Karen Blockman Carrier garners a lot of attention for her restaurants:Automatic Slim’s Tonga Club, Cielo, the Beauty Shop, Dó, and the catering company Another Roadside Attraction. For “Commemoreat,” a benefit being held Sunday, June 12th, Carrier will shift the focus to someone else — Kelly Wilson, who was murdered downtown May 31, 2003, after finishing his shift as grill chef at Automatic Slim’s.

“He was only 24 years old, and he was just walking to his car. They never found out who did it,” Carrier says.

In 2004, Carrier hosted the first “Commemoreat” for Kelly’s family, raising $10,000. Wilson’s mother, Susan, used the money to establish a culinary scholarship at Southwest Tennessee Community College, where she works. She also contributed a portion to Crime Stoppers, which is offering $14,000 for information about the crime.

This year’s event will be from 4 to 8 p.m. at Automatic Slim’s, 83 S. Second St. For $30 each, people can enjoy an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord with food from the Rendezvous, Huey’s, Grove Grill, Lolo’s Table, Stella, Felicia Suzanne, Cafe 61, Molly’s La Casita, Texas de Brazil, Dish, Cafe Society, Erling Jensen, the University Club, and McEwen’s on Monroe, as well as Carrier’s restaurants. The all-girl band the Zippin’ Pippins will perform. All proceeds from tickets and bar sales will go to the Wilson family. “It’s wonderful for the family. We think they should decide what to do with it,” Carrier says. “Kelly’s being honored by his peers. People really felt his death, and this is a way to celebrate his life. It’s wonderful that everyone wants to participate. It touches our hearts.”

Corky’s has created a scaled-down version of the original to offer quick, convenient lunches for downtown workers and tourists.

“We are called Corky’s Express because this is somewhere people can get something really fast,” says manager Andy Shoup. “They can fax a bulk order, and we have delivery for $10. Or they can just send someone to pick it up.”

The restaurant features a counter where customers can place their order to-go or to eat-in at one of the tables in the restaurant. There is also sidewalk seating.

“Most tourists would probably still like to go to the original Corky’s for the whole experience, but this will be convenient and have the same great barbecue,” Shoup says.

The menu is also scaled down from the original, but it’s only a few of the fried appetizers and extras like shrimp, spaghetti, and tamales that won’t be available.

The restaurant opened May 13th, only 10 days after co-owner Barry Pelts first saw the location, formerly Fat City Beignet’s, in the Hampton Inn.

“It was an idea that we’d been thinking about for a couple of years,” says Pelts. “We wanted to do a small Corky’s environment down there, and they had this 630-square-foot space. At first I thought we wouldn’t like it, but we saw it and it had everything we wanted.”

Pelts says they will be testing the hours. “For the next couple of weeks, we’re going to try staying open until midnight Friday and Saturday, but we may end up at 10 p.m. or even 8, depending on the crowd. Sunday, we’re thinking 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.,” he says. The restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Corky’s Express in the Hampton Inn & Suites, 175 Peabody Place (529-9191; fax 529-9931)

The Silver Spoon opens June 13th, with the goal of serving soul food with style. Brothers Curtis and Corliss Givens wanted to create a restaurant modeled after upscale restaurants like Justin’s in Atlanta or Jay-Z’s 40/40 Club in New York City.

During the week, the brothers will be offering a traditional down-home lunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with “greens, catfish, and, if somebody wanted neck bones or something like that, we’d sure get it done,” says Dominique Pryor-Anderson, president of VIDA PR and Marketing Group.

At night there will be a totally different ambience with a 25-and-older club setting featuring soft and acid jazz and eventually some spoken word. The dinner menu, served from 5 p.m. until midnight, will feature an assortment of light foods.

“Happy hour will be from 5 to 8 p.m., and there’s a different theme each night, like Wine Down Wednesdays, where people can relax and enjoy some wine,” says Pryor-Anderson. “They’ve created some special drinks like the ‘Al Green,’ which is green, and ‘Sex and the City.’” ¥

The Silver Spoon, 6063 Mt. Moriah Rd.

Sommelier (soh-mell-yay) is the French term for cellar master or wine steward. He or she is the person who advises customers on selecting wine to go with their meal, their tastes, and their budget. In the movies, he’s the guy working for the swanky restaurant who offers up the cork to be smelled. A sommelier is also a well-educated expert who has to be passionate about wine and willing to do whatever it takes to learn more.

Last year, the International Sommelier Guild (ISG) teamed up with the University of Memphis to bring Mid-Southerners a curriculum of wine programs to help restaurateurs, retailers, distributors, wait staff, and wine lovers further their study of wine and food. The next classes begin June 7th at the U of M.

Founded in 1982, the ISG’s mission is to provide expert teaching and consultation to the growing number of sophisticated wine consumers by breaking down the intimidation factor that seems to be associated with this industry.

The beginner and intermediate courses fall under the category of Wine Fundamentals Certificate Level 1 & 2. Level 1 is an introductory course for the novice wine enthusiast and provides a great introduction to the basics of wine. It covers grape varietals, terminology, and sensory evaluation. The goal of Level 1 is for you to feel confident in the selection of wine and gain an appreciation for all wine has to offer.

Level 2 covers vinification, viticulture, and geography. Students blind-taste wines from each region, an exercise that helps them understand different taste profiles and the characteristics that set each grape varietal apart. (To try blind-tasting at home, see “Taste Test” on the following page.)

The next level is the Sommelier Diploma Program. For students considering careers in the food and beverage industry, this program provides an in-depth look at wine evaluation, wine management, and how to create a wine and spirits menu, in addition to cellaring techniques, investments strategies, and serving and storage requirements. This diploma is the benchmark for the ISG program, and upon completion you will receive career assistance.

Finally, there’s the Grand Sommelier Diploma, a master’s degree program that must be completed in a seven-year period. This is for serious career professionals and is one of the most comprehensive wine degrees in the industry, according to the guild.

The first fundamentals course started at the University of Memphis in February 2004, and to date, approximately 15 students have completed this portion of the program. The majority of students are in the wine and spirit industry and have traveled from throughout the Mid-South to take the course. Employers have even opted to help finance the class for some students, but most pay the fees out-of-pocket.

Taught by certified sommeliers/wine educators from all over the United States and Canada, the classes run six hours per week over the course of 12 weeks for the Level 1 & 2 prerequisite course and eight hours for 23 weeks for the diploma course. Tuition is $1,500 for the prerequisite course and $3,100 for the diploma course. Tuition fees include all wines for tastings, textbooks, and examinations. n

Classes for the first semester are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, June 7th. For more information, go to InternationalSommelier.com or contact Toya Coppage at the University of Memphis’ continuing education program by calling 678-5573.

It’s sad to admit, but our culture is polluted by marketing. We are programmed by advertisements on TV, radio, and, yes, even in the pages of the newspaper you’re reading right now. Wineries are fast becoming marketing whores like the rest of the product world, using ads, coupons, discounts, and sampling to get your attention. But with so many brands screaming for your attention, you can’t really blame them.

That’s both good and bad news for consumers. We reap the price benefits of the competitive market but frequently fall prey to the gimmicks. Like insipid, tasteless beer, some popular wines out there only sell because the brand name is emblazoned on your consciousness. Consider the last time you bought a bottle of wine. Why did you choose it?

What if all wine bottles were generically labeled “Wine 1,” “Wine 2,” and “Wine 3”? Wouldn’t we then have to purchase by evaluation?

That’s what “blind tasting” is all about. The method disguises the label, forcing people to assess a wine without external influences. Most wine writers, including myself, are not immune to marketing, and to counterbalance the manipulation, we often “blind-taste” by using aluminum foil, paper bags, or anything that hides the label. Although I don’t blind-taste every wine, some of the best deals I’ve found emerged from blind tastings. It’s as if the blindfold sucks all the marketing out of the bottle, leaving its contents clean and unfettered.

Then there’s the challenge of guessing the wines in the bottle, a fun wine-geek game. I’m no good at it, but I know some amazingly talented, well-drunk people who can successfully match the wine with the correct grape, region, winery, and even vintage. They are called master sommeliers, and the blind-tasting section of the certification exam is unbelievably difficult.

Equally as entertaining is duping your friends with blind tastings, especially if you invite some of your haughtier associates. Before anyone arrives, make sure the labels are completely hidden from view, not missing the neck label and taking care the cork doesn’t blow the cover either. Buy a few bottles (or go in with someone to buy them) in a varying price range, from $7 to $40. You can either buy a mix of varietals, like Sauvignon Blanc, Zinfandel, or Cabernet and have people guess the grape; or you can buy the same grape with different labels from different regions. In this scenario, your guests experience the versatility of one grape varietal and how a region’s weather and soil might influence the end product. Have everyone pour their own wine, sit back, and let the marketing-free games begin. Invariably, no one will be able to guess the most expensive bottle. It’s really quite delightful to watch the wine snobs squirm when their favorite costs only $8.

Here are some wine suggestions for the games. Take your own blind-taste test and let me know which wines you liked best.

Chardonnay

Columbia Crest Grand Estates 2002, Columbia Valley, Wash. $11

Glen Carlou 2002, Paarl, South Africa. $14

Cloudy Bay 2003, Marlborough, New Zealand. $28

Sauvignon Blanc

Carmen 2004, Curico Valley, Chile. $8

Kim Crawford 2002, Marlborough. $16

Groth 2004, Napa, Calif. $18

Zinfandel (All California)

Cellar #8 2001, North Coast. $11

Bishop’s Peak 2001, Paso Robles. $16

Rombauer 2001 El Dorado, Napa. $20

Cabernet

Robertson 2002, Robertson Valley, South Africa. $11

Alexander Valley Vineyards 2002, Alexander Valley, Calif. $22

Moon Mountain 2000 Reserve, Sonoma Valley, Calif. $35

Syrah/Shiraz

Columbia Valley Winery 2001, Columbia Valley, Wash. $10

Porcupine Ridge 2003, Coastal Region, South Africa. $11

Cape Mentelle 2002, Margaret River, Australia. $23

It’s time once again for the Memphis Italian Festival, being held at Marquette Park at the corner of Mt. Moriah and Park Avenue, June 2nd through 4th. In its 16th year, the festival continues to evolve. Among the old favorites, such as grape-stomping and bocce, there will be some new attractions.

“One thing that we’re doing this year is the People’s Choice Awards,” says festival chairman Paul Volpe. “In the past, people have asked how they can get a taste of the gravy. Saturday afternoon only, 12 of our cooking teams will be competing. Our patrons will be able to sample four spaghetti gravies and judge for themselves.”

The contest will begin at 12:30 p.m. in the wine and cheese garden. The garden features tables, where guests can purchase a bottle of wine, relax, and enjoy their afternoon with a meat and cheese tray provided by Lucchesi’s. There is even a wait staff.

Chefs from area restaurants, including the Half Shell, Zoe’s Kitchen, Owen Brennan, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Bari, and Theresa’s Italian Café, will give cooking demonstrations on Friday and Saturday.

Friday night, the festival goes country with Phil Vassar. “This is the first time we’ve had a country performance,” says Volpe. “Phil won the CMA Songwriter of the Year Award. Saturday, we’ll have Chuck Negron, formerly of Three Dog Night, and Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad.”

The hours are 6 to 10 p.m. Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission is $4 Thursday and $8 Friday and Saturday. Advance tickets can be purchased at any Memphis location of Little Caesar’s Pizza for a $1 discount. All proceeds benefit the Holy Rosary parish school.

If you run into a six-foot armadillo named Andy, you must be at the Texas Roadhouse. Andy is the ambassador of the restaurant, which heavily supports community involvement. In addition to working with Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics, and other nonprofit organizations, Texas Roadhouse sends Andy to visit area schools to read to the students.

“It was their commitment to quality and Andy’s outreach program that brought me back to Memphis,” says manager/partner Steven Schaifer. Schaifer has lived in Nashville and moved to Memphis in 1995 while his daughter was attending the University of Memphis. While here, he worked for the Olive Garden and helped open Amerigo. He returned to Nashville in 1999. He says he’s pleased to be back in Memphis, not only because of his partnership with Texas Roadhouse but also to spend time with his 16-month-old grandchild.

Andy is not the only celebrity guests may see at the location that opened near Wolfchase on May 16th. The restaurant, a chain based out of Kentucky, has a partnership with Willie Nelson, who’s been known to stop by some of the restaurant’s 200 locations in 37 states. But if Nelson’s not in town, guests can pay homage to the country-music legend by sitting in Willie’s Corner, a booth decorated with Nelson memorabilia. A second location will be opening July 4th on Goodman Road in Horn Lake.

When it comes to food, guests can choose among hand-cut steaks, fresh trout or catfish, chicken dinners, and a number of home-cooked side items. Texas Roadhouse hours are 4 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 4 to 11 p.m. Friday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday. Guests can make reservations by calling 382-5547.

Texas Roadhouse, 2810 New Brunswick

“A lot of area restaurants are stepping to the plate to help senior citizens in need,” says Bert Kelly, director of public relations for MIFA. Throughout the month of June, local restaurants and businesses will partner with MIFA to support the organization’s Empty Plates campaign. “The MIFA meals program is one of the largest Meals on Wheels programs in the country, and we’re heavily dependent on the community to keep the program going,” says Kelly. Memphians can support the program, which delivers 3,100 meals each day, by purchasing a paper plate for $1 at participating businesses.

The campaign also includes a radiothon on Infinity stations — FM 100, 93X, and AM 790 — as well as direct mail marketing. Last year, $70,000 was raised.

“When people donate through the mail or donate on the radiothon,” Kelly says, “they will qualify for grand prizes, such as roundtrip tickets on Northwest Airlines and autographed guitars signed by Switchfoot, the Killers, or Lisa Marie Presley.”

A friend told me recently that somebody’s opening the first Starbucks in Montana. She said it with a combination of awe and admiration, like the brave folks in Montana had fought off the invasion of the coffee clones and maintained their integrity — or that Montana was such a backwash that Starbucks didn’t even bother with it.

Either way, it didn’t sound right, no Starbucks in Montana. I mean, there’s colleges in Montana and offices and stuff. People need their coffee.

So, being slightly more statistical than romantic, I cruised over to Starbucks.com and plugged “Montana” into their store locator. Turns out there’s 10 Starbucks in Montana. They’re huddled together in three cities, and half of them are kiosks in an Albertsons or Safeway or somesuch. Pioneers, you might say, not wandering too far into Indian Country.

Now, if I were a real statistical dork, I might have gone from there to the official Web site of the state of Montana (State.mt.us), and I might have spent some time (say, half a cup’s worth) digging around for demographic and geographical information, and I might be able to tell you that Montana has roughly 145,000 square miles of land and 927,000 people, or six people per square mile. As they might say out there, that ain’t many folks. And if I happened to keep a calculator in my drawer, I might also point out that Montana has one Starbucks for every 14,500 square miles and 92,700 people. That ain’t many Starbucks.

Tennessee, by comparison, has 5.7 million people. Shelby County has 906,000 or almost as many as the whole state of Montana. Our whole state is just 41,000 square miles, for a ratio of 138 people per square mile. That’s a fair number of folks. We’ve got 61 Starbucks in the state, for a total of one Starbucks for each 672 square mile. Compare all this to Washington State, where the Starbucks madness began: They’ve got 466 Starbucks!

Fortunately, I am not a statistics dork. I am a traveler, a man of the road, a free spirit roaming the highways of our great land. Or, at least, I used to be. And it was on just such a spiritual rambling, at the end of a long day’s drive, when I arrived, yearning only for sustenance, companionship, and a place to lay my head, in the town of Browning, Montana (population 1,065). They have one hotel and one restaurant in Browning, and I was one tired, hungry dude.

The room was 22 bucks, and the restaurant was just a few tables in a closed-off room next to a bar. Bud Girls sprawled in a poster on the wall, baseball was on the tube, and the waitress put down her smoke to take my order.

“I’ll go for the ribeye and baked potato,” I said, forever sticking with the local specialties. “And what kind of beer do you have?”

“All of ’em,” she said.

All of ’em. Well, okay, I thought, I’m in the Great Northwest …

“I’d like a Sierra Nevada,” I said. A fine, California pale ale.

“A what?” asked the waitress.

“A Sierra Nevada,” I said.

“We don’t have that one.”

“How about, um, a Bass?”

Blank stare. Shouldn’t have gone with the English beer.

“Henry’s?” That one’s from Oregon.

“Nope.”

Hmmm. This is where you hit the “reset” button.

“Okay, so which beers do you have?”

“All of ’em,” she said. “Bud, Bud Light, Coors, Coors Light, Michelob, Miller Genuine Draft …”

Her voice trailed off, and she looked at me with the perfect waitress stare: expectant, not rushed, somewhere between patient and not so patient. Ready. We understood each other perfectly now. I was a guy from out of town she’d never see again, and she was going to bring me meat, a potato, and an American beer. We aren’t going to act like we enjoy each other’s company or that one single thing beyond food-for-money is going to occur here. No cultural paradigms will be shifted tonight in Browning. There’s a purity about it, a perfect simplicity.

“MGD,” I said, and she was gone.

I confess, I used to tell this story as an example of a poor, sophisticated traveler trying to get a real beer in a backwash province. Somehow, though, putting the words “Starbucks” and “Montana” in the same sentence changed my attitude.

I didn’t notice it at first, but when I heard about Starbucks expanding their operations in the Treasure State, I fell over to the romantic side. Now, when I think about that (by the way, tough) steak in Browning and that (tough) waitress selling (tough-to-drink) beers, I kind of hope she’s still there, still smoking and handing out $8 ribeyes under the watchful sprawl of the Bud Girls. I’d hate to think she’s been replaced by a college freshman smiling at everyone and offering Norah Jones’ favorite tunes on a CD.

No doubt that waitress has seen her first espresso-machine salesperson by now — like me, on his way somewhere else, never to be seen again, but taking a shot at life in Browning for a night. I wonder what kind of beer he had, and I wonder if they’re serving lattes in the bar yet.

Last week, Andy Grooms celebrated the fifth anniversary of his liquor store, the Corkscrew, by opening Alice’s Urban Market next door.

Grooms took over the space that once housed Fratelli’s at 513 S. Front about a year ago. He envisioned a deli that would not only serve the professionals downtown during the day but would also give the growing residential community a casual spot to eat at night or grab a few groceries.

Plus, he says, “I want to become the grilled-cheese king.” Among the many sandwiches Alice’s serves, the grilled cheese can be ordered every way imaginable. For example, the “drunken goat” is made with Wensleydale Cheddar, caramelized onions, and bacon bits on fresh bread.

Amelia Carkuff of Carkuff Interiors helped Grooms remodel the space. She created a small market section for fresh veggies, milk, sushi, and other specialty items, as well as a small café. John Pearson, a local chef who has worked at many Memphis restaurants and most recently the Glass Onion, helped Grooms create the lunch and dinner menu.

“I think John’s passion is fine dining, so I don’t know how long I’ll be able to keep him, but he’s helping me create recipes for my slaws and salads,” says Grooms.

Pearson and Grooms also want to create meals-to-go. Some dinner entrées will include rotisserie Cornish game hen, duck, and free-range chicken and take-and-bake pizza made fresh to order on a self-rising sourdough crust. The dough for the pizza and a number of specialty breads are baked daily by another friend, Sheri McKelvie, who formerly worked at City Bread Co. McKelvie joined Grooms and created her own wholesale bread company, Alice’s Artisan.

Grooms plans to pair his businesses for wine tastings a couple times a month. “For the first time in Memphis, there’s wine, bread, and cheese — the trinity — all in one place,” he says.

Alice’s will also serve breakfast and will be open 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.

Alice’s Urban Market, 513 S. Main (575-9979).

Another downtown eatery, Alcenia’s, may have been open since 1996, but it looks like a whole new restaurant. With owner BJ Chester-Tamayo in charge, however, it still feels like home. Customers who walk in the door don’t just get some Southern comfort food. They also get a big hug.

“Food is half the process. The other half is the feeling they get when they eat here,” Chester-Tamayo says.

To that end, Alcenia’s has a new logo, new menus, and new décor designed to bring cheer.

“I’ve always loved color,” says Chester-Tamayo. “I chose colors to make people feel better.”

Purple, orange, yellow, and green adorn tablecloths, placemats, uniforms, hand-painted chairs, and the menu. Many of the menu choices are the same — recipes she learned from her mother while growing up in Meridian, Mississippi.

Chester-Tamayo has also added some other favorites from her youth. “We’re getting ready to do fried sweet potatoes as an appetizer,” she says. “My mom used to do them with pork chops.”

The food isn’t the only way she pays homage to her mother. She’s planning to unveil a portrait of her mother and granddaughter soon.

Alcenia’s, 317 N. Main (523-0200)

There’s a new leader at the helm of the Memphis Restaurant Association. After 10 years on the MRA board of directors and four as the president, Christian Georgi, owner of East End Grill restaurants, resigned. Vice president of the MRA, Jeffery Dunham, chef and co-owner of the Grove Grill, will succeed Georgi.

“I am the first chef to be installed in this position,” Durham says. “Most of the other presidents have come from the front of the house or ownership side of the restaurant business. I want to refocus on some different things, specifically membership. I want to make our meetings more interesting to draw more members and to continue to do the things that MRA does, which is acting as a liaison to city, county, and state government and [supporting] local charities.”

Nutrition used to be so simple. Or at least we thought it was. Using the old United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) food pyramid, balancing meals simply required a glance at the chart on the back of a cereal box. Lots of carbs and grains, a few servings of fruit and vegetables, a little meat and dairy, and a minuscule amount of fat made for a healthy diet.

But last month, the USDA turned the old food pyramid on its side with the release of MyPyramid, a personalized approach to nutrition that requires Internet access. Critics have said it’s confusing, but local nutritionist Brenda Speight is prepared to simplify it in her free “New Food Pyramid” workshop at Wild Oats on Wednesday, May 25th.

“The old pyramid was developed in the early 1990s to help people eat healthier across the board, but through research, we’ve found that people really need a more individualized approach to healthier eating,” says Speight of the Memphis and Shelby County Office of Nutrition.

At the MyPyramid Web site (MyPyramid.gov), you’re asked to enter your age, gender, and activity level in order to receive one of 12 plans. For example, a 24-year-old female who engages in 30 minutes or less of physical activity a day is prescribed six ounces of grains, two-and-a-half cups of veggies, two cups of fruit, three cups of milk, and 5.5 ounces of meat and/or beans per day.

Visually, there’s no one way to represent these plans, so the government’s drawn up a generic pyramid. Rather than show each food group stacked on top of another in order of importance, the new pyramid’s food groups run from the tip to the base. On one side of the pyramid a cartoon figure climbs a flight of stairs to represent daily exercise. The old pyramid made no visual attempt at instructing people to work out daily.

“Some of the concepts from the original pyramid have stayed, like balance, variety, and moderation,” says Speight. “But a new addition is the whole concept of color. Color has a lot to do with the intensity of the concentration of certain vitamins found in fruits and vegetables.”

The individual plans contain a breakdown of color in the veggies category. For example, the 24-year-old female’s chart recommends she eat three cups of dark green veggies per week and two cups a week of orange vegetables.

MyPyramid is more focused on vegetables and plant proteins than the old one, which recommended more servings of meat.

“We know there’s a relationship in the U.S. with an overconsumption of animal protein and heart disease,” says Speight. “That’s because saturated fat accompanies animal protein.”

MyPyramid also makes a distinction between good fat and bad fat as well as good carbs and bad carbs. The pyramid recommends a daily amount of plant oils, which are low in saturated fat. It also instructs people to consume whole grains for at least half of their daily grain intake.

“Whole grains have an effect on the blood sugar level. They metabolize in the body much slower, which means the rise in blood sugar will be much lower,” explains Speight. “And that means you won’t recognize hunger as frequently.”

Not everyone is pleased with the government’s new food plan. Dr. Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health designed his own pyramid, claiming the USDA approach still draws on outdated health concepts. Designed in a style similar to the old USDA pyramid, Harvard’s “Healthy Eating Pyramid” has gained popularity for its accessibility. It’s not personalized, which means foods and proportions can be charted as in the old pyramid.

The Healthy Eating Pyramid places daily exercise and weight control at the very base. Whole grains and plant oils are next, with veggies and fruits right above them. Next are nuts and legumes and then fish, poultry, and eggs. Above that is dairy or a calcium supplement, and at the pyramid’s tip in the “use sparingly” category are red meats, butter, white rice and white bread, potatoes, pasta, and sweets.

Regardless of which pyramid people choose to use as a guide, throwing out the old one is a major shake-up in the nutrition world. Speight says many health-conscious people are eating properly anyway, but those with nutritional challenges may have some problems adapting to the new plan.

“It’s taken us almost 15 years to get the general population to understand and accept the old pyramid,” says Speight. “Our culture is quick and wants to eat a meal right now, but leafy green vegetables mean you’ve got to cook. Some people may find this will take a little more work.” n

Brenda Speight will teach the “New Food Pyramid” workshop at Wild Oats (5022 Poplar) on Wednesday, May 25th at 7 p.m. For more information, call 685-2293.

I’m fascinated by cheese. How can the secretions of bovine and ungulate mammary glands transform into so many textures, flavors, and colors? Standing in the cheese section of the grocery store can be an overwhelming experience, and I wonder helplessly where to begin.

Last week, the store’s cheese purchaser had the answer. “Now is the best time of the year for fresh goat cheese,” he said, “because spring goat milk has the highest content of butterfat, protein, and sugar.”

He referred me (and my barrage of questions) to the Idaho cheese maker who gave him this information: Chuck Evans of Rollingstone Chèvre in Parma, Idaho. Rollingstone cheeses, made from the milk of their herd of purebred Saanen goats, have won top honors at many cheese competitions. In addition to the usual goat cheeses such as chèvre and fromage blanc, Rollingstone also produces an aged grating cheese called Idaho Goatster and a surface-ripened aged chèvre called Bleu Agé.

The word chèvre used to mean “she-goat” in Old French. If you can speak French, says Evans, then you roll the “r.” Otherwise, forget about it and just say “chev.” Today, chèvre is sometimes used as a generic word for goat cheese, but it usually refers to a specific type of fresh goat cheese that is soft, creamy, tangy, bright white, and sometimes spiced. Chèvre — and goat cheese in general — has shot up in national popularity in recent decades.

Long popular in Europe, legend has it that the American goat-cheese revolution started in northern California during the late 1970s, growing out of the partnership between Chef Alice Waters of Berkeley’s Chez Panisse Café and Sonoma cheese maker Laura Chenel. Waters put chèvre on the map with a salad that includes half-inch rounds of cheese marinated up to a week in olive oil, rosemary, and thyme. The cheese is then dusted with bread crumbs, warmed in the oven, and served atop a bed of baby greens with a vinaigrette of wine and sherry vinegars and whisked-in olive oil, salt, and black pepper.

Many people associate goats with small, cute farms run by small, cute milkmaids. There is some truth to this. But like many small things spoiled by popularity, many goat dairy operators have now become impersonal and industrialized, much like the cow dairy industry.

This has created a need for the category of “farmstead cheese,” which means that the goats were raised at the same place and by the same people who make the cheese. This lets consumers know that they are buying from a small-ish outfit, where quality control can presumably be assured from start to finish.

Unfortunately, the marketing advantages of labeling cheese “farmstead” have tempted some cheese makers to use the label even if they buy some or all of their milk. Rumors and accusations fly in the goat-cheese world over who is truly farmstead and who is a closet milk buyer.

The cheese purchaser has no doubt that Rollingstone is a true farmstead cheese. “They are one of our two suppliers who stop sending fresh cheese in the winter,” he says.

“If you want to purchase milk, you can make cheese all year long,” explains Evans. Big milk producers use hormones and play with light conditions to get goats to lactate through the winter. “It’s barely fit to drink, but you can buy it.”

Unlike the sweet and supple spring cheese made from milk designed to nourish young kids, fall cheese is aged and savory, with a summer’s worth of meals built into the flavor.

“Fall cheese is earthy,” says Evans, “so I serve it with earthy things, like borscht.”

Whatever you do, you should let cheese warm at least to room temperature before serving to maximize the flavor.

Playing with the possibilities of springtime, I mashed chèvre with chopped dates and made little balls that I wrapped in bacon (held together with toothpicks) and broiled at 350 until golden-brown. These morsels were a bit fatty for some tasters but perfect for others. All tasters were deeply impressed with the warm combination of date and chèvre.

Scrambled eggs with chèvre, minced garlic, and chopped fresh basil made for a superb breakfast. But if you like your eggs well-cooked, beware. The cheese imparts an undercooked appearance long after the eggs are done.

In the end, my favorite presentation was simply room-temperature chèvre and dried apples. Chewing them together, the flavors devoured each other. Simple, serious pleasure. •

If you want to learn more about cheese, here are some good books:

The New American Cheese by Laura Werlin (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2000)

The Cheese Course by Janet Fletcher (Chronicle Books, 2000)

The Cheese Plate by Max McCalman and David Gibbons (Potter, 2002)

Cheese Primer by Steven Jenkins (Workman, 1996)

For more info on Rollingstone cheeses or to order, visit http://homepage.mac.com/chevre/index.html.

Things haven’t been going too well for me and my grill lately. It’s been four years since I saw her sitting by the side of the road. She wasn’t fancy, just a barrel on wheels with a crude plank shelf. But Lord-a-mercy, could she cook. I bought her a nice chimney starter and always used quality charcoal. I loved her because of her simplicity — because of her complete lack of ornament and gadgetry. But there’s nothing as cold as ashes after the fire has gone, and I’m seriously starting to wonder how much longer we’ll be together. Maybe I’m shallow, but she’s just not as hot as she could be. More and more I catch myself looking for any excuse to sauté, bake, stir-fry, or broil. I’ve been using the microwave a lot lately. And I’ve been seeing other grills.

It all started one night with a friend’s grill. He had a miniature tabletop model from Sharper Image. That’s not usually my type. But it was stainless-steel, heavy, clean, efficient, and so incredibly small — everything my grill was not. When fully assembled it looked like a shiny silver lunchbox, making it the perfect companion for a working stiff who wants a little hot meat in the afternoon.

About a month ago, I started having an Internet affair with a charcoal-burning beauty called the Leader at GourmetGrills.net. It was a full-sized, space-age marvel. Perched on a stainless-steel pedestal, the Leader had its own built-in chimney lighter, making any argument in favor of using natural gas or propane completely moot. With the Leader, all you need is a sheet of newspaper and some charcoal, and you’ve got a fire inside a beautiful piece of modern design. But I can’t buy a grill over the Internet, no matter how sexy it looks or sounds. I’ve got to lift the lid and feel its weight. I’ve got to walk around it and see it from every angle. I’ve got to fondle the merchandise. I’ve got to know for a fact that it’s the right grill for me.

“So, I hear you’ve come to see the King of Smoky City,” says Jim Hamilton, the Hawaiian-shirt-wearing owner of Hamilton’s Fireplace Shop on Summer Avenue. The front of Hamilton’s establishment is dusty and cluttered. Holes in the floor are patched with tin. But the claustrophobic front opens up suddenly into an enormous showroom and warehouse space, with more than 200 fully assembled grills to gaze upon and touch. Hamilton says he’s got the largest display of grills in the world. That fact is pretty hard to check, but the collection is impressive.

“They say if you can come up with a product that will make men want to go shopping, you’ve really got something,” says Hamilton, who sells 3,000 grills a year. “And who do you see shopping here? You see men. They’ll come in in the morning, go across the street and have a Backyard Burger for lunch, and then they’ll come back in the afternoon. They want to touch everything. They want to lift every lid.”

The first grill Hamilton shows me is a 600-pound monster by Viking. The Viking Professional is all stainless-steel with a geared rotisserie. It’s gas-fueled but has an independently heated smoke box for pumping in extra flavor. It also has an infrared burner when you want a steak that’s charred on the outside but cool and bloody in the center. At $4,900, however, it’s a little outside my price range.

The Brinkman Commercial Grill is big enough for me to get inside and lie down. It’s a charcoal burner made from boilerplate steel, and it won’t lose a bit of heat. The Commercial is a no-frills beauty with a separate side-loading firebox that’s easy to clean. But at $1,699, it’s still out of reach. The Brinkman Residential is exactly the same as the Commercial, only half the size. The $699 price tag is a little more appealing, and the lid is so heavy you just know that heat could never escape.

I walk past $39 Weber kettle grills and expensive natural-gas jobs with side-burners for sauce. There are grills with detachable shelves that can be used as trays. There are upright smokers that look like bank safes.

“Look,” I tell Hamilton. “I’ve got a good grill, a charcoal burner. It’s been a really good grill for me, and I don’t know if I’m ready to get rid of her just yet.”

“Everybody needs two grills,” he answers coolly, “a gas grill for quick starts on Monday through Thursday and a charcoal grill when you’ve got a little more time on the weekends.” •

Cooper Street will soon fea- ture a Celtic Crossing. That’s the new name Josephine “Jo” Delahunty has planned for the Glass Onion, which will continue to operate until it can be turned into an Irish pub in early June.

“We’re doing a gradual transition until we’re ready to open,” Delahunty says. “Until then, we’re going to keep the Glass Onion menu.”

Delahunty and her partners already have expanded the patio area, where they’re considering having live entertainment. Irish music will be playing inside, and they may bring in pipers for the grand opening.

“We’re trying to create a true authentic Irish pub with a homey atmosphere with rich woods and a big fireplace a solid, earthy feel,” Delahunty says. “Two lads who have designed pubs in Ireland and in America — including the James Joyce Pub in Chicago — will bring bric-a-brac, pictures, and even a bar from Ireland.”

Delahunty was born in County Laois in the Irish Midlands. Since coming to Memphis, this popular waitress, who’s well known for her gregariousness and curly red hair, worked at Kudzu’s for almost a decade and then at Dan McGuinness for three years.

“I’ve always wanted to open up me own pub,” she says. “We’re going to change the menu completely. We’re going to have shepherd’s pie, corn beef and cabbage, and boxty, a potato pancake stuffed with vegetables. We’re planning to do really strong lunches. Lunch was kind of slow at the Glass Onion, so we’re going to have a variety of sandwiches.”

Lunch will be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner from 5 p.m. to about 11 p.m. or midnight. The bar will be open until 3 a.m. daily. Bar manager David Laird says he’s planning to add more Irish beers, whiskies, and bourbons, and an Irish vodka called Boru.

If the scents wafting out of Tom Lee Park during this weekend’s Memphis in May Barbecue Cooking Contest aren’t enough to tempt you, visit Lawry’s Live demonstration tent for some interactive fun. You can sniff oxygen scented with garlic and barbecue at the Aroma Bar or the kids can try tongue-painting to learn how taste buds work. There’s also “Feel Factor,” where visitors try to guess what they’re touching while blindfolded.

Lawry’s also will host cooking demonstrations with “Dr. BBQ” Ray Lampe and Rick Browne, host of the TV show Barbecue America. In addition, visitors can cast votes in Lawry’s People’s Choice Awards or take a guided tour of three top cooking teams with the Cooker Caravan.

And don’t forget to Battle to the Bone at Frank’s Red Hot Hot Wings Eating Contest, sponsored by Cattlemen’s Barbecue Sauce at 4:30 p.m. Friday on the main stage.

While you’re hanging out downtown, you might want to have a seat at Lolo’s Table, located where Aristi’s used to be at 126 Madison.

Lee Holliday left McEwen’s on Monroe, where he worked for about five years, to open the bistro. Holliday says Mac Edwards, owner of McEwen’s, supports the move. Another downtown restaurant, Stella, also was opened by a former McEwen’s staffer.

But where McEwen’s focuses on Southern fare and Stella specializes in fusion, Holliday and his partner Eric Bush have created a menu influenced by southern Europe.

“The fusion thing has been done, and we wanted to do something different, with a little flair — no Southern and definitely no Asian,” Holliday says. “The menu is low-country European with Tuscan influences and a little Spanish and French.”

The menu offers a mix of sandwiches, salads, and grilled entrées, such as the “coquilles à la nage,” sea scallops caramelized with sautéed capellini and a tomato-saffron broth.

Holliday also is trying to keep prices low: “So many people live in this neighborhood, we wanted a place people could come to once or twice a week, rather than once a month.”

Lolo’s Table has been open for lunch from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. since March. The restaurant recently expanded its hours to offer dinner Monday through Saturday.

As for the name of the restaurant, Holliday only had to look across the table at his wife Lori, whose sisters nicknamed her Lolo when they were kids. •