Author: Michelle Lewis

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Elwood’s Shack’s Seattle Dog

Elwood’s Shack might just have the most diverse menu I’ve ever seen. You can get everything from a fish pizza and BBQ quesadillas to crazy fun hot dog creations. I went with the Seattle Dog ($7.50).

The Seattle Dog has cream cheese, grilled onions, grilled jalapenos, regular slaw and BBQ sauce. It was spicy and my favorite kind of messy… the kind where you want to lick your fingers. (If you’re not into that, make sure you have lots of napkins.)

This dog has a lot going on — crunch from the slaw, sweet from the BBQ sauce, creaminess from the cream cheese. The pickle on top is a nice touch and helps balance things out. Interesting and delicious. 

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

East Tapas’ Spinach Artichoke Spring Rolls

This one takes things up a notch. East Tapas’ spinach artichoke spring rolls ($6) is like spinach artichoke dip in a spring roll wrapper and served with a balsamic glaze.

The spring rolls are on the tapas section of the menu and are meant to be a small appetizer or snack. They were lightly fried, had a crunchy exterior, and a creamy interior. The balsamic glaze was sweet and went well with the smooth texture and creamy consistency of the spinach artichoke filling. I expected the dish to be heavy but it wasn’t. This is a dish I’m not sharing! I wanted more. 

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Itta Bena Valentine’s Day Dinner

For Valentine’s, me and my sweetie decided to check out Itta Bena, which was offering a four-course prix fixe ($79) menu created by Chef Kevin Quinnell.

To start, a shrimp cocktail, but due to my nut and fish allergy, I was presented with a cheese plate instead. There were two crisp pieces of bread, sharp cheddar cheese, what tasted like Swiss cheese, and also a blue cheese crumble. A delicious honey mustard type of vinaigrette accompanied everything.

For the appetizer I went with the grilled lamb chop lollipops with a red bell pepper jelly and balsamic reduction. The lamb was soft and juicy and the jelly sweet but overall spicy. The balsamic reduction was a nice counterbalance to the spiciness of the jelly.

I ordered the cornbread stuffed quail for the entree. It was roasted boneless quail, Andouille cornbread stuffing, rice pilaf, and a beet and Cabernet butter emulsion. The quail was tender, the rice pilaf was creamy and smooth and the cornbread was very hearty.

Finally, dessert! I picked the chocolate cake with a rose colored white chocolate ganache center. You could smell the chocolate when the dessert was put in front of you. Other highlights: the crunchy exterior and the gooey and molten center. 

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Lafayette’s Breakfast Pizza

Brunch is something that should never be ignored. So on Sunday, off to brunch I went. The stop was Lafayette’s, the dish Breakfast Pizza ($12).

The breakfast pizza is made with an egg, bacon, smoked gouda, roasted tomatoes, sour cream, and arugula. The first thing you taste is the smokiness from the gouda. You get the creaminess of the yolk and the thickness of the cheese. The tomatoes were well seasoned; the bacon was crispy. This one’s a star.  

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Memphis’ Newest Pita Pit

A new Pita Pit opened about two months ago on Ridgeway. Their focus: fresh, healthy ingredients. You can walk in and choose something off their menu or create your own sandwiches and watch it be made in front of you.

I chose the Chicken Crave ($7.19), which has chicken breast and black forest ham. (You can double the meat and double the cheese for an additional charge.) The pita gets heated and the meat is cooked on the grill. Then it’s up to you to choose what ingredients you want to add. I stuffed my pita with most of their vegetables. They have everything from spinach and tomatoes to pickles and banana peppers. I finished with feta cheese and honey dijon mustard dressing. The pita was everything  — sweet, savory, crunchy and fresh.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill Opens Monday

I walked into the soft opening of Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill with high expectations. They definitely delivered.

The meal started with an appetizer for the table, a San Francisco Spinach dip. It was creamed spinach and water chestnuts served with Parmesan flatbread. The spinach dip was fantastic! It was hot, creamy and thick. The Parmesan flatbread was crunchy and you could taste the sharpness of the Parmesan cheese.

Next up was biscuits and a salad and then the entrée. I’m all about ribeye steak so I went with the 14-ounce ribeye, what the restaurant describes as a tender, well-marbled cut of aged beef. The steak was juicy, filled with flavor, cooked to perfection. The mashed potatoes were smooth, creamy and thick.

Last but not least was the dessert. The general manager, Sherif Reyadh told me that I had to try a dessert that had ice cream with it because the ice cream is very special. So I went with chocolate fudge cake that came with fudge and vanilla ice cream on top. The chocolate fudge cake was rich and chocolatey.

As for the ice cream, Mr. Reyadh wasn’t kidding. It was creamy, airy and rich. It wasn’t until after I ate it that he proceeded to tell me that the ice cream is flown in from Humboldt Creamery in California. Unreal!

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Say Cheese’s Cluck Me

On a recent Friday at the Ridgeway Loop in East Memphis, people lined up to get a grilled cheese from the Say Cheese food truck during their lunch break, and I was one of them. I went with one of best sellers, the Cluck Me ($7). It’s a grilled cheese that has buffalo chicken, bleu cheese, and pepper jack cheese on sourdough bread. I paired it with the homemade tomato soup ($2.)

The grilled cheese and tomato soup are packaged in a to-go box, and trust me when I say that you know it’s good when there’s grease on the box.

The grilled cheese is lightly spicy in a fantastic way. It tastes like a light buffalo aioli sauce over a buffalo dip. It’s delightful! The grilled cheese isn’t heavy and the buffalo chicken is pulled chicken. It’s so soft that I would guess it was slow cooked. The chicken melts away in your mouth and the sourdough bread is toasted to the point where there’s just the right amount of crispiness to it. Everything is very well put together and it’s not even messy. The blue cheese and pepper jack cheese blend right into the sandwich. That’s probably where the slight creaminess I tasted was coming from, but overall it’s a spicy taste.

The tomato soup is to die for! I know this food truck is all about the grilled cheese, but I have to say that the soup is right up there with it and gives the sandwich a good run for it’s money. That’s why it’s so perfect that they are paired together. You can taste what I assume are pieces of tomato, pepper flakes and spices… or maybe all of the above! I loved feeling the texture change as I ate my soup! The tomato soup is thin, slightly creamy and very filling. It was the perfect thing to warm my tummy up on a cold day outside. Of course I dipped my grilled cheese into the soup like any grilled cheese connoisseur would. It made the grilled cheese that much better. It was softer and melted in my mouth. A win for lunch.

To find out where you can catch the Say Cheese food truck next, follow them on Facebook at Facebook.com/SayCheese901 or on Twitter, @SayCheese901.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Hog & Hominy’s Thunderbird! 40 Twice!

Hog & Hominy is known for its great food like the Red Eye pizza. However, if you take a minute to look at the rest of their menu, it’s more than just the Red Eye pizza that stands out. In fact, my waiter for the evening, Mickey B., verified this when going over everything. “Some things have changed, other’s haven’t. For example, our pizzas are still fantastic,” he said. So I decided to go with the one I couldn’t stop staring at, the Thunderbird! 40 Twice ($16)! Turns out it was my waiter’s favorite pizza on the menu.

The Thunderbird! 40 Twice! is made up of fontina and mozzarella cheese, pepperoni and spicy honey. The two cheeses blend well together and melt in your mouth. The pepperoni is savory and well cooked. As for the pizza crust, it’s thin, crunchy and has a small coating of oil on it. Overall, the pizza is very spicy. The spicy honey kicks in immediately, but after a while the spiciness dies down, the sweetness of the honey kicks in and the pizza becomes this amazing spicy and sweet mixture. Try this pizza immediately! There wasn’t one slice left!

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Bogie’s Pimento Slam

If you haven’t tried one of Bogie’s deluxe grilled cheeses, you’re missing out big time. There’s so many to choose from, but the Pimento Slam was screaming my name.

The Pimento Slam is homemade pimento cheese on wheat berry bread ($5.29). The bread tasted like French toast. It was lightly toasted, buttery, crunchy and sweet… exactly how bread on a grilled cheese should be. The pimento cheese is really interesting melted. It’s hot, creamy, cheesy and a bit spicy. It wasn’t gooey like I thought it would be. I can also tell that the pimento cheese is homemade. It’s excellent. I loved that the sandwich didn’t fall apart, making it easy to eat.

This sandwich is the perfect kind of comfort food. Let’s just say it was gone quickly.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Fino’s Spinach Three Cheese Turnovers

I’ve been a huge fan of Fino’s ever since I moved to Memphis. I’m a sucker for an Acquisto sandwich any day of the week. That being said, the one thing I always overlooked was the sides… until now!

When Fino’s opened up their East Memphis location this month I couldn’t be more excited. I ran there… and when I did I saw that they had spinach three cheese turnovers ($2.75) as one of their daily specials. I decided to give it a try and I’m so glad that I did. The turnover was delicious! The puff pastry was doughy and flakey. There’s a light hint of the three cheeses and it mixes well with the spinach. Overall, the turnover is airy and creamy. I wanted five more! The next time you stop into Fino’s don’t pass up this daily special. There were also spinach artichoke turnovers available.