Month: September 2006

Categories
Best of Memphis Special Sections

Arts & Entertainment

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Goods & Services
Food & Drink
Nightlife
Arts & Entertainment
Media
And The Rest

One of the new categories in this section, “Best Place To Meet Singles,” isn’t really new. At one time, we had it, or a variation of it, but quit for reasons long forgotten. In fact, in the Flyer‘s very first Readers’ Poll, in 1994, we asked for “Best Place To Meet Mr./Ms. Right” along with an awfully similar-sounding “Best Place To Meet 1st Date.” For the former, church and The Peabody got number one and number two. For the latter, the positions were reversed.

Flash-forward 12 years to the current “Best Place To Meet Singles” category, and the winners run in this order: 1) Church 2) Online 3) Grocery Store. It’s a case of everything old is new again and vice versa, with church being a mainstay and the Internet, still a novelty when our poll began, making its first appearance in this category.

Best Casino

1. Horseshoe Casino

2. Grand Casino

3. Gold Strike Casino

If you’re going to hand your money over, you might as well do it in style. Horseshoe’s wealth of bars, bonuses, and buffets almost makes you forget about the difference in size between your wallet now and your wallet three hours ago.

Best Museum

Justin Fox Burks

1. Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

2. Memphis Pink Palace Museum

3. Children’s Museum of Memphis

The Brooks isn’t some stuck-up, high-society art museum. Sure, it has plenty of fine paintings and sculpture on display, but it also knows how to throw down. Each year, the museum hosts Brooks Uncorked (one of the largest wine-tasting events in the city). They’ve also earned their hipster cred by screening indie films and occasionally hosting local rock bands.

Best Art Gallery

1. David Lusk Gallery

2. Jay Etkin

3. Midtown Artist Market — tie — David Mah Studio

Nestled in an unassuming corner of the Laurelwood Shopping Center, David Lusk Gallery has been a staple over the last 11 years for anybody looking for that artful touch of sophistication — something really cool made with paper bags.

Best Live Theater

BOM 1. Playhouse on the Square

2. The Orpheum

3. Theatre Memphis

Playhouse on the Square had a strong 2005-’06 season that featured such hits as Aida and Fiddler on the Roof. The next season — with Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Caroline, Or Change, and Big River, to name a few — promises to be even stronger, and we can’t forget the Batman-esque spotlight guarantee reminding nighttime Union Avenue traffic of the bigger and better facilities to come.

Best Movie Theater

1. Studio on the Square

2. Paradiso

3. Muvico-Peabody Place

If a film’s getting Oscar nominations or festival wreaths, expect to find it at Studio on the Square. Don’t forget your popcorn, wine, and cheese.

Best Golf Course

1. The Links at Galloway

2. TPC at Southwind

3. The Links at Overton Park

Rolling fairways, budding trees, grassy knolls, verdant greens — Galloway’s got it all.

Best Picnic

1. Shelby Farms

2. Overton Park

3. Tom Lee Park

“Let’s … go … fly … a kite!” and, like, chill with the bison at Shelby Farms.

Best Place to Meet Singles

1. Church

2. Online

3. Grocery

This year’s results prove that there’s still no better place than a pew to hang out and get your weekly dose of “God ‘n’ Girls” (or Guys).

Best Free Date

Justin Fox Burks

Best Family Entertainment

1. Mississippi River

2. Shelby Farms

3. Memphis Zoo on Tuesdays

There really is nothing like a nighttime river walk, with the DeSoto Bridge illuminating the background and the sound of the river current keeping you company. Guys, a word of advice: I know it seems like it’d be really funny to throw her in, but for some reason girls don’t tend to appreciate the humor in that.

Best Family Entertainment

Justin Fox Burks

Best Museum

1. Memphis Zoo

2. Redbirds Game

3. Putt Putt

The best part of the zoo experience is hearing the kids make that howler-monkey noise the entire drive home.

Best Sports Team

1. Memphis Grizzlies

2. Memphis Redbirds

3. University of Memphis Tigers Basketball

It’s good to see we’re getting our mileage out of that FedExForum. Now if we could just win a single game in the NBA playoffs.

Best Grizzlies Player

1. Pau Gasol

2. Shane Battier

3. Mike Miller

FIBA World Champion and MVP, NBA All Star, Grizzlies poster-boy — Pau’s done it all. Unfortunately, his broken foot from the FIBA finals will put a damper on his 2006-’07 season with the Grizzlies. At least he’s still got the beard.

Best Local Athlete

Justin Fox Burks

Best Free Date

1. DeAngelo Williams

2. Pau Gasol

3. Shane Battier

First of all, props to Houston Rockets maestro Shane Battier for cinching two of the poll’s spots despite his turn to Texas. But the focus really does belong on our man DeAngelo, whose name was mentioned in the same breath as Reggie Bush’s for the 2005 Doak Walker Award and who finished seventh overall in the 2005 Heisman race. Who would have thought that U of M football would ever be on the map?

Categories
Best of Memphis Special Sections

Media

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Goods & Services
Food & Drink
Nightlife
Arts & Entertainment
Media
And The Rest

Get your scorecards: There’ve been a few changes in Memphis media in 2006, including: WREG’s Tara Pachmayer (tied for third as “Best TV Sportscaster”) leaving the station and taking a job in Cincinnati. Dave Woloshin, whose show SportsCall tied for third for “Best Sports Show,” is also gone from WMC-AM 790, which switched its format to country music. Wendi C. Thomas, first-place winner for “Best Columnist,” left The Commercial Appeal only to come back several weeks later. Leon Gray, last year’s number-two winner in the “Best Talk Show” category, went poof from his former station WWTQ-AM 680, and WREG, winner in several categories, is being sold by its parent company, The New York Times.

Best TV Sportscaster

BOM 1. Jarvis Greer, WMC-TV, Channel 5

2. Greg Gaston, WPTY-TV, Channel 24

3. Mike Ceide, WREG-TV, Channel 3 — tie — Tara Pachmayer, formerly of WREG-TV, Channel 3

Jarvis Greer dominates this category once again.

Best FM Station

1. WEGR-FM 102.7, Rock 103

2. WEVL-FM 89.9

3. WMC-FM 99.7, FM 100

Rock 103 takes the top spot again with spunky, funky WEVL a surprising second place.

Best AM Station

1. WREC-AM 600

2. WMC-AM 790

3. WWTQ-AM 680 — tie –WHBQ-AM 560

WREC proves that lots of right-wing nutjobs read the Flyer. Or at least people who like to listen to right-wing nutjobs.

Best Drive-Time Show

1. Drake & Zeke, WXMX-FM 98.1, The Max

2. NPR/All Things Considered/Morning Edition

3. Dennis & Ric, WEGR-FM 102.7, Rock 103 — tie — Brad & Dana, WMBZ-FM 94.1, The Buzz

Drake and Zeke get the edge over the more cerebral (and with fewer fart jokes) NPR.

Best Sports Show

1. Sportstime with George Lapides & Geoff Calkins, WHBQ-AM 560

2. The Jim Rome Show, AM 730 ESPN

3. SportsCall, formerly of

WMC-AM 790 — tie —

The Chris Vernon Show, AM 730 ESPN

George Lapides and Geoff Calkins talked their way into first place again this year. National asshole Jim Rome edged out local nice guys Dave Woloshin, formerly of SportsCall, and Chris Vernon for second.

Best Local Radio Talk Show

1. Mike Fleming, WREC-AM 600

2. Drake & Zeke, WXMX-FM 98.1, The Max

3. Dennis & Ric, WEGR-FM 102.7, Rock 103

Mike Fleming takes the best local talk-show trophy again, though with the loss of Leon Gray there’s not much competition in the category.

Best Newspaper Columnist

Justin Fox Burks

Jarvis Greer dominates the Best Sportscaster category once again.

1. Wendi C. Thomas, The Commercial Appeal

2. Geoff Calkins, The Commerical Appeal

3. Tim Sampson, Memphis Flyer

Wendi left us and came back, but your affection for the CA columnist never wavered. Geoff and Tim pick up the leftovers.

Best Weatherperson

1. Dave Brown, WMC-TV, Channel 5

2. Jim Jaggers, WREG-TV, Channel 3

3. Joey Sulipeck, WHBQ-TV, Fox 13

Dave Brown wins Best Weatherman. That was the most unsurprising sentence you’ve ever read.

Best TV News Anchor

1. Joe Birch, WMC-TV, Channel 5

2. Claudia Barr, WREG-TV, Channel 3

3. Richard Ransom, WREG-TV, Channel 3

Joe Birch: as sturdy as an oak. We pine fir no one else.

Best Radio Personality

1. John “Bad Dog” McCormack, WEGR-FM 102.7, Rock 103

2. Drake & Zeke, WXMX-FM 98.1, The Max

3. Tom Prestiagiacomo, WMC-FM 99.7, FM 100

He’s a Bad Dog, that John McCormack. But a great personality (and those clean garage commercials) kept him on top for another year.

Best Memphis-Themed Web Site

1. MemphisFlyer.com

2. CommercialAppeal.com

3. Goner-Records.com

MemphisFlyer.com is the best in Memphis. What’s not to like about that?

Best Memphis Blog

READERS’ CHOICE

Rachel and the City, rachelandthecity.com

iDiva, idivamemphis.com

Paul Ryburn Journal, www.paulryburn.com/blog

Whining & Dining,blogs.commercialappeal.com/leslie

The Flypaper Theory, thepeskyfly.blogspot.com

Surf these blogs and you’ll have it all covered: nightlife, beer, eating, women, and politics.

Categories
Letters To The Editor Opinion

Letters to the Editor

Bush Bashers Bashed

New York representative Charles Rangel speaks for me, as he does for many Americans, when he defended President Bush against foreign demagogues speaking at the U.N. Although I have been a constant critic of Bush, I do not believe that any tinhorn communist dictator or Islamic fruit-loop should be able to come here under our protection and call our president names.

In this country we have freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion. In their countries they do not allow their citizens to engage in similar freedoms. When they change to a constitutional republic with the same guarantees provided by our Bill of Rights, then they will get a second look. But until that time, they need to show a little respect and decorum. He is our president, whether I think he is an idiot or not.

Joe M. Spitzer

Memphis

Air America

Phillip Stephenson asked why Air America hosts “don’t move to a country whose president they admire, like Castro in Cuba or Putin in Russia or Chavez in Venezuela” (Letters, September 21st issue). Maybe it’s because the last time I checked, in the U.S. everyone is entitled to have a dissenting opinion. Perhaps Stephenson should consider moving to one of the countries he cites — where only one opinion is allowed — since apparently only one is all he wants to hear.

Rob Thompson

Southaven

Much to Phillip Stephenson’s chagrin, Air America is alive and well. He can hate AAR, but no one is forcing him to listen.

I hate conservative talk radio, and if anyone wins the prize for personal attacks, it is the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, and Sean Hannity. I don’t listen to them, but I will defend their right to be on the air because that is the American way — freedom of speech.

That old line of “love it or leave it” is garbage. It is the right of Americans to speak out and criticize their leaders. You may think this is Bush-bashing, but our president and his Republican cronies are responsible for a $9 trillion national debt (almost 50 percent of it owned by China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan); the waste of hundreds of billions of dollars on Halliburton and its subsidiaries because of no-oversight, no-bid contracts for Iraq; the hiring of workers for the Iraq Coalition Provisional Authority who had no experience in any of the needed skills; gutting or rescinding most of the environmental regulations; the total mess in Iraq, a war that Bush started with justifications that all turned out to be lies.

If you have examples of how Bush has done such a fine job as our president, I think Flyer readers would be very interested in seeing them.

Sylvia Cox

Memphis

Corker Ads

After viewing one of Bob Corker’s anti-Harold Ford Jr. television spots, I am appalled at how manipulative Corker’s campaign strategy is. He blatantly misleads Tennesseans into believing that Ford’s views are inconsistent with their views. This is not a new approach for Corker, whose allegations against his primary opponents, Ed Bryant and Van Hilleary, were deemed “seriously misleading” and the hints of a “character problem” by the Nashville Tennessean.

Corker claims that Ford voted against reauthorizing the Patriot Act. In fact, Ford not only voted for the original and final authorizations of the Patriot Act but also voted to make it permanent. The ad also states that Ford voted to cut defense spending. The ad neglects to mention that Ford voted for the strongest possible defense budget that was proposed. Additionally, Ford supported every bill proposed by the administration that has dealt with the funding and appropriations of the war on terror. Finally, the ad says Ford voted to let judges “release felons from jail because of overcrowding.” It does not explain that Ford voted for a “Truth in Sentencing” amendment in 1999, in order to give states funding to ensure the resources for keeping murderers, rapists, and other serious criminals in jail for their full sentences.

 Perhaps Corker should focus on explaining to the public what it is that he stands for instead of hiding behind misleading and deceitful rhetoric about his opponent.

Van D. Turner Jr.

Memphis

Categories
News The Fly-By

A Fair To Remember

CREDIT: Erik De Graaf, Agency: Dreamstime.com

To some, changes at the Mid-South Fair may not seem, well, fair. The closing of Libertyland earlier this year means no Zippin Pippin, no stomach-churning Revolution, and no turns on the Grand Carousel.

But the fair, which opened last Thursday and runs through October 2nd, turns 150 this year. And with national trends pointing toward declining fair attendance, the Mid-South Fair faces a challenge, especially considering the loss of Libertyland.

“In the last couple of years, we’ve had a slight decline [in attendance],” says Billy Orr, general manager of the Mid-South Fair. “But the weather has so much to do with it. Last year, we had a Sunday that we didn’t even open because of rain. That’s one of our big days.”

A story in The New York Times last month highlighted lagging attendance at fairs throughout the nation. Voters in Nebraska even approved a constitutional amendment to direct lottery winnings to save their state fair from bankruptcy.

In the last 30 years, many fairs have shifted to a more carnival-like image after years of focusing on agriculture. “Early on, [the Mid-South Fair] was an agricultural fair where we showed livestock and farm products and equipment,” says Orr. “We still have some agricultural exhibits, but the focus is more on rides and food now.”

The Times article attributed the recent decline in fairs’ popularity to “an era in which entertainment can be found almost around every corner.” With video games and the Internet, Orr admits it’s hard to pull kids in.

“We’re doing everything we can to get the word out because those games sure do keep the kids at home,” says Orr.

To compensate for the absence of Libertyland, the Mid-South Fair has brought in eight new thrill rides. The fair also hired public relations firm McNeely Pigott & Fox last year to re-brand the fair and update its image.

“We wanted to tie in the history of our fair with a nostalgic look, so we’ve taken old photos and created messages to encompass what people really come to the fair for: food and rides,” says marketing director Travis Flee.

PR firm Carpenter Sullivan Sossaman designed the fair’s billboards and bus ads, many of which include humorous messages about typical fair food.

“In this area, we love our food. Especially our deep-fried stuff,” says Walter Rose with Carpenter Sullivan Sossaman. “Not everybody likes the rides, but everybody pretty much wants to get a Pronto Pup.”

Orr doesn’t know if the campaign made a difference in last year’s attendance, which reached about 300,000. They’re expecting 400,000 attendees this year. “I don’t forsee any slowdown with this fair,” says Orr. “I don’t see why there would be.”

Categories
Letter From The Editor Opinion

Letter from the Editor: I’m No Einstein, But …

I got another one this week — a letter informing me that I am “no genius” and that my column is little more than the childish scribbling of a sadly misinformed fool.

And your point is?

Seriously, I understand that opinions are like, well, noses and everyone’s got one. I don’t take these things personally. It comes with the territory. And I understand that I’m not a genius or a rocket scientist, just a guy who happens to have a weekly newspaper column. But with the Internet sending the Flyer to the four corners of the globe (does the globe have corners? I need to ask a genius, I guess), I’ve gotten e-mails about my column — and about other Flyer stories — from Sweden, Kuwait, Australia, Brazil, India, and even Mississippi.

Almost all the negative mail comes in response to columns in which I question the intellect, intentions, and honesty of our beloved president. These folks sho’ nuff love their Bush, and they don’t take kindly to a pissant like me criticizing our fearless, feckless leader.

So what would a real genius have to say about President Bush? Funny you should ask. I did some painstaking research (coughgooglecough) and discovered that one of the most preeminent geniuses the world has ever known — Albert Einstein — had a lot to say about the prez and our current dilemmas.

Regarding Iraq: “The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.”

Regarding Bush worshippers: “Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of truth.”

Regarding the war on terror: “You cannot prevent and prepare for war at the same time.”

Regarding weapons of mass destruction: “World War III will be fought with weapons of mass destruction. World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”

Regarding President Bush: “The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.”

I’m no genius, but I’m not stupid either. I know when someone’s telling the truth and when they’re lying through their teeth. And so did my buddy Albert.

Bruce VanWyngarden, Editor

brucev@MemphisFlyer.com

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Roadblock

“It was a technical knockout, no contest. It was embarrassing,” said erstwhile Democratic primary candidate Tyson Pratcher about the first real debate Monday night between the three remaining candidates for the 9th District congressional seat — Democratic nominee Steve Cohen, Republican nominee Mark White, and independent Jake Ford.

In the judgment of Pratcher (and almost every other unbiased observer), Cohen, an experienced state legislator with a quarter-century’s worth of experience, was the “winner” of the hour-long encounter at the Central Library, sponsored by the League of Women Voters. And there was no doubt who the loser was, at least relatively speaking — first-time candidate Ford, who needed only a credible outing, on top of two prior strong performances, to be able to mount a serious challenge for the seat being vacated by his illustrious brother Harold Ford Jr.

The GOP’s White had his moments, especially at the close when he uttered a passionate call for partisans of all causes to dissolve their differences in a common effort to find solutions to basic problems — including, presumably, the educational deficiencies and high mortality rate of the district that White had been previously emphatic (and empathetic) about.

And there was no doubting White’s sincerity in expressing such home truths as “A country without borders is not a country” and “We need fathers in homes.”

But it was Cohen who best articulated specific answers, as when, in response to a question about Iraq, he deftly communicated a sense of domestic urgency: “We had shock and awe. … We destroyed their country, and now we’re spending our time rebuilding that country when our country needs rebuilding. … Memphis has places like New Orleans. They just haven’t been exposed by the awful hurricane that New Orleans suffered.”

There are two kinds of people, Cohen said. “There’s one kind, the ruling class, that sends people to war and another kind that goes to war, and the kind that sends people to war don’t seem to think about it or see and hear those people.”

The veteran state senator also made proposals for an uncompromising ethics code at the federal level and denounced both the Patriot Act and a proposed constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage as doing damage to the Constitution.

There were times Monday night when Jake Ford seemed the self-assured, even eloquent candidate who, in the preceding several days, had deftly fielded questions during a radio interview with friendly host Jennings Bernard and then later had seemed both knowledgeable and compassionate at a public seminar on health care.

He had even sounded worldly-wise, as he periodically did Monday night. Answering a question about ethics reform, Ford said, “As we all know, we live in a system that operates under capitalism. People are always going to find a way to advance their agenda.”

And Ford’s opening and closing remarks were fluent enough. It’s what came in between that was problematic. Here and there he was admirably to the point — expressing support for civil unions, for example, and for a timetable for extricating American forces from Iraq.

What was most dumbfounding about his performance Monday night was not just that, on three separate occasions, he was forced to confess that he had no answer to the rather basic question being asked but that one of those questions concerned itself, in the most general possible sense, with Medicare — a subject area clearly and directly related to things discussed in last week’s health-care forum, when the candidates (excluding Cohen, who was being feted by Cybill Shepherd at a fund-raiser) had been presented the questions ahead of time.

Ford’s response: “You would almost have to know a lot about the system itself, and at this time I do not have all of the answers here.”

Though that was a non-answer to the question at hand, it seemed a possible answer to something various observers had been speculating on last week: Were Jake Ford’s smooth performances on the radio and at the health-care forum dependent on his having foreknowledge of what he was going to be asked and time to prepare an answer?

In answer to another question Monday night, Ford said, “I don’t know the solution right now. I don’t have the answer right now. I want to go to Congress to learn.” More than once, he deferred answering something, promising in apparent good faith to research an issue so as to come to grips with it later in the campaign.

Well and good, but it didn’t square well with the candidate’s answer as to why it was he chose to run as an independent rather than competing in the Democratic primary.

Ford’s statement about that was complicated and hard to parse. If he hadn’t done so, he said at one point, “I don’t think this forum would even have been held.” That was either a truism or an attempt at denying that several comprehensive forums were held during the primary season. Bottom line, one that was ironic under the circumstances: His independent candidacy presented “an opportunity to discuss the issues in an informed way.”

The best-case scenario for Ford: He will have other opportunities to do so. His father, former Congressman Harold Ford Sr., was talking up his abilities over the weekend, making a case that his second son had been widely underestimated.

Meanwhile, Jake Ford’s celebrated older brother, the congressman whose job he now seeks, Harold Ford Jr., was having a big-time week, surging ahead of Republican rival Bob Corker in a couple of mainstream polls taken on their U.S. Senate race and reportedly opening up a 46-to-39 gap in one of his own.

Tracking the congressman on Sunday, it was easy to see why. His first public appearance that day was at Centenary United Methodist Church, where he functioned as a de facto preacher, bringing a sermon on public stewardship that neatly walked the line between the secular and the divine, yet was rousing enough to draw frequent “Amen” choruses from the congregation.

Later in the day, Representative Ford presided over a well-attended, near-ecstatic rally at his headquarters, one in which he cited new polls showing his edge over Corker growing and noted that Newsweek magazine had elevated the Ford-Corker race to “number one” in the nation. The congressman invoked the spirit of Democratic solidarity, saying of Corker, “If you want somebody who votes with Bush all the time, then he’s your man!”

At one point earlier Sunday, Ford had also dropped in on an NAACP forum that was being held at Mt. Olive CME Church for candidates in various races. Brother Jake was not there, but White and Cohen were, and the latter, in answer to a question, made a point of yoking it to his support for “my candidate for the U.S. Senate, Harold Ford Jr.” Pointedly, the congressman did not respond in kind.

A question that has vexed any number of Democrats in the weeks since the August 3rd primary is this: What has prevented a joint embrace of support between Democratic nominees Cohen and Harold Ford Jr.?

Former Congressman Ford was candid about some of the reasons on Sunday. “What kind of father wouldn’t support his own son?” he said at one point. At another, he acknowledged a further reason: Memphis mayor Willie Herenton’s combination of public support for Cohen with derogatory remarks about Jake Ford and the Ford clan at large.

But, maintained the senior Ford in something of a revelation, he had, immediately after the primary, sent the victorious Cohen a message through Shelby County mayor A C Wharton, who would later join Herenton in a public endorsement ceremony for Cohen.

“I said let’s all get together and do this thing,” Ford said, evidently meaning a unity proclamation. “I gave it 36 hours, and I never heard anything back from Cohen.” The implication was that the newly nominated Cohen had not answered the feeler by touching base with him.

For the record, Cohen — who had gone so far on election night as to suggest that his defeat in the 1996 9th District race by Harold Ford Jr., “a great charismatic congressman,” might have been a good thing — denies having received any such communication.

Categories
News The Fly-By

Full Docket

CREDIT: Jacques Kloppers, Agency: Dremstime.com

Chrystal Barclift was working as a supervisor in Juvenile Court when she got hooked on crack over five years ago. She lost her job, got busted, and found herself at Jail East, the women’s correctional facility near Shelby Farms. There she was offered a choice: stay in jail or spend a year in rehabilitation in the drug-court program. If she chose rehabilitation, her charges would be dropped.

Barclift, now sober for more than a year and employed in the public defender’s office, is one of the drug court’s many success stories.

The drug-court program sentences non-violent drug offenders to a year in an outpatient drug-treatment program — and pays for it — in lieu of jail time. Clients must appear in the courtroom each week with evidence they’ve been attending treatment, submit to random drug tests, and meet with counselors. At the end of the year, their record is expunged.

“[Drug court] taught me accountability, responsibility, and coping skills,” says Barclift, surrounded by proud family members after a drug-court ceremony last week to celebrate its 100th graduating class.

The program costs about $500,000 annually. Funding is provided by the Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, state fines, contributions from clients, and other donations.

Tim Dwyer, the program’s presiding judge, manages the program on a volunteer basis in addition to his regular docket. Drug court also pays for client treatment at area outpatient facilities and for things such as trade-school tuition or bus fare to and from treatment for those who cannot afford it.

But due to a shortage of funding, the program is not helping as many people as it could. Scarlett Crews, president of the Drug Court Foundation (the court’s fund-raising arm), estimates that only 40 percent of drug offenders who would qualify for treatment can actually enroll in the program.

Despite that, the drug court has saved taxpayers $24.8 million in incarceration fees since its inception in 1997. It costs roughly $110 per inmate per day at the jail and only $8 per day for clients in treatment through the drug court.

“As of [last week’s graduation], we’ve had 835 people who’ve gotten through it,” says Crews. “The beauty is that we have a 23 percent recidivism rate, which means re-arrest or re-use. That’s phenomenal.”

The drug court will host a boxing match between Mayor W.W. Herenton and Joe Frazier at The Peabody on November 30th, and Crews says they’re hoping the event will raise significant funds.

“Joe’s a real character and the mayor’s a real character, so we’re not sure exactly what’s going to happen,” says Crews. “But it’s going to be fun.”

Categories
Best of Memphis Special Sections

Food and Drink

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Goods & Services
Food & Drink
Nightlife
Arts & Entertainment
Media
And The Rest

To paraphrase Martin Luther King Jr.’s momentous “Free At Last” speech would be inappropriate for the Food & Drink section, but don’t think we’re not tempted. For years and years, anytime someone would have a problem with the Flyer‘s Readers’ Poll results, they would say, “Hmmph. What do you expect from a poll that voted Red Lobster as ‘Best Seafood’?”

Sure, we could argue about Red Lobster’s tasty rolls, exuberant service, money-saving specials, and other things the chain has to offer, but now we don’t have to. This year, after an impressive streak of placing number one in the polls, Red Lobster didn’t even finish in the top three.

It’s only fair to point out that the Readers’ Poll has not loosed its chains completely. Of the roughly 110 restaurants that were voted into the top three, more than 20 are chains.

Best Japanese/Sushi

1. Sekisui

2. Benihana of Tokyo

3. Pacific Rim

Restaurateur Jimmy Ishii is the king of Japanese cuisine in Memphis, with sushi fanatics and tempura fans flocking to his four Memphis-area Sekisui locations. As if Ishii’s grip on first place in this category weren’t enough, his East-meets-West fusion eatery Sekisui Pacific Rim bookends the notables with a third-place finish.

Best Chef

1. Rick Farmer, Jarrett’s

2. Erling Jensen, Erling Jensen, the Restaurant — tie —

Ben Smith, Tsunami

3. Johnny Kirk, Stella

Rick Farmer preaches the gospel of buying fresh and local. He has earned a loyal following by bringing elements of classic French, Spanish, and Asian cooking to regional American cuisine. Angus filet of beef with mushroom-truffle Madeira sauce and gratin dauphinoise potatoes, anyone?

Best Lunch

1. Huey’s

2. Lenny’s Sub Shop

3. The Cupboard

No matter how hectic the work, you can always rest assured that there’s a Huey’s famous burger, amazing onion rings, and a full bar on a street corner near you.

Best Breakfast

1. Brother Juniper’s

2. Barksdale Restaurant

3. IHOP — tie — Blue Plate Cafe

On a Saturday afternoon this laid-back neighborhood breakfast joint on Walker is the hottest meal ticket in town. People from every corner of Memphis cram into Brother J’s to feast on homemade bread, fresh fruit, gourmet omeletes, and amazing whole-wheat biscuits that are denser and only slightly more precious than gold.

Best Romantic Restaurant

1. Paulette’s

2. Cielo — tie — Le Chardonnay Wine Bar & Bistro

3. Jim’s Place East — tie —

Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

Ah, romance. It makes everyone act so very French. Walking into Paulette’s is like walking into an old neighborhood restaurant on Paris’ Left Bank. Hungarian flourishes aside, that’s about as French as it gets.

Best Sunday Brunch

1. Owen Brennan’s Restaurant

2. Boscos Squared

3. Peabody Skyway

Strawberries and cream to start, followed by turtle soup, then two poached eggs on an English muffin with ham, marchands de vin sauce, a fried tomato and hollandaise, with bananas Foster for dessert. Any questions?

Best Wine List

Justin Fox Burks

1. Le Chardonnay Wine Bar & Bistro

2. McEwen’s on Monroe

3. Texas de Brazil

With more than 130 choices and an average price of $30 a bottle, what’s not to love about Le Chardonnay? And it’s so divinely dark inside.

Best Steak

1. Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

2. Ruth’s Chris Steak House

3. The Butcher Shop

The most beautiful words in the English language are “a filet mignon, piped with seasoned mushroom purée, wrapped in applewood-smoked bacon, and smothered with sautéed garlic mushrooms.” You’ll find them on the Prime Cuts menu at Folk’s Folly.

Best Barbecue

1. Central BBQ

2. Corky’s

3. The Bar-B-Q Shop

It’s not just that Central BBQ has great ‘cue, fine slaw, tasty beans, and friendly service. They’ve got great ‘cue, fine slaw, tasty beans, friendly service, and a great big deck.

Best Ribs

1. Charles Vergos’ Rendezvous

2. Corky’s

3. Central BBQ

Chomping down on a rack of spicy, chargrilled ribs at the Rendezvous is just about the single most Memphis thing a person can do. Maybe they’re the best ribs in town, maybe they aren’t. Either way, they sure enough represent. And the lamb riblets are nothing to be ashamed of, either.

Best Burger

Justin Fox Burks

Best Restaurant in Memphis

1. Huey’s

2. Back Yard Burgers

3. Dyer’s Burgers — tie — Alex’s

What, you were expecting someone different? Huey’s has so dominated this category that maybe we should change it to “Best Huey’s Burger.” The spicy Senor Huey? The guacamole-laced West Coast Burger? The extra yummy Smokey Melt? Or just the “World Famous” Huey Burger? Really, you can’t go wrong, and with seven locations in the Greater Memphis area, you never have far to go.

Best Hot Wings

1. Buffalo Wild Wings

2. D’Bo’s Buffalo Wings-N-Things

3. Hooters

In winning this category, the national chain with three East Memphis locations serves notice that men are not lured by skimpily dressed, well-endowed wait staff alone. Sometimes multiple big-screen TVs broadcasting sports, live video trivia, and crucial sauce-choice decisions are enough to keep the mind occupied.

Best Dessert

1. Paulette’s

2. Marble Slab Creamery

3. Big Foot Lodge — tie —

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery

What’s one measure of a Memphian? Answer: If you hear the term “K-Pie” and know exactly what it is and where to get it. The Kahlua-Mocha Parfait Pie at cozy Midtown bistro Paulette’s may be Memphis’ most beloved post-meal indulgence. There are also plenty of other delectables to choose from: crème brûlée, fresh Key lime pie, and various crêpes.

Best Italian

1. Ronnie Grisanti & Sons

2. Pete and Sam’s Restaurant

3. Bari Restaurant — tie —

Coletta’s Italian Restaurant

The jewel of the Grisanti family restaurant empire fits the bill whether you’re looking for red-sauce-soaked Italian basics like homemade lasagna and spaghetti or more upscale fare. And though it isn’t considered a steak house, Grisanti’s has some of the best.

Best Mexican

1. El Porton Mexican Restaurant

2. Molly Gonzales’ La Casita Mexican Restaurant

3. Taqueria La Guadalupana

In a city teeming with good Mexican restaurants, El Porton’s secret to dominance isn’t “location, location, location,” but “locations, locations, locations.” With five restaurants in the Memphis area, El Porton pulls in more burrito- and enchilada-starved diners than any Mexican eatery in town and satisfies them well enough to win this category consistently.

Best Chinese

1. PF Chang’s China Bistro

2. A-Tan’s

3. Wang’s Mandarin House

With a handsome décor and tastefully prepared variations on Chinese favorites (try the Mongolian Beef), this East Memphis-located fave is a cut above what many expect from national chains.

Best Thai

1. Bhan Thai

2. Bangkok Alley

3. Jasmine

Bhan Thai is located in a large, intimate, converted house (the former home of Maison Raji) on a largely residential stretch of Peabody in Midtown and not on any kind of restaurant row. So it’s a destination eatery — and one worth seeking out, as many Flyer readers apparently have — for its excellent cuisine.

Best Vietnamese

Justin Fox Burks

Best Burger

1. Saigon Le

2. Pho Saigon

3. Pho Hoa Binh

Though Midtown’s Cleveland Avenue corridor is bursting with good Vietnamese restaurants, this veteran establishment continues to be the standard-bearer with its generous portions of Vietnamese (and Chinese) favorites made with fresh ingredients at bargain prices. Given its proximity to the Methodist Medical Center, it’s a particularly popular lunch spot.

Best Indian

1. India Palace

2. Golden India

3. Mayuri

Is there anything quicker or tastier than an Indian lunch buffet? The colorful Midtown India Palace packs ’em in for zesty curries and tender tandoori and such flavorful off-the-menu favorites as chicken tikka masala and lamb saag.

Best Home Cooking/Soul Food

1. Gus’s Fried Chicken

2. The Cupboard

3. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store

When legendary Mason, Tennessee, fried-chicken dive Gus’s decided to franchise a few years ago, they apparently couldn’t have found a better location than downtown Memphis. The South Front Street restaurant has become an enormous hit with the downtown lunch crowd, who find Gus’s intensely spicy battered bird finger-lickin’ good.

Best Vegetarian

1. Wild Oats Market

2. Jasmine

3. Young Avenue Deli

Whether you want to showcase your own culinary skills, get prepared foods to take home for dinner, or just grab a quick eat-in bite, Wild Oats has the diversity and quality to satisfy the needs of any vegetarian or just health-conscious foodie.

Best Seafood

Justin Fox Burks

Best Vietnamese

1. Tsunami

2. Half Shell

3. Bonefish Grill

Oysters Rockefeller with Thai lemon grass, Malaysian sambal, and Japanese sake; calamari with chipotle aïoli; shrimp with mango salsa: a few reasons why Pacific Rim-inspired seafood ranks high in the kitchen at Tsunami. Ranks highest according to the taste buds of Flyer readers too.

Best Pizza

Justin Fox Burks

Best Wine List

1. Memphis Pizza Cafe

2. Pizza Hut

3. Coletta’s Italian Restaurant

Memphis Pizza Cafe made a name for itself in Overton Square. Now it’s also cookin’ out east on Park and farther east in Germantown and Cordova. Which proves that Midtowners, East Memphians, Germantowners, and Cordovans know good pizza when they see it — and taste it. Tomorrow, Collierville? The world?

Best Deli

1. Fino’s from the Hill

2. Lenny’s Sub Shop

3. Bogie’s Delicatessen

Fino’s Midtown location can’t be beat (Madison at McLean), and the sandwiches and sides and pastas can’t either. The teamwork behind the counter? Same goes. Fino’s “does” a deli proud.

Best Service

1. Texas de Brazil

2. Chick-Fil-A — tie — Houston’s

3. McEwen’s on Monroe

You see that army of waiters with the skewers, the ones walking the packed dining room of Texas de Brazil in Peabody Place downtown? Don’t say a word. Just flip the “magic” marker on your table that says “feed me,” and there you have it: meat that’s hot off the skewer and onto your plate. Flip the marker over and those watchful waiters know just what you mean: bastante!

Best Kid-Friendly Restaurant

1. Chuck E. Cheese

2. McDonald’s

3. Chick-Fil-A

Pizza, games, party! Chuck E. Cheese can handle it. Chuck E. Cheese invites it. You’re invited too.

Best Patio

1. Cafe Ole

2. Boscos Squared

3. Celtic Crossing

Memphians love a good restaurant patio. Great case in point, at the happening intersection of Cooper and Young: the patio at Cafe Ole. It’s got all the ingredients: shade trees to cool things down; strings of lights to brighten the night. Go for it, frozen or on the rocks, with or without salt, day or night.

Best Delivery

1. Camy’s

2. Garibaldi’s Pizza

3. Papa John’s

How does Camy’s do it when it comes to pizza and other goodies, year in, year out, according to our Readers’ Poll? By delivering when it absolutely, positively has to be at your door, on your plate, and in your mouth.

Best Bakery

Justin Fox Burks

Best Seafood

1. La Baguette

2. Fresh Market

3. Buns on the Run — tie —

Perkins Restaurant & Bakery

Believe it or not, there was a time in town when you couldn’t come across a decent baguette. You couldn’t come across an authentic baguette, period. La Baguette changed all that how many moons ago. It’s still the champ and not only for its baguettes. Think of La Baguette’s other traditional breads, pastries, specialty cakes, fruit tarts, and sandwiches. Flyer readers do in winning numbers.

Best Coffeehouse

1. Starbucks

2. Otherlands

3. High Point Coffee

With locations all over town, the brand-name Starbucks says it all: great coffee for customers inside and out, coming and going. For a taste of the real thing, however, try the day’s house brew without the flavorings and without the special fixins’. Something so simple … you never had it so good.

Best Restaurant in Memphis

Justin Fox Burks

Best Pizza

READERS’ CHOICE

Tsunami

Texas de Brazil

Big Foot Lodge

Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House

McEwen’s on Monroe

Plenty to chew on in this category but no clear winner.

Best New Restaurant, opened in 2006

1. Soul Fish Cafe

2. Majestic Grille

3. Pei Wei — tie — Meditrina

A hit with Memphians from the get-go, Soul Fish does it right and that goes not just for the fried catfish and hushpuppies. Try the fresh vegetables. Try the spicy chicken and pork. And relax. The atmosphere’s stylish but welcoming. And the prices? Your wallet will thank you. Thanks to owners Raymond Williams and Tiger Bryant and a terrific wait staff.

Categories
News The Fly-By

The Cheat Sheet

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

The National Rifle Association lets people pay a fee to shoot a variety of automatic and semi-automatic weapons to help raise money for St. Jude. We’ve heard about “getting the most bang for your buck.” This is the first time we’ve heard about “getting the most bucks for the bang.”

For reasons that we don’t fully understand, the owners of The Orpheum have decided the historic theater needs a new name. It was called The Orpheum when it first opened, then changed to The Malco, then changed back to The Orpheum. Maybe it’s time to change it back to The Malco?

The University of Memphis loses its fourth game of the season against East Carolina — partly because the Tiger quarterback threw five interceptions. So what does Coach Tommy West do? Fire defensive coordinator Joe Lee Dunn. Greg Cravens

Well, he had to fire somebody, and maybe this strategy will confuse their next opponent, which just happens to be the UT Vols, ranked 15th in the nation. Or maybe not.

Thomas Kinkade, who has made a fortune as “The Painter of Light,” comes to Memphis to paint Graceland. We’re thinking sky blue would be nice, maybe with white trim. What’s that? He’s going to do a painting of the house? Oh. Well, that’s good, too.

Categories
Editorial Opinion

Welcoming Mr. Bush

As we go to press, President George W. Bush is due for an imminent set-down in Memphis, his second such visit this year. The first occasion was the president’s journey to Graceland, back in June, in tandem with the Japanese prime minister, Junichiro Koizumi, a well-known Elvis fan. That was Mr. Bush at his best — accommodating, gracious, and rendering a public service — both to Koizumi and to our fair city, which, let us not deny, benefited from the publicity.

This week’s visit is designed to assist former Chattanooga mayor Bob Corker, the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate and a candidate who is struggling just now. The president appeared with Corker in Nashville some weeks ago, and this Memphis reprise, for a fund-raiser, confirms what we had begun to fear: namely, that Corker, whom we had invested some hope in as a political moderate, has chosen to stay the course he charted during the Republican primary as a faux right-winger whose attacks on “liberal” Harold Ford Jr., his Democratic opponent, derive from the unscrupulous school of veteran Bush-meister Karl Rove.

We concur with former Congressman Harold Ford Sr. that his son, now surging ahead of Corker in the polls, profits to the degree that Corker is caught in this unholy embrace and only lament that the younger Ford himself feels compelled — no doubt for strategic reasons in red-state Tennessee — to keep professing affection for “my president.”

Like everybody else, we have to buy gasoline and have noticed the recent decline in prices at the pump. Cynically, we can’t help wondering if that isn’t the result of some pre-election collusion between the administration and the oil companies. If so, and if that’s the best Rove and Bush can do by way of an October Surprise, then we suspect that the real surprise on November 7th will be all theirs, and it won’t be a pleasant one for them.

We wonder, too, if the recent forthrightness shown by individuals as diverse as former President Bill Clinton and TV commentator Keith Olbermann isn’t a truer indication of a revised national mood than anything the polls might say. Did we enjoy Clinton’s recent trashing of Fox News anchor Chris Wallace for attempting “a nice little conservative hit job” on the president’s efforts against al-Qaeda? We did. Did we further enjoy the resulting commentary by Olbermann in which the MSNBC sage (a miraculous blend of Edward R. Murrow, David Letterman, and Cicero) accused Bush of attempting to “hide your failures by blaming your predecessor”?

Oh, we did, we did. And, above all, we enjoyed Olbermann’s climactic statement, in which, we believe, he spoke for the emerging American majority: “The ‘free pass’ has been withdrawn, Mr. Bush.” We could only hope that our two senatorial hopefuls come to see that as clearly as have Clinton and Olbermann.