Author: Paul Knipple

The first Memphis location of Pita Pit, a nationwide chain that started in Canada, was opened by Tejal Patel and her husband Jay in October.

Justin Fox Burks

Tejal and Jay Patel open Memphis’ first Pita Pit franchise on Union Avenue.

While her husband is a Memphis native, Tejal is from Oklahoma. It was there that they first experienced Pita Pit.

“We were in Oklahoma for a football game. We ate at Pita Pit and loved it, and we went from there,” Patel says.

The menu features a handful of breakfast pitas, including the Awakin’ with Bacon, which has bacon, eggs, grilled onions and peppers, hashbrowns, and cheddar cheese. Among the vegetarian options are the Spicy Black Bean and a pita with falafel. Those looking for something meatier will find it in the Philly Steak, the Chicken Souvlaki, and the Dagwood, among others.

Patrons don’t have to stick to the menu, however.

“There’s nothing not to love about pitas. You can customize it. There’s a billion ways to make one pita. We’ve got all the sauces, vinaigrettes, just about anything you could want,” Patel says.

That versatility goes beyond the food. Although the restaurant is a franchise, it is designed to allow individual locations to adopt local color, including customer participation in creating food specials.

“We have our ‘Local’ pita, where we encourage our staff and customers to give us ideas,” Patel says.

This also extends to marketing. To-go orders are served in plain brown bags with handwritten slogans like “We stuff pitas. You stuff your face.”

“I plan to add a container where customers can leave suggestions for messages,” Patel says.

This is Patel’s first restaurant, but she does have experience as well as a calling.

“My dad had sit-down restaurants in the past, so I have a bit of a food background. Plus we’re foodies; we like to eat,” she says.

Pita Pit, 2105 Union (207-1541), pitapitusa.com

Trolley Stop Market is undergoing renovations to the restaurant and changes to the menu.

“We’ve had so much going on. Now that farmers market season is over, we can reinvest back into this place,” says co-owner Jill Forrester. “We’re trying to expand on the initial vision that we had,” she says.

The physical changes will be significant. The floors and walls will be redone and the bathrooms renovated. Booths will be added for a cozier feel.

Shopping at the market will be changed as well, including expanding beyond the physical space.

“We’re going to be enclosing the market area so that the food section is all in one area. The rest of it will be the one-of-a-kind crafts that people like. We’ve also opened an online store where people can shop for several of the items we sell here in the store,” Forrester says.

Changes are also afoot for the menu.

Forrester says the plan is to expand the bar to include some 20 beers on tap and to have French press coffees using local roasters such as McCarter, J. Brooks, and Ugly Mug.

Good things to eat are not being neglected either.

“We have a new menu coming out. We’re expanding our dessert selection. We’re going to be getting a new pizza case and a new dessert case. We’re going to be expanding our cookie selection because it’s been a hit of late,” Forrester says.

Forrester is also seeking to balance the menu.

“We’re in the middle of the medical district. We get a lot of students and doctors and lawyers from downtown. We want to feed them what they want to eat. We have a nice little combination of healthy and comfort. We’re just trying to expand on the healthy,” she says.

In addition to adding to the menu, Forrester wants to make Trolley Stop a place for events.

“We’re installing a movie screen so we can stream games live, like Tiger and Grizzlies games. We’re not looking to have a sports theme. We won’t have the screen pulled down at all times, just game days,” she says.

Local music will also be featured along with local sports.

“The other part of the puzzle is that we want to start staying open on Friday and Saturday nights and having live music. We’re getting a new PA system installed and new speakers. We’ll be open late-night and do pizza and beer and live music,” Forrester says.

The key for Forrester is that the restaurant be welcoming.

“We want the atmosphere to be kid-friendly, to be family-friendly. We want people to be able to come in and enjoy the space with their friends,” she says.

Trolley Stop Market, 704 Madison (526-1361), trolleystopmarket.com

Second Line, Kelly English‘s latest venture and neighbor to his signature Restaurant Iris, is set to open later this month. The new place will allow English to expand on his Louisiana-inspired offerings.

“Second Line is going to be a place that speaks truly to what I would eat every day in New Orleans. We wouldn’t eat crawfish étouffée or stuff like that. What we’re going to serve is indicative of ‘It’s lunchtime. I’m going to grab a sandwich.’ Or ‘I’m in a bar, and I’m wasted. I want to eat these things,'” he says.

Although the dishes and the atmosphere will be more casual than Restaurant Iris, English will still have his high standards in place.

“There’s a common thread of sourcing and locality and quality. But we’re going to present it in very different ways. We’re going to work really hard on that part of what we do,” he says.

English will also be able to explore the breadth of Louisiana cuisine.

“We’re going to have things like oyster and green onion rangoons, because I love crab rangoons. If you look at the different cultures that go into making Louisiana, you think about French and Spanish first, but there are so many cultures. There’s Asian cultures and African cultures. There’s so much more than European cultures that went into making up what it is … just like all over the South,” English says.

New Orleans history and tradition also provided the name for the new restaurant.

“Historically, a ‘second line’ was the second line of a parade. Most of the people in the second line of a parade, whether it be for racial or socioeconomic reasons, weren’t allowed in the beginning of the parade. They would follow this very organized parade. So, basically, what we have at Second Line is a more casual, rowdy parade that’s following this more organized parade that we have [at Iris],” he says.

English is making changes elsewhere to devote his time and energy to Memphis. Chiefly, that means he’s moving on from the Kelly English Steakhouse in the Hollywood Casino in St. Louis, Missouri.

“We are pulling out of St. Louis, so we can focus on these two places. That’s been a great venture, but we’ve got a lot going on here. They’ve got a whole new brand that they’re putting in up there, and so it is the right time for both of us to end the relationship. I’m proud of everything we did up there,” he says.

It is clear from English’s attitude that there will be nothing second about Second Line.

Cocktails at Second Line

“I am as excited about Second Line as I was about opening Iris. It’s the same team that opened over here. It’s everything that we don’t have over here. It’s an open space with a big bar, and it’s going to be great. I can’t wait for it,” English says.

2144 Monroe

While he is working to open Second Line, English will also be hosting the already sold-out James Beard Foundation’s Celebrity Chef Tour at Restaurant Iris on Wednesday, October 23rd.

“The Celebrity Chef Tour is the traveling arm of the James Beard Foundation. I’m really excited, because we get to cook with people I love,” English says.

English eagerly recites the lineup, which includes Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman of Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen and Hog & Hominy as well as John Currence of City Grocery and other restaurants in Oxford, Mississippi, and Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene in Atlanta.

Gerard Craft of Niche and Kevin Nashan of Sidney Street Cafe, both in St. Louis, will also be cooking.

“I think we should annex St. Louis into the South. The food they’re cooking in the Midwest right now is incredible. They’re really doing well. And Kevin Nashan? I hope there’s someone like Kevin in every industry out there, I really do, because he’s just the greatest guy that anyone could ever meet,” English says.

English’s culinary school classmate Eli Kirshtein from Atlanta will also be on hand. Kirshtein, who competed on Top Chef, is opening the Luminary in Atlanta in March. This trip will serve as his honeymoon.

“We don’t have time for a honeymoon now. We’re going to do it next year, so Memphis and Oxford have become our de facto honeymoon. For us, being able to go somewhere like Memphis and hang out with our friends seems a little more special,” Kirshtein says.

Finally, Tandra Watkins, executive pastry chef at the Capital Hotel in Little Rock, will create the evening’s dessert.

“She’s one of my favorite people on earth, and she helped design our pastry menu here,” English says.

English, who has done a lot of traveling to wave Memphis’ culinary flag, is particularly pumped to host this dinner on his home turf.

“We’re really excited to have all those people here in this restaurant. It’s fun to take Memphis outside of Memphis and show people what we do, but it’s also fun to bring people in from outside to show Memphis some of the great friends we have and the great food that’s out there,” he says.

Monsieur Demarcus French Crêperie is now open in the space that was previously Neely’s Bar-B-Que, bringing more international flair to Victorian Village, a neighborhood already featuring Jamaican and South American restaurants.

Before his restaurant opened, chef/owner Demarcus Woodard put a great deal of work into refurbishing the site. A bright dining room has been carved out of the old space, and the size of the kitchen has been reduced.

Woodard has plans for further work, but now his focus is on the menu, which revolves around traditional sweet and savory crêpe dishes as well as his own inspirations.

“One night, I was downtown, and I saw Orion’s Belt over the Pyramid. I thought, Wow. I should do something with that.” He did do something with that. Taking the letters from “belt,” Woodard created a crêpe with bacon, egg, lettuce, and tomato.

“For the kids, we may do cheeseburger crêpes. We’re also going to have crêpes-adillas ­— basically your average quesadilla, but we’ll keep it French with the cheeses,” Woodard adds.

Along with the crêpes, the restaurant offers salads and soups. In the future, more fare will be added, such as New Orleans-style beignets with chicory coffee, beef bourguignon, coq au vin, and other French classics.

Woodard says that French cuisine wasn’t in his original plans, but this native Memphian did have an early start in food.

“My first job was McDonald’s. I didn’t look at McDonald’s the way other people do, as a minimum-wage job. I paid attention to the processes. I paid attention to their marketing and advertising. I had an artistic eye, and I learned from how the big guys did things,” he says.

Working in fast food may have developed his business skills, but it was home that inspired his start as a chef.

“I watched my aunts and uncles and grandma cooking food. One day, I was playing around, and I made some collard greens and a sweet potato pie. And someone said, ‘Can you make me one of those?’ That kind of boosted my ego, and when I got more and more people saying it tasted good, I thought I might be onto something,” Woodard says.

In 2007, Woodard left Memphis for West Palm Beach, Florida. He spent two years there before a trip to New York made him realize that was the place to be. Even in New York, he was a true Southerner.

“I was doing soul food catering in Harlem. A friend who owned a restaurant invited me to come try crêpes. I asked, ‘What’s a crêpe?’ I went there to try it and I liked it. He asked me if I wanted to try making them. What I didn’t know was that he was trying to get me to help him because he needed a lot of help,” Woodard says.

Agreeing to help his friend was to change Woodard’s path and bring him full-circle back to Memphis.

“I ended up putting the catering service on the back burner and helping him run his restaurant. Once we got fully staffed and my bills were getting higher and higher in New York, I decided to come back home to bring a little taste of France … not too fancy, a casual place where you get the atmosphere without the high prices,” he says.

670 Jefferson

facebook.com/monsieurdemarcus

Monsieur Demarcus French Crêperie will be one of the restaurants participating in the Edge of the Village Dine Around on Friday, October 11th, from 5 to 9 p.m.

Long known as a center of beautiful and historic architecture, Victorian Village will turn the spotlight on another part of the neighborhood: its restaurants. The Dine Around event will offer an evening of special small-plate tastes at five eateries.

“While we normally do lots of events like home tours, we wanted to shift attention to these businesses,” says Nora Tucker, administrator of the Victorian Village Community Development Corporation.

The Dine Around restaurants include Monsieur Demarcus; the Jamaican restaurant Evelyn & Olive; Arepa & Salsa, which serves Venezuelan cuisine; and the Trolley Stop, which specializes in dishes made with locally sourced ingredients.

The restaurants will also be taking things beyond the plate with entertainment for the evening.

“Evelyn & Olive co-owner Vicki Newsum is the vocalist in the Prime Cuts Band. They’ll be performing. Arepa & Salsa will feature a Latin jazz combo and salsa dancing lessons. Trolley Stop’s regular Friday entertainer, table magician Tim Friday, will be there too,” Tucker says.

The event will also include an after-party at Mollie Fontaine Lounge.

This is a party with a purpose. A portion of the proceeds from each restaurant will go to support the Victorian Village CDC. Diners will also have a chance to learn more about the organization.

“We’ll have reps at each restaurant to talk about what we do. We have helped preserve the historic properties here, and we’re working to get more residential opportunities in the neighborhood,” Tucker says.

Edge of the Village Dine Around in Victorian Village is Friday, October 11th, 5 to 9 p.m. For more information, visit www.victorianvillageinc.org.

The Local Lynx Farmers Market, which takes place in the Barret Cloister at Rhodes College on Thursdays from 2 to 6 p.m. during the school year, was launched last fall by Kimberly Kasper, a Mellon postdoctoral fellow.

In addition to the market, Kasper created a community garden on the campus. Students work both the market and the garden as part of a fellowship program.

“I came here two years ago, and I saw that Memphis was ripe for something like this. Memphis is at an interesting point where I think we will be seeing a massive change in the food system,” Kasper says.

The young market is small but growing.

“Since we’re a new market, the number of vendors varies each week. We have farmers, arts and crafts vendors, and a food truck as well. There are usually 10 vendors total,” Rhodes junior Taylor Sieben says. “I always love having Urban Farms coming out. We sell produce from [Rhodes’] garden, but having them out there gives us a little more variety.”

Although the market is on campus, it is intended to reach the entire community.

“The market is open to the public. The usual customer base is students and staff, but we would love to have more community members coming to the market,” Sieben says.

“We really want to engage the community with the market. One goal is providing fresh produce in an area that doesn’t have grocery stores,” Kasper says, referring to nearby neighborhoods that are in a food desert.

To achieve that goal, Kasper is looking to move the market off-campus into the Evergreen neighborhood with the possibility of extending the market, which runs from August to October and from April to May. “The fellowships are year-round, so students can tend the garden in the summer. That means we would be able to run the market year-round as well,” Kasper says.

Being based at Rhodes, the program intends to do far more than provide produce to the community.

“We are talking to summer camps that will visit the garden in the mornings then prep lunch for an immediate farm-to-fork experience. The way to truly engage a community is to start with the children,” Kasper says.

“For us, it’s not just a market or a community garden. They are learning tools for the engagement of our society. They are ways to address social justice,” Kasper says.

facebook.com/LocalLynxFarmersMarket

Another option is available for those looking for fresh organic produce. Farm Truck Organics, a division of Memphis wholesaler Galler Foods, offers delivery that can be scheduled via the web.

“The website allows people to sign up online for weekly or biweekly delivery. If people are going to be out of town, they can go online and skip a delivery. And we can deliver to people’s houses or offices. We’re flexible,” says Harry Sayle, general manager and partner of Farm Truck Organics.

The service functions like a CSA. Customers can order boxes of vegetables, fruit, or a combination. Small, medium, and large boxes are $32, $42, and $52, respectively. Along with the convenience of the delivery service, there is the added advantage of Galler’s inventory of other food items.

“They can also order add-ons. About 15 percent of [Galler] inventory is available, including around 30 cheeses and about one-third of our meat cuts. We will be adding more over time. If it’s a boutique-type item like a nice balsamic vinegar or a flavored oil, if it’s organic or gluten-free, we’re going to put it on the website,” Sayle says.

Currently, the company delivers to Memphis and the suburbs, going as far as Arlington. A future delivery route is planned for Millington and Atoka. Deliveries are made on Wednesdays, but more days and more routes will be added as demand grows. Sayle sees that happening in the near future.

“Consumers are going to start insisting on stuff. As people become more educated about how food is made and how it’s farmed, they are going to demand organic,” Sayle says.

One limitation, however, is the availability of locally grown organic produce.

“Organic food is a real hot topic. People want local and they want organic, but in Memphis there aren’t a lot of options out there. Our goal for the next 12 months is to provide local organic produce,” Sayle says.

Local produce is only a part of Sayle’s overall plans.

“The goal of this company is to move Memphis forward in terms of how it eats. Polls always rank Memphis among the unhealthiest cities. I don’t like that. I want to help people eat healthy. I want to help farmers grow organic and make money. I want to help producers so we can offer other local items like Bari bread. This is a passion thing for me. It’s rewarding,” Sayle says.

farmtruckorganics.com

Earlier in the spring, Gold Strike unveiled the 13,500-square-foot Buffet Americana. The casino brought in Philadelphia designer Chris Sheffield to work on the décor, which is a combination of down-home and uptown.

“Because of where we are in the Delta, we wanted to do something really authentic using cotton and textiles,” says Niklas Rytterstrom, general manager at the Gold Strike.

Sheffield’s design for the seating area includes one wall dominated by a large installation of colorful ropes arranged like a loom. The opposite wall features large rolls of denim in varying shades. Yet another wall looks to be made of wood planks but is instead made from industrial leather belts. The wood accents are salvaged from an old barn.

“One thing we had in mind was Levi’s jeans,” Rytterstrom says. “You can wear them casual with a T-shirt or dress them up with a jacket. We drew parallels to the buffet and to the market. We’re pretty simple folks, but we also wanted to be aspirational. We wanted to introduce some modern lines too.”

The design carries over into the food area as well.

“We wanted to make the experience of walking through the food area like visiting a high-end market. You see the fresh ingredients that we use. You see the cooks in front of you at the pizza oven, at the tandoori oven, at the Mongolian barbecue,” Rytterstrom says.

Even with the deeply Southern inspirations for the décor, Americana’s food offerings are global. The tandoori oven roasts Indian-style skewered meats and bakes traditional naan bread. The Mongolian barbecue provides a show with dinner as the grill workers toss and stir ingredients.

The South is not forgotten either. Traditional soul food dishes have their place with many of the sides served in Lodge enameled pots. Baked ham, fried chicken, and greens are found alongside Cajun specialties like gumbo.

“When we first talked about the buffet, we knew we would stay true to some of the traditional recipes your grandmas passed down. Those recipes are the core of the buffet,” Rytterstrom says.

On weekends, Americana pulls out all the stops with seafood buffets featuring sushi, oysters, and a variety of seafood dishes, plus complimentary wine and beer. Friday night, the star of the show is all-you-can-eat crab legs, and Saturday night brings whole lobster. For early-risers, a champagne brunch with complimentary bloody Marys and mimosas is offered Saturday and Sunday.

goldstrikemississippi.com

Harrah’s casino also has changes coming up for their buffet. After recently parting ways with Paula Deen, the casino is transitioning to a new buffet that will be called the Crossroads Southern Kitchen.

“You’re going to know the Crossroads wherever you’re from,” says Jesse Keaveny, vice president of marketing at Harrah’s. “We think there are a lot of fun plays off that name. Of course, the Crossroads brings music to mind. Here, it is an intersection of different food types but all tied to the South. For the logo, rather than an intersection of railroads or streets, we will use utensils.”

The buffet’s food will evolve rather than change outright after the rebranding.

“We will still offer traditional Southern food, but instead of stations tied to Paula Deen and her restaurants, we will have stations that reflect the different cuisines of the South,” Keaveny says.

Each station will be redecorated to match the food it offers. Stations will also be given Southern names from the salad bar, Greensville, to the dessert bar, Delta Delights. One station that Keaveny is particularly excited about is Bluff City Barbecue, the Memphis-style barbecue station.

“We think that will resonate with our local visitors and with our out-of-town guests. The name definitely signifies our true Memphis barbecue,” he says.

The changes will not require the buffet to close as all work will be done during off-hours. The space is set to be ready in early October with an official launch in mid-October.

Also at Harrah’s, the space formerly occupied by Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill is now occupied by the Field House, the largest sports bar in Tunica.

“The Field House offers a chance to get off the casino floor for a bit or to just come in to watch a game. It offers late-night food and beverages, including a build-your-own burger and typical bar fare. On the weekends, we offer live music,” Keaveny says.

harrahstunica.com

Sharon and Eric Graham decided to use a newfangled approach to launch a business of a more traditional sort. They used Kickstarter to fund their pickle-making business, Old Apple Hill Brine.

“We set the goal at $2,400. It seemed like a lot to ask for, but it skyrocketed. It was amazing how many people were interested in it,” Eric Graham says.

Graham tapped into a like-minded crowd of pickle lovers, raising over $15,000.

“I grew up seeing pickle-making, so I’ve always been fascinated with the process of pickles,” says Graham, a L’Ecole Culinaire graduate.

Because the Kickstarter campaign was successful, the Grahams had a lot of pickles to make to fufill the rewards of the backers — something they are still working on.

The biggest challenge, however, came from the federal government. More than six months after reaching their Kickstarter goal, the Grahams are working through FDA paperwork and requirements.

“I had to become a certified master briner with the FDA. There are a lot of forms to fill out, then you have to send pickle samples to the FDA. They examine your pickles, approve your label, and more,” Graham says.

Things are moving forward, though there is still a lot left in the hands of the FDA.

“It took months to get through the process. We have 15 flavors, and we’re still waiting on 10 flavors to be approved,” Graham says.

The most popular flavor, and Graham’s favorite, is Memphis Barbecue. Graham created a special spice blend and smokes the brine to impart a barbecue flavor. His creativity doesn’t stop there either. Other flavors include Whiskey-Sour, Curry-Curry, New York Deli, HoneyHot, Italian Balsamic-Rosemary, the Tennessee Sorghum Pickle, and more.

Currently, Old Apple Hill Brine can be found at the Memphis Botanic Garden farmers market, the Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market, and Miss Cordelia’s. The Grahams also have plans to expand into other grocery stores soon.

Old Apple Hill Brine pickles come in slices or spears at $10 for a 25.5-ounce jar.

facebook.com/oldapplehillbrine

Another pair is making pickles locally as well. Longtime friends Nora Boone and Steve Douglass started Fat Beagle Preserves and Pickles in 2011 and began selling their product through the Fat Beagle Facebook page in 2012.

“It was truly by accident. Steve and I are huge supporters of all the farmers markets. At the beginning, you would see the farmers there with produce left at the end of the day, and we said, ‘We need to buy this so they’ll come back,'” Boone says.

Supporting the markets had unintended consequences: an abundance of cucumbers.

“There are only so many cucumber salads you can eat, so we ended up pickling them. What started with just an idea to mess around with pickles and put up a few jars turned into 300 jars,” Boone says.

Boone is Thai, and that heritage is seen in some of Fat Beagle’s pickles. Both “The Angry Beagle” and “The Sweet Beagle” use Thai bird peppers, for instance.

“‘The Sweet Beagle’ is our Fat Beagle take on the traditional bread-and-butter/sweet pickle. It’s not a crazy sweet dessert pickle. It’s more of a spicy sweetish pickle,” Boone says.

As for the name Fat Beagle, Boone explains:

“We both live in Central Gardens, and we were taking a walk one day. And there’s a big fat beagle taking a walk with its owner. Although he’s a lawyer, Steve has always wanted to be a musician. He can’t play anything, and that gets in the way. He said, ‘You know, if I had a band, I would call it Fat Beagle.’ That was over four years ago. I said we’ve got to use that name somewhere, and when all this came about, I said, why not?”

facebook.com/fatbeaglepreservesandpickles