the menus.
“All I ever wanted when we started was for people to feel like they were eating in my dining room,” Dyron says. “And 17 years later, I think we’re there. On any given night, Sonya and I know probably half the people in the restaurant. It’s the spirit of sharing—there’s plenty for everyone.”
