Author: Hannah Sayle

Two of your favorite brews are the focus of a new downtown eatery, set to open in early June.

Tamp & Tap‘s dual focus on coffee and beer will create a place where patrons can, as the motto states, “grind or unwind.” Specifically, the coffee-and-beer bar will feature craft beer, ideally from some of Memphis’ burgeoning craft breweries, and small-batch, artisanal coffee from the Metropolis Coffee Company out of Chicago.

The project is the latest from local food entrepreneur Taylor Berger, who earlier this spring opened Chiwawa, a Tex-Mexicana taco and hot dog joint in the former site of the Chicago Pizza Factory on Madison. Whether adding this rapid-fire string of food ventures to his already full plate (running the local frozen yogurt chain YoLo, heading up the Food Truckers Alliance, and managing a newly acquired hospitality furniture company) reveals Berger’s madness or genius — or both — remains to be seen. What is clear is Berger wastes no time once he spies an opportunity and a market.

“The inspiration was to have a really high-end coffee experience and espresso bar,” he says. “But in addition to that we’ll have some really good food like salads and sandwiches prepared to-order and desserts.”

With hours from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tamp & Tap is arguably more of a coffee shop than a biergarten. (Berger admits that the restaurant might not serve beer in the beginning, depending on the status of the beer permit.) Berger was tipped off about Metropolis by one of Memphis’ up-and-coming brewers, Davin Bartosch, of Wiseacre Brewing. Bartosch used Metropolis coffee for one of his beers when he was a brewer in Chicago and recommended them for Tamp & Tap. After a jaunt to Chicago to see the operation, Berger signed on to carry the Metropolis beans.

Bartosch has offered to brew some coffee beers for Tamp & Tap once Wiseacre is up and running, and Berger is also in conversation with Memphis Made Brewing Company, another local brewery in the works. In the meantime, Berger is focusing on getting local brews from the newest craft brewery in town, High Cotton Brewing Company, and from the progenitor of craft brewing in Memphis, Ghost River Brewing.

Located on the ground floor of the Van Vleet building at 122 Gayoso, the space still bears relics of its former occupant, the Van Vleet-Mansfield Drug Co., once one of the largest drug firms in the United States. The open warehouse space is broken up with large concrete columns and lined with enormous windows. Tamp & Tap warms up this former warehouse space with raw, live, edge wood from Woodland tree service, all sourced from trees that have fallen in storms over the last year. Planks are stacked artfully on the walls and fan out in canopies on the ceiling.

“We’re making our bar out of it, we’re using it as accents, we’re making our tables out of it,” Berger says. “It’s a lot of real, beautiful, local hardwoods that otherwise would have gone to the dump.”

The space is tailored to the needs of the customers, with a long bar that spans the back of the room and is sectioned off by function. Looking for a light lunch? Line up along the west side of the shop where you can purchase a made-to-order salad or sandwich for between $6 and $10. Interested in a quick coffee or espresso? The middle portion of the bar is cordoned off for caffeine fixes. And on the easternmost part of the lengthy bar is barside seating, where you can throw back a frosty mug of whatever local or regional brew Berger can get his hands on. Other aspects of Berger’s concept can be tailored to the needs of his customers as well.

“If we have the business, we’ll stay open later. If customers want us here until midnight, we’ll stay open until midnight,” he says, adding, “Hey, if they even want us to put in a full bar, we’ll put in a full bar.”

Tamp & Tap, 122 Gayoso (517-6518)

tampandtap.com

As Judy Douglass, owner of #Pound Cakes, tells it, the recipe for business success called for one beloved family dessert, a dash of empty-nest syndrome, and a pinch of fake-it-’til-you-make-it.

“About 11 years ago, I was talking to a friend about getting a real estate license for when my twin boys went off to school, so I’d have something to do. She said, ‘Well, you should sell your coffee cakes,'” Douglass says. “I’d never sold one. I’d just always given them to people. I ribbed her that she was just afraid of me getting into the real estate market and taking over her business.”

Still, Douglass took that advice to heart, and at a mothers’ luncheon that November, she brought some of her pound cakes, based on her mother’s coffee cake recipe, and was delighted at the response.

“People came up to me and said, ‘Oh, that’s so good!'” Douglass says. “I would say, ‘Thanks, I sell them.’ Really, I’d never sold one in my life. But by Christmas, I had 80 cake orders.”

Now, 11 years later, Douglass is finally expanding from exclusively custom orders to selling her confections in local stores. She began selling the cakes in High Point Grocery in February at the urging of her friends Jill and Tom Flournoy, owners of another small family business, Tom’s Tiny Kitchen pimento cheese. Soon, she followed their advice and got her cakes on the shelves of Miss Cordelia’s Grocery in Harbor Town as well.

#Pound Cakes, which come in raspberry almond, blackberry almond, apricot almond, cinnamon pecan, and peach cinnamon, are packaged in a simple, brown box, tied up with ribbon, stamped to mark the flavor of cake, and slapped with a brightly colored #Pound Cakes sticker. Each slice is moist and crumbly with a golden brown crust; a separate packet of white powdered sugar can be applied — or not — upon presentation. (Douglass doesn’t put the sugar on before packaging, because, as every baker knows, a dusting of powdered sugar will quickly dissolve into the cake, taking its pretty white stipple with it.)

She sells her 6-inch cakes at High Point Grocery, Miss Cordelia’s, and Republic Coffee for $14.99 and takes orders for full-size, 18-inch versions of each flavor for $35. Eventually, Douglass will have to expand operations, if only to keep up with the holiday rush that slams her kitchen every Thanksgiving and Christmas. For now, though, she says #Pound Cakes is a solo endeavor, and it’s a lot tastier than real estate.

#Pound Cakes, judypoundcakes@gmail.com

What does zucchini have to do with muffins and breads?

A lot, it turns out. Samantha Green of Lilee’s Gourmet Bakery says the summer squash blends perfectly into sweet muffins and breads, adding extra moisture with a flavor so subtle that you can’t even taste the added vitamins and fiber.

Lilee’s Gourmet Bakery is based in Senatobia, Mississippi, and named after Lily Anne Collins Green, the late matriarch of the Green family and the inspiration for their line of zucchini muffins and breads. The bakery is an offshoot business of the family’s farm, which has been providing fresh produce and meats to the Mid-South for five generations. Nearly every one of her children, eight girls and two boys, has stayed involved in the family business, which begins with growing the zucchini on the family farm and ends with turning that zucchini into a brand of healthy baked goods.

You can find their muffins and breads, which come in chocolate, cinnamon spice, carrot pecan, and raisin, at various farmers markets, including the Church Health Center Wellness Farmers Market, the Agricenter Farmers Market, the Hernando Farmers Market, and the South Memphis Farmers Market. The muffins are also sold at Miss Cordelia’s and inside Memphis International Airport.

“Linking healthy eating directly to the farm is our priority,” the Lilee’s Gourmet Bakery website says. Green says they not only grow their own zucchini, but they source their eggs from nearby C&G Farms, and any additional zucchini they need comes via the Mid-South Progressive Agriculture Group, a collective of area farms.

A single jumbo muffin or a two-pack of the smaller muffins costs $2.89, while a mini loaf of the zucchini bread will run you around $4.50. Making these treats accessible and affordable is part of Lilee’s mission.

“Our goal is to replace the candy bar and bag of chips that children are most likely to purchase on their own,” Green says. “It’s about creating an avenue for children and adults to learn about better health choices when it comes to snacks and basic healthy foods.”

Lilee’s Gourmet Bakery, www.lileesgourmetbakery.com

By doctor’s orders or personal preference, going gluten-free is a steadily growing trend, and businesses and restaurants are taking note.

Nourishe is one such business, a local food company that makes specialty gluten-free baking mixes. Since most baking mixes are primarily composed of wheat flour and off-limits to gluten-sensitive eaters, Nourishe uses almond, coconut, and flax-seed flours.

In the Trolley Stop Market Cannery, a commercial kitchen where small food businesses can produce items for sale to the general public, Nicole Heckman and Cameron Waggoner join Richard Westbrook and Della Adams to churn out gluten-free baking mixes for muffins, waffles, and pancakes. Soon, Heckman says, they’ll add a sandwich thin, almond shortbread cookies, and pizza dough to their repertoire.

The two couples began Nourishe after meeting at their Crossfit gym and taking up the Paleo diet, a modern take on the grain-free diet of wild plants and animals that cavemen are thought to have maintained. The goal of the diet is to cut out grains, dairy products, refined salt and sugar, and other processed ingredients, but the folks behind Nourishe quickly found them-selves craving the baked treats from their pre-Paleo days. Two years ago, they began testing recipes for the Nourishe baking mixes.

“Sure, it’s gluten-free, but the first thing you should notice is that it tastes good,” Heckman says. “The response so far has been overwhelmingly positive, even from people who aren’t gluten-free.”

The mixes cost $11.99 per box, but gluten-free shoppers will be accustomed to the higher price of organic and specialty ingredients. Plus, now through Mother’s Day, each mix is $10.49.

The three varieties available — Chocolate Ginger Macadamia Muffin Mix, Cinnamon Raisin Pecan Muffin Mix, and Richard’s Favorite Waffles and Pancake Mix — can be purchased at the Memphis Farmers Market, the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market, at many of the Crossfit locations around the city, and on Amazon.

Nourishe, www.nourishe.me, inquiries@nourishe.me

Though all of the items on Huey’s new gluten-free menu are reshuffled items from their regular menu, special projects manager Samantha Boggs Dean says customers will appreciate the ease of ordering from a separate menu.

“About six months ago, our servers started telling us that a lot of customers were asking if we had any gluten-free menu items,” Dean says. “At the time, we didn’t, so we started looking into it. We felt like there was a need for it.”

The Huey’s kitchen is not gluten-free, so for those with serious gluten allergies the menu bears a warning about the potential of cross-contamination. Otherwise, diners can choose from the Huey’s burger served without a bun, the steak sandwich without bread, grilled salmon or mahi-mahi with vegetables, the cheese and sausage plate, and four salad options served without crackers.

The menu isn’t a particularly adventurous take on gluten-free dining, but Dean believes it will fit the bill when families come in with an array of dietary needs.

“We want families to have the choice so that everyone can be happy. Someone can get their burger, someone can eat heart-healthy, someone can do gluten-free,” Dean says. “We figure gluten-free is going to be around for a while, so we may as well start reacting.”

Huey’s Restaurant, www.hueyburger.com

Chef Ryan Trimm (Sweet Grass, Next Door) is taking his talents eastward with Southward Fare and Libations, a new concept set to open in the former home of Circa in East Memphis’ Regalia Shopping Center this summer.

Situated outside the I-240 loop, in the heart of a large business community, Southward will cater to the business-lunch scene and happy-hour crowds, with space for dinner meetings and private dinners. Trimm is expanding the bar, which will include wine and craft beer and will focus on “interesting and unique” cocktails with plenty of infusions.

Last January, John Bragg announced he would be moving Circa to the Chickasaw Crossing shopping center, with Sekisui leaving its Humphreys location to move into Regalia. In February, Bragg closed Circa instead. The arrangement with Sekisui fell through.

Now Trimm and his team, Shady Grove Restaurant Group, are set to open a restaurant in the 3,700-square-foot space by mid- to late June.

Fans of Sweet Grass will find Southward somewhat similar in style and technique but with a more executive bent and a menu that moves beyond Trimm’s familiar low-country cuisine into a wider “tour of the South.” Dinner should run around $20 to $30 and lunch around $15 or less.

“It will be a lot of Southern staples with our twists on them,” Trimm says. “Instead of just low-country food, we’ll be covering the South in general.”

Southward will serve lunch and dinner Monday through Friday and brunch and dinner Saturday and Sunday.

Southward Fare and Libations, Regalia Shopping Center, 6150 Poplar

In the summer of 2011, David Johnson opened Southern Belle at 1329 Madison as a catering kitchen and small workweek lunch operation. Now, this former executive chef at McEwen’s on Monroe is moving his catering operation downtown and reopening his restaurant as Belle Diner.

“I did a really good lunch business for that small location, and catering was always good,” Johnson says. “But this opportunity presented itself, and I was looking for a good spot to do lunch and dinner.”

Johnson found that in the former location of Rio Loco at 117 Union downtown. Rio Loco, a local Mexican joint, closed about two months ago, and Johnson swooped in to take advantage of the larger kitchen and dining areas.

Belle Diner will be open for lunch first, Monday through Friday. Shortly after, Johnson will add dinner Monday through Saturday, then brunch on Saturday and Sunday. While they were hoping to be open by May 1st, Johnson says mid-May is more likely.

Building on the success of Southern Belle on Madison, the menu at Belle Diner will be a revision of the upscale, Southern soul-food staples and Cajun classics from Johnson’s former outfit.

“It’s all Southern but with a nice twist. Instead of getting a cheap top round to pound out and country-fry, we’ll take a nice cut of meat and country-fry us a big rib-eye,” Johnson says. “And for desserts, we’ll do stuff like a banana tart — a spinoff of banana pudding with a vanilla wafer crust, banana cream, and caramelized bananas on top.”

Dinner will ring in under $20 and lunch under $10. For lunch, diners choose a meat and two sides, with different blue-plate specials each day. Think braised collard greens, baked mac-and-cheese, squash casserole, and fried catfish, as well as crawfish étouffée and red beans and rice. For those who aren’t in the mood for a plate lunch, Johnson will add sandwich offerings to his menu, made from locally sourced meats whenever possible and roasted and sliced in-house and served on Johnson’s own bread.

Belle Diner will have craft beer, wine, and some liquor drinks — brunch without a Bloody Mary is sacrilege — but Johnson is adamant about the diner staying a diner and not becoming a bar.

“We’re not trying to have a big bar crowd. We don’t want to be three or four people deep at the bar. But if people want a nice drink with their meal, they’ll be able to do that.”

Moving from his tiny, soul-food shop on Madison to a sizable downtown diner will be a definite upgrade for Johnson, but he says he’s prepared to grow.

“I’m going from 20 seats to about 150 seats,” he says. “But I’m excited. I’m not worried about it. McEwen’s had about 100, so I’ve run a kitchen that does that volume.”

Belle Diner, 117 Union

www.southernbellememphis.com