Month: November 2020

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Sink Your Teeth into Bluff City Toffee

CREDIT: Bob Bayne Photography

Stephanie Upshaw’s sweet tooth led to a business she could sink her teeth into.

Founder of Bluff City Toffee, Upshaw says, “I’ve been making toffee for 30 years for friends and family. Just my go-to holiday recipe that I make. Four years ago, I decided to turn it into a business.”

Upshaw, who sells her toffee online, opened her first brick-and-mortar retail store November 17th at 5160 Sanderlin in Racquet Club Plaza.

“I’ve always had a terrible sweet tooth,” says Upshaw, who moved to Memphis from Louisville when she was in the sixth grade.

Bob Bayne Photography

Bluff City Toffee

Apparently, the rest of her family also had an affinity for sugar. “When we were growing up, my mother would have all-dessert dinners,” she says. “It would be no-bake cookies, pecan pie, and peanut butter fudge. I loved those special nights. It didn’t happen very often.”

Upshaw, who worked in corporate jobs most of her professional life, began cooking when she was at Deluxe Check Printers in Nashville. “When I graduated from the University of Memphis, my first job was in Nashville. And I started cooking with a friend of mine.”

That’s when she began making toffee. “We would have cooking days, and that’s what I would do.”

Eight years later, Upshaw moved to Grainger, where she worked for 20 years. One day while she was cooking toffee, a friend called and asked if she’d be interested in making batches of toffee for client gifts. “I think it was maybe 50 or 60 orders. I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh. I can’t cook that much.’ But I did. One thing led to another. I looked into packaging, branding. I said, ‘I’m going to try this.’

“My daughter had gone to college, and I wanted to do something different. I’d been making this [toffee] and decided to make a run for it. I started Bluff City Toffee. That was in 2016. I loved the idea of starting a business.”

Upshaw, who began working out of a commercial kitchen, made batches of her toffee for bazaars and other functions. “That year, I started making my nutrition panels, started working with food scientists to understand shelf life.”

She began getting Bluff City Toffee in retail stores. Buster’s Liquors & Wines was first. Now, she says, “I’m in about 15 retail stores.”

Upshaw, who wants to ultimately build a kitchen at her store, wanted a “fulfillment center” where she could fill her online orders as well as provide a retail space for walk-ins and pick-up orders. The store is open from 1 to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. “That will run through the holiday season. And then by appointment.”

She makes English toffee. “I feel like I just associate the holidays with English toffee.” It’s “a softer toffee, and it doesn’t stick to your teeth. It’s handcrafted, small-batch. It’s not mass-produced. The texture of the toffee is what I find people love the most.”

Her toffee is “so simple” to make, Upshaw says. It only takes four ingredients: butter, sugar, pecans, and chocolate. “It’s tricky to cook because of the heat.”

But, she says, “Less is more.”

Upshaw, who tweaked the recipe over the years, originally made milk chocolate pecan toffee. She now includes a dark chocolate toffee with sea salt. “So many people requested it. I use Ghirardelli’s chocolate. It’s my favorite. It’s not bitter.”

And people love it, she says. “Milk chocolate is what put me on the map, but during the holiday season, the dark chocolate flies off the shelf.”

Upshaw branched out this year and began making toffee popcorn. She coats the popcorn with the base that she uses for her toffee and adds peanuts.

So, how much toffee does Upshaw, with her sweet tooth, consume?

“I’m trying to get out of quality control. To watch the waistline, I had to back off a bit.”

To order Bluff City Toffee, call (901) 486-8500, go to bluffcitytoffee.com, or email hello@bluffcitytoffee.com.

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Kudos to Lamar

In March 1995, I had multiple media obligations, one of which was that of regional correspondent for Time magazine. The magazine was generous to its scrubs, never more so than when it asked me to accompany Tennessee’s own Lamar Alexander on his announcement tour for a run for the presidency in 1996.

The tour began in Alexander’s hometown of Maryville, and it ended in Florida after a week’s travel to stops in Iowa, New Hampshire, Texas, and several other states where the then-ex-governor would be on the GOP primary ballot the next year.

The nature of such tours is that the candidate, accompanied by his campaign entourage and a press pack, flies to pre-planned venues and makes the same speech over and over.

Alexander’s themes were typically Republican ones of the time (holding down taxes and deficits) and were couched in generalities. At one point along the route, as I reported to Time, he got a phone call of encouragement from Ross Perot, the third option from the presidential race of 1992. (Asked about that on C-Span later that week, Perot clammed up, other than to grouse about “some reporter evidently sitting too close on the plane.” Actually, it had been an ad hoc chartered bus. In any case, I basked.)

Two points continually repeated by the candidate stood out — his lamentation that school kids no longer felt free to take a pocketknife to school (an obvious metaphor whose import escaped me) and his insistence on abolishing the Department of Education (an odd position, I thought, for a recent former U.S. Education Secretary and UT president).

I was most impressed (and grateful) at a meet-and-greet at the Sioux City airport when, in sub-freezing temperature, Alexander’s speech, in its entirety, went: “I know you all want your next president to be a man of good judgment. My judgment tells me we’ve got to get in out of this weather.” Much more than the pocketknife thing, that made for a human connection.

It seemed natural then — as it has ever since — to think of this personable man as Lamar, especially since his given name, plus an exclamation mark, was in fact his campaign slogan, festooned on bumper stickers, wall signs, and everything else.

He came close to making it all the way in the Republican primary, being edged out in the last week of the New Hampshire primary by Bob Dole, who paid for a blizzard of last-minute TV commercials attacking Alexander, improbably, as a mad taxer.

I always thought of Alexander as an executive personality and later, when he mounted a political comeback as a senatorial candidate, wondered how good a fit the legislative role would be for him. Even now, with the three-term senator retiring, I still wonder, since so much of that job consists of toeing, or having to confront, a party line laid down by somebody else. The senator’s problems of that sort became acute under the yoke of Donald Trump, and never more so than when Trump was defeated for re-election and seemed determined to ignore that reality and to fight to remain in office.

Lamar’s first few responses to that were hamstrung to the point of setting the bar for forthrightness at ground level. Example: “If there is any chance whatsoever that Joe Biden will be the next president, and it looks like he has a very good chance, the Trump Administration should provide the Biden team with all transition materials, resources, and meetings necessary to ensure a smooth transition so that both sides are ready on day one.”

If? Both sides? This was two weeks after the election, when there was no mystery whatsoever as to who had won.

More Lamar: “Al Gore finally conceded 37 days after the 2000 election, and then made the best speech of his life accepting the result.”

That’s a false equivalence if there ever was one. There were some 537 votes at issue between Gore and George W. Bush, in one state, Florida — unlike the many tens of thousands of votes dividing Biden from Trump in multiple swing states!

This week, Lamar got closer: “Since it seems apparent that Joe Biden will be the president-elect, my hope is that President Trump will take pride in his considerable accomplishments, put the country first, and have a prompt and orderly transition to help the new administration succeed.”

Leaving aside those “considerable accomplishments,” that was pretty much on target. Congratulations, Senator Alexander, and thanks.. As you concluded, “When you are in public life, people remember the last thing you do.”

Categories
We Recommend We Recommend

WinterArts Holiday Artists Market Kicks Off this Weekend

CREDIT: Facebook/WinterArts

If you think winter is coming, Jon Snow, you’re wrong. It’s here. You are going to need a dragon, or whatever crazy creature that artist Becky Zee has imagined into existence from her Pots with Personality studio. I hear she’s got a new one named Gordo that might be ready for the 2020 WinterArts holiday artists market.

This curated show and sale highlights some of the finest artists, makers, and craftspeople in our region.

Artists like Michael Talbot, who will be showcasing his Shaker Boxes, work tirelessly at their craft in preparation for the show. The boxes are made of thin, curved wood sheets and fitted with tops. The antique painted poplar wood boxes will be sold individually and in stacks.

Facebook/WinterArts

All I want for Christmas is Gordo the dragon.

“After being cut in a strip, the wood goes in for a 14-minute steam bath. Then it is wrapped to the drying form. Santa’s shop is really a mess during this busy time,” says Talbot.

Look for fiber wearable art, too. Vickie Vipperman is part of a movement called “slow cloth” that promotes sustainable practices and values high quality over large quantity. She weaves and dyes from her home studio using mostly silk, cotton, bamboo, and hemp yarns. Like many of the artists at the market, due to the custom aspects of her work, she only sells at shows like WinterArts.

Find these and many other exceptional and unique handcrafted works in glass, metal, wood, fiber, and clay, plus jewelry and more.

WinterArts, Shops of Saddle Creek, 7509 Poplar in former Sur La Table location, starts Saturday, Nov. 28, and continues through Friday, Dec. 25, free entry.

Categories
Cover Feature News

Give Memphis! Great Local Gift Ideas for the Holidays

CREDIT: Greg Cravens

Greg Cravens

If 2020 has proven anything, it’s that we need to come together to support our community — the health, happiness, and longevity of our fellow Memphians count on it now more than ever. While we may not be able to gather with friends and family for gift exchanges like we have in the past, we can still lift their spirits with thoughtful presents that help our local restaurants, retail outlets, and entrepreneurs keep doing what they do. Think local this season!

A Box of Magic

Have a giftee in your life who seeks to better understand their own power, to look within and outside for growth and restoration? Give them a box of magic, or as Sami Harvey, owner of Foxglove Pharm, calls it: a Coven Box.

“I’ve always been amazed by Mother Nature’s ability to heal, and I love finding new ways to use her ingredients to solve my problems,” Harvey says. “I started Foxglove Pharm in 2017 because I wanted to share some of those solutions with my community.”

Each subscription box ($40/month) includes a rotating variety of handcrafted herbal “remeteas” (About Last Night: Hangover Tea, Out of the Blue: Third Eye Tea, and others), scented oils, Resting Witch Face skincare products, rituals, and more special items that “honor the moon, the current astrological phase, and a featured plant.”

Sami Harvey

Each month, she partners with another local maker or small business to spotlight their wares. For her Foxglove offerings, Harvey is “the only witch in the kitchen,” so the products are small-batch and made with “ethically sourced, organic, sustainable ingredients.”

Regarding the rituals included in a box (or separately on the website), Harvey says, “These aren’t like supernatural spells that will destroy all your enemies and turn Michelle Obama into your BFF. But they’re ways to meditate and channel your energy into manifesting a better reality for yourself. The real magic ingredient is you and your intention.”

Visit foxglovepharm.com to order a Coven Box and shop products. — Shara Clark

Feed an Artist

The old cliché about “starving artists” has seldom been more true. Buying art is often the last thing folks are thinking about during tough times like these, but our Memphis painters and sculptors and photographers — and their galleries — have bills to pay, just like the rest of us. That’s why this might be a great year to put a new painting on your wall, or gift someone a work of art so they’ll be reminded of you every day.

Courtesy Jay Etkin Gallery

Untitled by John Ryan

There are many fine galleries in Memphis. Here are just a few: L Ross, David Lusk, Jay Etkin, Crosstown Arts, Orange Mound Gallery, Art Village, Cooper-Young Gallery, and B. Collective. Artists featured include Matthew Hasty, Jeanne Seagle, John Ryan, Mary Long, Roy Tamboli, Eunika Rogers, Cat Pena, Yancy Villa-Calvo, Hamlett Dobbins, Anne Siems, Tim Craddock, and many, many more. In addition, many galleries are featuring special holiday shows.

End what has been a nightmarish year on an upbeat note: Buy a piece of art. It’s good for your heart. — Bruce VanWyngarden

Let Them Eat Cake

I’d be happy to receive a Memphis Bourbon Caramel Cake from Sugar Avenue Bakery, either in or out of my stocking. This is the Sugar Avenue collaboration with Old Dominick Distillery.

Just listening to Sugar Avenue owner Ed Crenshaw describe the six-inch cake makes me crave a slice or three: “The cake is four layers. Each layer is literally soaked in a bourbon caramel sauce. And then our caramel icing, which we make from scratch.”

Courtesy Ben Fant

Sugar Avenue cake

Sugar Avenue worked with Old Dominick’s master distiller/senior vice president Alex Castle to come up with the perfect blend of cake and bourbon. Old Dominick’s Huling Station Straight Bourbon Whiskey was chosen for the cake, which has “a great hint of bourbon flavor,” Crenshaw says. “We add bourbon to the icing and ice the cake with it.”

To help you get even more into the holiday spirit, Sugar Avenue Bakery recently began adding two-ounce jars of extra caramel sauce with every bourbon-flavored cake.

Memphis Bourbon Caramel Cakes are $55 each, and they’re available at sugaravenue.com. — Michael Donahue

Accessorize in Style

When Memphians need to give the gift of stylish living, they turn to Cheryl Pesce, the jewelry and lifestyle store in Crosstown Concourse. The store takes its name from its owner, Cheryl Pesce, a jewelry maker, entrepreneur, and all-around style guru.

This month, Pesce opened a second store in the Laurelwood Shopping Center, giving Bluff City-area shoppers double the chances to find — and give — stylish accoutrements. “I’m banking on Memphis,” Pesce explains. And Memphis seems ready to support Pesce. “We had a grand open house, social distancing into the parking lot, and it went well.”

Courtesy Cheryl Pesce

Handmade jewelry from Cheryl Pesce

The store opening story is just the tip of the breaking-news iceberg, though. Pesce tells me excitedly that she’s been in touch with fashion designer Patrick Henry, aka Richfresh, about his newly designed Henry Mask. “I spoke with him today and — drumroll — we will now be carrying his masks in my Laurelwood store.”

But wait! That’s still not all. The ink is still fresh on a deal for Pesce to carry Germantown-produced Leovard skincare products. “I will be his only brick-and-mortar store in the country,” Pesce says. “So there are a lot of cool things happening, most of them local.”

In the smaller store in Crosstown, Pesce sells hand-sewn baby items, masks, Christmas ornaments, and anything with the Crosstown logo — she’s the official source for Crosstown-brand goods. Laurelwood is larger and a little more deluxe. “One of the focuses for that store is local and regional artisans,” Pesce says. She carries Mo’s Bows, Paul Edelstein paintings, and, of course, hand-crafted jewelry. “That’s really my wheelhouse.

“My studio is at Laurelwood,” Pesce says, “so not only is it made in Memphis, made by me, but it’s all under one roof now. The store, the studio. You can literally come pick out your own pearls — ‘I want this pearl on that earring’ — and then I craft it for you right there.”

Cheryl Pesce is located at 1350 Concourse Avenue, Suite 125, and at 374 Grove Park Road South, Suite 104. Find out more at (901) 308-6017 or at cherylpesce.com. — Jesse Davis

Good Reads

There’s something that comes from holding the edges of a book and being taken to a distant land or wondrous world. Whether it’s due to happenstance or the crazy and confusing world in which we find ourselves now, I have been reading more and more as the months drag on. To fuel my ever-growing hunger for words and phrases completed on the page, Novel has been my go-to place.

Novel is proof that when you are doing something you love, the results will follow. The bookstore, founded in 2017, is the go-to for other local book enthusiasts, too — and with good reason. Their staff will go to the moon and back to help you find the book that fits you just right, and if you’re looking for something specific, chances are they will be just as excited about it as you are.

Matthew J. Harris

of what gift to give this season.

Many of their aisles have felt like a second home to me the past few months. And with books in every genre, it is often easier to ask them what they don’t have, rather than what they do. Personally, I love their new-this-year home delivery option, which offers a safe way to give the gift of literature this holiday season. — Matthew J. Harris

Hit the Boards

This year has given us plenty of time to learn new skills. And what better way to get your mind pumping in both a constructive and competitive fashion than with a game of chess?

The Memphis Chess Club recently opened its new café/headquarters Downtown at 195 Madison Avenue, and the three levels of annual memberships make for a great gift, whether someone is looking to seriously pursue an interest in the game or just learn a few tips and tricks.

Samuel X. Cicci

A Memphis Chess Club membership isn’t as risky a move as the Queen’s Gambit.

The social membership ($50) allows members to play chess in the café area at any time, with tables, pieces, and clocks all provided. The full membership ($100), meanwhile, affords all of the social perks but provides unlimited and free access to all classes and tournaments, which are held at the club weekly. It also offers discounts on merchandise, and members are able to check out materials from the club’s chess library, which contains old magazines and strategy books.

For whole families looking to kickstart an interest in the game? The family membership ($150) contains all full membership benefits and includes two adults and all the children in a household.

And, hey, if chess isn’t your thing, the spacious café is a great space to just hang out or study while sipping on some brewed-in-house coffee or munching on one of chef Grier Cosby’s specialty pizzas.

Visit memphischessclub.com/join for more information. — Samuel X. Cicci

The Gift of Grub

Food is fun and helps define Memphis culture. Those who make that food and fun are in trouble.

Restaurants have maybe suffered more than any small business during this pandemic. Restrictions on them have come and gone and may come again soon. Memphis restaurateurs have shown amazing resilience in these ups and downs. They’ve shifted business models, adapted to the latest health directives, and adjusted staff levels (laying off workers and hiring them back) to match it all.

Memphis Restaurant Association/Facebook

Support local restaurants — so they can stick around.

However, we forever lost some Memphis favorites, like Lucky Cat and Grove Grill. The National Restaurant Association said nearly 100,000 restaurants across the country closed either permanently or for the long-term six months into the pandemic. Nearly 3 million employees have lost their jobs. Help restaurants out and have food fun, too. This holiday season, buy gift cards from our local restaurants.

At the pandemic’s beginning in March, we told you about a national push to buy “dining bonds” or “restaurant bonds.” Many Memphis restaurants jumped in — many selling gift cards at deep discounts. For restaurants, gift cards are quick infusions of cash, helpful in tough times.

So instead of that scarf you’re kind of on the fence about, spend the same amount on a restaurant they love. It’ll be unexpected and, yes, come with some delayed gratification — delicious delayed gratification. Present it not as a gift card but as that dish they love from that place they love.

Sing it with me: “Everybody knows, a burger and some mistletoe help to make the season bright. Memphis foodies, with their eyes all aglow, will find it hard to sleep tonight.”

Gift cards are available at almost every restaurant and for almost any amount. Check websites and socials for details. — Toby Sells

Music to Their Ears

Remember when giving music was a thing? Physical things like LPs, CDs, and cassettes could be wrapped. But now that everything’s ethereal, there’s still a way to give the gift that keeps on giving: Patreon. Musicians are embracing this platform more and more, and it’s working for them. A subscription to their accounts may just be the perfect gift for the superfan in your life who already has everything.

Mike Doughty (Soul Coughing, Ghost of Vroom) relies on his Patreon subscribers for both income and inspiration. As he told the Detroit Metro Times, “Doing a song a week is amazing, and that is really what, if I had my druthers, I’d do for the rest of my life.” Patrons can subscribe at different levels, each with premiums like CDs and T-shirts, but everyone paying at least $5 a month can access Doughty’s song-a-week and more.

Greg Cravens

Other Memphis-affiliated singer/songwriters like Eric Lewis, J.D. Reager, and (coming in December) Marcella and Her Lovers also have accounts. And last month, label and music retailer Goner Records began offering Patreon subscriptions that include access to the Goner archives and exclusive music and videos.

Patreon’s site notes that “there isn’t currently a way to gift patronage,” but if you get creative, you can search for an artist on patreon.com and buy a subscription in a friend’s or family member’s name — and they can thank you all through the year. — Alex Greene

Support Arts and Culture

“A plague on both your houses!” cried the dying Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet, and it seems the COVID-19 pandemic took that sentiment to heart, emptying out our theaters and concert halls and thinning out attendance at museums. But still they persisted. The organizations behind the arts we love are still at work online, virtually, distancing, and striving to keep the arts alive — especially in programs aimed at young people.

You can help the old-fashioned way by getting season subscriptions and memberships for whenever the lights come back on — and they could use that support right now. Or make a simple donation. Help keep Memphis culture alive by giving gifts on behalf of the following, but don’t be limited by this partial list — if you have other favorites, give them a cup o’ kindness as well.

Jon W. Sparks

Spring, Summer, Fall at the Brooks Museum by Wheeler Williams

Performing arts organizations:

• Playhouse on the Square (playhouseonthesquare.org)

• Theatre Memphis (theatrememphis.org)

• Opera Memphis (operamemphis.org)

• Ballet Memphis (balletmemphis.org)

• New Ballet Ensemble (newballet.org)

• Cazateatro (cazateatro.org)

• New Moon Theatre (newmoontheatre.org)

• Hattiloo Theatre (hattiloo.org)

• Tennessee Shakespeare Company (tnshakespeare.org)

• Memphis Black Arts Alliance (memphisblackarts.org)

• Emerald Theatre Company (etcmemphistheater.com)

Museums and galleries:

• Memphis Brooks Museum of Art (brooksmuseum.org)

• Dixon Gallery and Gardens (dixon.org)

• National Civil Rights Museum (civilrightsmuseum.org)

• Metal Museum (metalmuseum.org)

• Stax Museum of American Soul Music (staxmuseum.com)

• Pink Palace Museum (memphismuseums.org)

• Children’s Museum of Memphis (cmom.com)

• Fire Museum of Memphis (firemuseum.org) — Jon W. Sparks

Basket or Box It for a Gift That Rocks It

Need something sweet for your honey this holiday season? Thistle & Bee has the gift that gives twice. A relaxing gift box contains raw Memphis honey, a milk and honey soap bar, and a pure beeswax candle ($20). Every item is handcrafted and directly supports women survivors to thrive through a journey of healing and hope.

Social enterprise director at Thistle & Bee, Ali Pap Chesney, drops a stinger: “We partner with other businesses, too. Feast & Graze uses our honey.”

Feast & Graze/Facebook

Feast & Graze

The cheese and charcuterie company Feast & Grace is co-owned by Cristina McCarter, who happens to co-own City Tasting Box. Boxes are filled with goodies promoting local Black-owned businesses like Pop’s Kernel and The Waffle Iron. An exclusive limited-quantity holiday gift box, Sugar and Spice, just rolled out for the season in two sizes — regular ($74.99) and ultimate ($124.99).

Memphis Gift Basket is owned by Jesse James, who says he is rolling out a new logo this week. Along with the new logo are new products for baskets ($55-$100) that focus on diversity by including more women- and minority-owned businesses, in addition to local items with iconic names like The Rendezvous and Memphis magazine. Guess what else you might find in a Memphis Gift Basket? Thistle & Bee honey.

Now that we’ve come full circle, check out these gift box and basket businesses, as well as partnering companies, for errbody on your holiday list — including that corporate gift list.

Visit thistleandbee.org, citytastingbox.com (use code SHIP100 for free shipping on orders over $100), and memphisgiftbasket.com for more. — Julie Ray

Lights, Camera, Action

A lot of businesses have been hard-hit during the pandemic, and movie theaters have been near the top of the list. With social distancing-limited theater capacity and Hollywood studios delaying major releases into next year in the hopes a vaccine will rekindle attendance, theater chains like Memphis-based Malco have been in dire straits. The exception has been drive-in theaters, like the Malco Summer Drive-In, which have seen a renaissance in 2020.

If you want to support this local institution and give a treat to the movie-lover in your life, you can buy them a Malco gift card. Available in any denomination from $10 to $500, the gift cards can be used for movie tickets and concessions for any film now or in the future. You can also enroll in the Malco Marquee Rewards program, which allows frequent moviegoers to earn points toward free tickets and concessions.

Greg Cravens

Malco has taken extraordinary steps to ensure the safety of its patrons, including mandatory masks, improved air filters, and non-contact payment options. And if you’re not comfortable sharing a theater with strangers right now, there’s a great option: The Malco Select program allows you to rent an entire theater for a screening of any film on the marquee — and that includes screenings in the massive IMAX theaters at the Paradiso. Prices start at $100, which works out pretty well if you want to watch Wonder Woman 1984 with your pod this holiday season. And if the person you’re buying for is a gamer, Malco has a brand-new option. With Malco Select Gaming, you can bring your system to the theater and play Call of Duty or The Last of Us on the biggest possible screen. — Chris McCoy

Categories
News News Blog

State, County Showing Economic Bounce Back

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett

Even though economic activity is still below pre-pandemic peak levels, Tennessee — and particularly Shelby County — is showing signs of economic recovery.

The Tennessee Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report for the third quarter of 2020 showed 16,470 new entity filings, representing a 42.2 percent increase over the same quarter in 2019. Initial filings have now seen positive year-over-year growth for 35 consecutive quarters. “The pandemic made a significant impact on our economy, but Tennessee’s entrepreneurial spirit and business-friendly environment has seen some Tennesseans start their own businesses,” said Secretary of State Tre Hargett.

Growth in new entity filings is generally a good indicator for employment, personal income, and revenue growth in Tennessee. However, due to the pandemic, future economic growth will depend on public policy measures and the reactions of businesses and private consumers, Hargett said.

Shelby County saw the largest number of new entity filings and the highest rate of growth, with Davidson County a close second, followed by Hamilton and Knox counties. These four counties accounted for 56 percent of all new entity filings in Tennessee.

After spiking at 15.5 percent in April, Tennessee’s unemployment rate has trended downward, falling to 6.3 percent in September. By comparison, the national unemployment rate reached 14.7 percent in April and fell to 7.9 percent in September. 

“Tennesseans’ business ingenuity has really shone through over the past half year or so,” said Dr. Bill Fox, the director of the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research. “More than 16,000 new entity filings this quarter show that people across the state are embarking on new journeys like making masks, delivering food, providing enhanced cleaning services and more to make the best of the situation we are all in together.”

The Tennessee Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators report provides a snapshot of the state’s economy based on various key indicators, including new business data from the Secretary of State’s Division of Business Services. It’s published through a partnership with the University of Tennessee Knoxville’s Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research and the Secretary of State.

Categories
News News Blog

Walter L. Evans Retiring from County Chancery Court

CREDIT: Supreme Court of Tennessee

Supreme Court of Tennessee

Chancellor Walter L. Evans

At the end of the month, 30th Judicial District Chancellor Walter L. Evans will retire after 22 years of service in the Shelby County Chancery Court.

Evans has presided over numerous high-profile cases during his tenure on the court, including cases involving FedEx, the Memphis Grizzlies, and Shelby County Juvenile Court.

A graduate of Melrose High School, Evans attended Howard University and then the Howard University School of Law, served two years in the U.S. Army, and received his LLM degree from Harvard Law School in 1971.

He worked at Memphis Area Legal Services and later went into private practice. In 1979, he argued and won a habeas corpus case, Parker v. Randolph, before the U.S. Supreme Court. He later founded his own firm, Evans & Kyle, and then served as a city judge. He was elected to his current job in 1998, defeating longtime incumbent Chancellor Neal Small.

For a fuller account of Evans’ career, read the full statement below from the Supreme Court of Tennessee:

At the end of the month, 30th Judicial District Chancellor Walter L. Evans will retire after 22 years serving the people of Shelby County in Chancery Court.

The retirement caps off a long and successful career that saw Chancellor Evans spend over two decades in private legal practice before becoming a municipal judge for the city of Memphis and then stepping up to the Chancery Court bench.

A graduate of Howard University and then the Howard University School of Law, Chancellor Evans is also a veteran, having served two years in the military, one of them in Vietnam, following law school. Upon completion of his military service, Chancellor Evans earned an LLM from Harvard Law School in 1971.

Chancellor Evans’ career is winding down in the same city where his story began: his hometown of Memphis.

While Chancellor Evans was still young, his father passed away at an early age. His mother was employed in a private home and helped instill in him the value of hard work. Chancellor Evans held a steady job throughout high school painting signs for a local grocery store. That job would help decide his undergraduate course of study a few years later.

“I was an artist, or at least had artistic talent,” he said. “That along with my good grades in math persuaded me to pursue an architecture degree.”

The hard work continued after he graduated from Melrose High School in 1960 and moved to Washington, D.C. to attend Howard University. Upon arrival, he discovered that an architecture degree required five years rather than four years of study.

“I really didn’t know how I could make it in a five-year-course because my mother was not able to provide any income for me, and the only way I was able to make it through college was based on scholarships, loans, and working,” Chancellor Evans recalled.

Despite the economic hardship, Chancellor Evans stuck it out, working a variety of on-campus jobs during his spare time to supplement his ROTC scholarship. He thrived in both academics and extracurricular activities and was named president of both the School of Engineering and Architecture student council and of his fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha. One particularly memorable experience from college is when he was selected to attend a dinner for student leaders at the White House. Chancellor Evans remembers being greeted warmly by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

While he enjoyed architecture, over the course of his undergraduate studies, Chancellor Evans became increasingly intrigued by a different subject altogether: the law.

“I realized that a career in architecture was very limited and a career in law offered more alternative opportunities for employment,” he said. “Because I was able to receive a scholarship from the law school there was an incentive for me to pursue a career in law.”

Chancellor Evans went straight to Howard University School of Law after receiving his undergraduate degree and earned his Juris Doctor in 1968. Thereafter, he went on active duty in the United States Army, where he served as a prosecuting attorney stationed in the United States for his first year. In his second year of service he was shipped to Vietnam where he served as an attorney in the United States Army Corps of Engineers. He finished his military service with the rank of Captain.

While in Vietnam, Chancellor Evans began applying to various law schools to further his studies with a Master of Laws degree. He received a Ford Foundation scholarship to attend Harvard Law School, where he found himself one of the few African American students in his class. He earned an LLM in 1971, with a focus in urban law.

During his time at Harvard, Chancellor Evans received an invitation from Memphis attorney George Brown to come home and work with him at Memphis Area Legal Services. As Chancellor Evans explained, legal aid organizations and other entities that received government funding were often the only places African American attorneys could find work in that era.

“A lot of the white law firms would not hire Black attorneys,” Chancellor Evans said. “The Black attorneys had to opt for positions with legal services and the public defender’s office.”

Chancellor Evans and Brown left Legal Services after a few years and started their own firm, Brown & Evans. As an African American attorney in Memphis at that time, Chancellor Evans followed in the footsteps of men like Benjamin Hooks, A.W. Willis, Jr., and Russell Sugarmon, whose careers were forged in the early years of the Civil Rights Era.

“They were pioneering Black attorneys,” Chancellor Evans said.

Brown & Evans handled whatever types of cases came through the door, basically.

“I didn’t have the option of specializing in a particular area of the law,” Chancellor Evans said. “Real estate closings, wills, traffic violations, breach of contract matters; you name it, everything that came through the door that was income producing.”

The high point in his private practice came in 1979, when Chancellor Evans argued and won a habeas corpus case, Parker v. Randolph, before the Supreme Court of the United States.

“Lawyers from all over the country wanted me to turn the case over to them, and I told them ‘no way’ because very few opportunities come when a lawyer gets to personally argue before the United States Supreme Court,” Chancellor Evans said. “It was a very memorable occasion.”

An audio recording of the oral arguments before the United States Supreme Court can be found here.

In 1980, George Brown became the first African American justice on the Tennessee Supreme Court when he was appointed to that position by Governor Lamar Alexander. He would subsequently lose election to that seat, but would become a long-serving circuit court judge.

Chancellor Evans formed a new firm, Evans & Kyle, shortly after Brown left to begin his judicial career. Chancellor Evans was senior partner in that firm, which also employed future 30th Judicial District Circuit Court Judge Rita Stotts.

Chancellor Evans stayed with that firm until 1994, when a new opportunity arose. City of Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton approached him and asked if he would be interested in becoming a municipal judge. At first, Chancellor Evans was not sure if he was interested. He enjoyed his career as an attorney. But after thinking it over and gathering input from his family and Judge Brown, he accepted.

Chancellor Evans took to the new job immediately.

“Because I had handled so many different types of cases, I felt I was able to transition into being a judge without much difficulty,” he said. By that time, he had seen a lot of judges in actions, too, having argued in practically every level of the judicial system.

After four years of dealing with traffic violations and other minor cases that were easily disposed of, Chancellor Evans decided to attempt another career change.

“I wanted something more challenging,” he said.

He chose to run against longtime incumbent Chancellor Neal Small in the 1998 election.

“I decided I’d give it a shot,” Chancellor Evans said. “I was fortunate enough to win.”

Chancellor Evans soon found that he enjoyed the added responsibility and complexity that came with chancery court cases.

“As a judge of the Chancery Court I was able to make rulings and decisions based on what I felt to be equitable and just,” he said. “Most of the cases in Chancery Court are not jury cases. The judge has to make decisions based on his determination as to whether it’s fair or equitable.”

Chancellor Evans has presided over numerous high-profile cases during his tenure on the court, including cases involving FedEx, the Memphis Grizzlies NBA team, and Shelby County Juvenile Court.

No matter the case, Chancellor Evans has always followed the same guideline.

“Listen and try to be as fair and equitable as possible,” he said.

This means that Chancellor Evans never based decisions on what he thought appellate courts would do.

“They make mistakes just like we make mistakes,” he said.

And while he has always tried his best to make the right decisions, a central aspect of his judicial philosophy is humility.

“One thing I know is no judge knows everything,” he said. “And no lawyer knows everything. That is why good arguments are so necessary. They can persuade when difficult matters are in play.”

Outside of the courtroom, Chancellor Evans is a stalwart member of Magnolia First Baptist Church. His mother would take him there when he was a child, and he has been going ever since. His step-grandfather was one of the church’s three founders.

He has been married to his wife, Elise, since 1973. They have two adult children, Jonathan Christian Evans, an information technology specialist, and Walter Evans, II, an attorney in Shelby County.

Looking back at his life and long career, hard work and all, Chancellor Evans ultimately ascribes his success to one thing.

“The good Lord has been with me all the way,” he said. “That’s all I can say.”

Categories
News News Blog

New Virus Cases Rise by 377

COVID-19 Memphis
Infogram

New Virus Cases Rise by 377

New virus case numbers rose by 377 over the last 24 hours. The new total puts the total of all positive cases in Shelby County since March at 45,952.

Total current active cases of the virus — the number of people known to have COVID-19 in the county — rose slightly to 4,178 Monday morning. The figure peaked just above 2,000 only a month ago. The figure had been as low as 1,299 in September. The new active case count represents 9.1 percent of all cases of the virus reported here since March.

The Shelby County Health Department reported 642,522 tests have been given since March. This figure includes multiple tests given to some people.

The latest weekly positivity rate rose from the last time the figure was reported. The average rate of positive tests for the week of November 8 was 11.1 percent. The figure rose slightly over the 9.7 percent average recorded for the week of November 1st. The new weekly average rate is the highest since late July, just as cases began to fall from a mid-July spike that had a weekly average positive rate of 12.7 percent. The new weekly positive average marks the seventh straight week that the rate has climbed.

Two new deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours and the number now stands at 637. The average age of those who have died in Shelby County is 73, according to the health department. The age of the youngest COVID-19 death was 13. The oldest to die from the virus is now 101 after a recent death.

There are 7,094 contacts in quarantine.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Alex Grisanti Slated to Open Fine Dining Side of Elfo’s in Southaven Mid-December

CREDIT: Francesca Grisanti


Francesca Grisanti

Alex Grisanti at his new Elfo Grisanti’s Northern Italian Cuisine

The fine dining room of Elfo Grisanti’s Northern Italian Cuisine — Alex Grisanti’s new restaurant in Southaven — is slated to open in mid December.

“I’m ready, baby,” Grisanti says.

One side of the restaurant — “Elfo’s Pizzeria”— already is open and features the same type of Northern Italian-style pizza Grisanti serves at his 9 Dough 1 pizza truck.

“The pizza side is open and the food truck is running,” Grisanti says. “The pizza side has been running for a week consistently. I’m done with that now. I’m moving on to the dining room side.”

His new Elfo’s will be reminiscent of the Elfo’s restaurant he owned for years in Germantown, Grisanti says.

Describing the dining room, he says, “It’s comfy, cozy. It’s beautiful like my other Elfo’s. It’s got gold metallic walls with white tablecloths.”

Francesca Grisanti

Elfo Grisanti’s Northern Italian Cuisine

The walls also “are covered with black-and-white family photos like my old Elfo’s.”

The bar, he says, has a white marble checkered pattern on it.

The restaurant is “going to be very quaint. It’s only going to seat about 50 and the bar, 15.”

His new Elfo’s also reminds him of the original Ronnie Grisanti’s restaurant, owned by his dad, the late Ronnie Grisanti. “This place reminds me of  Union and Marshall with the Ronnie Grisanti’s atmosphere. It’s going to have pictures hung in the bathrooms, family trees going down the walls. It’s going to be beautiful when it’s done. And we’re getting done.”

As for the bar, he says, “We’re going to have that Elfo’s and Ronnie Grisanti vibe at the bar going on. The bar is separated by a wall.”

Customers will be in the bar “whooping it up” while diners on the other side are eating.

Francesca Grisanti

Elfo’s Pizzaria at Elfo Grisanti’s Northern Italian Cuisine

For the food, Grisanti says, “This place is going to have the Union and Marshall menu, but with nightly specials.”

Fare will include dishes Elfo’s and the Grisanti family are famous for. “Lasagna, homemade ravioli, spinach, garlic bread.”

This will included his chicken raviolis and his “homemade Bolognese sauce with tagliatelle  thick pasta.”

And, he says, “My pasta special and beef special of the day every day.”

The restaurant was named after Grisanti’s grandfather, the late restaurateur Elfo Grisanti. “The guy who really started everything. He’s the one who started the cooking and making us what we are.”

Alex Grisanti is ready for diners to experience that Grisanti vibe in Southaven. “Glasses tinkling, people giggling, a little Frank Sinatra in the background, nobody with frowns on their faces, everybody positive, loving to be here. Loving them to be here. I want these people to be embraced by the whole Grisanti atmosphere.”

Elfo Grisanti’s Northern Italian Cuisine is at 5627 Getwell Road; (662) 470-4497

Francesca Grisanti

Alex Griisanti at Elfo’s Pizzeria at Elfo Grisanti’s Northern Italian Cuisine

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Earnestine & Hazel’s Up For Sale

Toby Sells

Karen Brownlee and Stephen Guenther

Earnestine & Hazel’s is up for sale, according to its current owner.

Caitlin Chittom said in a Facebook post Monday that the decision was not because of finances nor COVID-19. Read the post here:

E+H Friends and Family,

I’ve made the difficult decision to sell Earnestine and Hazel’s. Selling Earnestine’s is not a…

Posted by Earnestine & Hazel's on Monday, November 23, 2020

Earnestine & Hazel’s Up For Sale

Categories
Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Music Video Monday Blvck Hippie

Music Video Monday is a family affair.

Blvck Hippie‘s newest single “Rhodes Ave” is about growing up, says frontman Josh Shaw. “I lived in a house on Rhodes Avenue for the first 8 years of my life and my memory of that street inspired this song. I credit much of my musical inspiration to years spent listening to my parents’ music in that house on Rhodes — this song acts as tribute to those early influences.”

Josh’s brother Lawrence Shaw, who appears with Josh on the single’s cover, created the animated lyric video for the song. “It was inspired by the nostalgic nature of reminiscing on your childhood home — the comfort that can be found in those memories and how fleeting that feeling can be. My interpretation of the song is the strain of trying to recreate an idea of what your ‘perfect’ life would be, but knowing that you will not be able to have it, i.e. ‘I know I can’t give you the big house and a dog, just more empty promises and a shoreline full of fog.'”

Music Video Monday Blvck Hippie

If you would like to see your music video featured on Music Video Monday, email cmccoy@memphisflyer.com.