Matteo Servente and Ryan Watt (Photos: Michael Donahue)
Matteo Servente and Ryan Watt don’t care if their business takes a licking. In fact, that’s what they want.
Servente and Watt are owners of Zio Matto Gelato, which recently held its grand opening celebration at 545 South Main Street, Number 110, inside Central Station.
Julianne WattGrayson West and Santiago ArbelezArmani FeathersonFelicia Willett-Schuchardt and Clay Schuchardt
“Gelato is the best Italian treat,” Servente says. “It’s like ice cream, but better. It’s got less fat. It’s got less sugar. And it’s creamier and packs more flavor.”
They offer 14 flavors at a time, but, he adds, “We have recipes for many, many more.”
Servente, who is from Turin, Italy, founded the business. “Matto” is what his niece called him when she was little. And “Zio” is “uncle” in Italian.
Jalyn Souchek and Keith EvansonWill and Thomas McGownChristine and Carroll Todd
“We love being on South Main because it’s a neighborhood similar to Italy,” says Watt, a filmmaker, adding, “You get the gelato and take it right outside and walk down the neighborhood.”
Also, he says, “Being near the [National] Civil Rights Museum and being here at Central Station, [there’s] a mixture of tourists and locals. It’s a perfect location.”
Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman and some guy who wanted to try all the desserts, but didn't. (Credit: Kathy McLallen)
I attended the friends and family night at Bishop restaurant August 3rd at Central Station Hotel. According to the invitation, the event was held so Bishop could reveal its new menu.
The restaurant was closed several days prior to the event. The invite stated, “We are using this time as a reset. We have spent this week fine-tuning our space, while revamping and refreshing our current systems.”
I asked Andy Ticer, who, along with Michael Hudman, owns the restaurant (along with Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, Catherine & Mary’s, and Hog & Hominy restaurants), what that meant.
“Sometimes we need to take a second and re-evaluate what we’re trying to achieve and how we’re getting there,” Ticer says. “And if the way we are doing it is the best version of that.
“And we felt we needed to dive into the food and the hospitality and just kind of do a refresh. Slow it down for a second and really concentrate on training. And just focus on getting dialed in there. Sometimes we need to do that every once in a while.
“That takes a couple of days to get in there and talk to people. What works and what doesn’t. Ways to become better.”
I asked what ways they felt they could get better. “Hospitality. From when you walk in the door, our table-side service, and, of course, the menu and the knowledge that the team has on cocktail, wine, and food.”
Brittney Bohannon, director of food and beverage for Central Station Hotel; Alex Grant, operations manager for Enjoy AM Restaurant Group; Ingrid Meza Carcamo, Bishop general manager at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)Ryan Radish, wine director of Enjoy AM Restaurant Group at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)
They also have a new chef: Christopher Zelinski, who started two weeks ago at Bishop, Ticer says.
Chef Christopher Zelinski at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)
First of all, I think Bishop is one of the most beautiful restaurants in Memphis. I’ve heard the view from the inside looking out compared to being in a restaurant in New York or Paris.
The interior of the 3,500 square-foot space has black-and-white Cathedral-style flooring and lots of windows. Natalie Lieberman of Collect + Curate Studio with the help of Anna Wunderlich designed the interior, which Lieberman told me in a 2019 story that she created as a narrative based on the name “Bishop.”
As my story states: “Earthly elements, including leaves and mushrooms, combine with objects, including keys and bells, that go along with ‘Bishop,’ Lieberman says.
“There’s also a ‘spiritual underlying theme’ with the stars, beads, and tarot card, she says.
“A bishop’s cape from France is in a frame on one wall. Butch Anthony of the Museum of Wonder in Alabama created the hand painting in the dining room.
“‘Moody and rich textured’ was the feel she was going for at Bishop, Lieberman says.”
I loved everything I ate. My favorite was the escargot with persillade, country ham, lemon butter, and popovers. And make sure you try the shishito peppers with potatoes, lemon, chives, and crispy onions.
Escargot at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)Shishito peppers at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)Josiah Hoss at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)
I also loved the tuna carpaccio with green beans, sun gold tomatoes, bell peppers, tarragon, olives, and capers.
Tuna Carpaccio at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)Alexandra Mobley at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The tasty “Steak Frites” was a New York strip, French fries, and sauce au poivre. They also serve chicken, snapper, lamb chops, “Mussels & Frites,” and the “Bishop Burger.”
My all-time-favorite Ticer-Hudman restaurant dessert, “Sticky Toffee Pudding,” is on the menu. I also tried the perfect creme brûlée with vanilla, orange, and caramelized sugar.
Sticky Toffee Pudding at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)Creme Brulee at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)
As the menu describes the restaurant, Bishop is “a fine place at the corner of South Main and G. E. Patterson.”
I agree.
Webb and Tate Wilson at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)Tonia Bailey and Tyra Johnson at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)Henry Turley and Wanda Shea at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)Billy and Robin Orgel, Susan Lindy, Jim McGoff, Lauren McGoff, Jay Lindy at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)Abigail and Sam Stovall at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)Sabine Bachmann, David and Libby Huffman, Rena Chiozza, and Katie, Corrie, and Ellie Hudman at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)Karie Ticer, Brandon Ticer, Janet Ticer, Bill Ticer, Brandon Ticer, Jim McGoff at Bishop friends and family night (Credit: Michael Donahue)We Saw You
Get spooky this weekend. (Photo: Courtesy Central Station Hotel)
A graveyard smash, caught on in a flash, ’tis the season of the Monster Mash. And, wa hoo, for us living beings, Central Station Hotel is ready to mash along with us.
This year, the historic hotel is hosting its first-ever monstrous dance party with live music and themed food and drinks. Costumes are encouraged, for later in the night, a costume contest will take place, and who doesn’t want to want to face one of man’s biggest fears — being judged by others — on this night of fright? Judges — whose identity Jeremy Sadler, general manager of the hotel, withholds for the sake of intrigue — are looking for creativity, originality, and overall spook factor. Winners may be privy to one of the night’s giveaways, including a hotel stay or food and beverage credit.
“Bar staff will also be decked out in their favorite costumes, with some staff in deadly attire serving our house-made poisons around the lounge,” Sadler says. Created by Cooper Bradshaw, manager of the hotel’s Eight & Sand bar, the poison menu, aka the drink menu, includes the Graceland Ghost, Poisoned at the Play, Stax Slasher, and Murder on Main. “My favorite has to be Poisoned at the Play,” Sadler says of the concoction of absinthe, mint, lime, gin, and chartreuse.
Joining in on the fun are DJs Jake One and Supreme La Rock, both hailing from Seattle, the home of the Cullen vampires. “It is a rarity that Jake does solo DJ sets. This is a special occasion for Memphis,” says Sadler. “We are lucky to have both of these Seattle DJ legends in Memphis for a Halloween party.”
Halloween at Central Station Hotel, 545 S. Main, Friday, October 29th, 5 p.m.-close, free.
Eight & Sand opens at 4 p.m. Thursday, October 24th in Central Station Hotel.
The sleek, new bar fills up the train station’s old waiting room. Travelers still can wait in the old space, but now they can wait in groupings of four to eight people at mixed Mid-Century-style tables and chairs and sip classic drinks, including martinis and Manhattans. They also can try a “Memphis Bell,” “Hurricane Elvis,” and “Knuck if you Buck” cocktails.
They also can listen to Memphis music.
The restaurant is by Andrew Michael and Andrew Ticer, who brought you Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, The Gray Canary, Catherine & Mary’s, and Hog & Hominy restaurants. Ticer and Hudman partnered with Central Station Hotel to do the bar and the upcoming Bishop restaurant, which is slated to open November 15th.
“Eight” is the highest throttle or “top speed” on the train and “Sand” stands for the sand they used to throw on the tracks so the train wheels wouldn’t slip, says Central Station Hotel food and beverage director Evan Potts. So, the name means “wish you a safe and speedy journey.”
The also Mid-Century looking bar features 10 seats as well as seats for the disabled.
The emphasis is on cozy. The vibe for Eight & Sand is “the living room of South Main.”
The look of the room is “clean” without feeling “sterile,” Potts says. “It’s so warm and so fun.”
They want Eight & Sand to be where people stop for a drink before a show at The Orpheum or other venue and then re-visit it after the performance or game, he says.
The bar menu will include “small snacks” or “share-ables,” Potts says. These will include the pimento puffed pastry, which was a popular item at the old Ticer/Hudman restaurant, Porcellino’s Craft Butcher.
All the music is either recorded in Memphis, by Memphis artists, or about Memphis, Potts says. The console in the deejay booth is an old organ.
Vinyl records will be played by deejays, but programmed Memphis music also will be played when deejays aren’t in the booth.
So, what’s the first song to be played at the opening? “Probably ‘Melting Pot,’’” says music curator/head deejay Chad Weekley. The Booker T. & the M.G.s song is “a good track,” Weekley says. And, he says, the song “sums up our city.”
Michael Donahue 
Michael Donahue 
Michael Donahue 
Michael Donahue 
Michael Donahue 
Michael Donahue 
Michael Donahue