Tag: Folk’s Folly

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We Saw You: “Memphis” Wildsam Field Guide, Power Players 2022

Michael Donahue and Grammy-winner Lawrence "Boo" MItchell were at the Wildsam party.

Well, if my head could get any bigger with all this hair, my inclusion in the Wildsam Field Guide titled Memphis and all the compliments I’ve gotten because of it is sure to make that happen.

So, I made sure I announced to guests at the “Wildsam at Stax” party, held April 21st at Stax Museum of American Soul Music, to look for me in the book.

“We had the party to showcase who was inside the Wildsam Memphis guide, and also celebrate the launch of that book,” says the book’s editor, Hannah Hayes.

From left: Robert Gordon, Hannah Hayes, and Jesse Davis at the Wildsam party. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

“The company is Wildsam Field Guides. And we have over 50 guides to American cities, regions, and national parks. Memphis is our newest one in the series. Our field guides try to give our readers a deeper sense of places, is what we say.”

And, she adds, the book is all about “understanding a place as well as enjoying it.”

Tara Stringfellow and Jesse Davis at Wildsam party. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Lauren and Marshall Newman with baby in tow and Chancey and Tread Thompson were at the Wildsam party. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

I asked what city will be next. “Oxford, Mississippi, is our first small town guide we are doing,” Hayes says. “The Southern California coast is one I’m working on.”

I also asked why they chose Stax as the party location. “Well, I mean, Michael Donahue, why wouldn’t we?”

One, reason, she says, “We wanted to have it in a place that means a lot to Memphis history and to the city’s future.”

Memphis Flyer editor Jesse Davis interviewed me for the book. I gave him enough information for a 30-volume encyclopedia.

Filmmaker Robert Gordon and novelist Tara Stringfellow, who recently released her debut novel, Memphis, contributed essays to the book.

And I love the illustration Maggie Russell did of me. Hair and all.

Wildsam party. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Wildsam party (Credit: Michael Donahue)

They’ve Got the Power

From left: Jon W. Sparks, Debbi and Richard Ross, Linn Sitler, and Denice Perkins at the Power Players reception. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

I hopped back from the “Wildsam at Stax” party to catch the rest of Inside Memphis Business magazine’s “Power Players 2022” reception, held April 21st, at Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House because I didn’t want to miss any of the guests. I did miss Pat Kerr Tigrett. When I arrived, guests were still talking about her red-feathered gown.

But there were still a lot of powerful Memphis people in that room. With apologies to Snap, they’ve “got the power.”

From left: Amit Kanda, Dan Weddle, Sridhar Sunkara, Ashly Ray-Fournier, Anna Traverse Fogle, and Samuel X. Cicci at Power Players reception. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Ruby Bright and Jeffrey Goldberg at the Power Players reception. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Ross Meyers (left) and Steve Ehrhart at the Power Players reception (Credit: Michael Donahue)

At one point, I was told there was a power failure at the restaurant. Without skipping a beat, Dr. Isaac Rodriguez, co-founder and chief science officer of SweetBio, suggested a reason: “Too much power in one room.” Rodriguez was one of the powerful guests.

Dr. Isaac Rodriguez and Aarthi Kalyan at Power Players reception. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

IMB editor Samuel X. Cicci said that the April issue of Memphis magazine, which featured this year’s Power Players, listed “the folks who make things happen in Memphis, from top executives to specialists in a wide range of areas that keep this city and its economy alive.”

More than 500 Power Players were included this year.

From left: Randy Hutchinson, Kelli de Witt, Brandon Ingram, and Darrell Cobbins at the Power Players reception. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Mark Goodfellow at the Power Players reception. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Buddy Chapman (left) and Michael Detroit at the Power Players reception (Credit: Michael Donahue)
From left: Helen Bird, John Monaghan, and Chris Bird at the Power Players reception. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
We Saw You
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Food & Wine Food & Drink

ThunderRoad Memphis Delivers Mason Jar Cocktails and More

David Parks and Jef Hicks of ThunderRoad Memphis

ThunderRoad Memphis is a “delivery service,” says founder David Parks. But even so, it’s not competing with FedEx or UPS.

The name came from “the old Robert Mitchum movie,” says Parks, who operates the business with Jef Hicks.

In the Thunder Road movie, which was released May 10th, 1958, Lucas Doolin (Mitchum) is a whiskey runner, or “transporter,” who delivers moonshine in his “tanker” — a 1950 two-door coupe — to Memphis and other areas.

Parks and Hicks deliver cocktails, with names like Tropical Deliciousness and Raspberry Sage Sipper, and food in a 1991 Isuzu Rodeo and a 1988 Jeep Wagoneer to people’s homes in Memphis and nearby areas. But the cocktails are transported in Mason jars. “Harkening back to the old days,” Hicks says. They also deliver wine, beer, and food. ThunderRoad Memphis began five weeks ago, “and it’s gone nuts.”

Parks is a bartender who was laid off at The Second Line because of the quarantine. Hicks was a bartender at Cafe Pontotoc. Since they were “no longer on the payroll,” Hicks says, they decided to do home delivery of their cocktails. They operate out of Midtown Crossing at 394 N. Watkins, where they are partnering with owner Octavia Young. They will deliver food from the restaurant. They also are partnering with local chefs.

Hicks and Parks contacted chef friends to join them and prepare food, which they can pair with their cocktails. “Sandwiches and small plates,” he says.

It was a way to help their out-of-work service industry friends “keep shelter over their head, their utilities on, and a little bit of food on the table,” Hicks adds. “We tried to give as many people a job as we could.”

The chefs include Jesse Parks, a baker who has been doing their bread; Jake Behnke, who was at Iris Etc. catering; and Amanda Hicks. 

They begin their day at 1 p.m. They load up about 2 p.m., and they’re done by 7:30 p.m.
ThunderRoad Memphis operates Wednesdays through Sundays. They recently added Germantown and Cordova to their route.

One of their most popular cocktails is the Tequila Mockingbird, a drink Parks created for a Mid-South Literacy fundraiser. It’s made of tequila, watermelon, lime, and a little spiced Agave. Another popular cocktail, Passionate Purple Drank, which was created by Hicks, is made with Butterfly Pea Blossom infused gin, lavender shrub, ginger syrup, and fresh lime juice.

As for the cuisine, Amanda’s brisket tacos are a big seller. It’s corn beef brisket in “drunken salsa,” which includes a dozen vegetables marinated in vodka for 21 days. The brisket is smoked by Brent McAfee, who was laid off from Cafe Pontotoc and Silly Goose. The barbecue pork butt sandwich with sriracha slaw on brioche bread is another winner.

ThunderRoad Memphis has a Facebook group, which now has more than 2,800 members. People take photos of ThunderRoad Memphis cocktails and food. Some people put the cocktails in their own fancy glasses for the photographs.

Hicks and Parks are pleased with the ThunderRoad Memphis response. “We built an enterprise that provides jobs, builds community, and reduces the instances of drunken driving,” Hicks says. “We need to change home delivery of cocktails from a temporary governor’s resolution to be permanent legislation.”

Parks says he’d “love to have a big, old ambulance and turn it into a mobile bar and we’d do your party.”

The ThunderRoad Memphis motto is “All this and a bag of chips,” Hicks says. “All customers are required to purchase some food item, be it chips, sandwiches, baked goods, etc. This keeps us legal. Also, we give everyone a fortune cookie and ask them to post their fortune.”

Customers have been returning the Mason jars, which are sanitized and re-used. “They get a discount if they return them,” Hicks says.

To contact ThunderRoad Memphis, call (901) 443-0502.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

New chefs at Folk’s Folly, Interim, and Bounty.

When one chef leaves, another steps in to take his or her place, bringing his or her experience, enterprise, and general tenor to the venue. There’s been some diversification in the top brass department across the Memphis restaurant landscape of late. Here’s a round-up of some of the changes, from institutions old and new to new(er) kids on the block.

Max Hussey has cooked Cajun cuisine at Emeril’s New Orleans and barbecue in San Francisco (where he won a Top 30 BBQ Restaurants in the Country designation) and even studied Indian cuisine under an Awa (grandmother).

He was imported to Memphis in 2015 to steer the ship at eighty3 in the Madison Hotel but found himself restless enough to make the transition to what he heard was the legendary Folk’s Folly. Eventually.

“When the position first opened [at Folk’s Folly], I balked,” Hussey says. “I felt like I still had work to do at the Madison.”

Moving on up — Max Hussey is the executive chef at Folk’s Folly.

The second time he had the chance, though, he definitely jumped.

“They’ve had servers working there for 36 years and line cooks for 22,” he says. “Nobody has that kind of longevity in the restaurant industry. There must be something to it.”

He’s been able to do things like make watermelon or pumpkin caviar as a garnish or add black cardamom to the collard greens.

“I do love being creative,” he says. “I enjoy bringing new techniques and products and different styles to the weekly specials.”

Dave Krog made a return to Interim, but this time a bit further up in the kitchen hierarchy. He started out as sous chef at the sleek and elegant eatery, leaving in the fall of 2015 for the Terrace at River Inn. He’s been executive chef at the nine-year-old restaurant — which takes its name from serving as an interim restaurant after Wally Joe closed shop in the space in 2007 and Jackson Kramer took the helm — since this spring.

Since taking over, Krog has started his own wine dinner, getting to play with limited-release products from local vendors once a month and serving the specialities to 16 lucky gastronomes in the restaurant’s private dining room.

“I did that immediately,” Krog says. “It offers a challenge to me and the staff, and I get a chance to serve something you can’t get at every restaurant.”

His goals are to “continue to elevate the food in the building” with “the best kitchen in town” and keep his vendors as close to home as possible.

Speaking of Interim. Kramer left the space on Sanderlin in 2014 to open Bounty on Broad. More recently, he left Memphis to pursue his culinary dreams in the PNW and while at it, leaving a chance for Russell Casey to put his spin on the entirely gluten-free restaurant.

In addition to adding patio seating, Saturday brunch, and a bar menu, Casey has put a duck duo on the menu, with seared duck breast, confit leg, and homemade sweet potato pudding. They’re unveiling their new menu this week, and soon will be baking their own gluten-free bread, which will add more choices to the brunch items.

“Russ was available, and the owner was connected to him, so it was kind of serendipitous,” Bounty manager Severin Allgood says.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Famous Folk’s Folly Freeze

The second you walk into Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House, your mouth starts to water from the smells of the delicious meats. Well, trust me when I say that your eyes will open wide with delight if you make it to dessert!

My server recommended their Famous Folk’s Folly Freeze ($9). You can customize the dessert to your preference of liqueur: Amaretto, Chambord, Frangelico, Godiva, you name it! The Folk’s Folly Freeze I had consisted of Brandy Alexander with crème de cacao blended with soft vanilla ice cream.

This dessert drink is a sneak attack! On the first sip all you taste is ice cream. The liqueur creeps in after you get the feel of a vanilla milkshake. After the vanilla, there are hints of the crème de cacao. The Folk’s Folly Freeze is thick, not very sweet, and you can feel the ice particles freeze on your tongue on the last part of the sip. It’s an alcoholic milkshake where the alcohol is present, but an afterthought. I went out to dinner with a group of people and there were other deserts on the table. My dessert was the one that was passed around. Everyone wanted more sips!

Drink this bad boy and then go home and take a well-deserved nap!

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

A New Year, A New Look for Humphrey’s Prime Cut Shoppe

For years, Humphrey’s Prime Cut Shoppe—the Folk’s Folly butcher shop—was a well-kept secret. So well-kept, in fact, that many of the steakhouse’s best customers didn’t know it was there. It all started in 1977, when founder Humphrey Folk started selling prime steaks to friends from the back door of his restaurant.

Well, now they can come to the front door.

Humphrey’s (formerly the Prime Cut Shoppe) recently got a makeover: a total rebranding that includes a new website, new logo, and new marketing materials, plus an interior and exterior facelift. These days, the butcher shop is executed in crisp black and white, with clean lines that highlight the bright-red freshness of the meat. 

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The website is similarly sharp, with an intuitive layout and tasty images. Just a few clicks, and you can have an Australian lamb rack—or a cowboy ribeye, or a veal chop—shipped overnight to most anywhere in the United States.

Maybe the best part is that the meat is never frozen, so when it shows up at your door, it’s practically still mooing.

“You can take the restaurant experience with you,” says Humphreys manager Terry Martin. “Selecting a hand-cut prime steak and fixings for your home is the next best thing to enjoying them in our Folk’s Folly dining room.”

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Downtown Dining Week Dates Set, and more news

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The dates for Downtown Dining Week have been set for November 16th-22nd. This year, 40 restaurants are participating and offering three-course meals or special offers for $20.14. You can see the menus at downtowndiningweek.com.

Robata Ramen & Yakitori Bar will now offer Saturday and Sunday brunch, starting at 11 a.m. Among the brunch dishes: Japanese curry dishes, Beef Udon soups, a Brunch Bento Box, and ramen.

In recognition of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, throughout the month of October, Felicia Willett of Felicia Suzanne’s is donating proceeds from sales of Flo’s Homemade Goodness to the Susan G. Koman Foundation. And, the menus for the Friday lunches are pink(!).

The Prime Cut Shoppe at Folk’s Folly is being renamed Humphrey’s Prime Cut Shoppe in recognition of Folk’s Folly founder Humphrey Folk. The shop will undergo a renovation as well.