Tag: Another Broken Egg

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

4 Dumplings Closed, more news

• 4Dumplings has shut its doors. 

From restaurant’s Facebook page: 

After a year’s preparation and two and half years of operation, we have decided it’s time to close 4Dumplings. We are proud of what we had done for our community, proud of the small impact we had made for eating clean, but we also realized that being the restaurant owner/ operator is a little too much of a job for us… We have sacrificed too much meaningful family time together. We are sad that we started something wonderful, but couldn’t carry it to the end, but we know we need a more balanced life so we can do some other things that could be even more important and more rewarding from many levels. 4dumplings has taught us so much and we will always be grateful. Last but not the least, we want to thank all our guests for allowing us the opportunity to serve you!!!

• Another Broken Egg opens its second Memphis location on August 8th, but biscuit beignet lovers can get an early and free (!) taste on Friday, August 5th, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and Saturday, August 6th, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. 

Both days are set as fund-raisers. Friday’s proceeds go to the Ronald McDonald House and Saturday’s go to St. Jude. You can book reservations at NewATABE.com. 

$15 at Pho Binh

• The second BreakFest has been set for September 24th, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., on Broad. Includes a bloody mary contest and a waffle bar (!). 

Proceed go to the Urban Bicycle Food Ministry. 

• Have you checked out Blooming Bubble Tea at the Wolfchase Mall? 

Blooming Bubble offers an extensive list smoothies and milk teas, plus sno cones and macarons. You also get a choice of tapioca pearls or popping boba (and, yes, these pop in your mouth!). 

• The first Fourth Bluff Friday is set for August 12th, 4:30-9 p.m., at Memphis Park near the law school. There will be a pop-up beer garden courtesy of Tap Box and food from Monkey Train and Stick’em. 

Continues on the second Friday of the month through October. 

• Paradox Underground is a new dining club from chef Jimmy Gentry. The first event is set for August 26th, and the dinner will include five courses plus wine, cocktails, and beer. 

There will be at least five dinners a year, with special guest chefs cooking with Gentry. 

More info here. 

• 99 cent Soul Food Express is now open. All dishes are served a la carte. Guests make their way through line, pointing out what they want, sorta like Picadilly. 

Seen above is the lima beans, mac n cheese, fried green tomatoes, and a corn bread muffin, about $6. 

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Chewing Over the Food News of 2015

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

In looking over 2015, one thing stood out: brand expansion. Aldo’s Pizza Pies, with its swell rooftop patio, and City Market (grab and go!) came to Cooper-Young. Fino’s opened a second restaurant in East Memphis (yay sandwiches!), and Mediterranean mainstay Casablanca returned to Midtown. Both Bedrock Eats & Sweets, the paleo eatery, and the all-vegan Pink Diva Cupcakery and Cuisine got places to call their own.

Justin Fox Burks

Bedrock Eats & Sweets

Ermyias Shiberou, owner of Stickem food truck, opened Blue Nile Ethiopian Kitchen on Madison in Midtown, next to the Bar-B-Q Shop. Stickem’s awesome kabobs are on the menu, and the lentil sandwich is terrific. Reverb Coffee got into the food-truck game, and Relevant Roasters opened its own coffee bar. Tamp & Tap Triad was unveiled in East Memphis.

Justin Fox Burks

Blue Nile Ethiopian Kitchen

Last year, all the action was in Overton Square. This year, one could argue, it’s South Main. The new location of Rizzo’s, after much delay, opened in March. Don’t worry, the Lobster Pronto Pups are still on the menu. The great and always-packed Maciel’s offers downtowners tacos, tortas, and more. South Main Sushi & Grill took over the Grawemeyer’s space, and there’s Ray’z World Famous Dr. Bar-b-que a few blocks north. The hipsteriffic 387 Pantry is a small, curated market with locally sourced goods like Dr. Bean’s coffee and Hanna Farm grits and cornmeal.

Justin Fox Burks

Ray’z World Famous Dr. Bar-b-que

Also new to downtown is the build-your-own tacos and burritos and nachos joint Burrito Blues (mmmm, nachos) and the Cuban and Mexican restaurant Sabrosura (try the Cuban sandwich). Jeff Johnson’s latest venture Agave Maria, with its masterful decor and endless tequila menu, opened on Union. Recommendation: the cheesy mushroom and poblano enchilada. In April, Bass Pro finally opened in the Pyramid. Uncle Buck’s, the underwater-themed restaurant with a bowling alley, offers a little something for everyone. Up top, the Lookout has one of the best views in the city.

Germantown got all the grocery stores. There’s the 1,000,000-square-foot Kroger that opened. (Actually, it’s only 100,000 square feet, but to put it in perspective, the Union Kroger is 36,000 square feet). It has a juice bar and a Corky’s BBQ kiosk. The healthy-food-at-a-discount grocer, Sprouts, after opening Lakeland, introduced its second store in Germantown. Whole Foods opened its second Memphis-area store in Germantown, too. It features a charcuterie cave, a fresh pasta station, made-fresh savory and sweet crepes, and Korean street food from Kei Jei Kitchens. (I think about the steamed bao sliders all the time.) And, in September, there was news, which seems completely unfair depending on your zip code, that the first area Trader Joe’s would open in Germantown sometime in 2016.

Breakfast for dinner? Breakfast for lunch? Breakfast for breakfast? Whenever! Another Broken Egg, a chain, opened in East Memphis. Order one of their scrambled skillets and their beignet biscuits and you’ll feel like you’ve been hit by a bus, but in the best way possible. Also in the breakfast-whenever game is the colorful, pancake-centric Staks. You can even make your own pancakes, if you’re so inclined. They also offer soups, salads, and sandwiches (including the Memphis Hot Brown).

And, and, and … There’s Mac’s Burgers with a menu filled with gourmet mac-and-cheese and burgers. Coffeehouse/gift shop City & State opened on Broad. 3 Angels Diner made way for Maximo’s on Broad. Encore Cafe offers wraps, smoothies, and salads, plus a place for Cozy Corner while it gets its building ready. Crazy Italians is owned by real-live Italians and features a menu of affordable, classic dishes like spaghetti alla carbonara. I Love Juice Bar features juices, smoothies, and essential oil shots. Mardi Gras, in Crosstown, has gotten great word-of-mouth for its Cajun fare. Diners can tour the U.S.A. at Heritage Tavern & Kitchen, which has a menu of regional favorites. Healthy, tastefully done meals are Julles Posh Food‘s focus. Ditto for LYFE Kitchen, where there’s no fryer, and it’s not missed at all.

Finally, two words: Cheesecake Factory.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

L’Ecole Class, etc.

• Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to how to make fish pudding … well, that’s something else all together. 

On Friday, Chef Emmett Bell will lead a “Fish on Friday” class at L’Ecole Culinaire. Bell, a former chef at Calvary, home of the famous Lenten Waffle Shop, will teach students how to cook fish to perfection and will recreate the Waffle Shop’s fish pudding. 

The class is Friday, March 20th, 6-9 p.m. Cost is $95 per person. 

More info here. 

• Another Broken Egg Cafe, a Southern-style breakfast chain, opens its first memphis restaurant on Monday, March 30th. On Friday, March 27th, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. it’s holding a preview event benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. 

Reservations are recommended: 759-7020.

• Food Truck Fridays returns to the Dixon, starting with a “Sneak Peek” Friday, March 27th, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. 

The trucks on site that day will be Fresh Gulf Shrimp, Fuel, and Memphis Dawgs.