The fixture against Miami FC always looked like a fairly tricky one, due to 901 FC squad shortages and Hurricane Ian. Luckily, the cyclone had mostly gone around Miami, so the game went ahead. But instead of the confident, composed team that we’re used to, Saturday’s match was full of mistakes. And despite some heroics by goalkeeper Trey Muse, Memphis conceded from a late Miami strike to lose 1-0.
Normally, Memphis could feel bullish about their chances against any away team. Fresh off a win against conference-leading Louisville City last weekend in Kentucky, 901 FC walked into the Miami matchup boasting a ridiculous +14 goal difference for road games. But one problem: After some heated clashes at the end of last weekend’s match, a mixture of suspensions and injuries meant that three key players would miss the game — leading scorer Phillip Goodrum, Laurent Kissiedou (25 goals between those two), and defender Rece Buckmaster. Instead, Memphis head coach Ben Pirmann tabbed 17-year-old Nighte Pickering to lead the attack for Saturday’s match. On the other side of the field, familiar faces Kyle Murphy, Mark Segbers, and Pierre da Silva lined up for Miami.
This clash started with some choppy back-and-forth for the opening quarter hour, neither team threatening to take control of the game. Memphis sat back and looked to soak up pressure, but couldn’t quite put together the lightning-quick counters that they’ve been fine-tuning all season. Miami had the bulk of possession and had one decent chance that goalkeeper Trey Muse blocked on to the post.
Memphis didn’t really threaten until 25 minutes, with some good interplay around the box eventually seeing Leston Paul’s low cross batted away. From there, they slowly began to ease back into the game. But whenever they did regain possession, the attacking forays saw a more patient build-up than we’ve been used to seeing. Indeed, for most of the first half it remained a physical game, with defenses coming out on top. Miami almost snuck in behind, but a quick intervention cleared the danger, and that was about it for first-half action. Memphis did swing possession back in their favor at halftime (53 percent), but had only one shot (off target).
The second half started similar to the first, with Miami controlling the ball and Memphis sitting back, but the home team dialed up the pressure a bit to create a few chances. Muse made an errant pass to a Miami player just outside his box in the 50th, but clawed away the ensuing chip shot. And two minutes later, Miami created a 1v1 opportunity for Josh Pérez, but Muse saved yet again before stopping a headed chance just moments later.
After that, the ref started to lose control of the match, with tackles going in both ways that drew a couple of cards. Murphy should have been sent off for a wild tackle, while 901 FC midfielder Aaron Molloy cleared out both ball and man on a subsequent hard challenge. On a positive note, Pirmann subbed on new signing Dylan Borczak in the 60th minute. The player needed no time at all to adjust to the pace of the game, committing a foul within seconds of coming on.
The game sputtered on until the 91st minute, when Memphis’ luck finally ran out. A final Miami break saw a cut back fall to Adonijah Reid, who calmly placed the ball in the bottom corner to steal the win for Miami.
A bitter pill to swallow for Memphis, who just didn’t really show up to the races last weekend and tallied their first loss since August 31st. And with only one shot on target, it was always going to be tough to walk away with a positive result. A win also would have taken 901 FC above Louisville to clamp down the top spot in the Eastern standings, but not this day. No need to panic, though. In the end, it’s just one result, and locking up first in the conference is still possible. Either way, Memphis should have a preferable matchup in the first round of the playoffs.
Bourbon and Coke (Photo: Jaroslaw Grudzinski | Dreamstime.com)
It’s college football season — whether you are in the Grove, Tiger Lane, or at home — it’s Game Day, and you, gentle reader, need a drink.
Beer is a good go-to for day-drinking because of simple physics: It is relatively low in alcohol and takes up a lot of space, and if you put your cup down to go to the bathroom, you’ve cut your drinking time by a third. Which makes it hard for things to get really out of hand. Still, whether it’s too much gluten or too much “wind,” sometimes only cocktails will do.
The cocktail rules for Game Day are different, and the first is that this is not the time to get too pedantic and start throwing around words like “craft” and “authentic.” With the possible exception of the Grove, if you carry around one of those glass bell jars to smoke your cocktails, you won’t get invited back. You shouldn’t. This is not the time for a cosmo, old-fashioned, or a Sazerac; and unless you plan to wear an actual cheer-squad uniform, do not drink anything called a Dirty Shirley.
Game Day drinks should avoid slicing because in these high-alert days, wielding a knife sends the wrong message to the local security establishment. While it’s not obvious, the drinks should be dark because outside is the one place people are allowed to smoke. I learned this the hard way when I went with a bourbon and branch once, and by third quarter I could see a layer of spent cigarette ash in the bottom of my cup. Which is enough to put anyone back on the wagon.
Of course, drink whatever you want, but football is all about tradition, and nothing says “It’s Game Day under a whiskey blue sky!” like the tried-and-true bourbon and Coke — in a great whacking red Solo cup. Lots of ice and lots of Coke because you’ve got a long stretch of day-drinking ahead of you — even if it’s a night game because you’re still probably going to get started at noon.
A word on your choice of bourbon: There is no need to splash out on the good stuff if you are going to douse it in Coke. If you aren’t drowning your bourbon, there will likely be an awkward hockey-stick in your future where you seem sober enough and then … well … Don’t attempt to maintain that for six hours, 10 if you win, or 14 for a win when your team was supposed to get creamed.
Understand that while all the bourbon on the bottom shelf is cheap, only some of it is rot-gut. The Coke is there for a bit of pep, not to hide you from agonizing reality. Well, actually it does hide the cigarette ash. … At any rate, you can do worse than Very Old Barton, which, believe it or not, is always winning some blind tasting or another. It is good, solid (and evidently award-winning) bourbon that will only set you back about $10. Benchmark, Buffalo Trace’s bottom-shelf entry, is another bourbon that works well as strong Game Day mixer.
Bourbon drinkers have gotten very touchy over the last decade or so but in their defense, bourbon has gotten a lot better, too. Unfortunately, with an uptick in innovation, quality, and choice, you get an uptick in snobbery. We’re all human, aren’t we? If you really can’t stomach the shame of being quite so sensible with your Game Day bourbon, another solid choice is Old Forester’s original expression, at about $20, which is also excellent on the rocks as well.
Obviously, tradition dictates that you mix the concoction with a pom-pom shaker.
Matthew Burdine briefly pursued a career in finance on Wall Street after he got his master’s degree in business from the University of Mississippi at Oxford.
But, “I decided, ‘Nah,’” Burdine says.
Instead, he became a “river man.”
Burdine, 37, now gives professionally guided canoe trips with his Mississippi River Expeditions, guiding people down the Mississippi River in multi-person Voyageur canoes. Throughout the year, he offers a range of trips on the river. People camp on islands, sleep outside, and cook meals over a fire.
Born in the Mississippi Delta, Burdine grew up on Lake Ferguson in Greenville, Mississippi. His father, Hank Burdine, is now an author and Delta Magazine writer as well as a levee board commissioner in the Mississippi Delta.
When Burdine was 9, he moved with his family to Colorado, where he fell in love with the mountains.
While working on his master’s degree, he heard a presentation given by John Ruskey, owner of Quapaw Canoe Company in Clarksdale, Mississippi. “He builds these huge cypress canoes and takes people out on the river on multi-day trips,” Burdine says. “Sleeping under the stars on islands. Being in the river world.”
That clicked.
While still in graduate school, Burdine met Ruskey. He was completely hooked when he saw one of Ruskey’s 30-foot canoes parked in front of his Clarksdale shop. “I was like, ‘Man, what am I doing? I want to do what this guy does. I want to share with people this type of passion and attitude toward this huge wilderness.’
“Up until a couple of hundred years ago, the main way to travel was by canoe. It wasn’t just on the Mississippi River, but all the tributaries.”
After his brush with the finance world, Burdine moved back to Colorado. “I started living in the back country, spending time in the mountains,” he says.
Burdine will take any size group out on his tours of the Mississippi. (Photo: Mark River Peoples)
He also stopped shaving and he let his hair grow out.
“I gave myself a five-year walkabout to live off the grid, live differently — and try to learn everything I didn’t learn in business school.
“Over the course of living in the mountains and spending time on the river, I became a white water river guide on the Arkansas River in Buena Vista, Colorado, and a ski instructor in the winter in Vail, Colorado. At the five-year mark, I found myself in a 16-foot canoe at the head waters of the Mississippi River with 2,400 miles in front of me to the Gulf of Mexico, and no time limit.”
His mother, Sallie Astor Burdine, died from breast cancer in 2003. So, in addition to the trip being his own “spiritual odyssey,” Burdine partnered with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation in New York to raise money with his river trip, which he called “A Million Strokes for a Cure.”
Burdine began the trip in fall 2015 and ended it in the spring of 2016. “I took my sweet time down the river. That’s where the magic is,” he says. “I was photo-journaling so people would have their own river trip through my pictures. All the while raising money for breast cancer research in honor of my mother.”
He always “felt safe in a canoe,” even though he knew “how big water moves” and “all the different levels of the Mississippi River. Every year it fluctuates 10, 20, 30, 40 feet, depending on where you are on the water.”
Burdine with one of his canoes (Photos: Michael Donahue)
When he pulled into the Gulf of Mexico after six months, Burdine had “an amazing feeling of internal calm. I was ready for anything at that moment.
“Once you reach a goal in life, you just start moving on a course,” he says. “Sometimes life can take you in ways you never imagine.”
In fall 2020, Burdine began thinking about starting a sailing career. “I was getting ready to move to the Virgin Islands and start sailing. After a decade in the mountains, it was time for something different.”
But “it was the islands of the Mississippi River, not the islands of the Caribbean, that were calling.”
While visiting his family farm in Lake Washington during the ice storm of 2021, Burdine called Ruskey. “I said, ‘If you need help guiding on the Mississippi River, I’ll be around.’ He basically said, ‘Yeah, you can help me guide, but maybe it’s time for someone to start thinking about opening their own operation in Memphis.’
Photo: Fern Greene
“Right then, there was a lightning bolt down my spine. Three weeks later I was driving to British Columbia to pick up the first canoe of the fleet for Mississippi River Expeditions. The wooden ones John Ruskey makes take a year or so to build, but I needed a canoe sooner than later.”
His new canoe was built to “handle the big waves in the Great Lakes and the big waves of the Pacific Coast. So, they’re a super-safe craft, and a whole new way to experience river travel with a sail. It’s the perfect, capable craft for the Mississippi River.”
Burdine decided to base his business in Memphis. “After 10 years of living out in the mountains and trekking all around America, I never thought I’d be moving back home. I wasn’t ever running away from the South, but during that time I realized that some of the biggest hearts were down here. I missed the lushness of the South.”
He also missed the mighty Mississippi. “I love all rivers. Those river canyons in Colorado and the deserts of the West. The rivers out in Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Idaho, and California. The river canyons of the West are a vertically grand world, but on the Mississippi River, it’s a horizontally grand world. All of the old feelings I had on the wild rivers of the West, I have all of the same feelings here on the Mississippi. You don’t need rapids to enjoy a river. It’s one of the largest rivers in the world. Once you’re out there on it in these canoes, you feel like you’ve stepped into a long-lost world.”
Being on the Mississippi River is “in our psyche because of Huckleberry Finn and Mark Twain,” Burdine says, “but not a lot of people get out and play on the Mississippi.”
Of Burdine, Ruskey, whose Quapaw Canoe Company partners with Mississippi River Expeditions, says, “His heartfelt charisma comes from a deep passion for adventure, education, and conservation of the American wilderness, of which the lower Mississippi River is the single most important natural landscape here in the center of the country.”
With all his experience, Ruskey, adds, Burdine “brings together the maturity and charisma and ethics and strength and grit and wherewithal in one person to overcome the challenges and obstacles he’s sure to encounter as a small businessman.
“As a storyteller and a speaker, he’s in that salty vein of the river-rat tradition of the Mississippi River — the keelboats, the flat boats, the explorers, and the captains of other steamboats, and the crew. He carries the tradition forward. Mike Fink and Jim Bowie were keelboatmen. Twain writes a bit about their salty characters and very colorful and passion-filled speeches and stories, which were often self-aggrandizing, but also full of self-humor.”
During the summer, Burdine offered half-day trips because of the heat. His sunset and morning cruises took place during the coolest parts of the day. “They became a hit,” Burdine says.
Like all his trips, people met at the Memphis Yacht Club at Mud Island Marina. From there, they shuttled up river, where they put in at the mouth of the Wolf River. They then paddled across to Loosahatchie Bar, where they swam and explored the beaches of the island and ate Burdine’s hors d’oeuvres, which he calls “river charcuterie.”
In September, Burdine resumed his full-day and camping trips. They meet at the marina mid-morning for the six-hour trip. From there, they put in at Shelby Forest and canoe 17 miles back down to Memphis while stopping on islands, eating lunch, and exploring all the main and back channels.
Each canoe holds up to 14 people. Burdine will take out any size group, whether it’s one person or 30.
Burdine also does yoga and artistic retreats, friends and family groups, youth groups, and corporate retreats. These include Full Moon Floats, Creative Retreats, and Supper Club on the River.
Huger Foote, an internationally known photographer and native Memphian, has been on the river many times with Burdine. “It’s pure magic being out on those waters with Matthew,” Foote says. “At first, I was uneasy about being on the mighty Mississippi in a canoe. But with Matthew, I felt so confident and comfortable on the water, that fear drained away and was replaced by a sense of awe and a connection with the river. Matthew’s experience navigating rivers all over the country makes you feel secure in the canoe as a paddler at one with those swirling currents.
“As an artist,” Foote continues, “I found real inspiration on the sand bars. As a photographer, I found a lot of inspiring subjects. The river, every time it rises and recedes, it reveals a new landscape.”
Burdine is ready for fall with a fleet of new canoes. “It’s an honor to be able to show people this Mississippi River wilderness,” he says. “This Mississippi River we all live on the side of, but rarely go into.”
Burdine is a fan of “this rare, unique city nestled on a bluff overlooking this iconic river. It’s a great way to experience it and see the city from a new perspective. At sunset, the city is a glowing orange.”
It’s a treat “to see Downtown Memphis rising out of the trees and seeing the silver Pyramid glowing, and to be paddling under the bridge as the lights light up the Mississippi River.”
The professionally guided canoe trips also are a way to rid people’s fear of the river, Burdine says. “For thousands of years people have been telling their youth to stay away from the river. ‘It’s dangerous.’ In all different cultures across the world, it’s a common thing. We grow into our adult life being told to be scared of it.”
People refer to it as “old man river,” but, Burdine says, “I see it more as a feminine river. A great mother river. It can turn wild out here in a split second if strong winds blow. But most of the time it’s calm, flowing beauty.”
For more information or to book trips, go to canoememphis.com or search Mississippi River Expeditions.
Elmwood’s residents come to life in this beloved tour. (Photo: Courtesy Elmwood Cemetery)
Elmwood Cemetery, no matter when you go, is never a dead scene — even its dead aren’t really dead all the time. And no, I’m not talking about ghosts or lost souls. I’m talking about Elmwood’s annual fundraiser, Soul of the City, where you can meet some of the cemetery’s residents in the flesh. This year’s event is all about music.
On these one-hour walking tours, which will be offered October 6th through 8th, guests will be guided along lit paths, from site to site, to hear the stories from Memphis’ best songwriters, producers, composers, and singers, including Wayne Jackson, Sid Selvidge, Jimmie Lunceford, Sister Thea Bowman, John Hampton, and Lillie Mae Glover. Plus, you’ll hear about the legend of Stagger Lee. “There’s a connection to Memphis and Elmwood, which I think is very interesting,” Kim Bearden, Elmwood’s executive director, says.
“We don’t always do a theme,” Bearden adds, “but we’re coming out of a really difficult couple of years. We decided we wanted to celebrate the finest of Memphis — our best export, which I think everyone can agree is our music.
“This year we’ve added a couple special touches,” she continues. “We’re going to have the music playing in the background. It’s going to be floating in the cemetery. It’ll make the stories being told even more relatable because so much of the music will be so recognizable.”
After the tour, guests can enjoy fare from Mempops on Thursday, Pok Cha’s Egg Rolls on Friday, and 9DOUGH1 on Saturday. Tickets cost $22 for adults and $18 for veterans, students, and seniors. Children under 12 get in free. Register online at elmwoodcemetery.org/soul-of-the-city-2022 or call 901-774-3212.
Soul of the City, Elmwood Cemetery, Thursday-Saturday, October 6-8, 5 p.m.-8 p.m., $18-$22.
Rendering of a mural that will be painted this weekend at Paint Memphis’ festival (Photo: Courtesy Paint Memphis)
They say watching paint dry is boring, so watching paint be painted must be exhilarating. Who can resist the sloshing of brushes, the smell of wet paint, the thrill of a slow, controlled stroke? Oooh, do you have goose bumps yet? Well, if your goose isn’t properly bumped yet, oh boy, it’ll be bumped at Paint Memphis’ one-day paint festival, where more than 150 artists will paint Broad Avenue Arts District red, and blue, and purple, and pink, and … pretty much every color out there.
This year, artists of all styles from throughout the country will paint 50,000 square feet of wall space along Hollywood, Broad, and Scott streets. “This year we have over 34 buildings we’re painting on,” say Paint Memphis’ director Karen Golightly. “So it’s totally different than we’ve done before. I think our max before was like six or seven. It’s really pushed us to engage more than we ever have, just to really partner with so many different businesses and residents and building owners, so that we can make sure we are communicating a positive message to the community and really trying to reflect this community, its history and its vision for the future.”
Photo: Courtesy Paint Memphis
In addition to the live painting, the festival will include around 50 vendors, a hands-on mural workshop by Zulu Painter, a skateboarding workshop by Society Memphis, a performance by Memphis Hoopers, a henna demonstration and performance by Kumar Indian Dance Troop, and a children’s hands-on makers space.
Plus, for the first time, Paint Memphis will feature pop-up galleries at Memphis Current, Meaty Graffiti, and Vice & Virtue Coffee, where the artists, all of whom volunteer their time for the festival, can sell their work. The galleries will be open Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. and throughout the day Saturday.
Overall, Golightly wants to bring more public, accessible art to Memphis. “One of the best things is that it has become a place where people can go and be proud of their neighborhood,” Golightly says. “I’ve seen the data on it that transforming gray walls anywhere into beautiful murals lowers crime, draws more tourists there, and can reflect the neighborhood.”
Paint Memphis, Broad Avenue Arts District, Saturday, October 8, noon-6 p.m., free.
Ghost meringues coming to Fino’s From the Hill (Photo: Caleb Sigler)
For those who eat too much at restaurants and, heaven forbid, are too stuffed to look at the dessert menu, here are some that restaurants offer, along with fall specials.
Dory: “The desserts at Dory are in the spirit of our childhoods,” says executive chef/co-owner Dave Krog. “Our current six-course dessert is aerated peanut butter mousse, chocolate sponge, salted caramel, blackberry, and peanut dust.”
Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen: “The fall pot de crème will be killer,” says general manager/beverage director Nick Talarico. “Spiced apples with an oat and walnut crumble. It’s like a crème brûlée and vanilla pudding.”
Kinfolk restaurant: “Bourbon pecan crème brûlée,” says chef/owner Cole Jeanes. “We toast the pecans before soaking them in heavy cream with a little orange zest. They steep overnight and, instead of granulated sugar, I use brown sugar. It’s rich, nutty, and super smooth. With a crunchy brûlée topped with candied pecans, there’s a great contrast in textures. Add a little smoked salt for another layer of flavor.”
Las Tortugas: “We do a piña colada flan, a traditional caramel flan that cooks in a water bath in the oven,” says chef/manager Jonathan Magallanes. “We then add roasted and fresh pineapple along with coconut shavings and crushed cashews, Mexican fresh cream, and powdered sugar.”
Acre: “I had an apple custard cake on the menu years ago,” says executive chef Andrew Adams. “The center was soft and custardy with bits of apples, and the top was a little crunchy and caramelized. This fall, I switched out the all-purpose flour with buckwheat. I steam the cake for the first 30 minutes and then put it in a high oven. I made the apples smaller, added cinnamon and cardamom and an oat top. The buckwheat adds a nutty flavor.”
The Beauty Shop Restaurant: Chef/owner Karen Carrier features an array of fall desserts — apple-caramel-almond babka from Love Bread Co., pistachio and fig babka, chocolate meringue pie, pecan pie with scoop of sweet potato gelato, lemon zest-sugar-butter crepe with a scoop of cinnamon Mexican chocolate chili gelato, and a dark chocolate crepe with pumpkin pie gelato.
Salt|Soy: “Chocolate miso chess pie with a sesame crust, Suntory Toki whipped cream, and sesame brittle,” says chef/owner Nick Scott. “It’s our East-meets-West take on chess pie. We started running it last fall and it became our house dessert.”
River Oaks Restaurant: “A lemon mousse with raspberries and caramelized whipped cream,” says general manager Colleen DePete. Another dessert: Chef/owner José Gutierrez will add “a poached pear with homemade vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, and dark chocolate ganache garnished with thin cookies tuile.”
Southern Social: “Praline hazelnut cheesecake with caramelized hazelnuts and a warm chocolate sauce,” says pastry chef Franck Oysel.
117 Prime: “Pumpkin Delight Ooey Gooey Bars,” says chef/owner Ryan Trimm. “A rich, buttery cake bottom with a pumpkin spice cream cheese marbled custard baked to perfection.”
Kelly English restaurants: “At Pantà, we’re offering a decadent chocolate hazelnut cup topped with raspberry Chantilly,” says pastry chef Inga Theeke. “Look for that to change to a pumpkin and chai combination later this month. We’ve also played with the presentation of our Mel i Mató and now offer Mel i Cannoli. Mel i Mató is a traditional Catalan dessert that features a loose cheese similar to ricotta covered in honey. We top our house-made ricotta with Bee 901 honey and toasted pistachios. All tucked inside a Neules cone, a Catalan cookie.”
Fino’s From the Hill: “Apple spice bars will be in the case later this week, and ghost meringues will make their appearance later this month.”
The Second Line: “Seasonal desserts are changing to a chocolate pecan pie and caramel apple cheesecake.”
Restaurant Iris: “Desserts here are definitely influenced by the season. Look for a pear tarte Tatin and a pumpkin cheesecake over gluten-free spice cake, among others.”
Dashti defies the compulsory hijab law. (Photo: Matthew Thomas)
Woman, life, freedom — these three words have rallied protesters across Iran after the September 16th death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died in police custody after being stopped by modesty police for not wearing her hijab properly. The protests haven’t stopped since. Iranian women are cutting their hair, burning their hijabs in the streets, defying the compulsory hijab law. The death toll continues to rise, but they persist.
Thousands of miles away in Memphis, artist Sepideh Dashti, who emigrated from Iran with her husband in 2011, feels the country’s pain and hope. “This is different. This is really different,” she says. “Like watching it from the news, it’s so inspiring to see all these women in the streets. I really want to be there now.”
Dashti, for her part, echoes the feminist protests in her show “Liminality,” which centers on the feminine body and its paradoxical experience. “Most of my art is about the body,” she says, “because in my country, we were always talking about hiding your body. It’s about control. When you are in public, as a woman, you are not even allowed to smile or laugh.”
“Then I moved to Canada and some people smiled. And I said, ‘What happened to these people?’”
That wasn’t the only culture shock for Dashti, who, despite her background in engineering, pursued an education in fine arts once in Canada. “I remember in this drawing session that they had a nude model. It was shocking for me,” she says. “And at the beginning I couldn’t watch them, even females. My ears were really hot, and then I started to work on myself and started reading about the different waves of feminist theory.”
Gisoo, 2021 (Photo: Sepideh Dashti)
Over time, themes of feminism began to enliven her work, simultaneously empowering her and invoking anxiety. Outside of Iran, she says, she can speak freely about her contentious relationship with her home country, but there, she has to censor herself. “Maybe they’ll arrest me. I don’t know, but I cannot stop myself from speaking about this.” Despite this vulnerability, she has persisted through the uncomfortable and even invites her audience into this liminal space, where vulnerability is a form of power, a practice of patience.
In a video looped on a gallery wall, a clump of hair grows slowly from the back of a mouth, jutting itself parallel to the tongue, leaving it dry and inciting a similar sensation in the viewer. Inspired by a Persian idiom, Dashti says, the piece symbolizes “waiting for a long time and requesting for freedom for a long time” — so long that having to repeat the same requests over and over again leaves your mouth parched.
But there is hope that this perseverance will be worth it, that women like Dashti can claim their femininity and Iranian identity with pride. Dashti’s piece Tangled demonstrates this hope, using her own hair and her daughter’s to embroider a grid pattern worn by the Iranian paramilitary, who aim to control women’s bodies, conceal their hair, and limit their self-expression. By weaving herself (quite literally) into this symbol of control, Dashti reclaims this pattern as one representing feminine expression and endurance. She defines the act of sewing as a “feminine action that connects me to the women in my family.” In this way, sewing and, by extension, domestic work takes on a power of its own, a power backed by generations.
In turn, domesticity, traditionally gendered as female, has grounded the artist as she explores her diasporic experience and her desire to find meaning in it. In Under Current, Dashti uses dryer lint to shape continents on a globe. The lint, she says, while representative of the domestic, holds memories of her family. “You can see there are pieces of tissue. I always tell my kids, ‘Do not leave tissues in your pocket,’ but they do.”
In addition to lint, Dashti has attached scraps of metal from beer cans embroidered with wordplay in English and Persian, for instance taking the word “nomad” and separating it into its syllables, “no” and “mad.” The words are scattered across the globe, often with only one visible at a time depending on where the viewer stands, as if lost in a sea of translation yet in the midst of spurring new meaning.
Accompanying this piece plays a recording of found sounds from Iranian protesters, specifically women, throughout the decades, in addition to a reading of Jacques Rancière by her daughter. One sound clip features a young Iranian girl who was arrested by the modesty police, shouting, “Leave me, leave me, let me go.”
“It’s kind of inspired by an essay that talks about male voices being dominant,” Dashti explains, “but female voices are considered noises.” Yet in this show, these female voices are the sounds heard across the world, the chants that beckon Dashti’s nostalgia and activism, the chants that unite woman, life, and freedom.
“Liminality” is on display at Beverly & Sam Ross Gallery at Christian Brothers University through Saturday, October 8th. Sepideh Dashti will discuss her work, Friday, October 7th, noon-1 p.m.
Memphis hair! Michael Donahue and Joe Birch at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Connor Ryan)
As I’ve said before, there’s nothing like a Memphis Flyer party.
Even when I worked for another newspaper and attended the Flyer’s Best of Memphis parties, I was blown away. So many people. So much fun. Cool bands. Cool people. Cool everything.
And the venues each year were, well, cool. My favorite Best of Memphis or “BOM” party was held on the roof of the parking garage of what is now Crosstown Concourse. I also loved the one in the old Imperial Lanes bowling alley on Summer Avenue. And the one at the FedEx Event Center at Shelby Farms next to where Coastal Fish Company is now located was the BOMb.
I gathered new memories at this year’s Best of Memphis party, which was held September 28th at The Ravine.
Best of Memphis 2022 at The Ravine (Credit: Michael Donahue)Noah Stewart and Carl Bledsoe at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Briana Silvo, Wallis Ashley, Erica Manshack, Anna Fortner, Tyler Holley, Jacqueline and Jake Holley at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Ken Neill and Shelby County District Attorney Steve Mulroy at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Connor Ryan at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Jarvis Greer at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
For those who don’t know about The Ravine, I wrote about it after covering Loving Local, a Project Green Fork event, last June. That was the first event held at The Ravine, which is behind Memphis Made Brewing Company.
Ethan Knight, vice-president of development for Development Services Group, the lead master developer for a number of efforts in The Edge District, including The Ravine, filled me in for that story.
Knight described it as “a community gathering point, a public plaza, a park, and, ultimately, it creates a natural gathering point for The Edge District.”
Henry Turley, Anthony D. Lee, and Pinkney Herbert at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Erika and Terrence Cain at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Eric Bourgeois and Hannah Herring at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Geoff Calkins and Myra and Vincent Housley at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Nick Lumpkin at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Alex Turley at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Anna Campbell and Zach Sloyan at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Dawson Colby, Michael Donahue, and Kaylee Buscher at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
He told me The Ravine was an old railway, which used to be the end of the old Norfolk Southern Railway. “There was a railroad station north of Madison back before Danny Thomas (Boulevard),” Knight said in the interview. “Tracks ran along The Ravine and underneath Monroe and Madison. In the ‘60s and ‘70s the train station went away and they put in Danny Thomas.”
The Best of Memphis’ Ravine party was held 20 feet below Madison Avenue. “You’re down in this bowl,” Knight says. “Down in this ravine. It’s a good bit cooler down there than up on Madison and Monroe.”
Well, the night of the BOM party, it was cool. Very cool. As in hip.
Robert and Kelsie Clayton of Cupcake Cutie, Etc. at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Megan Biggs, Jennifer Biggs, and Geoff Calkins at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Nick Patterson of Smoke and Ice at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Amy LaVere and Will Sexton at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Elliott Ives and Monica Patrick at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Kaylei and Kendall Robertson and Sandy Robertson at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Joe Mauck, Marcus Grandberry, Paula Raiford, Rebecca and David Graham, Lisa Street, and Brandi Rish at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)David and Regina Kam at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Food trucks, live music, and tons of people, including Memphis celebs, were on hand to party from late afternoon until it got dark. People would have stayed much longer, but the party was over at 8 p.m. on the dot. That’s when food trucks closed down. And, if you were lucky like I was, you got one of the last cupcakes from Cupcake Cutie, Etc.
About 1,000 guests attended. Entertainment was provided by Mighty Souls Brass Band, Blvck Hippie, and DJ Zetta. Alongside Cupcake Cutie Etc., food was provided by El Mero Taco, The Genre, Da Guilty Vegan, and Smoke and Ice.
Chris Farrar, DJ Coates, and Gina Kay at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Bridget and Demetrius Gentry at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Daphne Maysonet, Justin Howerton, and Delaney Mealer at Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Lisa Duren and Lamar and Helen Todd at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)Patrick and Darya Koplin at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)April and Schuyler O’Brien at the Best of Memphis party (Credit: Michael Donahue)We Saw You
Workers at four Memphis restaurants, including Earnestine & Hazel’s, sued the owners to recover alleged unpaid minimum wage and overtime.
In March, an attorney filed three separate suits against Local in Memphis, the parent company of The Vault, Earnestine & Hazel’s, The Paramount, and The Backlot Sandwich Shop. The suits claim three different classes of employees — servers and bartenders, managers, and one cook — are owed unpaid wages, legal fees, and more. They all list Local in Memphis co-owner Tyson Bridge as the point person for the company.
In the suit involving the servers and bartenders, the suit claims the company did not tell the employees they were working under a tip-compensation plan. This system is a way for companies to include an employee’s tips toward the employer’s minimum wage requirements, according to human resources company Paychex, Inc.
Attorneys for the servers and bartenders said the Fair Labor Standards Act (FSLA) puts “strict requirements” on companies using the tip credit system. In the case of Local in Memphis, these “requirements were not met.”
For one, the employees were not told by the company they were working under the system. For this, the servers and bartenders were working for $2.13 per hour, the required minimum wage for tipped employees, instead of the $7.25 regular minimum wage. The employees are entitled to the difference for those hours worked, the lawsuit says.
Also, these servers and bartenders were made to do “dual occupation” work and side work like cleaning bathrooms, stocking ice, sweeping, cutting fruit, polishing silverware, and more. These jobs do not allow the employees to make tips while they are paid below the minimum wage. Labor law allows tipped employees to do some of this work. But the suit says Local in Memphis made their employees do more, violating federal law.
“For example, plaintiff [Amanda] Levitch was required to clean up a vomit-filled sink during one of her shifts (and while being paid at a reduced tip-credit rate of pay),” reads the suit.
The company runs its restaurants as one entity and co-mingled its staff and management, the suit says. The employees would work at the different locations and their work hours would sometimes meet or exceed 40 hours. Federal law says employees working more than 40 hours must be paid time-and-a-half.
The suit claims, though, that the restaurant owners counted the employees’ time at each restaurant, “in order to maintain a façade that plaintiffs were working less than 40 hours per week.” The owners failed to pay overtime to the employees because they did not calculate overtime based on all hours worked for the company when they worked multiple restaurant locations in the same week.
“[The restaurant owners] were, in reality, one operation that was divided into multiple entities to support the fiction that they are not joint employers and/or an integrated enterprise,” reads the suit.
The second and third suits cover restaurant managers and a cook. They claim the restaurant owners used the same scheme to avoid paying them overtime they deserved.
For this and more, the servers and bartenders, managers, and the cook, all seek alleged unpaid compensation. The servers and bartenders want compensation for unpaid minimum wages. All of the groups want compensation for unpaid overtime, liquid damages (a pre-determined money award), legal fees, attorney fees, and jury trials to get them all.
In the March filing, the employees were not able to say exactly how much money they were owed, but thought the information may come out in the legal process. In these cases, the amounts of hours and money can be determined through the employees’ testimony, but the burden of proof is ultimately on the employer.
Restaurant Iris opened for lunch October 3rd (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The eagerly-awaited opening of Restaurant Iris at its new location at 4550 Poplar Avenue in the Laurelwood Shopping Center took place today, October 3rd.
The restaurant, the epitome of an elegant contemporary restaurant, opened at 11 a.m. for lunch. The restaurant, which is probably more than twice the size of its old location, now occupied by Pantà, is at the old location of The Grove Grill.
Restaurant Iris (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Russell Casey is executive chef of the restaurant, which is owned by Kelly English. Casey said in an earlier Memphis Flyer interview, “We’re going to do classic New Orleans cuisine. Think Galatoire’s with my footprint, hand print, whatever you want to call it, all through the menu.”
A menu item closely related to what Casey does is his pan-seared flounder with lima beans, succotash, béarnaise, and jumbo lump crabmeat.
According to marketing director for Iris Group LLC Caleb Sigler, lunch, with a menu that will expand in the coming weeks, will be available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. seven days a week. A brunch menu will be featured on Saturdays and Sundays.
Dinner reservations are now available online, restaurantiris.com, for Friday October 7th and Saturday October 8th. Additional dinner reservations will be added in the coming weeks.
And, Sigler says, “Bar menu will be available all day starting October 10th. Bar menu will include a handful of classic Restaurant Iris favorites (ravioli, lobster knuckle sandwich, etc.)
The spacious bar and oyster bar are off the main dining room.
Ann Parker and her team at Parker Design Studio designed the interior. The elegant-looking restaurant features a green-and-white mosaic floor at the entrance into the main dining room with its serpentine booths. Italian glass fixtures resemble colorful balloons because of the light bulbs that are run by an LED lighting system. They feature the full spectrum of colors, which are manipulated at a control panel off the main dining room.
The restaurant also has four private dining rooms that can accommodate both small or large groups.
