Tag: Chance Carlisle

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Hungry Memphis

Amelia Gene’s Restaurant Now Open

The bar area of Amelia Gene's restaurant (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Well, I’m now a fan of Amelia Gene’s, the new restaurant located at the site of the old William C. Ellis and Sons Ironworks and Machine Shop, which was originally constructed in 1879. It’s adjacent to the Caption by Hyatt Beale Street Memphis Hotel at 255 South Front Street.

As the restaurant’s news release states, Amelia Gene’s adds “yet another wave of hospitality to One Beale’s Downtown Memphis development.” Amelia Gene’s was named after the five-year-old daughter of Chance Carlisle, CEO of Carlisle Corp.

The restaurant is beautiful — from the tall windows behind the bar on one side to the large open kitchen on the other. The bar and dining areas were designed by The Johnson Studio at Cooper Carry, an architectural firm out of Atlanta, Georgia.

My sister, Kathy Mcallen, and I had a reservation for opening night October 22nd, so we tried quite a few things on the menu. And, man oh man, the food is wonderful.

I thought Kristian Hatfield, who was wearing a jacket and necktie, was a manager. But he was a server. That’s what they wear. It sets a nice tone. And Hatfield was great. He explained the menu and took care of our table.

Nate Henssler, who is managing partner as well as executive chef, stopped by the table and discussed menu items. According to the release, he was “recruited to Memphis last fall by Carlisle Restaurant Group after two decades of leading kitchens in Chicago and Las Vegas. Amelia Gene’s welcomes a contemporary, globally inspired palate artfully designed to impress.”

The foie gras macaron, one of the “Proper Bites,” was incredible. I could have eaten a dozen of them. In fact, I also could have kept eating the sourdough bread with cardamom honey butter, hummus, and house-made pickles, one of the first things to arrive at the table.

I loved the blackberry oysters with cauliflower soubis, pickled cucumber, and bay leaf. And I loved the “Kaluga Caviar Beignet” with sweet onion cream and Arkansas black apple. I could have eaten a dozen of those, too.

My delicious “starter” was the Wagyu steak tartare with perilla oil, potato latke, and truffled green almond.

Wagyu steak tartare at Amelia Gene’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)

I will definitely return and make a meal out of just the bucatini with saffron, piquillo, and white tomato. This is one of the “Pasta” course items.

Bucatini at Amelia Gene’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)

My sister had the tasty Massachusetts black sea bass with red cabbage and a caraway jus as her dinner item. I had a tough time trying to figure out what I wanted. The descriptions were mouth-watering. The big eye tuna with  foie gras, beetroot, caponata, and fig reduction sounds so good. I was tempted to order some fig reduction on the side of my order, which was a delicious 22-ounce dry-aged prime New York Strip with beef fat popovers and sauce au poivre. Those popovers, which topped the steak, are must tries.

Massachusetts black sea bass at Amelia Gene’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)
New York strip with beef fat popovers at Amelia Gene’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)

After talking with chef Henssler, on my next visit I’m going to order the duck with kumquat, butternut squash, endive, and natural sauce.

For dessert, I got Amelia Gene’s ice cream sundae with hot fudge, butterscotch, whipped cream, chocolate bark, and a cherry. And my sister got the salted caramel creme brûlée with cherry sauce and whipped white chocolate. It was the biggest creme brûlée I’ve ever seen. It was about the size of a medium-sized pie.

Ice cream sundae at Amelia Gene’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Creme Brulee at Amelia Gene’s (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Amelia Gene’s is wonderful. It’s a great addition to downtown. And writing this in between a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast and a peanut butter sandwich for lunch is torture. I want the duck and some foie gras macarons right now. But Amelia Gene’s is only open for dinner Wednesday through Sunday.

And I want some fig reduction to go with everything.

Categories
Politics Politics Feature

Giving It Another Try

Photo: Juan Moyano | Dreamstime.com

One of the best-known lines in American literature was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald, who famously opined, “There are no second acts in American lives.”

Well, there are. And one of those lives belongs to former City Councilman Philip Spinosa, who — after a stint with the Chairman’s Circle of the Greater Memphis Chamber and another spell with Prestigious Logistics, a company he founded — intends to run again for the council, presumably in District 5.

As a council member representing District 9-2 from 2015 to 2019, Spinosa concerned himself with issues of economic growth and crime and sponsored such legislation as the Neighborhood Sentinel Program, which established surveillance cameras in various neighborhoods and proved so crucial in the ongoing case involving the death of Tyre Nichols at the hands of a police unit.

In addition to his prior service, Spinosa has the kind of economic connections that would ensure more than adequate financing for his campaign — a fact which will not be lost on potential opponents, who at the moment include well-known activist Meggan Wurzburg Kiel and restaurateur Nick Scott. Others known to be considering a race in District 5 include Anna Vergos Blair, daughter of former councilman and restaurateur John Vergos, and activist/entrepreneur John Marek.

Marek, who is also considering a race for Position 1 in Super-District 9, professes exasperation with the city council’s continuing delay in determining district lines for the forthcoming city election. Some of that hesitation apparently has to do with the view of some members that a 1990s judicial consent decree requires a charter amendment for certain outcomes, including one calling for single-member districts exclusively.

(At present, seven council positions are elected by a single district, and another six are elected in Memphis’ two “super districts,” each comprising approximately half the city’s population. Runoffs are permitted in the single districts, but not in the super districts.)

Two other former council members are apparently going to attempt returns to the city’s legislative body. Berlin Boyd, who served in District 7 and lost a runoff in 2019 to current seat-holder Michalyn Easter-Thomas, is considering a run for the Super District 8-3 seat being vacated by the term-limited Martavius Jones. And Scott McCormick, who represented Super District 9-1 in the first decade of this century, contemplates a race for District 2, now represented by mayoral contender Frank Colvett.

• Developer Chance Carlisle, whose brother Chase represents Council District 9-1, had strongly considered a race for mayor before deciding against it, but he still intends to have a major influence on public policy. His instrument for doing so will be via the medium of a soon-to-be-created political action committee (PAC).

Still to be named, the PAC will have a strong pro-business slant, said Carlisle, who recently was at loggerheads with city government over Mayor Jim Strickland’s reluctance to support further public financing for a proposed grand hotel on the riverfront.

The new PAC will support candidates in this year’s city election and will avoid any kind of partisan inflection, said Carlisle, who acknowledged that the recent announcement for mayor by Councilman Colvett, a well-known Republican, was a factor in his own decision not to run for mayor. That, plus another candidacy by former Mayor Willie Herenton, also recently announced, had the effect of creating possible cleavages in the electorate, said Carlisle.

“This election shouldn’t be about either political party or race,” said Carlisle, who stressed that affordable housing and better mass transit were two of the city’s most important unmet needs.

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News News Blog News Feature

Carlisle Cutbank Bluff to connect to Tom Lee Park with ADA-accessible walkway

Carlisle Cutbank Bluff Credit: Memphis River Parks Partnerships

The Carlisle Corporation has made a $1.5 million investment into the first ADA-accessible walkway that connects the bluff in Downtown Memphis to the riverfront at Tom Lee Park.

The path will be named Carlisle Cutbank Bluff in honor of the late Gene Carlisle. According to Memphis River Parks Partnership (MRPP), this is the first time that “commercial development has been connected to the riverfront.”

“The Carlisle Cutbank Bluff represents the partnership’s commitment to easy, equitable access to the new park,” said Tyree Daniels, board chair of MRPP. “This beautiful new feature makes it so much easier and more fun to move between Downtown and the riverfront. It means that visitors will find it much easier to get from upstairs on Main Street down to the river in a more equitable way, and we couldn’t be more excited about this achievement, but also making this available for our community.”

Chance Carlisle, CEO of Carlisle LLC, said, “Two things that really hit home for us was the ability to provide the first of its kind, ADA-accessibility to the park. For the last 40 or 50 years, with the exception of maybe a month or so in May, Tom Lee Park was sort of an afterthought, rather than a signature riverfront. It’s hard to be a great riverfront city without an excellent front door, and what Memphis River Parks has done, and all of the donors, is really give Memphians a park that we can be proud of, for all of Memphis.”

Carlisle said the river plays an important role in the future of Downtown, transitioning from a center for agricultural products and commerce to a “twenty-first century vision of it being about tourism, development, and a high-quality of life.”

He said, “This is what it means to be in Memphis, and to have that be associated with us is wonderful. It’s always been — and Downtown has always been — a neighborhood for everybody. The investments made at the Mobility Center, the investments made at Tom Lee Park, just continue to add to that momentum.”

The bluff includes an ADA-compliant switchback ramp as well as a staircase, two “stone scrambles” for climbing, and new trees and grasses. 

Garrett Uithoven of Montgomery Martin Contractors says that the colorizations of the stone are designed to go from cool blues and grays at the bottom, and transition to cream beige and a red-orange at the top to reflect the natural recurring colors in the bluff along the Mississippi River.  

“If you cut into the undisturbed bluff at any point along the river around this region, you would get that same color in the dirt and rock that make up the banks of the river,” Uithoven said.

He also says that there are accent lights with uplights that shine on some of the trees, with others shining on the stone faces.

The bluff will open in 2023, the same time that Tom Lee Park will be open to the public. Daniels says that Tom Lee Park is now 50 percent completed.

“Imagine the catalytic effect on Downtown, when Tom Lee Park is complete,” said Penelope Huston of the Downtown Memphis Commission. “To unlock the true power of Downtown, all the individual assets have to be connected, like they are here at the Cutbank Bluff.”

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News News Blog News Feature

“One of the Poorest Cities” Asked to Back Loan for Another Luxury Hotel

Hyatt Centric Beale Street Memphis

A private company wants Memphis taxpayers to pay for its luxury hotel if it doesn’t do well. 

That was, essentially, the ask before Memphis City Council members Tuesday. Officials with One Beale, the development that now has two luxury hotels open at the corner of Front and Beale Streets, came to Memphis City Hall Tuesday for the fourth time Tuesday asking for financial support of its development. 

The company is helmed by Chance Carlisle, brother of council member Chase Carlisle. Over the years of the One Beale project, Carlisle and his company has asked for — and received — a 30-year tax break on the project, the city’s first-ever rebate of the local option sales tax back to the company, and an unprecedented 50-percent backstop of the loan to build the hotel. 

Carlisle was back at city hall Tuesday to ask city leaders to backstop the entire loan — $161 million — for the project, payable only if revenues for the hotel fall below around 50 percent. This means if the city backs the loan (ever had a co-signer on a car loan?) and the hotel tanks, city taxpayers are left holding the bag. Why the ask? 

“The bond market has gone south,” Carlisle told council members early Tuesday morning, noting that the deal — as it is now —  “can not go forward as structured.” 

With that, Carlisle said his company has three options: approval of the 100 percent backstop, adding more company money to the project and dilute the ownership stake (“primarily our minority equity partners”), or “we can walk away and call it quits.”  

Why is it good for the city? Several council members said Tuesday that if the hotel deal falls through, the city won’t have enough “quality” hotel rooms to lure conventions to the Renansant Convention Center. 

”We know that we lose conventions because we don’t have the Downtown hotel rooms,” said council member J. Ford Canale. “So, I think that everybody would agree that the [Grand Hyatt Hotel]  is needed. 

“We’ll never be great and this city will never get to the next level or the next step without taking some risk.”

Memphis City Council member J. Ford Canale

“This project is needed to come to completion. And is there some risk involved? Sure there is. But every big decision, every bold decision has risk. We’ll never be great and this city will never get to the next level or the next step without taking some risk.”

While many council members were ready and eager to sign the dotted line, Shirley Ford, the city’s chief financial officer, said financial experts had not had time to fully vet the move. The adminIstration sent the proposal to Tennessee State Comptroller Jason Mumpower who, Ford said, had “very grave concerns about the direction the this investment has now taken.” With that, Ford reiterated numerous times that she wanted council members to have “complete information” about the project. 

The Tennessee State Comptroller has “very grave concerns about the direction this investment has now taken.”

City of Memphis chief financial officer Shirley Ford

If the city signs on, it does not mean money will flow from the coffers immediately or, maybe, even at all. Should Carlisle fail to make its money at the hotel, tax payers would then be expected to pay. 

“This is a contingency,” said council member JB Smiley. “We use the word if that means ‘possible,’ but doesn’t mean ‘certain’ that the city will ever pay a dime to support this project.”

But the city would have to carry the debt on its books. That could affect its bond rating, sort of like the city’s credit score. So, if a city is carrying $161 million in potential debt, it may mean it could have trouble borrowing money down the road.

Should the city have to pay back the loan, it would put an annual hole in the city budget that could go toward paying for police, fire, parks, and all the other things citizens expect their tax dollars to do. Council member Patrice Robinson put it plainly Tuesday. 

It is our responsibility to make sure that we make the best decision for the one of the poorest cities in the United States. And if we make a mistake, we can make them even poorer.

Memphis City Council member Patrice Robinson

“It is our responsibility to make sure that we make the best decision for the one of the poorest cities in the United States,” Robinson said. “And if we make a mistake, we can make them even poorer.

The council was slated to take up the measure during its full meeting Tuesday evening. This story will be updated later this week.   

Categories
We Saw You

Celebs at Grand Opening of Hyatt Centric Beale Street Hotel

From left: Michael Donahue of We Saw You and Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top at the Hyatt Centric Beale Street grand opening. Photo by Kathy McLallen.

Expect a whole lotta shakin’ goin’ on when Jerry Lee Lewis, Bobby Rush, Jerry Lawler, and Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top show up in the same place.

That was the scene at the grand opening celebration for the new Hyatt Centric Beale Street hotel, with plenty of excited people holding cell phones waiting to get selfies with the celebs. The event, held April 29th at the hotel on Beale Street and Front Street, drew about 300 people, who toured part of the nine-story, 227 room hotel that includes 12 guest suites. People gathered in the already opened CIMAS restaurant as well as inside and on the massive Beck & Call Riverfront Lounge patio with its Mississippi River view.

The hotel includes 9,000 square feet of meeting and event space created through the conversion of the William C. Ellis and Sons Ironworks and Machine Shop, originally constructed in 1879. It also includes an Event Lawn, 3,500 square feet of outdoor space that overlooks the Mississippi River and the pool deck.

Kevin Kane, Judith and Jerry Lee Lewis, and Jerry Lawler were at the Hyatt Centric grand opening party. Photo by Michael Donahue.

The rooms feature a neutral color palette with vintage graphics, leather headboards, and shower walls etched with Memphis centric names and sights.

The hotel is part of One Beale, the vision of the late Gene Carlisle. The $400 million development will include apartments, two more hotels, and more restaurants.

Bobby Rush, Yvonne Mitchell, and Al Kapone at the Hyatt Centric grand opening. Photo by Michael Donahue.

Gene’s son, One Beale developer Chance Carlisle, who cut the ribbon to herald the opening of the hotel, told the audience he was “worried that this day would not come.” It was “40 years in the making.”

And, he said, “We’re here and I couldn’t be more proud of it.”

Chance Carlisle cut the ribbon to celebrate the opening of the new Hyatt Centric Beale Street hotel. Photo by Michael Donahue.

The evening included music performed by DJ Alpha Whiskey, Chris Johnson, and a concert by Allen Mack Myers and Moore in the ballroom.

“If Mr. Ellis and Mr. Carlisle could be here, they’d be smiling ear to ear,” Mayor Jim Strickland told the guests. 

Allen Mack Myers and Moore performed in the ballroom at the Hyatt Centric grand opening. Photo by Michael Donahue.
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Hungry Memphis Uncategorized

Beck & Call Bar to Open May 1st in Hyatt Centric

Beck & Call terrace in the new Hyatt Centric hotel

Get ready for some great river viewing while dining.

The new Hyatt Centric’s Beck & Call rooftop lounge is slated to open May 1st.

One Beale developer Chance Carlisle recently took me on a tour of One Beale and its completed and uncompleted spaces. This includes the 227-room already-opened nine-story Hyatt Centric at Front and Beale. 

There will be a total of five restaurants in One Beale. “All with riverfront views,” Carlisle says.

Troy Dixon, Hyatt Centric director of operations, provided me with descriptions of the hotel’s restaurants.

Beck & Call “pays playful homage to Southern cuisine that pairs perfectly with our curated bourbon and whiskey driven cocktail offerings. Whether you are in the mood for our delicious chilled shrimp with bacon, sweet corn skewers, or the delicious B&C burger, our menu strikes a perfect balance between rooftop sophistication and down-home comfort.”

Beck & Call
Beck & Call

While we toured Beck & Call, Megan Davey was working on a giant mural on the side of the restaurant on the enormous river-view terrace, which already was used for a South Main Business Association function, Carlisle says.

Megan Davey on the Beck & Call terrace

CIMAS is already open, serving, for now, breakfast and dinner in the hotel. While I was there, breakfast was being served against a glorious view of the mighty Mississippi. Menu items include breakfast tacos, cornflake encrusted French toast, carnitas breakfast hash, chilaquiles verdes, and something I can’t wait to try: avocado toast, which consists of a brioche, a soft-scrambled egg, and pickled Fresno chili.

CIMAS

According to the description from the Hyatt, CIMAS “draws its inspiration from the rich history and vibrant flavors of Latin American cuisine. Driven by locally sourced ingredients and routes in Southern cooking techniques, the menu reflects fresh and exciting preparations that highlight the very best elements of the season’s bounty. Artfully curated features for breakfast, lunch, and dinner combine heritage grains, heirloom vegetables, and carefully sourced proteins with heat, smoke, and vibrant salsas, creating the perfect ensemble.”

Chance Carlisle at CIMAS

The Market is “a small grab-and-go combined into the lounge area off the lobby in the Hyatt Centric,” Dixon says. This area features coffee, sandwiches, juices and salads from Raw Girls, and “other pastries and case goods.”

Other restaurants in One Beale will include Fancy’s Fish House, a restaurant specializing in casual American seafood. According to a description provided by Carlisle, Fancy’s Fish House will be “a place you want to be all day and night, a ‘go to’ spot. A lively and energetic watering hole with an indoor and outdoor experience. Classically crafted. Simple but not simplistic.”

Charlotte’s will be a speakeasy in One Beale.

Amelia Gene’s, a fine dining restaurant, is slated to open in 2020 in One Beale. The restaurant was named after Carlisle’s daughter. She was named “Gene” after his dad, the late Gene Carlisle.