Tag: Edible Memphis

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Levitt Shell Offers Health and Wellness Series

The historic Levitt Shell has joined forces with Baptist Memorial Health Care to provide a health and wellness series. The online programming features yoga, Pilates, mental fitness, healthy recipes, and more offerings geared toward wellness, prevention, and community health.

While the partnership might seem unlikely at first glance, Levitt Shell executive director Natalie Wilson says the series fits perfectly with the organization’s mission to build community through music and education.

“We believe that as a public gathering space, we have an ethical responsibility to the health of our community, especially during a global pandemic,” says Wilson.

Sumits Yoga partners for health series

Ann Marie Wallace, senior community outreach coordinator for Baptist Memorial Health Care mirrors Wilson’s sentiments: “We are excited to partner with Levitt Shell on this free interactive health and wellness program for our community. Being able to stay active is more important than ever during this global pandemic.”

The healthy living programming is streamed through Facebook Live and other platforms to support ways to make a healthy lifestyle accessible for all. According to Wallace, the virtual aspect “can help reduce barriers to healthy living.”

The unique programming is suitable for the entire family and features other partners, including Sumits Yoga, Art of Living Foundation, and Edible Memphis. Times will vary. The full schedule can be found on the Levitt Shell website and Facebook page. This week’s programming will feature Morning Yoga and Pilates, in partnership with Sumits Yoga, on Saturday and Food Science 4 Kids, in partnership with Edible Memphis.

If you are interested in sponsoring an upcoming class or have another idea for programming, please contact Lauren Veline via email at lauren@levittshell.org.

levittshell.org, Visit the Levitt Shell website or Facebook page, full schedule offered every Saturday and Sunday through August, Free.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Cooking & Crooning: Nick and Lena Black’s Facebook Show

Nick Black and his wife, Lena, are cutting up in the kitchen.

While Nick sings, his wife chops onions and other vegetables as she prepares vegetarian dishes. In between, they joke back and forth.

When they’re not doing this in real life, the couple does it weekly on Cooking & Crooning, which airs at 6:30 p.m. Wednesdays on Facebook Live.

“I love cooking,” Lena says. “I think I’m probably a good cook. Nick says I’m a great cook. I come by cooking naturally. My mom is the biggest feeder in the world. She taught me to cook and to have a stocked pantry.

“I have a lot of grains, a lot of ‘cheater’ things — boxed things, flavored rices, pastas, canned beans. Some things are better canned. Canned corn. Canned tomatoes. Some recipes you can’t do without canned tomatoes.”

Lena came up with the idea for the cooking/singing show when the quarantine began. Nick, a pop/soul artist who recently released his new single “IRL,” was “making it a priority to figure out different live streams and reach people. I said, ‘Hey, maybe I can help him.'”

She told him, “We can do a live stream together. You sing. I cook. We call it Cooking & Crooning. I can make interesting meals just with what we’ve got on hand, which is great for quarantine. Nick can sing songs off the top of his head.”

What goes on in Cooking & Crooning, now in its 10th week, isn’t much different from what goes on at home. “That’s life with us,” Lena says. “When I’m in the kitchen, he’s making up songs about me chopping potatoes.”

Nick demonstrates by coming up with a song on the spot: “You got a friend in me. You got a friend in me. When the road gets rough and you’re miles and miles from your nice warm bed, she’s cooking onions. And that’s what I said.”

“I thought it would be fun every now and then if people could get a little slice of what it’s like to live with him,” Lena says. “He makes a little song that pretty much narrates things around the house. That’s a daily phase. It can be about the most banal thing. It can be about dusting.”

Viewers sometimes suggest dishes, but everything must be vegetarian. “I’m a staunch vegetarian. And Nick is basically an at-home vegetarian. We don’t buy meat anymore. But he won’t refuse it if he goes somewhere.”

Lena made Buddha Bowls on one show. “Typically, it’s a bowl of some kind of grain,” she says. “Lots of fresh vegetables and some cooked vegetables with some sort of bean or sauce and nuts or seeds.” She made “crabless crab cakes” on another show. “It’s made from palm hearts instead of crabmeat. And it’s delicious.”

“We had a pretty epic Cinco de Mayo episode where she made vegetarian tacos with homemade tortilla chips,” Nick says. People comment, cook along with them, and ask for song requests from Nick, who plays his originals as well as cover songs and impromptu material.

They also raise money for Edible Memphis, No Kid Hungry, and other groups.

Nick recently began live streaming Nick Black’s 30 Day Twitch Sample Challenge (twitch.tv/nickblackmusic), where he asks viewers to give him a riff, which he then uses in an original song.

Lena is Theatre Memphis’ director of education and outreach. “While she’s working, sending emails, and sending content for Theatre Memphis, I’m kind of just always around the house singing to myself,” Nick says. “I thought it was a good idea to hole myself up and channel that energy. It’s definitely helped with my musical ADD.”

Cooking & Crooning usually lasts an hour and a half. “She may have a few more minutes on the dish, and I’ll do my last song and we’ll say goodnight, play the theme one more time, and put up the photo of the meal on Instagram — @lenawallaceblack — and Facebook,” Nick says.

Then what do they do? “We sit down and watch Netflix and eat,” Lena says. “Leave the kitchen a complete disaster and come back and clean later.”

To watch the next show, find them at facebook.com/nickblackmusic.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

The return of Edible Memphis.

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

There was one thing Bill Ganus promised himself for 2018: no new projects. But … an opportunity arose that he couldn’t pass up. “I had the chance to tell important stories about connecting people with food systems,” he says. The conduit for those stories was Edible Memphis, which was shut down a year ago by founder Melissa Petersen after 10 years in print.

Ganus, who is partner in such businesses as Flow Cryotherapy and the Rec Room, admits he has no background in media, but he plans to call upon his skills in leveraging and team-building. For the team, he recruited as his editor in chief Brian Halweil of Edible Manhattan and Edible Brooklyn. Halweil will work on Edible Memphis from New York.

“I’m ready to see potential Edible ideas, community-building ideas, in another area,” says Halweil. He sees a bit of Brooklyn in Memphis. But it’s a Brooklyn that no longer exists. He sees it in the breweries and coffee shops, in the logos. He finds the city’s energy exciting.

Justin Fox Burks

Bill Ganus (left) and Stacey Greenberg

Another key member is Stacey Greenberg, who will act as managing editor. “She lives and breathes Memphis food,” Ganus says, pointing out that Greenberg is about as an authentic foodie as they come. “Memphians demand authenticity,” he says.

“My vision for the magazine is that it really represents Memphis. All of Memphis,” says Greenberg. “I’ve tried really hard to find a variety of writers and photographers to help us create something special. I reached out to the MABJ [Memphis Association of Black Journalists] and the internet at large to find some new voices, and I’m really excited with who I found. They’re people I’d love to get all in one room someday — until then the magazine is that room.”

Petersen, for her part, says giving the keys to Ganus made sense to her. “We had several people who were interested in taking over the magazine, but several were only interested in one or two pieces of the process. There are not-as-fun parts of creating a magazine — selling ads, doing the bookkeeping, delivering hundreds of boxes in July — but they have to be done,” she says. “Bill Ganus really did the legwork to come up with a plan for the entire process. And he’s assembled a team of people to share the work and grow things exponentially.”

Part of that growth is upping Edible Memphis‘ online game — create a usable website and posting on Instagram and other social media. What was never in consideration, however, was to make Edible Memphis online only. Ganus says that there is no substitute for opening a magazine, turning the pages, and seeing a beautiful spread of food photography. “It works best in paper,” he says.

Another part of the plan is to introduce up to five food festivals to complement Memphis’ lineup of other food festivals.

Edible Memphis will be on a quarterly release schedule, and Halweil imagines profiling local farmers and highlighting locally made products. They will not do restaurant reviews. They will not break news. He defines the editorial approach as akin to boosterism. “It will be celebratory and educational, a little bit rah-rah,” he says.

Ganus sees Edible Memphis as an invaluable source to Memphians who care about food. (We all care.) He says, “Edible Memphis will be the go-to local outlet for food and agriculture-related news. I’m committed to doing it well.”

Edible Memphis will relaunch in early November.

One byline you can expect to see in the new Edible Memphis is that of Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence, aka the Chubby Vegetarian. Burks and Lawrence are the author of two cookbooks. They’ve cooked at the James Beard House and contributed their vegetarian recipes to several local restaurants.

Amy Lawrence and Justin Fox Burks, aka the Chubby Vegetarian

Their latest venture is a partnership with PeachDish, a meal kit delivery service.

According to Burks, PeachDish followed them on Instagram and became fans of the Chubby Vegetarian. Amy reached out to them and suggested a collaboration.

PeachDish suggested they veganize their recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes Po’boy with their Cold Oven Sweet Potato Fries.

Fried Green Tomatoes Po’boy

Burks says what sets PeachDish apart from other meal-kit services is their commitment to use only local produce. The company also keeps packaging waste to minimum.

Ultimately, Burks says, he’s for anything that gets people in the kitchen and cooking.

The Chubby Vegetarian meal kit will be available September 10th, peachdish.com.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Serving Up Sunday

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

For those of you whose idea of a perfect Sunday doesn’t include cooking, here are a few new options:

At Sweet, the Exquisite Desserterie, brunch isn’t the usual eggs and pancakes.

“I asked customers and friends what they would like to see for brunch,” says Paula Pulido, the restaurant’s chef and owner. “Everybody wanted something different from the standard eggs Benedict, French toast, and Belgian waffles.”

Sweet’s “something different” includes an antipasti buffet to start and a dessert buffet to finish. In between, diners can nibble on fresh popovers with potato/leek soup, followed by a baby-greens salad, a mimosa “intermezzo,” and a choice of beef or vegetable en croute, all for $21.

Sunday brunch at Sweet is available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Sweet, 938 S. Cooper (726-4300)

Currents, a fine-dining restaurant at the River Inn of Harbor Town, also recently started offering Sunday brunch. The more traditional items include cinnamon French toast, Monte Cristo with vanilla-stewed berries, Golden Apple pancakes, and a chèvre omelet with roasted mushrooms, artichokes, and heirloom tomatoes. Other dishes are pan-roasted Tasmanian salmon, grilled Nyman Ranch pork loin, saffron risotto with lobster, and grilled filet of beef.

Sunday brunch at Currents is available from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Currents, 50 Harbor Town Square
(260-3300)

If you want to grab a couple of friends for a relaxed, end-of-weekend dinner, try the Majestic Grille’s Sunday Suppers. One supper, served family-style, feeds four.

“This is something we have wanted to do for a while, and we thought the holidays would be a perfect time to try it out,” says Deni Reilly, who owns the restaurant with her husband Patrick, the Majestic’s chef.

The menu changes every week and typically includes home-cooking favorites with a twist, such as braised pork loin with roasted apples and cider and mashed root vegetables. The Sunday suppers are served during regular dinner hours and cost $60.

The Majestic Grille, 145 S. Main
(522-8555)

The Flying Fish is offering a “Preacher’s Special” to all oyster lovers. Every Sunday, all day, you can satisfy your oyster craving for 25 cents per oyster. If oysters aren’t your thing, the restaurant offers plenty of other seafood dishes, such as catfish, tilapia, snapper, salmon, and crawfish.

The Flying Fish, 105 S. Second
(522-8228)

Need a dash of culinary inspiration for your holiday cooking? Stop by Williams-Sonoma this month for free demonstrations, technique classes, and a taste of some of the store’s holiday favorites.

On Sunday, December 9th, discover the secrets to throwing an elegant holiday cocktail party. Demonstrations about the best cup of cocoa, holiday confections, easy desserts, gifts for the cook, festive drinks, super stocking stuffers, and more are offered almost every day throughout December from 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. Call the store for a detailed scheduled.

Williams-Sonoma, 7615 W. Farmington (737-9990)

You have until Saturday, December 15th, to cast your vote in support of a local farmer, chef, restaurant, or food-related business or person for the Edible Communities 2007 Reader’s Choice Local Hero Award.

Edible Memphis, a quarterly magazine that debuted last spring, is one of 30 “Edible Community” publications around the United States that focus on local foods and farmers.

Each Edible Community will vote on its heroes, and the winners will be announced in January at the Edible Communities annual publisher’s dinner in Charleston, South Carolina. Winners will then appear in the spring 2008 issues.

Eligible locally for the award are the places and people featured in Edible Memphis throughout the year: Downing Hollow Farms (Lori Greene), Neola Farms (Michael Lenagar), Whitton Farms (Jill and Keith Forrester), Delta Grind (Georgeanne Ross), Tripp Country Ham (Charlie Tripp), Magevney Kitchen Garden, the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, Tom Singarella (baker), Jose Gutierrez (Encore), Karen Carrier (Automatic Slim’s, Beauty Shop), and Nancy Kistler (Entourage catering).

Go to ediblememphis.com to cast your vote.

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Change of Pace

CREDIT: Milanlj | dreamstime.com

People who are into food and dining culture have surely noticed the words “Slow Food Movement” popping up in news stories and features recently. But it’s not a new trend. The Slow Food Movement was founded by Carlo Petrini after he and other concerned Italian citizens gathered to protest the opening of a McDonald’s near the Piazza di Spagna in Rome in 1986. Soon after, Petrini started the Slow Food Movement, which now has more than 80,000 members in 50 countries. The idea behind the Slow Food Movement is simply the opposite of fast food — swapping convenience and anonymous uniformity for something more fresh and personal.

In Memphis, a Slow Food convivium has recently come together, spearheaded by Melissa and Kjeld Petersen, the folks behind the new quarterly Edible Memphis. According to Melissa, the group has more than 30 members, and they’ve planned a number of events to introduce Memphians to the movement. One of those events, on Saturday, June 2nd, is an “Open Garden” at the Magevney House, where volunteers at the historic downtown home have maintained the garden according to mid-1800s standards, cultivating enough produce to feed a family of four and the home’s slaves. Visitors to the Magevney garden can take a tour and purchase seeds and cuttings as well as get information on the Slow Food Movement.

“Knowing where your food comes from — that’s the big thing,” says Melissa of the movement. “It’s making a conscious choice as to where you get your food. Wait for tomatoes to be in season, make the extra effort to go to a farmer’s market because [you] actually know the grower. I know that it’s better for me, and I’ll get a better-tasting tomato.”

Open Garden at the Magevney House, 198 Adams, 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, June 2nd. For more information on Slow Food Movement events in Memphis, go to ediblememphis.com.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Turn the Page

Last year, Melissa and Kjeld Petersen were lured to Memphis by barbecue. This year, they are moving from Portland, Oregon, to the Bluff City to start Edible Memphis, a quarterly food magazine scheduled to hit stands later this month.

“My husband loves barbecue, and taking a trip to the barbecue festival in Memphis had long been on his list,” says Melissa Petersen. The couple finally made it last May. And while they had fun at the cooking contest, they were also impressed by the then-weeks’-old Memphis Farmers Market downtown and a dinner at Wally Joe.

Because Kjeld had cooked at the James Beard House, he was interested in local chefs who had done the same and tracked down Wally Joe.

“We have eaten at many great places around the country, and you know how it is with chefs when they eat out. They are very hard to please,” Melissa says. “Our dinner at Wally Joe is still one of our top three all-time favorites, and we would have never expected to find that in Memphis.

“We were strolling in front of The Peabody and just looked at each other and said, ‘This feels really good. I think we could live here,'” Melissa recalls.

Food is the couple’s passion, and food is the driving force behind their move to Memphis. They settled in Portland three years ago after meeting “on the job” in San Diego. Kjeld started his cooking career with a summer job in high school, which turned into a career that now spans 30 years, including stints at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel and the California Culinary Academy. He is an advocate for using regional and local foods in restaurants and a strong supporter of farm-to-chef programs.

Melissa learned to cook because in her family the rule was that whoever cooks dinner didn’t have to do the dishes. She went to culinary school after running the marketing departments for software companies for more than a decade. She has cooked for several top southern California food businesses, including the award-winning Waters Fine Catering in San Diego.

In Oregon, the couple started Wild Plum, a catering and fine-foods business, and became involved with Edible Oregon, a food magazine similar to the one they are bringing to Memphis and similar to the ones published on Cape Cod, and in Boston, Atlanta, and more than a dozen other U.S. cities.

The magazine was started as a quarterly newsletter in Ojai, California, five years ago. Food enthusiasts and co-founders Tracy Ryder and Carole Topalian set out to educate people about food in Ojai, a farming and artists’ community in a coastal valley. More specifically, they wanted to create awareness of local foods by focusing on how people shop for, cook, eat, and relate to the food grown in their area. The newsletter included stories about farmers, produce, and markets.

When Saveur magazine included Edible Ojai in its annual “Saveur 100,” a list of favorite restaurants, food, drink, people, places, and things in 2004, Ryder and Topalian received countless phone calls from like-minded people who wanted to start a similar newsletter. Ryder and Topalian established Edible Communities (www.ediblecommunities.com) within the year. Their goal was to help people set up similar publications. With the assistance of entrepreneur Steve Hock, whose father developed the Visa card, the two created a workable business model that allows them to support the start-up of new magazines while not interfering with the local focus.

“When we first visited Memphis, we had a feeling that something is happening here,” Melissa says. “You have this rich history, the amazing Southern Foodways Alliance right at your door, and a community with many people who remember eating vegetables right out of their parents’ or grandparents’ backyard garden. And then there is this renewed awareness in locally grown and produced foods within the community and among local chefs — it just seemed like the right time for Edible Memphis.”

The first issue is scheduled to hit local bookstores, restaurants, coffee shops, and food outlets in late April. “We are working very hard to get this first issue out on Earth Day, which is April 22nd,” Melissa says. Articles were written by local writers, farmers, chefs, and others. An annual subscription to the magazine (four issues) is $28. However, production costs are carried mostly by advertisers, who in turn agree to a certain number of magazines in their stores. Store owners can decide to sell those copies or make them available free of charge.

www.ediblememphis.com