Author: Christopher Smith

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Now open downtown: Dorothy Mae’s Cafe and Nacho’s.

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

To enter Dorothy Mae’s Café, housed in the Withers Collection Museum & Gallery on Beale Street, is to reminisce about a time in Memphis when figures like Elvis Presley and Rufus Thomas dominated local culture. Photos by the late Earnest Withers fill the walls, and the space also includes a studio lounge, where patrons are free to grab the microphone and sing or recite poetry.

Justin Fox Burks

Fran Mosley

The cafe, named after Withers’ wife, is run by Rosalind Withers and Fran Mosley. The evolving menu was created by Mosley, who found a permanent home for her catering company Haute Monde (French for high society).

The eclectic menu features salads and soups as well as a line of savory cupcakes, which Mosley lifted from the Food Network’s Cupcake Wars. Some of the cupcake offerings include chicken and waffles as well as meatloaf and mashed potatoes. A trio is $9.

Justin Fox Burks

Dorothy Mae’s meatloaf cupcake

“Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and sweet peas, that’s a classic Sunday dinner at my grandmother’s house,” Mosley says. “And you may have a little cornbread muffin on the side. We took those old, homemade Southern recipes and put them in cupcakes.”

The Beale Street Cupcake features a barbecue pork butt slow-cooked for 16 hours by Mosley’s husband and paired with a honey butter croissant baked in a cupcake pan.

Other staples include a watermelon, arugula, and feta salad with a homemade honey-lemon balsamic vinaigrette ($10.95). Fru-Fru Fransway is a Caribbean cake soaked in pineapple juice and topped with strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, grapes, and blueberries ($5.50).

Mosley serves apple crunch pie ($6) warm, topped with butter pecan ice cream and drizzled with caramel. When she explains it, it sounds like something too explicit for network television.

“We want to bring something new and fresh to Beale Street. Our target is really professional people or people over 30 or 35,” Mosley says.

“We’re trying to bring the creative arts back to Beale Street. We also want to preserve the history and make sure that we protect those images that were captured during the time between the ’50s and ’70s.”

333 Beale (523-2344)

Stop by Nacho’s downtown for lunch expecting a mariachi band to be playing while you hammer down some enchiladas and you’ll be disappointed.

Derived from Kwik Chek, the Korean and Mediterranean deli in Midtown, this fast casual stand-alone fuses several cultures into one menu.

Beto Villareal and Hernando Diaz imported popular dishes like Bi Bim Bop (a signature Korean rice dish) and the Korean Omelet Plate (infused with fried rice).

“A lot of people have thought of us being just a regular Mexican restaurant. There’s a lot of Mexican restaurants here, and everybody expects the same thing,” Villarreal says. “Their enchiladas, their sombreros, their fiesta-themed margaritas. We just want to bring something different.”

Nacho’s does, however, serve a strong selection of nachos.

Nacho Average Nachos (pulled pork, grilled chicken, steak, grilled onions, lettuce, tomato, sour cream) is the headliner of a stable that includes BBQ Nachos (Villareal cooks the pork for up to 22 hours to soften it) and Grilled Nachos.The pair also pay homage to the Chinese restaurant that used to occupy the space with their Sweet & Sour Nachos, which include pineapple and sweet & sour sauce.

Nacho’s also serves wraps, sandwiches, and salads, many of which are carbon copies of those offered at Kwik Chek.

The Ninja ($6.99) features turkey, roast beef, swiss cheese, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms, mayonnaise, cayenne, Teriyaki sauce, lettuce, and sprouts.

The breakfast menu features a make-your-own-sandwich with choices for bread, meat, and cheese. One unusual item is the Sweet Kabob, which consists of French toast, strawberries, banana, and pineapple on a skewer sprinkled with powdered sugar.

Villareal and Diaz hope to offer a convenient and efficient lunch experience for Memphians working downtown. The restaurant currently serves breakfast from 7 to

10 a.m. and remains open until 5 p.m., but they are considering extending the hours.

150 Jefferson (522-4455)

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

The Many Projects of Local’s Jeff Johnson

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

Jeff Johnson

Jeff Johnson of Local in Overton Square and downtown, recently began his two-week vacation with a meeting to discuss expanding the brand to the Nashville market. He’s also finishing up the installation of a 48-tap draft beer system and raw bar at the Midtown location by the end of the month.

Oh, and he just launched the food truck Parish Grocery; is in the process of rolling out two restaurants, Oshi Burger Bar and Agave Maria; and recently formed the consulting group RFJ Concepts (as if crafting his own multitude of projects doesn’t keep him busy enough, a point Johnson laments with a certain tongue-in-cheek pride).

Parish Grocery is a Cajun and Creole-themed food truck operated out of an Airstream. The truck was started as an extension of Johnson’s catering company.

The menu includes Louisiana staples such as red beans and rice, gumbo, crawfish étouffée, and barbecue shrimp po’boy sandwiches as well as bread pudding and potato salad. There are four beer taps set into the exterior wall of the Airstream, which was included with events and private parties in mind.

Johnson projects a mid-to-late July launch for Oshi Burger Bar, which is in the old Dream Berry space on South Main.

“From a design element, there’s an Asian influence, and even on the menu, there are some items that have a slight Asian homage to them, but it’s not a Japanese restaurant,” Johnson says. “It gave us the ability to make it more unique and to put our own spin on it. To make it more memorable.”

The small menu will focus on alcoholic milk shakes, cocktails, hand-crafted sausages, and locally sourced hamburgers custom-ground from brisket, short rib, and sirloin.

Some of the sausages will include chicken, wild boar, lobster, and sweetbreads.

“We’re taking the basic fundamentals of a burger and making it your own and running with it and using different ingredients,” Johnson says.

The launch of Oshi, which already has been pushed back several months, will start the countdown to Agave Maria, an upscale Mexican bistro and tequila bar set to open in late September.

“We’re taking Mexican street food, and we’re refining it and using better ingredients. We’re taking street food to the next level,” Johnson says.

Johnson promises Agave Maria will set itself apart because it won’t offer the same five ingredients packaged in different ways.

He’ll incorporate fresh local produce, peppers, and a labor-intensive mole sauce into Agave Maria’s tapas, tacos, tortas, and enchiladas.

Johnson has six other concepts he’s “toying around with” and may initiate one day. He says it’s the success of the Locals that has allowed him to expand his reach.

The desire to breathe life into brands and to make something interesting out of nothing is a core motivation for Johnson, and the food truck and the new restaurants hardly satiate that appetite.

“I just like creating these things. That’s why I formed the consulting group,” Johnson says. “We’ve got a couple of consulting proposals out on the table to help some other companies solidify their brands. I enjoy putting this stuff together and that was just another outlet to create.”

The group at RFJ Concepts includes Graham Reese, who will focus on architecture, and Ben Fant, who will focus on branding and franchising.

As for Johnson’s “vacation.” He’s spending it visiting several cities to do some market research on culinary trends.

“I thought the opportunities were great, and I didn’t want to pass that up,” Johnson says of starting so many businesses at once. “It’s certainly not ideal for me to open up one restaurant two months away from the other. It’s twice the headache. Twice the challenge. But the truck was a no-brainer. That was just too easy.”

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Now open: At’s-A-Pizza and Beekers

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Sam Rodriguez opened At’s-A-Pizza in early April on Union in the former Petra site. The restaurant is loosely based on the former Collierville restaurant with the same name.

The Midtown restaurant offers New York-style pizza by the slice or in 10-, 14-, or 18-inch versions. Customers can create their own pizza or choose between 14 options such as the Great White (featuring Alfredo sauce and spinach), but At’s-A-Pizza is hardly pizza-centric.

It’s more of a sit-down Italian restaurant offering table service and an extensive menu of appetizers, salads, panini, pastas, and subs. (One recent patron stood to walk toward the counter for his drink and looked surprised as a waitress intercepted him with a smile.)

“It’s something different, right?” Rodriguez says of the service. “People like it. That surprises them. It’s like, ‘Oh, it’s not just pizza only. We can eat some good dishes here.'”

Rodriguez, who has worked in the food industry as a cook for 21 years and at one time lived in Manhattan, is proud of the pasta primavera ($11.95): linguini with green peppers, Greek olives, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, Parmesan cheese, and capers baked in marinara sauce. He cooks the made-from-scratch sauce for four hours.

The calzones and stromboli also are customizable with the former featuring ricotta in addition to mozzarella. The Italian Special ($8.50) stretches across a substantial silver platter and would be disastrous without a knife and fork. Each bite contains a different flavor with pockets of soft ricotta, globs of pepperoni and Italian sausage, and a heavy dose of vegetables.

Customization and selection are central tenets of the At’s-A-Pizza menu. Rodriguez sprinkles a “pixie dust” of Parmesan, oregano, and garlic on top of his pizza but has an alternative for those averse to garlic.

“I want you to feel comfortable. I want you to be my regular customer,” says Rodriguez, who addresses everyone with a “Mr.” or “Mrs.” before their first name. “Enjoy. Sit down like you’re in a home.”

The name of At’s-A-Pizza comes from New York slang, “‘ey, it’s a pizza!”

Beeker’s, a new Midtown carry-out and delivery restaurant, is a reincarnated version of Tucker’s.

The mad-scientist monker fits, not just due to the scientific-apparatus art and themed food items spliced into the menu. It goes beyond the large painting of the periodic table inside an abstract Memphis skyline that greets customers, courtesy of Meredith Wilson of Allie Cat Arts.

Ask Charles Fisher, a former Tucker’s employee and the Beeker’s owner, about the menu, and he’ll launch into a 45-minute monologue that covers nearly every menu item, the popularity of offering half-gallon tea instead of gallon tea (did you know that’s more than five 12-ounce cups?), the importance of Yelp reviews, and each line of the health inspection hanging from the wall.

Bearded, wearing a golf shirt with holes in it, and frantically clicking around his iPad to find various talking points, Fisher could easily be pictured in a lab coat jotting down the result of chemical experiments into a notebook.

The experimenting extends to Beeker’s Big Bunsen burgers, which are ground and hand-formed daily, homemade cheesecakes, and wing sauces like Jekyll and Hyde and Bad Experiment, the latter created and perfected by one of Fisher’s cooks.

Philly Style Protein Prototypes, combining rib-eye with Cheez Whiz ($9.99 for a 12-inch sandwich), and a large collection of hand-cut steaks are also menu staples. The menu lists a PBJ for $997.23, inspiring more than a few curious inquiries (it’s not an actual item), and states the restaurant is “closed Mondays and when Billy Joel is in town.”

Good food is a start, but for a business operating at about 90 percent delivery, customer service is paramount, and Fisher knows it.

Beeker’s is closed on Mondays, but the phone still rings often. A woman recently showed up with her daughter, who brought home a good report card and wanted some wings as a reward. Fisher delayed a trip to the store to fire up the fryer. He also made a salad for a hungry police officer looking for food at 11 p.m. on another Monday.

“If I do whatever it takes to get them to eat here once, I think I can get them hooked most of the time,” Fisher says.

Fisher has kept some of the same staff and menu items from Tucker’s but has made changes.

“Some people think we’re the same business. Why would we go through the trouble of closing down during the busiest time of the year to remodel the store and cut the menu in half? Why would you do that?” Fisher says. “It needed to be redone.”

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Now open: Strano and Ecco on Overton Park

CREDIT: justin fox burks

The kitchen doors fling open inside the swank new Sicilian restaurant at Cooper and Young.

Out walks Strano‘s owner and head chef, Josh Steiner, some two-day stubble failing to camouflage that Steiner celebrated his 23rd birthday on May 30th in conjunction with the restaurant’s grand opening.

The third of four siblings, Steiner spent his childhood in the kitchen with his Moroccan and Italian grandmothers. Soon he was working at Russo’s, the family’s Italian restaurant in Germantown, collecting kitchen equipment for his birthdays, working with Karen Carrier at Beauty Shop, and taking a three-week culinary crash course in Sicily.

Sourcing ingredients from his family’s nearby 100-acre farm and using FedEx to overnight his fish — a nod to the 11-hour expiration rule of his Italian mentors — Steiner takes a traditional approach, avoiding heavy sauces and focusing on foods like vegetable couscous and stuffed eggplant.

The twist is in the presentation, like the column of white oak wood smoke that emerges from the glass chamber on top of the grilled swordfish ($26).

justin fox burks

Josh Steiner

Steiner also uses an anti-griddle, he explains, while dashing back to the kitchen and emerging with a blob of caramel on the end of a toothpick that morphs into a dab of rich sauce in seconds. The anti-griddle flash-freezes salad dressing, which then melts in front of customers, or honey, which becomes marble hard before dissolving.

He adds caviar to drinks at the bar, which changes the flavor midway through, and injects strawberries and grapes with carbonation, using them instead of soda water in sangria.

“You can’t create recipes. Every recipe has already been done. So the only way to do it is how you present it. I feel like people eat with their eyes, their ears, their nose, not just their mouth, and so I play with senses, I play with textures. I even play with time,” Steiner says.

But it’s not all flash and new-age. “Grandma’s Meatballs” ($8) come from an old family recipe.

“My great grandmother sautéed them for just a split second, just to change the color on the outside. I’m talking so they’re still as rare as can be in the middle,” Steiner says. “And then she let them sit inside her marinara sauce for 24 hours while it’s on a low simmer. And that’s how you get them so moist and falling apart.”

Sabine Bachmann anguished over the name of her new Overton Park restaurant, heavy on Italian and Mediterranean influences, before settling on Ecco on Overton Park.

“Ecco is an Italian word. It means ‘here it is.’ I thought it was appropriate,” Bachmann says.

Lounging on the back patio during a recent Sunday, snacking on hot wings and sipping a cold drink, Bachmann pointed out a small plot of grass that one day will produce tomatoes and herbs for the restaurant. She spent her childhood in Germany, Italy’s dairy country, and France, where the family vacationed frequently; her dad made his own wine, and her neighbors were goat herders.

Her upbringing heavily influenced the atmosphere and menu for the restaurant.

“To me, food is not only about nourishment, but about people getting together around the same table and enjoying their time together,” Bachmann says. “I like the concept of how they cook over there, which is to use really good ingredients and don’t mess with them a lot.”

Armando Gagliano, her 25-year-old son, is the head chef and created most of the menu after dropping out of nursing school recently to pursue cooking. According to Gagliano, the orange-glazed Berkshire pork chop ($19) has emerged as a customer favorite.

Served with white wine risotto and an apple-onion chutney, he uses a spiced orange tea brine and cooks the meat sous vide to retain moisture.

Other menu items are the linguini with kale pesto featuring Tuscan kale and pesto Genovese ($10); chicken legs with marinated lemons and olives ($16); and a vegetarian lentil stew with tomatoes, potatoes, onion, garlic, and tofu ($10).

“People should live to eat instead of eating to live,” Gagliano says. “That’s kind of a stupid little cliché that chefs say.”

Maybe so, but as the breeze wafted through the patio, the Ecco staff conversing over an unhurried meal, it seemed fitting.

Here it is indeed.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

A Visit to Tart

Tart, a highbrow concept marrying art, coffee, pastries and French cuisine, finally is open after a lengthy delay.

Heather Bryan-Pike and Abby Jestis have managed to merge seemingly disparate dreams and a corporate casino background by converting a former duplex at 820 South Cooper into a quirky coffeehouse that couldn’t be more individualistic.

Based on customer feedback, Bryan-Pike told me during a recent visit, Tart has placed a heavier-than-anticipated focus on the food.

The Instagram-friendly tarts stand out in the display case, no explanation needed. But the food menu begs for an explanation even for the most ardent foodie.

I cannot pronounce the dish I ordered — salmon rillette — despite two years of French courses in college. I ordered it upon Bryan-Pike’s recommendation, but to try to regurgitate her crash course of the way it’s prepared would be an exercise in futility.

From what I gathered, though, the small glass cup at the corner of my plate contained a chilled paste made from shredded fish meat, which I spread on the half dollar-sized slices of bread along with pieces of juicy pepper and a sweet jelly. My plate also included a moist side of peas accentuated with spices and vegetables.
I also ordered a croissant and my friend, a cute Brazilian girl, graciously let me taste the cherry tart she ordered.

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I was distracted by her smile (that’s my excuse, anyway) and failed to grab photos other than a pair of absentminded shots of my plates after I had nearly finished eating, but Tart features gallery lighting, local art on the walls and tables wedged into corners of the several rooms that give the venue a homey and private feel.

Dubbed the “CooperLoo Gallery,” a rotating street art installation provides a sort of odd motivation to stand inside the door of the restrooms and have a conversation.

As Tart is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Thursday, to 10 p.m. on Friday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Bryan-Pike and Jestis practically live there. Bryan-Pike serves as the outgoing spokeswoman chatting with most of the guests and Jestis bustles around greasing the gears of the machine.

One of Tart’s strengths is the duo’s combined intelligence, experience, and attention to detail, all of which converge in the venue’s layout, visual seduction, and the unique and nuanced menu.

The concept will feature community events, classes and collaborations with local artists, and a seasonally-based menu unlikely to grow stale.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Guilt-Free Pastries: “Good, Real Food”

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

A little more than a decade ago, Brandon Thomas dropped from 300 pounds to 175. More recently, he returned home to Memphis after college to take care of his father, who is on dialysis due to diabetes. And even while he was so personally involved in health issues, he never imagined he’d launch the health-conscious Guilt-Free Pastries.

Thomas discovered he’s allergic to gluten in August and began experimenting with gluten-free recipes. As Thomas walked through a market with a cart full of avocados, someone got curious and asked why, eventually requesting an impromptu order of avocado brownies.

The request opened Thomas’ mind to the possibility of selling to friends and family on occasion, and then another customer materialized.

Justin Fox Burks

Brandon Thomas’ guilt-free treats

“He was like, ‘What’s your company name? Where’s the storefront?’ I was like, ‘You’re my second customer, man. I don’t know. … Everything’s guilt-free. They’re pastries,'” Thomas recalls. “He was like, ‘That’s a great name.’ I was like, ‘Okay. Guilt-Free Pastries it is.'”

Thomas soon found a market for his products at Miss Cordelia’s Grocery, Stone Soup Café, Phillip Ashley Chocolates, and even a few gyms.

The brownies, $29 for one dozen, are his staple product, though he’s since expanded to caramel and vegan versions of the brownie, as well as several cookie options: cinnamon banana, white chocolate chip, and vegan avocado.

Thomas uses coconut flour instead of bleached flour, avoids hydrogenated oil, substitutes avocado for butter, and sources local eggs, honey, and vanilla extract.

Some of the recipes took experimenting. “When I made that first batch of brownies, it was not the prettiest picture. I had to throw them away,” Thomas says.

Starting with $500, he’s shown an acumen out of the kitchen as well, winning a Start Co. speed-pitch contest, connecting with mentors and securing a grant.

The advice he gets? Set higher price points.

“Right now organic foods are priced for a certain demographic. I don’t want that to be the case. I want everyone to be able to eat good, real food,” Thomas says.

Though he eventually wants his own store, for now Thomas still accepts orders via email for a single cookie or brownie and will deliver for free.

guiltfreepastries@gmail.com; 326-8482

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Now Open: Station BBQ and PC BBQ

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

A former Crittenden County farmer and Memphis commodities salesman, Paul O’Neal could easily pass as a small-town Arkansas mayor.

“That’s where the money is,” O’Neal says in his drawl, standing in front of his restaurant, Station BBQ, and pointing to the spot where I-40 and I-55 converge.

Justin Fox Burks

Paul O’Neal

O’Neal suspects Station BBQ gets a number of customers lured off the interstate by the neighboring McDonald’s, but on this day, he greets every patron by name.

He maintains his charm when he fields a call from a pork vendor prodding him to buy in bulk to lock in a price. It doesn’t vanish when he recounts a tale set at his parent’s cotton farm involving a tourist couple and a falsely identified Johnny Cash landmark. And it’s especially evident when he explains the origin of some of the best barbecue nachos west of the Mississippi River.

Before he opened Station BBQ, O’Neal spent two years doing “research,” frequenting Memphis barbecue spots, asking questions in the kitchen, and gaining 20 pounds.

Justin Fox Burks

Station BBQ’s nachos

“I ate at every one of them, and I think they’re all great. I still am a big fan. I’ve got an unquenchable taste for it,” O’Neal says. “But I get excited when I eat my own product. I think my slaw is one of the best I’ve ever eaten.”

Station BBQ offers no sauce on the table. For their wet ribs and sandwiches, they ladle it warm over the pork.

The menu also features dry ribs, barbecue bologna, a wedge salad, tamales and chili, catfish, and barbecue spaghetti.

O’Neal is particularly proud of their version of barbecue nachos, and he offers a little background. After weeks of cleaning the restaurant to prepare it for opening, O’Neal spent a day meeting with vendors. Exhausted, he only accepted a 4 p.m. appointment because he knew the man’s sister and didn’t want to upset her.

“This guy’s like, ‘I’ve got some sauce. I’ve wanted to open a barbecue restaurant my whole life, and I couldn’t do it, and I want this sauce to be in your place. I’m only going to sell it to you if you’ll take it,'” O’Neal says. “I take the sauce, and the sauce is amazing. It’s a white sauce. You don’t want yellow any more in my opinion. It’s got just a little something in it that makes you want to eat more.”

The BBQ Nachos ($9.95) include the white sauce, dry rub, and the barbecue sauce and come with pork or chicken.

Station BBQ will implement other ideas soon, including seasonal sauces like pineapple habanero, gleaned from 12 Bones in Ashville, North Carolina. For now, Ken’s Oreo Balls serve as one of the creative outlets: crumbled, fried Oreos in clumps topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

“We just don’t have anything that the locals can call their own,” O’Neal says. “West Memphis needs something. It needs a catalyst.”

If your ideal lunch break involves downing a monster barbecue sandwich and smashing a bucket of golf balls, PC BBQ at Vantage Point Golf Center in Cordova is the place for you.

Jason Wiggs, founder of the restaurant’s namesake, the competitive barbecue team called Pork Choppers BBQ, opened PC BBQ in January after some prodding from one of the team’s backers. The two would talk over the idea at the golf center, a stand-alone driving range with a pro shop, which happened to be looking for an in-house food business.

PC BBQ isn’t for the meek in appetite. The Monster Sandwich ($12.99), weighing in at nearly one pound, includes an inch-thick slice of smoked bologna topped with a mound of pulled pork and slaw.

If that’s not enough, try Eat the Pig ($29.99), a giant version of the Monster Sandwich with double the bologna and three pounds of pork. Customers who finish it in less than 30 minutes don’t have to pay, but good luck.

“My dad does drywall. When he goes to eat, he doesn’t have a lot of money to spend, but he wants a good amount of food. [When I first started catering], he said, ‘If you’re going to make a sandwich, make it big enough for a man to eat,'” Wiggs says.

“So I kept that theory. When you order a sandwich here, the thing people say is, ‘Wow, it’s huge.’ It fills you up and allows you to get through your day. Even the hungriest man can come in here and get a good sandwich at a good price.”

Wiggs offers his competition-style barbecue in the restaurant, cooking it slow at 225 degrees over peach and applewood, which infuses a sweet, smoky flavor. The meat is also spicier than the norm.

Pork Choppers BBQ, which has claimed 32 first-place finishes in competition, will stage a “Dinner With Your Dog” soon, teaming up with a local pet supply store to serve barbecue and gourmet dog food. The location also offers unique team-building or corporate outings complete with food, drinks, and golf lessons.

After devouring some competition-level meat, customers can relax on the patio overlooking acres of land in the back or swat a bucket of golf balls on the range.

“It’s a nice place with beautiful scenery. You show up in the morning, and there will be deer out there,” Wiggs says. “There are no cars flying by. It’s almost a sanctuary where you can come and relax. No one’s going to rush you.”

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Wining, Dining

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

The entrance to Flight Restaurant & Wine Bar on South Main is hard to miss.

Venture around the corner onto Monroe Avenue, however, and you may not notice a small enclave in the building.

Inside the notch is what looks like a grungy, steel service door. Through the door and down a set of stairs sits a banquet space, the rebranded Wine Cellar, operated as a subsidiary of the restaurant. It’s replete with several large wooden wine racks, tile floors, and the type of low lighting that makes the place feel like old Southern money.

Flight has operated the space for years, offering private dining, but converted it to the Wine Cellar last summer. Ownership since has remade the kitchen, expanded the banquet menu, and hired Melissa Nichopoulos as the banquet coordinator.

“We feel like we’re ready to expose the room more,” co-owner Russ Graham says.

In addition to an extensive wine menu and hors d’oeuvres, the banquet space offers a popular flight concept that parallels the restaurant’s offerings. For $59 per person, guests can choose one of three pre-selected entrées. Choice is a primary draw for the Wine Cellar banquet experience, both for the layout of the room and the menu, which can be altered upon request.

“[Nichopoulos] is trying to find out what’s important to you and how can we make this work for you. People really enjoy choices, and we’re here to offer that to you,” co-owner Tom Powers says.

As he spoke, the staff set up the room for a gathering of Nike executives. The space hosts celebrations of all kinds, including wedding ceremonies and can also handle DJs or bands.

Justin Fox Burks

“The room is extremely versatile and flexible. A smaller party is not eaten up by the size of the room,” Graham says. “You can have a 15- to 20-person party, and it feels intimate, but you can also seat 100 people, and it works.”

The space originally served as the packing and shipping hub for Brodnax Jewelers, which opened the building in 1916. A historical plaque claims Brodnax “at one time sold more Rolex watches than any other retailer in the world.”

The corner of the Wine Cellar still holds an old-timey safe, nearly a century old, with two thick, heavy plated doors.

The history is a great conversation piece, but the staff maintains that the Wine Cellar’s flexible dining experience delivering quality taste and good service is the real draw.

39 S. Main (598-3992)
flightmemphis.com

In an ongoing effort to modernize Gold Strike Casino Resort and upgrade it to the level of the MGM Resort property in Las Vegas, the casino opened TEN10 Wine & Whiskey Bar last month in Tunica.

Management converted what they describe as an “old and tired” lounge called L.A. Bar, using bright colors and sleek lines that would make George Jetson feel at home.

“We just wanted to create a nice place for our guests to come, relax, and enjoy their favorite wine, their favorite whiskey in a nice, modern setting,” says Elizabeth Slade, the resort’s public relations manager.

The venue boasts an extensive list of about 60 whiskeys, scotch blends, and wines. It includes Jim Beam White Label, Noah’s Mill small-batch bourbon, American Honey (a flavored whiskey made by Wild Turkey), Elk Cove Pinot Noir, and Clos Pegase Chardonnay.

TEN10, named for the resort’s address, will offer an alternating, complimentary wine or whiskey tasting the first Thursday of each month, with free food and a 2-ounce pour.

The music in the lounge is a “chill-out” instrumental blend, according to executive director of food and beverage Anthony Caratozzolo.

The resort also includes a stage bar, but the ultralounge provides a mellow setting that management hopes will include live music from a saxophone or piano player.

“We’ve actually gotten that younger demographic to sit down and enjoy some cocktails and some wines. But it’s more of a relaxed setting,” Caratozzolo says.

Almost every piece of the property has been touched up or remodeled in some way, including Chicago Steakhouse, Buffet Americana, and a smoke-free gambling area on the second floor.

The resort staged a country Christmas trivia show in December and will welcome a Cirque-style show this summer in an effort to appeal to families and offer more events.

“We’re taking slow steps. We’ve still got a long ways to go, though,” Caratozzolo says.

“I’m new to this area, but Tunica has a dated feel. The casinos are very old school. What gaming used to be. We’re trying to transform and align ourselves with our Vegas property.

“With gaming opening up in many areas surrounding us, we need to transform more to a resort than a casino.”

1010 Casino Center Drive in Tunica, Mississippi (888-245-7529
goldstrike.com

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Food & Drink Food Reviews

To the Streets

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

When Memphis loosened its legal restrictions on food trucks and began dispensing more licenses a few years ago, Hector Vazquez and partner Rafael Moreno immediately began saving money. Both men are cooks at the Slider Inn and natives of San Miguel el Alto, a town of 40,000 in the hills of Jalisco, Mexico. Eight months of planning and saving later, the pair opened El Alteño in early April.

Much like those from the North are referred to as Yankees, those from the highlands of Jalisco are called alteños.

The region is known for its tacos al pastor and carnitas, or fried pork used for quesadillas, tacos, and tortas. For pastor, instead of dicing the pork and cooking it on a flat stove, they marinate it, often with pineapple, and cook it slowly on a rotisserie called a “trompo,” then shave off pieces of meat, similar to gyros.

Justin Fox Burks

The two cook the carnitas in a large copper kettle and use only salt and pepper, a preparation that gives the meat a more natural flavor. They sometimes use Coca-Cola as a glaze.

El Alteño is open seven days a week, with Vazquez operating it on the corner of East Raines and Getwell Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Moreno cooks Friday through Sunday, 7 p.m. to midnight, at other locations.

Tacos are $2, tortas are $6, and burritos and quesadillas are $7 and are huge, Vazquez says, illustrating a giant gut-buster with his hands.

Justin Fox Burks

Hector Vazquez

Everything comes with chicken, pastor, carnitas, steak, or “lengua” (tongue). The truck also offers a cubana torta (ham, pastor, and chorizo).

The pair source all the meat from local farmers markets and hope to open a taquería by the same name at some point.

“Check it out. Try it. You will like it,” Vazquez says.

@H_Vazquez1111 on Twitter

Twenty-seven years ago, Lisa Paul, a lifelong Memphis resident, and Keith Paul, an immigrant from Trinidad, eloped to New York.

“He let me taste my first chicken roti,” Lisa says of the popular Caribbean dish. “I knew when I bit into that, we’ve got to make this. This is something I’ve got to bring to Memphis one day.”

In December, the husband and wife launched Paul’s Cariflavor, a food truck featuring authentic cuisine from Keith’s childhood.

Roti, an Indian flatbread typically filled with curry, is to Trinidad what jerk chicken is to Jamaica. The curry goat roti ($8) is a big hit.

“I didn’t think a lot of people here would eat curry goat, but that turned out to be our number-one seller,” Keith says. “The day we go out to sell and we don’t have goat, it’s like we’re committing a big sin. And, fortunately, we are able to get good goat in Memphis.”

Cariflavor also offers teas ($3) as well as fried plantains ($2).

They plan to launch a second truck by the fall. Cariflavor often serves lunch at Court Square and Overton Park during the week and at Shelby Farms on Saturdays.

Lisa does most of the cooking, as Keith works for the City of Memphis, but gender roles in the kitchen are often reversed in Trinidad.

“We go down by the river on the weekend, and we cook,” Keith says. “You stay by the river, swim, and have cookouts. The men do a lot of cooking because we do a lot of hanging out. And, of course, men always figure theirs is better than the next.”

cariflavor.com, @paulscariflavor on Twitter

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Paging BBQ

A two-time grand champ of the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest openly sharing her secrets? Seems unlikely, but here it is: Melissa Cookston‘s Smokin’ in the Boys’ Room: Southern Recipes from the Winningest Woman in Barbecue (Andrews McMeel Publishing, $22.99).

“I really didn’t think that I would be honest if I didn’t give those recipes out. It’s hard to fathom, ‘Oh, well, here’s a recipe you can use, but it’s not the good one.’ I really just laid it all on the line,” Cookston says, adding she doesn’t plan to compete much in the future.

Plus, Cookston says, “I used to teach barbecue classes, and I would tell these guys, ‘You can buy my rub and sauce and use it against me, and I’ll still beat you.'”

The co-owner of two Memphis Barbecue Company restaurants offers much more than ingredient lists in her first cookbook.

The photography is vivid (the fried chicken may make your stomach growl), and Cookston laces the book with Southern culture and sass, offering anecdotes from her childhood and providing her unique perspective as a woman invading a man’s culture.

Next to a recipe for grilled corn on the husk, Cookston spins a tale about stealing corn from her grandparents’ garden as a girl despite their warnings: “I would nibble on the baby ears right off the stalk.”

The book encapsulates Memphis barbecue as well as foods from the Mississippi Delta. After leading with some lessons on barbecue tools and techniques, Cookston delves into recipes for pork, lamb, bacon, beef, and poultry before venturing to seafood, sides, and desserts.

Some of Cookston’s personal favorites include grape salad, a recipe beloved by her husband, and a pair of dishes she whipped up in her own kitchen. “The cayenne grilled peaches are something that I came up with just a couple years ago when the desserts were becoming more savory, had a little heat to them, and weren’t so sticky-sweet,” Cookston says. “The pinto bean pie was something that I thought would be a fiasco but turned out fantastic. There are things in that book that nobody would’ve ever thought about making or putting together.”

It was important to Cookston to inject some humor, dishing out stories about barbecue superstitions and her experiences.

“There’s no ladies’ tees in barbecue. I get my own hogs on the smoker. And for the most part, I have been treated with the utmost respect,” Cookston says. “So many people are intimidated by big pieces of meat. From a woman’s perspective, if a girl can do it, anybody can do it, right? When I thought about writing the book, I really just wanted everybody to realize it’s not that hard to do.”

Available wherever print and e-books are sold.

Rick Browne, the tablecloth shirt-clad host of the PBS show Barbecue America for seven years, is launching a new bimonthly national magazine by the same name.

The first issue features an advance on the Memphis in May barbecue contest. Browne plans to give away 20,000 copies of the magazine in the Bluff City, where the publication will get its official introduction.

“We want to be an insider’s magazine for the barbecue aficionados in this country,” Browne says. “Barbecue is a big family, and we want to be a very important part of that family.”

In the first issue: a review of pellet grills; the story of “Old Ray,” who went from making sausage in his garage to selling 50,000 cases per year; and a profile of a Michigan man who lost his construction job, started selling barbecue from a roadside stand, caught someone’s attention, and is now a pit master at a restaurant.

A one-year subscription (six issues) of Barbecue America is $24.97. The publication will be available at more than 30,000 retail outlets, including places like Walmart and Kroger.

“Memphis is one of the top four barbecue cities in America, as far as I’m concerned,” Browne says, citing barbecue contest venues. “You’ve got Kansas City. You’ve got Lynchburg, Tennessee, which is small, but Jack Daniel’s is there and that makes it a lot bigger. You’ve got Memphis in May, and you’ve got the Houston Rodeo and Bar-B-Que. Those are the four biggest and most prestigious events.”

During the Memphis in May barbecue contest, Browne will show off an eight-foot stainless-steel dragon sculpture that doubles as a grill at his booth, and he also plans to have plenty of giveaways.

“I’ve been to Memphis in May five times,” Browne says. “I love the city. I love the barbecue. The [contest] venue along the Mississippi River is fantastic. The city has a great spirit. They truly love to barbecue, and they truly love to party.”

Print or digital subscription packages are available online at bbqam.com.