Michael Donahue began his career in 1975 at the now-defunct Memphis Press-Scimitar and moved to The Commercial Appeal in 1984, where he wrote about food and dining, music, and covered social events until early 2017, when he joined Contemporary Media.
Erika Pittman and Beth Wilson (Photos: Michael Donahue)
Danny Barlow recently attended his first RiverArtsFest, which was held October 19th and 20th on Riverside Drive.
“We kind of stumbled on it,” says Barlow, who attended with Kendra Hall. “We were Downtown doing a picnic and were looking for food.”
Vicki Phillips and Vincent PriceKendra Hall and Danny BarlowShauntelle Rodgers and Carter PhelanJeff Baldwin and Serena DavisSharon Ratton and Celia RacicotStan Taylor and Katelyn Butler
He was impressed with a man out of California who made watches. “I want to get connected with him. I want to get a couple of watches made.”
Around 165 artists markets were featured at this year’s event, which marked the 18th anniversary of RiverArtsFest, says founder and longtime board member Chuck Mitchell.
Kim Samuel and Ann Hyung JaeDustin and Kaytlyn McNealAaron Brame and Jeff HulettJosh and Lyndsey Hammond and Harold GraeterKent and Annette Simon, Jack Simon, and Savannah McCarter
He had great feedback from the artists. “All of them are thrilled with their experience here,” Mitchell says. “Hopefully, they sell a lot of artwork, but they’re always happy with how we treat them, load them in, and provide lunch for them in our hospitality tent.”
Jack Isley, Jonah Green, Kim Eubank, and Stefan HochhuberLatoyia, Joshua, and Jillian CaseyChris Norwood, Teresa Spencer, Winston NorwoodJonathan White and Jessica Faro
And, he says, “We’re really trying to make it great for the artists to share a great experience in Memphis. And all love being in Memphis and being Downtown.”
Artists also head to Beale Street “and other areas after the festival closes each day.”
Dinner — as well as breakfast, lunch, and brunch — is now being served at the new Downtown location of Biscuits & Jams at 24 B.B. King Boulevard, adjacent to Hotel Indigo.
The restaurant, which provides food services for the hotel and the public, recently held its grand opening.
Williams, who also owns Biscuits & Jams at 5806 Stage Road in Bartlett, Tennessee, says the new location has “a little more city vibe” since it’s in a Downtown hotel. “A certain type of upscale-ness you would think of a restaurant that’s attached to a hotel,” she says.
The Juke Speakeasy at Biscuits & Jams, which features a bar, food, and live music for people 25 years and older, is downstairs, where the iconic Memphis Sounds night spot used to be located. “I had been there in the past when it was Memphis Sounds. Very nostalgic. I thought we could do our own little take on that space.”
The new Biscuits & Jams location doesn’t have the same feel as the Bartlett location, which is “like walking into grandma’s house. A lot more cozy.”
But both places have her grandmother’s vibe, Williams says.
Her grandmother, the late Laura Stepter, was the inspiration for Biscuits & Jams as well as The Juke, she says. “You get two sides of Laura in here.”
“My grandmother worked for Memphis City Schools. She did all types of different cakes, pies, and breads. She cooked for so many people. She made biscuits every day. Homemade biscuits. This is like a love story to her.”
Server China Crump
Biscuits & Jams upstairs is bright and airy, with light coming through the windows and an open kitchen where diners can see cooks “moving and grooving.”
The decor is in green, gold, and tan. “Those earthy tones.”
Williams also includes pictures of different musicians hanging on the wall. “We serve biscuits and jam and preserves and ‘jams’ music.”
“Downstairs is all inspired by my grandmother in her younger days. She was a ‘preacher’s kid.’”
Her grandmother’s father was a minister in Indianola, Mississippi, in Sunflower County, but that didn’t stop Stepter from following her own path, Williams says. “In her younger days, she made moonshine.”
Stepter made brandy from the peach skins she collected after making her peach preserves. Williams says her cousin, who is a Biscuits & Jams co-owner, remembers how her Uncle Hoover got “deathly ill” and “almost died from getting into the moonshine our grandmother made.”
“Moonshine light fixtures,” which resemble Mason jars people used as moonshine containers, hang from the ceiling. The doors look like barn doors, tin is used on the front of the long bar, and the tabletops and chairs are made of rustic, distressed wood. “We wanted you to make believe you stepped into a juke joint. It has that kind of look to it.”
Performers Steve Bethany and Gerald Richardson
The Juke Boom Boom Room is a small, private, eclectic room off the side with a TV and comfortable chairs where guests can just relax.
The Juke Speakeasy at Biscuits & Jams features “moonshine-infused beverages,” Williams says. “Our signature cocktail drinks are made from moonshine.”
For now, items on the upstairs menu at the Downtown Biscuits & Jams are identical to those on the Bartlett restaurant’s menu. They include “a lot of the signature items that people have grown to love from the Bartlett location. But we will be introducing some different dishes with a certain amount of flair to them. A lot more Cajun, Creole dishes.”
In other words, “Some delicious updates to the menu and more, with very intricate culinary items that I think people will love.”
Signature items include shrimp and crawfish Benedict, shrimp and grits, gumbo, and hamburgers.
And, on the upcoming dinner menu, Williams says, “You’ll see some alligator.”
An Alligator Corn Dog will be one of them. “It’s actually alligator that I marinated and I cooked. We batter it and fry it.”
They’re served on a stick with “different mustards. Cajun mustard and all that. And regular table mustard.”
Another upcoming dinner item will be Seafood Monica, which is made with a buttery Chardonnay, rotini noodles, shallots, cream sauce, and “other goodness.”
Williams also is planning to add catfish and grits with crawfish gravy, which has been a popular special at the Bartlett location.
A new brunch item is Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, which are thin, light, and similar to crepes. They’re served with blueberry syrup.
In addition to ordering food from the upstairs menu, customers can order from The Juke menu at night. Items include cheese charcuterie trays, crab cakes, truffle fries, and crab and crawfish bisque.
Her Bourbon Beef Sliders come with onion jam, arugula, and bourbon barbecue sauce, Williams says.
The Juke menu items, which also can be ordered upstairs at Biscuits & Jams, include cheese charcuterie trays, crab cakes, truffle fries, and crab and crawfish bisque.
More Rendezvous sauces for your kitchen (Credit: Courtesy of Rendezvous)
I love everything I’ve ever eaten at the Rendezvous. Whether it’s the ribs, the beans, or that unique slaw, you know it when you taste something from the Rendezvous. Their food has that distinctive Rendezvous taste.
And, when you leave Rendezvous, people around you know where you’ve just eaten because your clothes smell like the Rendezvous.
You can now buy more Rendezvous products, in addition to the restaurant’s signature sauce and rub. According to a news release, Rendezvous Marinade is “the original recipe to baste and flavor our world-famous ribs,” and Greek Seasoning is “Our medley of spices from our Greek heritage.” In addition, Nick’s Salt & Pepper Blend, “a perfect portioned salt-and-pepper mix,” is in production and is slated to be available in stores or online in the coming months.
Items already available include: Famous Rendezvous Seasoning; Original Rendezvous Sauce; Hot Rendezvous Sauce; Charlie’s Select Sauce; and Tigertail Rendezvous Sweet Glazed Mustard.
The new items are “not anything we hadn’t had for years and years,” says John Vergos, one of the restaurant’s owners. “But we just decided to produce it for public consumption. Put our baste in a bottle, and our Greek seasoning and our different seasonings and our Nick’s salt and pepper in a jar, ‘cause it’s really good stuff.”
Vergos describes the salt-and-pepper concoction, which is from the recipe of his brother, the late Nick Vergos, as “really good salt and really good pepper.” And Nick “did some things to it.” But John isn’t going to divulge any more information.
“We’ve never decided to franchise, but we’re still capitalists over here,” Vergos says. “And we like to grow. And we realize we’ve got these wonderful products that people have enjoyed. We let people take some home, call us back and say they’re wonderful.”
Veergos says they’re working on putting out their mother’s Greek salad dressing to the public. Asked to describe the dressing made by their mother, the late Tasia Vergos, John says, “Well, it’s like your good olive oil and vinegar. And, of course, some oregano in it. Salt, pepper, garlic, a few other items. I won’t disclose the whole thing.”
The restaurant began bottling the seasoning in the late ‘80s and then the sauce. “That’s pretty much been it,” says Vergos. “But we’ve always let people take home some of our basics. Nick used to give people his salt and pepper for Christmas presents. We ship this stuff all over the country.”
I asked John to describe that unique Rendezvous barbecue sauce. “It’s not heavy and gooey. And you can taste the mustard and the vinegar in it. It’s good but not overpowering to the meat.” As for the seasoning, he says, “People put it on everything from deviled eggs to a dash in a Bloody Mary.”
The Rendezvous rub is “what started people making dry rubs,” John says. And that’s thanks to his dad, the late Charlie Vergos, who founded the Rendezvous. “My dad was the first.” People put salt and pepper on meat they were going to barbecue, Vergos says, but not dry rubs like his dad made. “I don’t think you have a well-stocked cupboard unless you have some Louisiana hot sauce and some Rendezvous seasoning in it.”
Rendezvous products are available at several locations, including Kroger and Novel. bookstore, and online at hogsfly.com.
Pete & Sam's, the iconic Memphis restaurant, is now featuring bi-monthly specials (Credit: MIchael Donahue)
For the first time in its 76-year history, Pete & Sam’s restaurant is running specials, says co-owner Sammy Bomarito.
“We’ve been running weekly specials for about three months,” Bomarito says. “We just did the specials as something to change up, give customers something new. Things we like and things we thought would sell well and people would really enjoy.”
They run the special every two weeks from Monday through Thursday. This week’s special is Tuscan Chicken, which is described on the restaurant’s Facebook page as “pan-seared breaded chicken with a rich white cream sauce, topped with sun-dried tomatoes and onions, all served over capellini.”
Sammy Bomarito with the Tuscan Chicken special (Photo: Michael Donahue)
Dolcetto Nocciola, the dessert that comes with it, is a “delightful hazelnut cream treat drizzled with caramel sauce.”
Apparently, Tuscan Chicken can be stretched. Dena Nance, The Woman’s Exchange executive director, says, “I brought some home. I got a to-go order and ate all of the chicken out of it the first night. The second night I put all the sauce over rice. It was amazing. I just love it with the sun-dried tomatoes. They don’t do a lot of sun-dried tomatoes in a lot of their dishes.”
Previous dishes include Blue Cheese Gnocchi and Chicken Piccata, which they describe on their post as “pan-seared chicken served with a delicious white wine, capers, and lemon sauce.”
Tuscan Chicken special (Photo: Michael Donahue)Dolcetto Nocciola at Pete & Sam’s (Photo: Michael Donahue)
“When they started doing these specials, they started out with a ribs and spaghetti special,” Bomarito says.
And that was a good tie-in for the restaurants’s social media “about Big Sam having The Rib Palace,” he adds.
I had no idea “Big Sam,” the late Sam Bomarito, and the “Sam” in Pete & Sam’s ever owned a barbecue restaurant. In addition to Pete & Sam’s, he owned The Rib Palace on Park Avenue across the street from Pete & Sam’s. They sold “barbecue and ribs and smoked bologna — all that you’d expect,” says Sammy, who, along with his brother and co-owner Michael Bomarito, is Sam’s son.
If someone at The Rib Palace, which closed in the early 1980s, wanted spaghetti, someone from the restaurant would go across the street and get some from Pete & Sam’s — vice versa if somebody at Pete & Sam’s wanted ribs. “They’d go get ribs and bring it back to The Rib Palace.”
Pete & Sam’s already has the list compiled of the specials they will be doing for the rest of the year. The Bomarito brothers and assistant manager JD Sloyan create the specials.
Next week’s special, which begins October 28th, will be grilled bone-in pork chop.
Upcoming specials include spare ribs osso buco, sun-dried tomato and sausage ravioli, chicken pot pie, and lobster ravioli.
Prices vary, but entrées run from about $20 to $24. You can also turn the special into a dinner for an additional price. I ordered the Italian salad (plus anchovies) and a baked potato with butter along with the Tuscan Chicken. And it was a feast.
So, if a particular special is extremely popular, could it be added to the permanent menu? That’s a “yes,” Sammy says.
The new Maciel's Taqueria on Summer Avenue (Photo: Jack Simon)
The new location of Maciel’s Taqueria opens tomorrow, October 24th, at 3397 Summer Avenue at the intersection of Summer and National Street.
Just writing the word “Maciel’s” makes me long for one of owner Manuel Martínez’s scrumptious tacos. I’ve been a customer since the first one opened Downtown on October 2, 2015, on the Mid-America Mall.
This is his fourth Maciel’s, Martínez says.
“It’s bigger in size,” he says. “Also, the biggest menu. We’re more focused on the taco part. We have more tacos than anything else.”
And, he says, “Let’s say 15 new tacos on the menu.”
They also have a new item that’s not in any of their other restaurants. That’s the “Suadero,” Martinez says. “It’s a brisket with chorizo. It’s really good.”
The new restaurant is 4,000 square feet and, for now, seats 99 people.
Maciel’s Taqueria (Photo: Savannah McCarter)
They’re working on getting the bar ready, Martínez says. They’re going to have a very small drink menu, but a “really good” one. They will sell “one or two mixed drinks and beer.” And margaritas, of course. They also will sell “palomas,” which is a grapefruit drink with lime, salt, and tequila.
I asked if he’s already thinking about a Maciel’s Taqueria number five, but, Martinez says, “Right now I’m going to slow down a little bit, to be honest with you. We’ve got too much on our hands.”
Later on, he’ll “think about number five.”
Meanwhile, I can’t wait to try that “Suadero.” And everything else on the menu at the new Maciel’s Taqueria.
Ann Barnes cooks
just about anything for
Corinne’s Very Special Catering. (Photos: courtesy Ann Barnes)
Ann Barnes says her sister, Susan Overton, used to ask her every morning, “What are you doing sitting in your blue chair?”
Overton was tired of watching Barnes sitting in the blue chair in the living room and working crossword puzzles.
The only blue her sister probably wanted to see was the bleu cheesesteak sandwich Barnes served at her Just for Lunch restaurant in Chickasaw Oaks.
The words struck home for Barnes, who had been retired from the restaurant and catering business for almost 10 years. Barnes, who felt like “an old racehorse out to pasture,” thought, “Well, hell. That’s what I am doing. Sitting in the blue chair.”
So, she decided to get back to work instead of “sitting here doing nothing.”
She’s now owner of Corinne’s Very Special Catering, where she makes her signature dishes, including beef Wellington and homemade rolls, as well as new items, including her charcuterie displays and crawfish étouffée. Her business, named after her late mother Corinne Batson, is “a full-time big catering company” that she operates out of Memphis Kitchen Co-Op.
Born in Little Rock, Arkansas, Barnes moved to Memphis in 1967. She began doing cooking jobs “years and years ago in the ’70s for the people who would let me.”
One of them was her next door neighbor, who asked her to make something for a party. Barnes made coquilles Saint Jacques, which she still makes today. Her criteria? The food has to look pretty and taste good. “If it doesn’t look pretty and taste good, I wouldn’t serve it.”
Barnes got the idea to open her first restaurant after Overton opened her Very Special Tea Room in Little Rock, Arkansas. She took the menu items from her sister’s restaurant and opened Just for Lunch at 4730 Poplar in 1981.
One of Overton’s friends, who ate at Just for Lunch, told Overton, “Susan, somebody stole your restaurant. They’re serving your muffins. They’re using your china. Baskets with fresh flowers on the table.”
“Legally, anybody else would have had to pay something. I had an easy-made blueprint. Tea room chicken salad, ham salad, egg and olive, aspic, rolls, tiny muffins, fancy desserts.”
And, she says, “They evolved into my recipes. But the core menu was my sister’s.”
Her first Just for Lunch restaurant was an immediate success. “We filled up every day. I was so grateful.”
She concurrently ran Just for Lunch Catering.
Barnes moved the Just for Lunch restaurant to 4720 Spottswood Avenue in 1999.
Finally, in 2008, she moved it to 3092 Poplar Avenue. “Right before the housing market collapse, I borrowed a ton of money and moved to Chickasaw Oaks.”
The restaurant at her new location wasn’t exactly like her previous Just for Lunch restaurants. “I kind of expanded it to a little more sophisticated menu. Like we had specials of the day.”
Items included the bleu cheesesteak sandwich, oysters Benedict, and Mediterranean or “lamb” burgers.
She closed the Just for Lunch in Chickasaw Oaks in 2016. “I was tired.”
And she closed her catering business. “Thirty-five years is a long time.”
Barnes catered her first job in about eight years after she got out of the blue chair. She contacted the person in charge of Feast on the Farm, the Agricenter International fundraiser held last August, and said, “I’m a caterer. How do I participate?”
They asked her what she wanted to do. Barnes replied, “Cucumber soup with toasted almonds and cheese biscuits.”
When Barnes was told, “Would it throw you if I told you it was for 600 people?”, she said she had cooked for 4,000 people.
She followed that event with a catering job for the 30th anniversary of The Cadre, which is “such a beautiful old building. Banks had such fabulous lobbies. Now it’s an event center and it has been for 30 years. I’d done one of the first events there. Not the first.”
Whether it’s classic party fare or something unusual such as blackened salmon with apricot glaze or rum cream pie with Myer’s dark rum, Barnes helps customers plan the perfect menu for their occasions.
She makes everything from “upscale wedding/bar and bat mitzvah special occasion food” to “something as small as a family reunion. From soup to nuts. I’d say fried chicken to caviar.”
Barnes is happy to be back. “I want to make people happy with wonderful food. And that’s magical to me. That’s my goal. And I can. And I will.”
To reach Barnes, call 901-489-7812 or go to corinnesveryspecialcatering.com.
Artists from Argentina, Mexico, and Canada were among the 100 artists who created murals at this year’s Paint Memphis, which was held October 12th at Lamar Avenue and Willett Street.
“Paint Memphis is a nonprofit organization that gives art access to everyone by bringing art to the streets,” says executive director Karen Golightly.
This was the second time artists painted walls and buildings in the Lamar-Willett area.
It’s the 10th year the event has been held. “They just get better and better,” Golighty says “The art is amazing.”
People strolled up and down the streets watching and chatting with the artists, some of whom have participated in the event for many years, doing their thing.
Some artists painted portraits, including large likenesses of Elvis, Project Pat, and Marcella Simien.
Also, Golightly adds, “We have all these businesses that donate. It really takes a whole community to make it happen. So I’m thrilled.”
Frank Rouse, Dennis Bauser, and Ria Burns-Wilder with dogs Ruddier and Flynn RiderKaren GolightlyJaxson Riehl, Tree Riehl, and Omery ManirakizaJose ValverdePreacherAndres Arauz, Renee Hodges, and Aidan ScruggsRich AyersTony DiazCraonerDr. Jeff and KC WarrenHannah WebbHannah WebbDalton Barnum, Lindsey Witting Barnum, and Becky BarnumTygerB
The new Central BBQ building on Central Avenue at Cox Street (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The new Central BBQ now being built at the corner of Central Avenue and Cox Street looks more magnificent every time I drive by.
I called Roger Sapp, co-owner with Craig Blondis, to tell me about it. He says it’s slated to open the first of December. “If we’re lucky,” he adds.
“It’s going to be about 4,800 square feet with a 1,500-square-foot patio. The building on the left is the patio. It runs along the sidewalk where the old restaurant used to be.”
That’s the indoor patio, which is on the east side. The outdoor patio is on the west side. The new dining room with kitchen and bathrooms is in the middle. That parking lot is where the old restaurant used to be.
The new restaurant is about 50 percent bigger than the old one. And, Sapp says, “Our kitchen is going to be great. We’re putting a big kitchen in.”
I asked what happened to the old Central BBQ. “We closed it for remodeling and ended up tearing it down.”
Blondis bought the building at Cox Street and Central Avenue. “It’s going to be additional seating of maybe 40 people and a small wine bar.”
I love the old brick look of the new restaurant. That’s because it is old brick, Sapp says. “I took the brick off the building we tore down next door to the one Downtown. We got to use all the old brick.”
The restaurant looks massive, but, Sapp says, “The one Downtown is still the biggest.” That one, at 147 East Butler Avenue, originally was two warehouses. It’s about 12,000 square feet including the indoor patio.
The upcoming Central BBQ on Central is not as big as the one on 4375 Summer Avenue, which is 8,000 square feet including the kitchen.
Just writing this article made me hungry. I’m ready for some Central barbecue where I originally tried it years ago. But this time in a new building.
And, keeping it in the family, Sapp’s son Garrett Sapp is running the job for Ybos & Sons Construction Inc.
Mortimer's bartender Mark Esterman with the restaurant's tantalizing prime rib dinner (Credit: Michael Donahue)
When I think “Monday,” I get real hungry. Because Monday is “Prime Rib Night,” as people call it, at Mortimer’s.
Well, now I can get real hungry when I think “Tuesday” because Tuesday is now another Prime Rib Night at 590 North Perkins Road. That’s an extra evening for customers to enjoy the restaurant’s succulent prime rib special.
I was in Mortimer’s recently and ordered the prime rib medium rare because I wanted a certain shade of pink. To me, there are few things as delicious as prime rib paired with horseradish. So, I dipped just about every bite of meat into my little cup of horseradish.
I also ordered a baked potato — because I think you just have to order a baked potato slathered with butter when you order prime rib. Everything was delicious.
Prime rib dinner at Mortimer’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)
I think my first prime rib dinner was at the old Fred Gang’s Meat Market restaurant on Airways Boulevard. I remember being taken there for dinner on my 30th birthday as a ruse. My surprise party was at the old Bombay Bicycle Shop. My date wanted me to think she was just taking me to dinner and then we’d stop by Bombay afterwards for drinks. But we arrived late to Bombay. Like about an hour. I still remember the bored faces of the party guests when we walked in. I blame it on the prime rib lingered over it at Fred Gang’s.
For many years, you could get a prime rib sandwich as a special on Wednesdays at Mortimer’s. I took the meat off the bread and ate it just like I would on a Monday night.
I asked the extremely popular bartender Mark Esterman why Mortimer’s added another prime rib dinner night. “The reason was Mondays were so crazy busy,” he says, adding Tuesdays were kind of slow. “We were trying to figure out something else to make Tuesdays and other days busier.”
They added prime rib on Tuesday about seven weeks ago. “And the price doesn’t hurt,” Esterman adds. The prime rib comes with a side and salad for $27.99.
And, I was happy to hear, I can still get that prime rib sandwich again on Wednesday “…if we have anything left on Wednesday,” Esterman says. “Last week, there wasn’t anything left. The week before there was enough for six sandwiches.”
As for a new Wednesday night special, Esterman says, “We’re talking about possibly doing a lobster roll on Wednesdays. That’s just one idea we have for Wednesdays.”
I’ve had one lobster roll in my life. That was after a trip to Maine for a wedding. I ordered one at the airport so I could say I tried one. If they start selling those at Mortimer’s, that’s going to be a good reason for me to get real hungry when I think “Wednesday,” too.
Prime rib on Mondays and Tuesdays at Mortimer’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Felicia Willett-Schuchardt and her husband, Clay (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Me and everyone else can’t wait for Felicia Willett-Schuchardt to open her new restaurant on South Main.
In addition to her cooking, Willett-Schuchardt, owner of Felicia Suzanne’s Restaurant, is also good at whetting people’s appetites with hints about her new restaurant.
Willett closed the former Felicia Suzanne’s at 80 Monroe Avenue in 2022. Work has been going on at the new location at 383 and 385 South Main Street.
On October 21st, she posted on Facebook: “Our new sign is officially up and we couldn’t be more excited to share a glimpse with you! Though it’s not lit just yet, it’s already adding some sparkle to 383 South Main.”
“Stay tuned — we’ll flip the switch soon!”
A couple of days before this post, Willett-Schuchardt asked her Facebook friends which china she should select for the new restaurant.
Well, we’re ready for her to flip the switch on the front door and let us in. Then, put some food on those plates. Like her fabulous Sunday Sugo and risotto. We’re hungry!
