Month: July 2019

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Heaven — A New Downtown Coffee Shop

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Heaven

Michael Donahue

Richard Baldwin

Everyone now can go to Heaven. It’s at 333 Adams, at Danny Thomas Boulevard.

“Heaven” is an “upscale trendy coffee shop,” says owner Richard Baldwin. “It’s in a tri-level building, 5,000 square feet. It’s not your typical no-elbow-room coffee shop with not much room to maneuver. ‘I can’t back up my chair because I’ll back into the person sitting directly behind me.’ You know how coffee shops are.”

It’s certainly not tight at the spacious, beautifully-decorated shop, which opened July 23rd. The wall colors are brown and brick red or “sweet molasses.” The first floor includes an area with plush chairs that can be reserved for meetings by those who don’t have enough office space, Baldwin says.

The downstairs space includes six tables with chairs and a counter with stools. The roomy upstairs area includes a stage, where live music is slated to be performed on selected weekends.

Food is also available at Heaven. The menu includes a selection of paninis (spinach, Italian, Mediterranean, American) as well as pancakes, pies, salads, and smoothies. Whether it’s a latte or one of their “amazing” Greek salads, Baldwin says Heaven provides “a different avenue to explore as far as lunch craving.”

Baldwin says he was living in Atlanta when his business partner saw the building and asked him if he wanted to move to Memphis and open a coffee shop. Obviously, the answer was yes.

For more information about Heaven, including menu, Saturday event rentals, etc: www.heavenmemphis.com

MIchael Donahue

Heaven

Michael Donahue

Brittany Taylor at Heaven

Michael Donahue

Richard Baldwin

Categories
News News Blog

New Fund Would Help Mitigate Disasters Along Mississippi River

Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative

Mayor Rick Eberlin of Grafton, Illinois pilots a boat full of media during a press tour of flooded areas of his city.

This year has been the longest and largest flood season for the entire 31-state Mississippi River Basin, and leaders there want new tools to help them mitigate flood disasters and more.

Mayors in the Mississippi River Valley estimate disaster-related losses in their cities are above $2 billion. The flooding, for example, has damaged homes, temporarily displaced families, and delayed farmers’ planting at record levels, according to the Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative (MRCTI).

Check out MRCTI’s full report on flooding here:
[pdf-1]
Cities along the river also need to be prepared for wildfires, earthquakes, storm surge, chemical spills, and more, the group said Wednesday.

Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative

Satellite image shows the Mississippi River swelling below Memphis.

The group says it needs access to funds to allow their cities to clean up disasters and help prevent them in the future. A new bill introduced Wednesday could give it to them. The Resilience Revolving Loan Fund (RRF) Act was filed by U.S. Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minnesota) and Rodney Davis (R-Illinois).

“From the drought of 2012 to the excessive heatwave that gripped our area last week, Iowa has seen several multi-century events stack up and worsen over the past few years,” said Mayor Frank Klipsch of Davenport, Iowa. “We need solutions to these impacts that are different than the same old conventional approach — we need real innovation. The RRF provides a new tool to help us prepare.”
Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative

Clarksville, Missouri uses temporary flood structures to save their downtown as the Mississippi River moves up Main Street.

Red Wing, Minnesota Mayor Sean Dowse called the fund “good fiscal policy.” He said taxpayers get a $6 return for every $1 invested in disaster-resilience programs and mitigation efforts.

Greenville, Mississippi Mayor Errick Simmons said the “Delta has been flood-fighting nonstop for nearly nine months.”

“If we are going to preserve and enhance our economy, we will need to achieve real resilience,” Simmons said. “Some of the most vulnerable communities to climate risk are in the South. Alleviating vulnerability means no longer approaching solutions just inside our backyard, but at regional and corridor scale.”

Mississippi River Cities & Towns Initiative

Satellite image shows the Mississippi River swelling near St. Louis.

Categories
News News Blog

CannaBeat: Feds Review Decriminalization, Access to Banks

Cohen and the MORE Act

Cannabis would be decriminalized nationwide and cannabis charges would be re-sentenced if a new federal law is passed.

Rep. Steve Cohen [D-Memphis] introduced the Marijuana Opportunity and Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act Wednesday. He is joined on the bill by Rep. Jerrold Nadler [R-NY] and Sen. Kamala Harris [D-California].

The bill removes cannabis from the Controlled Substances Act, in which it is now labeled a Schedule I drug. This move would apply retroactively to prior and pending convictions. It requires federal courts to expunge prior cannabis convictions and allows prior offenders to request expungement. It also requires courts to conduct re-sentencing hearings for those still under supervision.

The bill would also open up federal public benefits (like housing) to those with past cannabis convictions.

“Currently, our laws treat marijuana as more dangerous than cocaine, methamphetamine, or fentanyl,” Cohen said. “This harsh policy has torn apart families and neighborhoods, and disproportionately impacted communities of color.

“The MORE Act will fix this and give us a sensible and workable cannabis policy. Importantly, the bill helps invests in the communities and people who have be most harmed by the War on Drugs.”

The MORE Act would also create a more-open environment for cannabis businesses. It would open up Small Business Administration funding for cannabis companies and service providers. The act would create a 5-percent federal tax on cannabis products.
[pullquote-2] Those funds would create the Opportunity Trust Fund. The fund would help provide services to those “most adversely impacted by the War on Drugs.” Services include job training, re-entry services, legal aid, literacy programs, youth recreation, mentoring, and substance use treatment. The fund would remove barriers to the same group of people for business loans licenses in the cannabis industry.

“Times have changed — marijuana should not be a crime,” said Sen. Harris. “We need to start regulating marijuana, and expunge marijuana convictions from the records of millions of Americans so they can get on with their lives.

“As marijuana becomes legal across the country, we must make sure everyone — especially communities of color that have been disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs — has a real opportunity to participate in this growing industry.”

Banking on Cannabis

A Senate panel heard testimony Tuesday on the challenges cannabis companies face without access to banks.

Running cash-only businesses is a security risk for owners and potential owners have trouble raising capital. Also, any proceeds from cannabis-related activities remain subject to U.S. anti-money-laundering laws.

The hearing was called “Challenges for Cannabis and Banking: Outside Perspectives.” In it, bankers and cannabis companies said federal laws now hamstring what could be a massive market opportunity.

Watch the full hearing here.

Rachel Pross, Chief Risk Officer of Maps Credit Union, said her bank has tried to overcome some of those challenges for cannabis companies in Oregon. It is the only bank in Oregon that has served the industry since 2014, when cannabis was first legalized in the state. It is now one of the largest cannabis banks in the country.

Pross said a Wharton School of Business report found that, in the absence of having a bank, one in every two cannabis dispensaries were robbed or burglarized — with the average thief walking away with anywhere from $20,000 to $50,000 in a single theft.
[pullquote-1] “In 2017 and 2018 alone, Maps received well over $529 million in cash deposits from cannabis businesses,” Pross said. “So far this year, we’ve received another $169 million in cash deposits — meaning that we are on track to remove over $860 million in cash from the sidewalks of Oregon’s communities in just three years.

“That’s millions of dollars that used to be carried around in backpacks and shoeboxes by legitimate, legal business owners in the state of Oregon, making them prime targets for thieves and other criminals.”

Sen. Mike Crapo [R-Idaho] was the only Republican member of the committee to attend the hearing. The banking situation for cannabis companies now reminded Crapo of 2013’s Operation Choke Point. That federal operation targeted firearm dealers, payday lenders, and other companies believed to be at higher risk for fraud and money laundering.

“I have said this many times and I will say it again, Operation Choke Point was deeply concerning because law-abiding businesses were targeted strictly for operating in an industry that some in the government disfavored,” Crapo said. “Under fear of retribution, many banks have stopped providing financial services to members of these lawful industries for no reason other than political pressure, which takes the guise of regulatory and enforcement scrutiny.”

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Best Bets: The Sippi at Clancy’s Cafe

CREDIT: MIchael Donahue

MIchael Donahue

The Sippi at Clancy’s Cafe in Red Banks, Mississippi.

While I recently was on vacation, I tried a fabulous Southern culinary item.

Barbecue? Fried dill pickles? Pimento cheese?

Yes.

The Sippi is all of that. And it’s delicious. But you have to travel about 20 minutes from Memphis to try one. Tyler Clancy put this sandwich together at his restaurant, Clancy’s Cafe in Red Banks, Mississippi.

They run The Sippi as a special, but it’s going on the menu in September, Clancy says.

He describes The Sippi as “everything that is Mississippi in a bun, basically. Pimento cheese — the unofficial state dish. Fried dill pickles, being created at The Hollywood in Robinsonville, Mississippi. Pulled pork barbecue.”

These were all items Clancy already had on hand. “We’ve always done barbecue. We had fried dill pickles on the menu since day one. Pimento cheese from catering events.”

He originally made The Sippi as a special two years ago. “The flavors all worked well. It took off,” Clancy says.

Clancy smokes his own pork, he says: “We smoke all our meats on site.”

He uses extra sharp white and extra sharp yellow in his pimento cheese. He grates his own cheese. “We get 10 pound blocks,” Clancy says.

And, he says, “Instead of pimentos, we use roasted red peppers.”

Also, “Our blackening season for our fish. We put that in there.”

And Clancy adds, “Texas Pete hot sauce. It’s the best hot sauce you can get.”

Clancy uses Clausen pickles for his fried dill pickles, which are hand battered in house.

To top off the sandwich, Clancy uses his “sweet Sippi” barbecue sauce, which is tomato-based and includes brown sugar.

Everything just comes together. “The saltiness of the pickles, the sweetness of the sauce, the smokiness from the meat, and the crispy texture of the fried pickles,” Clancy says.

The only thing missing in The Sippi is fried chicken.

Clancy’s Cafe is at 4078 MS-178, Red Banks, Mississippi; (662)-252-7502


Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Mike Miller’s Let It Fly Sports Bar slated to open August 26th

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Mike Miller and David Rodriguez at the Let It Fly Sports Bar media party.

Guests got a sneak peek at Mike Miller’s Let It Fly Sports Bar, where guests will soon be able to eat, drink, and game.

Asked what he wanted the place to be, Miller, Memphis Tigers assistant college basketball coach and former Memphis Grizzlies player, says, “The city’s restaurant. The city’s bar.”

With the emphasis on? “Fun. Good food and fun.”

The media night party, which was held July 23rd at the restaurant at 9091 Poplar in Germantown, emphasized fun and food. Food included a whole hog and the trimmings by Melissa Cookston of Memphis Barbecue Company. Charvey Mac provided the entertainment.

Let It Fly president David Rodriguez says the new venue, which is slated to open August 26th, will serve “elevated food. High-end food and drink.”

Entertainment will include 29 TVs, which sounds staggering for a 4,500 square-foot space.

Let It Fly also will feature two full swing golf simulators, which were up and running at the party.

As for the food, executive chef Rickey Lesley says they will feature a slider bar where guests can create their own sliders, which will be made on site. “We will build it for you,” Lesley says.

These will include sliders made of brisket, chicken, and pulled pork. Let It Fly is partnering with Cookston.

The restaurant also will offer pizzas and 15 different varieties of hot wings.

One of the elevated ingredients used at the restaurant will be “seasoned lime sour cream and homemade salsa,” Lesley says.

Ken Ratliff is Let It Fly CFO and Shellie Kenton is general manager.

MIchael Donahue

Let It Fly Sports Bar media party.

Michael Donahue

Let It Fly Sports Bar media party.

Michael Donahue

Ken Ratliff, Shellie Kenton, David Rodriguez, and Rickey Lesley at the Let It Fly Sports Bar media party.

Michael Donahue

Melissa Cookston at the Let It Fly Sports Bar media party.

MIchael Donahue

Let It Fly Sports Bar media party.

Michael Donahue

Let It Fly Sports Bar media party.


Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Memphis Chef Keith Clinton Will Be on Guy’s Grocery Games

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

Keith Clinton, chef de cuisine at Erling Jensen: The Restaurant, will compete on ‘Guy’s Grocery Games.’

Watch Memphis chef Keith Clinton in action at 8 p.m. July 24th on Guy’s Grocery Games on The Food Network.

Clinton, chef de cuisine at Erling Jensen: The Restaurant, is one of the contestants on the show, which is hosted by Guy Fieri.

Four chefs compete for $20,000 in three elimination challenges testing their culinary schools as they dash through the aisles of a grocery store. Each challenge features a theme, which could be something like preparing a dish using only frozen food items.

Guests judges determine who is eliminated. The chef who makes it through all three challenges is given two minutes to go through the aisles collecting items on a shopping list. Each item is worth $2,000. If a chef gets every item on the list, they’re awarded $20,000.

“They just called the restaurant and said, ‘I see you’re doing some interesting things on Instagram and Facebook. We’re just wondering who’s the chef there and what’s going on,’” says Clinton. “Just my posts on Facebook and Instagram through Erling’s account grabbed their attention, and they called. Erling answered and shot him over to me.”

Ironically, when Jensen got the phone call, Clinton was trying to get him over to the TV in the bar, where an interview with the two of them was on a local TV news show.

“They didn’t tell us what we were doing ’til the day we got there,” Clinton says.

So, where will Clinton be the night of the show, which was taped? “I’ll be at work. And I’m sure it’ll be playing at the bar. I’ll have to watch it when I get home. So, I guess I’ll record it.”

Keith Clinton and Guy Fieri on ‘Guy’s Grocery Games.’


Keith Clinton on ‘Guy’s Grocery Games.’

Keith Clinton on ‘Guy’s Grocery Games.’

Categories
News News Blog

Innovative “SilentHike” Event Coming to Big River Crossing

CREDIT: MindTravel/YouTube

MindTravel/YouTube

A recent SilentHike event in New York City.

A new “meditative musical experience” invites hikers across Big River Crossing while they listen to a “silent” piano concert through wireless headphones.

Concert pianist Murray Hidary will bring his SilentHike concept to Memphis on Saturday, August 10th at 6 p.m. The hike is a part of Hidary’s overall MindTravel experiences.

“MindTravel brings together Murray’s passions for contemporary classical music, visual art, theoretical physics, and wisdom traditions,” reads the website. “They are the four pillars of an integrated experience that seeks to explore an understanding of the universe at both the visible and hidden levels.”

To learn more, here’s Hidary’s TEDx Talk on it:

Innovative ‘SilentHike’ Event Coming to Big River Crossing (2)

The Memphis event is part of a 21-city tour of SilentHikes with walks through the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Detroit’s Riverwalk, Hunter Creek Trail in Aspen, Portland’s Forest Park, and more.

“During the SilentHike session, MindTravelers will wear wireless headphones and embark on a hike with music, guidance, and thoughtful commentary from Hidary,” reads a news release from MindTravel. “The hike will culminate in a ‘silent’ piano concert in the gardens.

“All the components — music, words, silence, visual cues — work synergistically to help participants connect with themselves and the world around them.”

Here’s what it looks like:

Innovative ‘SilentHike’ Event Coming to Big River Crossing

Played via a recording of Hidary, “the evocative, improvisational piano music ignites freedom and expansiveness that amplifies the healing and inspirational power of being surrounded by beauty.”

The event will begin with a short introduction and intention-setting session. The group will don their headphones at dusk for views of the Mississippi River and Mighty Lights.

MindTravel

Hidary playing during an event.

“All of the elements work together to create a contemplative and powerful creative journey, all while enveloped in the transcendent sounds of the beautiful, original MindTravel compositions,” the company says.

The event is free but you have to register if you want to reserve some headphones. 

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Atomic Rose Opening Wednesday

CREDIT: Atomic Rose

Atomic Rose

Atomic Rose, a new LGBTQ+-friendly restaurant and dance club Downtown is set to open Wednesday, July 24th.

The club, located at Second and Lt. George W. Lee Downtown, is taking over the former Purple Haze nightclub property.

The restaurant will serve entrees like fried shrimp, Atomic Stir Fry, and ribeye until 11 p.m., according to Valerie Morris, who is handling the marketing for the restaurant. All entrees come with a salad and bread. Appetizers and “munchies” will also be on the menu, including dishes like chili cheese fries, chicken quesadillas, and homemade mozzarella cheese balls.

Sandwich options will include the Atomic hamburger, spicy grilled chicken, and the Atomic Club.

Atomic Rose also plans to serve soups and salads including House, Chef, grilled chicken, as well as homemade chicken noodle soup, chili, and a “secret gumbo recipe.”

Atomic Rose


The club will host a “mix of high-energy entertainment” five nights a week, such as karaoke, drag shows, and dancing.

To celebrate its grand opening and National Tequila Day, Atomic Rose will be offering two-for-one tequila drinks until 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Atomic Rose will be open Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4:30 p.m. to 2 a.m.; Fridays from 4:30 p.m. to 3 a.m.; Saturdays from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m.; Sundays 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.; and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

High Cotton’s Irish Red is a Taste of the Auld Sod

European heat waves are not impressive, at least not for humans born and bred in the American South. My brother just got back from the south of France and pronounced it “about like here.” Still, all things are relative, and in Ireland the mercury is up politically as well. They find themselves the linchpin of a “will they or won’t they?” Brexit deal. It’s all heady stuff but almost certainly not what the good people at High Cotton Brewing were thinking when they brewed up their Red Ale.

It is a style of beer that has its origins in Ireland. And in a very Irish twist, no one seems to have written down the recipe. It’s one of those varieties that just evolved over time — in a hundred different ways. Smithwick’s, which is available in Memphis, might be sold as a red ale here but not back home. In fact, in Dublin, if you order a red ale, chances are you’ll get a blank look. In the old country, it’s just known as Irish ale. This is either because it is so commonplace they didn’t feel the need to specify, or its initials — IRA — are the same shorthand they use for the Irish Republican Army. Be warned that if you stroll into a pub in Belfast and order a round of that, you are likely to get arrested. And there is no point starting an international incident before you’ve got a decent buzz going.

The Irish red ale isn’t particularly bitter. Hops aren’t native to the Emerald Isle, and so the use of hops in brewing is a relatively new thing. The Irish consider hoppy ales — like IPAs — a little too British. Of course, just because ingredients are local doesn’t make them good. (I don’t know if you can actually make beer out of peat, but I’m sure it’s been tried.) At any rate, these red ales feature kilned malts and a roasted barley that’s responsible for its reddish color.

If you want a great local example of the style, hoof yourself down to the High Cotton Brewery for a pint or growler of their version of the red ale (called simply High Cotton Red Ale), currently on tap. The High Cotton expression is a red ale that’s easy to drink, slightly malty and toasty. It is hopped, just a touch, but that’s not why you’re there. It’s a good summer brew that lets you quaff down a pint of the Irish luck without having to wrestle with a heavy, foamy stout that will fill you up like a keg.

It’s got a low ABV and a clean enough finish to make it “sessionable,” which is silly beer-speak for “you can drink a bucket of the stuff without getting three sheets to the wind.” It has a little spice to make it interesting but is also a beer that will pair with just about anything you’re inclined to pair with a beer, whether it’s a good old American cheeseburger or something more on theme, like fish and chips.

Beware of imitations, though. Because red ales are so mild and easy-drinking, Coors has gotten away with its George Killian Irish Red for years, but it’s actually a lager. There is nothing inherently wrong or deceitful about this, but I thought you should know. The name, incidentally, is used only in the North American market.

In sum, Irish ale is called red ale in America, and High Cotton has a fine example of the style in its Edge District taproom. You’ll note that I haven’t once mentioned green beer, which is usually Natural Light with food coloring. That’s not Irish; that’s not even Irish-American. That’s just waves of all-American mutts pretending to make a cultural salute so they can get blotto and make some attempt to get the ladies to dress like sexy leprechauns one day a year.

Which, if you stop and think about it, is fairly deranged behavior.

Categories
Opinion Viewpoint

Millington: One of Tennessee’s Five Best Cities to Live In

Franklin, Millington, Germantown, Brentwood, Collierville. What do these five Tennessee cities have in common? And how does Millington, with its unpretentious middle-class roots, come to be in that exalted company of posh bedroom suburbs?

Terry Roland

The list of Tennessee’s “best cities to live in” is hot off the press, and it comes from ChamberofCommerce.org, a national support organization for America’s numerous Chamber entities. Here was their methodology: “We ranked a total of 2,509 qualified cities (those with populations above 25,000 and enough data for analysis) by five factors: employment (number of establishments, median earnings); housing (owner-occupied housing with a mortgage, monthly housing costs); quality of life (work commute, poverty levels); education (percentage with a bachelor’s degree or higher); and health (obesity ratios).”

Franklin, described as “an affluent, fast-growing city of nearly 81,000 in Williamson County,” gets the award as “the best Tennessee city to live in.” And next comes Millington, “a small city in the southwest corner of the state that is best known as home to the Naval Support Activity Mid-South naval base, which provides over 7,000 jobs to residents in the area and is one of the largest employers in Tennessee.”

Trailing behind are Germantown, Brentwood, and Collierville, in that order, and beneath them are the also-rans, with Memphis finishing 24th and the other major regional municipality, Jackson, coming in at 34.

Now you might understand why, in the aftermath of my lost race for Shelby County mayor last year, I described my coming to be the executive vice-president of the Millington Chamber of Commerce as “probably the best thing that ever happened to me in my life.”

Here’s a checklist that resulted from me asking a few fellow Millingtonians to do some modest bragging about our city at a Chamber luncheon earlier this year.

Mayor Terry Jones started things off by talking about a few of the city improvement projects under way: a wastewater treatment plant here, new traffic lights there, road construction on major thoroughfares, street improvements, work started on a soon-to-be five-lane bridge, a new fire station, Waffle House, Arby’s, and numerous other franchises coming in, grading projects, and a new recreational center, including an amphitheater, planned for the southern approaches to the city. 

Quite properly, Mayor Jones credited our city manager, Ed Haley, our Industrial Development Board (IDB), and the Millington Board of Aldermen for their sterling advance preparation and work on these projects.

Next up was Charles Gulotta of the IDB, a man I call my mentor. He talked at length about our latest pride and joy, the new 53-megawatt solar farm built on city-owned turf in tandem with Silicon Ranch Inc. and TVA. Opened in April, the farm is three-and-a-half times the size of any other such facility in Tennessee and can generate enough power for 7,500 homes.

One of our assets is an abundance of land, enough to have created space for a new, 135,000-square-foot retail development called The Shops of Millington and the impressive new $25 million thoroughfare, Veterans Parkway, where the Chamber office is.   

As Gulotta pointed out, we sold 28 acres to Roadmasters for developing a truck-driving school to produce some of the estimated 50,000 commercial drivers needed in the country. And we have unparalleled access to major state and federal roadways.

Did we lose some momentum when the old Naval Air Station closed down a couple of decades back? We did, but the surviving installation, known as Naval Support Activity Mid-South, remains our largest employer, and its retiring personnel are a prime source of new, skilled workforce for this region.

There are also the airport facilities, which the Navy deeded over to the city, including an 8,000-foot-long runway, the third longest in Tennessee. What is now called Millington-Memphis Airport is an ever-developing facility with an economic impact of $14 million a year.

We’ve got a lot more on our brag list, including a thriving new city-run public school system and such intangibles as the weekly dances held on Saturday nights at Millington’s Strand Theater, featuring professional players and a musical prodigy or two.We’re grateful to ChamberofCommerce.org for telling the world about us. Come take a look for yourself. We’re only 20 minutes from Downtown Memphis.

Terry Roland, a Millington businessman and former Shelby County commissioner, is executive vice-president of the Millington Chamber of Commerce.