Tag: Ben Smith

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Emily LaForce Has Mastered the Art of Cooking

Emily LaForce (Photo: Michael Donahue)

When Ben Smith, chef/owner of Tsunami, asked Emily LaForce to come cook, she could’ve said, “May LaForce be with you.”

LaForce, 35, who began working at Tsunami in Cooper-Young about two months ago, is also a force of nature. She hasn’t let anything stand in the way of expressing her creativity, whether it’s cooking or painting.

Art was first. She has a picture her mother gave her when she was 3 years old. It’s a “little picture of somebody painting on an easel,” she says. And on it LaForce wrote, “I want to be an ‘ardes.’”

LaForce was about 13 when she began looking at food in a new light. Her mother showed her how to make crème brûlée. “I was like, ‘What is that?’ We grew up with Southern food.” Not long after, LaForce successfully cooked salmon after watching a TV cooking show demonstration.

At 16, LaForce got a job as a dishwasher at New York Pizza Cafe in Bartlett. The owner taught her how to make sauce and dough and how to throw pizzas using a kitchen towel. She later worked at another pizza parlor, but, she says, “This is the only job I was really fired from.

“It was a rainy Sunday. We were bored. One of my managers was like, ‘Do something to make me laugh.’” LaForce made a little sculpture out of dough scraps. “I made it look like Wendy from the Wendy’s restaurant. But then it was R-rated. It involved a sausage and two meatballs.”

She posted a photo of it on Facebook, thinking she shared it on a private group page that included the restaurant’s name. But LaForce accidentally posted it on the restaurant’s corporate page. She was fired from the pizza restaurant and was banned from working at any of the other restaurants in the chain “in America.”

LaForce moved on. She learned how to make hibachi and sushi at the old Rain restaurant. She continued to honing her skills as a student at Bethel University in McKenzie, Tennessee, where she worked at The Grill at school and another pizza parlor. She continued to paint, but her style changed. “I started doing a bunch of acid and it started changing after that.”

“I started doing just whatever people wanted at the time because I needed money. So I would just do commissions and murals. I painted the gas pump at the gas station in McKenzie.”

After graduating with an English degree, LaForce returned to Memphis.

In 2013, she set up a booth with her original paintings and prints at Cooper-Young Festival. Business wasn’t so good until LaForce found a way to get noticed. “This guy dressed as a banana was walking around and handing out condoms to people.” LaForce, who brought a cooler of beer with her, told him, “I’ll give you beer all day long, as much as you want, as long as you stay around my booth.”

“Because he was attracting attention,” she says, “I ended up making double what I was selling it for because of this banana.” 

LaForce also worked for a time on two different pot farms. Her job at one was “keeping the goats from eating the weed.”

She got into cooking big time after moving back to Memphis in 2014 working with chef Kelly English when he was at The 5 Spot at Earnestine & Hazel’s. “It was the first time I really got my eyes opened to different kinds of foods, like a real chef.”

There, she met Majestic Grille owners Patrick and Deni Reilly and eventually landed a job at Majestic Grille — another eye-opener. “I knew basic stuff, but I didn’t know the proper way to do things.”

Two years later, LaForce went to chef/owner José Gutierrez’s River Oaks Restaurant. She was there seven years. “I started as a line cook and left as chef de cuisine.”

LaForce and her wife Ashley ate at Tsunami after Smith offered her a job. When he paid for their dinner, Ashley told Emily, “When a chef does that, that’s a good sign.”

Emily is impressed with Smith. “His flavors are very different from anything I’ve experienced. It’s like a perfect balance.” And, she says, “He’s badass.”

Asked her long-range goal, Emily says, “To be an artist.” Emily, whose murals grace Saltwater Crab and Meddlesome Brewing Company, wants to have an art show titled “Back of House,” which will be “paintings of things you don’t normally see in restaurants. Just in the back of the house. Just the crazy shit that happens. The beautiful things, but also the horrifying things.”

Mostly, Emily says, “I want to show the beauty of it.” 

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Food & Wine Food & Drink Food Reviews Hungry Memphis

Memphis Chefs Talk Mashed Potatoes

Photo: Michael Donahue

After hearing about Memphis being recognized as the mashed potato capital of America by Idahoan Foods, I wondered how Memphis chefs used mashed potatoes at their restaurants. So, I asked around.

Kelly English, owner of Iris, The Second Line, and Fino’s from the Hill, says, “I love crawfish boil mashed potatoes — with everything you would get in a crawfish boil. Just fold some crawfish tails, crispy sautéed andouille, corn kernels, and roasted garlic into your potatoes and season with your favorite Creole seasoning. Saute a piece of fish from the Gulf and pour brown butter and lemon juice over the whole dish.”

Derk Meitzler, chef/owner of The Vault, Paramount, Backlot Sandwich Shop, and Earnestine & Hazel’s, says, “I’ve used leftover mashed potatoes to make loaded tater tots. Put the potatoes, egg, flour, shredded cheddar cheese, bacon, and chives into a bowl and mix together. Form into the shape of a tater tot and roll in panko bread crumbs. Then fry them golden brown.”

Acre Restaurant executive chef
Andrew Adams
(Photo: Michael Donahue)

Elwood’s Shack owner Tim Bednarski shared his warm German potato salad recipe. Boil two pounds of new potatoes cut into fourths in salted water until tender. Render four pieces of bacon. Drain the potatoes while warm. Combine one cup sliced green onions, one-half cup diced celery, one-half cup mayonnaise, one-half cup sour cream, two tablespoons Dijon mustard, one-fourth cup apple cider vinegar, one-half cup chopped parsley, one-fourth cup pimentos, salt and pepper to taste, and “hot sauce for a kick.” Give it “a light mash.”

Veteran Memphis chef Mac Edwards, hospitality director for The Paramount, makes Very Anglo Latkes: “To leftover mashed potatoes, add grated onion, eggs, a little flour, and baking soda. Press into a patty, pan fry in one-fourth inch of oil until crispy and brown. Drain on a paper towel and sprinkle with salt while hot. I make a horseradish applesauce to go with it.”

Karen Carrier, owner of The Beauty Shop Restaurant, Mollie Fontaine Lounge, and Another Roadside Attraction, prepares Green Herb Roasted Garlic Creamed Potatoes, made with Yukon golds and a parsley, mint, and tarragon puree, unsalted butter, roasted garlic, creme fraiche, and grana padano, with salt and pepper to taste.

Saito 2 chef Jimmy “Sushi Jimi” Sinh makes a sushi roll with mashed potatoes. “Inside would be a deep-fried panko chicken,” he says. The roll is “topped with mashed potatoes and thinly sliced avocado.”

Ben Smith, chef/owner of Tsunami, says, “Mashed potatoes don’t play a major role in my restaurant, even though it’s one of the most requested side items. They normally only accompany our grilled filet of beef, but some customers get creative. We frequently have people order our pork and lemongrass meatballs on top of mashed potatoes.

“I’ve also known people to order mashed potatoes with a side of soy beurre blanc, which is kind of overkill because our mashed potatoes are already loaded with butter and cream.”

Acre Restaurant executive chef Andrew Adams says, “When I worked in a restaurant in New Jersey, I would make mashed potato sandwiches at the end of the night when leftovers were mashed potatoes and sourdough bread. I’ve been told that I break some sort of healthy eating rule by eating carbs on carbs. Lately, I’ve been doing the same with leftover cornbread.”

Peggy Brown, chef/owner of Peggy’s Healthy Home Cooking, cooks homestyle mashed potatoes: “We use Irish potatoes. Peel, wash, slice them up, put them in a pot with chicken broth, and boil until they get completely done. I also put salt in my pot while they’re cooking. Mash them with a potato masher and put in real butter and black pepper. Sometimes we put a little cream in them.”

If you still don’t have enough mashed potatoes in your life, try making some of these dishes.

Former Memphis chef Spencer McMillin, “traveling chef” and author of The Caritas Cookbook:  A Year in the Life with Recipes, knows his mashed potatoes. “I’ve been making smoked mashed potatoes since 1995,” says McMillin, now executive chef at Ciao Trattoria and Wine Bar in Durham, New Hampshire. “Wash Idaho russets, peel them, simmer — always starting in cold water — drain, smoke with any wood but mesquite, fortify with unholy amounts of hot cream and cold butter, season — kosher salt only, pepper and garlic fight with the smoke — and serve them napalm hot. If the roof of your mouth wasn’t singed with the first bite,  they’re too cold. Smoked mash is the one side dish of mine that has been remembered, sought after, stolen, and stood the test of time.

“In the restaurants, I always make way too much and find myself trying to merchandise them in other dishes or turning them into new ‘brilliant’ preparations. A kicky shepherd’s pie, creative duchess croquette, savory pancake — so good with braised pork shoulder — or cheddar-laced fritters.”

But, he says, “None of those dishes were as tasty and as simple to whip together during a mad rush as smoked potato bisque. Sweat out some leek and onion in butter, add chicken stock — not that crap in the aseptic box at the grocery store, make fresh — maybe add a bay leaf or two, bring to a simmer, whisk in an appropriate amount of day-old smoked mash — they’re better in this soup — a touch of cream and bam!”

In addition to his sandwiches, Acre Restaurant executive chef Andrew Adams uses mashed potatoes in dishes served at the restaurant.

“I like to make the super smooth extremely rich Robuchon style mashed potatoes or potato puree,” Adams says. “Five large russet potatoes, one pound butter, salt, and a small amount of hot milk. I treat the process like any emulsion, similar to a béarnaise, by slowly adding the butter and then refinishing with milk.”

Mashed potato concoctions don’t need fancy equipment, Adams says. “Years ago, I was eating at a Michelin three-star restaurant in New York City. After dinner, I was having a drink with the chefs who worked there. I was complimenting their truffle potato foam — when that was still popular — on a seafood dish. The sous chef said he spent weeks with aerators, stabilizers, and other high-tech equipment only for the chef to walk by one day and simply toss a spoonful of mashed potatoes into a white wine sauce and blend. The texture ended up so airy and balanced. Fifteen years later, I tried that. I made a simple sauce with white wine, shallots, milk. Then I added saved mashed potatoes slowly until thickened. To this, I added a little brown butter. And that was it. Last year, this made it to our menu. Now I smoke the potatoes. The final smoked potato sauce goes with our potato gnocchi and short rib dish. The gnocchi with ‘smoked mashed potato’ sauce has been a hit. It’s not listed on the menu that way.”

And, Adams says, “If I have leftover chunky mashed potatoes or some with less butter and other liquids, I will use those sometimes to mix with duck confit or duck breast ‘pastrami’ to make potato-duck croquettes. I just mix duck, mashed potatoes, and egg. That gets molded and breaded, fried.

“On days when we make potato rosemary bread, I’ll ask the crew to save the potatoes for the next day. The potatoes get mixed into the dough. The bread is usually used as the base of our country pork pate.”

Justin Fox Burks and his wife, Amy Lawrence of The Chubby Vegetarian blog and cookbooks, shared their Mashed Potato Dumplings recipe: 

2 cups peeled, cubed potatoes

1 tablespoon water

2 medium eggs (beaten)

1 cup semolina flour

one half teaspoon kosher salt

“Place potatoes and water in a microwave-safe bowl with a lid or a plate to cover. Microwave on high for eight minutes and then allow potatoes to rest, covered, for another eight minutes in the microwave. Mash potatoes with a potato masher and add the eggs, four, and salt. Mix with your hands until just mixed. Pat dough out to about one half inch thickness on a floured surface. Using a pastry cutter or knife, cut dough into roughly one half inch rectangles. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook gnocchi for two to three minutes. When they are ready, they will float. Use a strainer to remove them from the water.

For extra credit, extra flavor, and extra texture, sear the drained gnocchi in olive oil in a skillet on high heat before tossing them with your choice of sauce.”

Burks and Lawrence serve their gnocchi with “a garlicky parsley and walnut pesto or paired with a regular jar of tomato sauce and heaps of grated Romano cheese.”

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

It’s Not Time: Tsunami Not Ready for Flood of Dine-in Customers

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Tsunami has a freshly painted floor, but it will be a while before the iconic Cooper-Young restaurant rings with the sound of footsteps from hungry customers.

Owner Ben Smith isn’t ready to open. He still is doing curbside takeout and delivery, but that’s it for now. He’s not ready to open the dining room.
Michael Donahue

Ben Smith at the 2019 Memphis Food & Wine Festival at Memphis Botanic Garden

“We’re being really cautious about opening,” Smith says. “We’ve noticed a significant downturn in business since all the restaurants opened, however, so that’s some concern to us. We’re getting a lot of calls: ‘When are you guys going to open?’ We see the sort of opinion shifting with people ready to get out. People are feeling more optimistic and comfortable about coming out in public spaces. But my No. 1 priority is making sure my staff is comfortable and safe. Their comfort level is more important.”

But, he says, “I’m feeling more pressure from people to open now. And that’s a new development. Until recently people have been very supportive: ‘We’ll be there when you reopen. Do the right thing. Be safe.’”

Now people are saying, “When are you going to open?”

Smith has come up with a tentative opening date, but it’s not set in stone. “We’re cautiously optimistic we will open sometime in June. It’s subject to change. To me, it just makes no sense to open under the protocol they’ve put forth. We have to set up our dining room now with six-foot spacing. It’s not too bad, but as far as the tables being six feet apart, that’s good in theory. But with traffic, as people move through the place, they have to go between those tables and that breaks the six feet of space. In actuality, they should have 12 feet of space if you’ re going to keep six feet of distancing between actual bodies. That seems unreasonable.”

Smith has heard differing scenarios from people who already have opened their restaurants. “Both ends of the spectrum. People who want to present everything’s fine and nothing happened, to the other extreme of people wearing masks and berating people who aren’t. Again, this whole situation, this whole crisis has put the restaurant industry into a position of having to police not only ourselves and our staff, but our clientele. That’s a really uncomfortable position to be in.”

He’s heard other unpleasant stories from restaurateurs. “People berating servers for not being able to sit at the bar. … There’s no clear-cut policy or message or guidance from anywhere that gives us any sort of power to enforce that protocol. And, again, the onus of that responsibility falls on the shoulders of the operator. My God, with everything else that’s going on, some of us are feeling a little overwhelmed about this new responsibility of having to police our clientele. It’s a new level of responsibility and stress for us.”

Smith and his workers discuss this situation with “shifts and changes” at their daily staff meeting. They’ve tweaked ideas as they’ve gone along. “I’d rather err on the side of safety and caution than open back up again. And it’s brutal. It’s really difficult. We’ve shifted into this new business model, and my staff has done a tremendous job of adjusting and getting used to that and making it happen. And to have to go back to our ‘normal’ service, there’s going to be a lot of new learning curves there for all of us. And I just don’t feel like our game plan is strong enough now to reopen.”

Some people don’t want to go to newly opened restaurants because of the restrictions, Smith says. “That’s a whole other concern for us. How many people now have the mindset of, ‘I don’t want to go out and eat if I have to wear a mask, if I have to follow strict protocol and guidelines? I can eat at home. And I can get takeout and eat it at home.’”

Their business will be impacted if “a significant factor” of their demographic thinks that way or if they don’t want to eat out as frequently.

But, Smith says, “I think we’re going to eventually get back into a mindset that it’s okay to go out and eat again.”

And he’s getting ready for that day. “We did some painting. We took out all the furniture and painted the floors.”

Tsunami’s floor got a fresh coat of paint during the shutdown.

His wife Colleen did the floors, which were “much overdue for a paint job,” Smith says. They now are painted “kind of a black. They were kind of a mismatch of colors before. That was a holdover from the last restaurant here. I always loved the floors. It had that nice, authentic, distressed look about them.”

And, he says, “We’ve done a lot of cleaning and reorganizing and shuffling stuff around and purging. We thought it was a good opportunity. We had the floors steam cleaned.”

But for now, Smith says, “I don’t think I’m ready to put my wait staff in that position of having to tell people, ‘No, we can’t shake hands. We can’t hug. I know I haven’t seen you in a long time.’

“I think history will look back at this time and this will be the point at which we realize hand-shaking was not a good idea. Just like gentlemen don’t tip their hats anymore when they’re around women. It’s so arcane and weird.”

People will say, “I can’t believe there was a time when people shook hands when they met.”

“I think the tradition of shaking a hand will morph into some other type of greeting. We’ll go back to tipping hats. Tipping masks. I don’t know.”

Tsunami is at 928 Cooper Street; (901) 274-2556.

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News The Fly-By

The Kitchen Raises Ire and Questions

CREDIT: Shelby Farms Park Conservancy

Tempers flared and questions arose when news surfaced last week that a new restaurant concept called The Kitchen was coming to town.

Multi-millionaire Kimbal Musk owns the Boulder, Colorado-based restaurant chain and plans to open The Kitchen inside a new visitors center at Shelby Farms Park in 2016 and a more casual concept called The Kitchen Next Door at Crosstown Concourse in 2017.

Many Memphians looked beyond local stories that heralded the chain as “acclaimed” (The Commercial Appeal) and “renowned” (Memphis Daily News) and found a long feature at medium.com about Musk’s plans headlined “The Musk Who Wants to Change the Way We Eat.”

The story painted an ugly picture of Memphis, going beyond the typical “fattest city” designation to call Memphis “a toxic combination of cholesterol and poverty.” Musk saw these problems as an “opportunity for change,” and he and The Kitchen were the ones to bring it, according to the story.

Shelby Farms Park Conservancy

Rendering of new Shelby Farms Park visitors center

In fact, he said coming to Memphis wasn’t about the money, even calling the move “questionable” as a financial decision, according to the story. “If we didn’t have the social aspect, we would go to Las Vegas, New York, Los Angeles, places like that,” Musk was quoted as saying. It was this idea that rubbed many the wrong way.

“Musk has an interesting vision and plan, and I hope he succeeds,” Memphian Caroline Mitchell Carrico wrote in the Medium story’s comments. “However, I also bristle whenever my city is portrayed as a backwater that is dependent on outside saviors.”

Backlash like this (and worse) permeated social media at the end of the week. It even prompted local entrepreneur Taylor Berger to pen a blog post called “Kimbal Musk Is Not An Asshole,” a sort of backlash to the backlash.

“Take it on faith, y’all, that Kimbal Musk is not here to pillage our city,” Berger wrote. “He is exactly the kind of person, with the kind of vision and power to execute, that we need right now if we have any hope of becoming a world-class city.”

Musk is widely credited for shepherding the farm-to-table dining movement and said in a news statement he is “thrilled” to bring it to Memphis.

“Memphis is a vibrant and diverse city that is on the verge of a Real Food (sic) renaissance,” Musk said in the statement.

That raised the ire of Tsunami chef and owner Ben Smith, who has been locally sourcing ingredients since 1998 and hosting a farmers market in his parking lot for the past three years.

“My initial reaction was, Wait a minute, man, there are some people who have been here for a number of years that have really focused on this farm-to-table thing,” Smith said. “The interaction and relationship between farmers and Memphis restaurants is already well-established and well-supported.”

Questions also arose about The Kitchen’s locations — both in taxpayer-supported venues — that could have gone to local talent.

Shelby Farms Park Executive Director Laura Morris said her group issued a request for proposals, made a presentation to the Memphis Restaurant Association, and formed an ad hoc committee to “spread the word” about the opportunity. But the park never got a deal on the table from local restaurateurs, she said.

The Kitchen did not get a special deal or special incentives, she said.

“Looking at the lease, I’d say it’s a little bit above market for the park,” Morris said. “We did pretty well.”

The Kitchen will lease the restaurant and the grab-and-go counter at Shelby Farms for $172,260 for the first five years, according to the lease. Rent will rise slightly in the next five years.

Morris said she was aware that not everyone is excited about bringing in an outside operator, “but it’s not like we put a Cheesecake Factory at the park.”

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

One Sweet Santa

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

So what do you do with one pound of marshmallows, 60 pounds of Rice Krispy treats, 22 pounds of white chocolate, and 90 pounds of Royal icing? If you’re Konrad Spitzbart, The Peabody‘s executive pastry chef, the answer is obvious: Make a life-size Santa as part of the hotel’s holiday display.

“Last year, we did several smaller items, and I wanted to do something different this time,” Spitzbart says.

While the base of the Santa was built out of plywood and PVC pipe by the hotel’s engineering department, the rest of it is edible. Spitzbart, however, doesn’t recommend the indulgence. “We made this holiday display so it lasts for four weeks — not so it tastes good,” he says.

The trickiest part for the pastry chef will be getting Santa from the third-floor pastry kitchen into the hotel lobby. “We measured to make sure he’ll fit in the elevator, but we might have to tilt him a little,” he says.

If all goes well, Santa and his candy sleigh will be on display right in time for The Peabody’s tree-lighting ceremony on Friday, November 23rd, at 5 p.m.

The Peabody, 149 Union (529-4000)

Having served dinner for the past nine years, Ben Smith, chef/owner of Tsunami, felt the time was right to offer Memphis diners a new option.

“We have been open for lunch since the beginning of October but kept a rather low profile,” Smith says of the restaurant’s new hours. “There’s so much more going on in Cooper-Young since we first started, and it seemed like a good time to start opening for lunch.”

For the mid-day shift, Smith hired David King, who was part of Tsunami’s original staff and recently returned to Memphis from cooking stints in Denmark and San Francisco. Also back on board is Marissa Baggett, who left Tsunami several years ago to learn the ins and outs of sushi-making and went on to head the kitchen at Dō.

Lunch at Tsunami isn’t just a mini version of the dinner menu. It’s a different menu with a few favorites and several new dishes, such as seafood saimin, a Hawaiian-style noodle bowl with fresh seafood in a miso-dashi broth, and a traditional Thai beef salad with flank steak, tomatoes, cucumbers, and spicy lemongrass dressing.

Entrées and sandwiches cost between $8 and $12; soups and salads from $3 to $8. The restaurant serves lunch Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and dinner Monday through Saturday from 5:30 to 10 p.m.

Tsunami, 928 S. Cooper (274-2556)

Ubee’s (not in anyway related to Newby’s, btw) is a new fast-casual restaurant on Highland in the University of Memphis area.

The first score for Ubee’s: Parking is available in the back so you don’t have to spend 15 minutes searching for a spot on the street in this busy neighborhood. The restaurant’s interior is light and modern, with an open kitchen almost extending the full length of the restaurant. A sleek and simple bar at the end of the dining room is framed by cobalt-blue booths.

The menu at Ubee’s reads like a text-message. Starters include “Yummus” and “Edu.Mame” (described as a “lipsmacking soysnacking nod to the University of Memphis”). Burgers include the “UBurger,” “UB Cheesy,” and the “DoubleU.” Paninis, salads, and treats continue along the same lines, with the “French 101,” the “Go-Go Granny,” and “Sweetie Pie.”

The second score for Ubee’s: “If U can’t come to Ubee’s, then Ubee’s comes to U,” with delivery service to the surrounding area.

Ubee’s, 521 S. Highland (323-0900)

Sushi is a new addition to Umai‘s menu. Chef/owner Ken Lumpkin currently offers three choices on the main menu and several daily sushi specials. Snapper sashimi with homemade vinaigrette and California greens; seared scallops with spicy sriracha sauce and apple salad; and tuna tartare with capers, scallions, and hazelnut oil are the options on the menu. Specials include a sushi appetizer from selected fish and a sushi platter.

Umai, 2015 Madison (405-4241)

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Let’s Hear It for Austria

On a recent Monday night, 26 Memphis wine aficionados came together for a night of food and wine at Tsunami. The reason? Austrian wine.

Austrian wine and Chef Ben Smith’s Pacific Rim cuisine might not be easily connected in most people’s minds. More than likely, Austria doesn’t cross people’s minds at all when it comes to wine. But after that dinner, every single person was a convert.

Austria produces less than 1 percent of the world’s total yearly wine output. That beautiful trickle is finally making its way down to Memphis thanks to Chicago-based importer VinDiVino. Known more for their Italian portfolio, VinDiVino only recently began importing Austrian wines. Back in 1993, they started with only one, the dessert-wine superstar Alois Kracher. Today, they import wines from 28 different Austrian wineries.

Prager, one of Austria’s best-known wineries, has taken Riesling’s sullied reputation as a cloying, syrupy wine and transformed it into something astonishing. Credit master winemaker Toni Bodenstein, who handcrafts fruit from the Wachau district into the purest dry Rieslings in the world.

“We are blessed with three distinct climates within the Wachau region,” Bodenstein says. “The steep hills, nearly 1,000 meters high, provide different sun exposures and micro-climates. [Also] in the ’80s, the Austrian government adopted strict wine laws, which forced winemakers to cut yields. These laws forced the level of quality up considerably.”

Prager wines offer a bounty of citrus and stone fruit flavors and aromas, along with vibrant minerality and racy, mouthwatering acidity. Those who fancy full-bodied whites will be blown away by the weight and texture of Bodenstein’s Rieslings. Tasting one that has been left out on the counter for two hours is eye-opening. Never before has a room-temperature white wine been so beautifully alive, balanced, and beckoning. Pork, something most Memphians are religious about, is a wonderful match for Prager Rieslings.

The Achleiten vineyard in Central Wachau is a steep, sloped vineyard, terraced with ancient stonework that dates back to medieval times. Kersten Klamm of Freie Weingartner Wachau coaxes very modern, rich Grüner Veltliner and Riesling from this historical vineyard.

“It’s the specific soil climate and the steep terraced vineyards that determine the unique style of our wines,” Klamm says. “Wachau wines are always very mineralic with lots of finesse and a great aging potential. Our main white grape, Grüner Veltliner, combines the finesse and elegance of a Riesling with the structure and complexity of a Burgundy.”

In the Wachau, there are three distinctive levels of ripeness. Steinfeder wines, named after an indigenous grass, are fairly light in alcohol and very fresh and fruity. Wines with the Federspiel designation are fuller in body and ripeness with an alcohol level between 11 and 12.5 percent. The term “Federspiel” was the name of the leather whip used to call back falcons in the old days. Smaragd, named after a lizard that lives in the vineyards, is the designation given to the ripest and most precious wines.

The important thing to remember is that no matter how ripe the wines, they are always dry.

Whether quenching a thirst induced by triple-digit heat or pairing an incredible meal with a perfect wine, Memphis wine drinkers should look to the small country of Austria to provide wines for both occasions.

Recommended Wines:

FWW Domane Wachau Federspiel Terrassen Grüner Veltliner 2006, $16.99

FWW Domane Wachau Smaragd Achleiten Riesling 2005, $35.99

Weingut Stadt Krems Sandgrube Grüner Veltliner 2006, $17.99

Loimer Kamptal Grüner Veltliner 2005, $19.99

Prager Federspiel “Steinriegl” Riesling 2005, $30.99