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10/09/12Getting Reacquainted With Houston's RestaurantHouston's Restaurant in East Memphis is a little like an old friend: easy to take for granted. I remembered this when we stopped by for dinner recently after skipping the restaurant for a year or so. So what's the upshot of our dinner at Houston's? Happy at the start; satisfied in the middle; sticker shock at the end. Here are more specifics: Even on a Monday about 7:30 p.m., we still had a short wait, one of the many trademarks of this longtime Memphis restaurant operating for almost 30 years. Houston's is a fantastic place for drinks. Expert bartenders serve Grey Goose martinis in deep glasses for $10. One drink is all you need. Orange and grapefruit juice also is freshly squeezed, which is why Tony always orders half orange/half... |
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10/06/12Gus’s Fried Chicken: The Story Behind the HearseCustomers who frequent Gus’s Fried Chicken in East Memphis have surely noticed the white hearse parked on the embankment behind the restaurant. The hearse is hard to miss. It’s decorated with a colorful plastic rooster on the roof and large letters that say this: “Gus’s World Famous Hot & Spicy Fried Chicken – Chicken to Die For.” Curious about the connection between the hearse and the restaurant, I called owner Tripp Carter the other day to get the lowdown. Carter said he acquired the original Gus’s hearse when he had an automotive repair shop and used it to promote the downtown Gus’s on Front Street when he opened the restaurant 12 years ago. “It was a funny promotional thing,” he said.... |
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09/30/12One and Only BBQ Repurposes CK's in East MemphisThe freestanding vintage sign is the only trace of CK’s Coffee Shop left at the corner of Perkins and Southern, but even the sign is altered with this promise: “Coming Soon One and Only BBQ!” Brown paper covers the windows, but co-owner Alan Katzen says contractors have gutted the front of the restaurant, updated the back kitchen, partially enclosed the front kitchen and painted the building’s exterior a color he calls barbecue sauce. He expects the restaurant to open November 1 with the same menu offered at the first One and Only BBQ, located on Kirby Parkway just north of Poplar in the Orleans Place Shopping Center. “The menu will be exactly the same for the first six months, but we are prepared to do other... Posted at 05:45 PM | Permalink | Comments: 2 |
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09/27/12Top-10 Reasons for Shopping at Superlo FoodsHow much do I love Superlo Foods in East Memphis? Let me count down the ways: 10. Superlo is located so close to my house that Tony rides his bike there to shop. 9. I can stop by The Wine Market without moving my car. (New favorite $11 bottle: a red blend from California called Fleur de Lyeth.) 8. The security guard bags groceries when the store gets busy. 7. Cigarettes are so cheap that I wish I was still a smoker. 6. The produce guys grab new lettuce from the back if the head is I want is looking a little wilted. 5. I save at least $10 a bag for groceries compared to Kroger. 4. The store's great prices extend to its excellent selection of beer, including a six-pack of Peroni for $7.99. 3. Superlo has many of the specialty and... Posted at 08:56 PM | Permalink | Comments: 7 |
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09/22/12Ready for Cookin' Crunk? Don't Miss Booksignings or the Jalapeno-Lime Watermelon SaladIf seitan, tempeh and silken tofu worry you a little, don’t dismiss Bianca Phillips' new book “Cookin’ Crunk: Eating Vegan in the Dirty South.” Certainly, the local author and advocate for vegan food can make tofu taste great, and many of her recipes include meat substitutes. But her cookbook, released this month by Book Publishing Co., also includes planet-friendly recipes that are southern, delicious and tofu free. Phillips' spin on Jalapeno-Lime Watermelon Salad, for instance, is so good that even my tofu-hating husband eats it with relish. The simple but tasty ingredients (watermelon, jalapeno, salt, fresh lime juice, fresh basil) come together easily and hold up well in the ‘fridge. The... Posted at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
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09/19/12Brioche Eggscellent BLT at Perkins Restaurant: Yum!Today I woke up to no coffee, and it was my own fault. I had mistakenly bought Ugly Mug First Cup in beans instead of ground. And I couldn't grind the beans because in a manic yard sale fit a few years ago, I sold my coffee grinder and my crock pot. Sometimes I am such a dope. Fortunately, we live a few blocks from Perkins restaurant on Park Avenue, so we headed over for breakfast and the restaurant's endless pot of coffee, served in individual carafes. I love how Perkins understands the importance of morning java, and the pile of half-and-half cream served alongside. When our daughter was little, she would drink all the cream before we even ordered, and the empty cream containers near my cup made me smile from the memory. I hadn't been to... |
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09/16/12Uncle Lou Shares Chicken Secrets at Saturday's Cooper-Young FestivalIf you were one of the 100,000 people who partied at the Cooper-Young Festival Saturday, you surely mixed in some eating and drinking with shopping for T-shirts and crafts. My first food stop of the day was at Uncle Lou’s fried chicken, where I finally got to meet Lou Martin before the crowds revved up. Uncle Lou’s is nationally renowned for some of the best fried chicken in the Mid-South. (And, yes, the place has Guy Fieri’s Triple D blessing.) I asked Lou about the chicken recipe he uses for his food truck and restaurant on Millbranch Road. The recipe came from his grandmother Rosie Glaspie. “There’s a secret ingredient, but I’ll tell you what it is,” Lou said, laughing. “It’s cinnamon.”... |
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09/13/12Chris Ferri at Sweet Grass Shares Cocktail RecipeWarming up to bourbon was one of the unexpected consequences from my three-day party blow-out at the Cochon Heritage BBQ. Bourbon shared the stage with heritage breed pork for the Memphis event, especially at the kick-off rooftop party at the Peabody downtown. That's where I finally met Chris Ferri, the stellar bartender at Sweet Grass in Cooper-Young, who was mixing a cocktail called Fleur de Lis with Eagle Rare Bourbon. Eagle Rare has been getting lots of press lately, and it was delicious. But my appreciation probably had more to do with Ferri's cocktail than the bourbon's complex aroma of “toffee, orange peel, herbs, honey, leather (what?) and oak.” I was thrilled that Ferri shared his recipe, along with this advice:... |
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09/07/12Octopus Salad at Acre: A Top-10 PickEvery August, Memphis magazine compiles an annual City Guide, a primer to arts, entertainment, sports, and food in the Bluff City. Instead of reviewing a single restaurant for the issue's Dining Out, we like to spread the love around, picking our top dishes for the previous 12 months. This year, food writer Hannah Sayle also contributed picks, so our list is far-reaching, moving from food-truck fare to beautifully plated entrees at the city's high-end restaurants. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to post individual selections from our Top-10 list, beginning with Tender Spanish Octopus at Acre in East Memphis. Here's what I had to say about this appetizer's balanced flavors: “The first time I ordered this... Posted at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
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09/03/12Cochon Heritage BBQ: Bloody Mary Tailgate Party, Snout-to-Tail Cook-Off and Piglet SadieThe best thing for me about the pop-up restaurant at Sweet Grass Saturday night was making new friends. The photo above is the charming group at our table, but unlike a cruise, I had plenty in common with this group. First, we all have a unified love for Sweet Grass and the dishes Ryan Trimm spins out of his kitchen. On Saturday, Boston chefs Jamie Bissonnette and Will Gilsan joined Trimm for a Cochon Heritage BBQ pop-up dinner served family style. The tables were set with Elk Cove wines, Anchor Steam beer and carafes of gin and ginger cocktails, a fitting prelude to the dinner's parade of dishes that included cured sliced loin with lentils and salsa verde, Ethiopian braised mustard greens with berber spices, cavatelli pasta with BBQ sugo, and a Manhattan... |
Memphis Stew is a food blog that celebrates our city’s community table and the people who grow, cook, and eat Memphis food. It is written by Pamela Denney, food editor of Memphis magazine, who sees food as a delicious way to build families, friendships, and a more healthy and sustainable future.
