Tag: Kelly English

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Blackberry Farm Brewery is Out of the Cage

No one goes to France for the beer. We all know that there is beer in the Fifth Republic, but the French tourism board doesn’t waste any space on its website about it. So, it would be idiotic for me to recommend Chef Kelly English’s Restaurant Iris, with its wondrous French/Creole food, for its beer.

Sure, Chef English is from Louisiana, and he takes the Creole part of his food seriously. And yes, New Orleans is known for beer — but more for the quantity consumed than the quality brewed. Nevertheless, here I am, being an idiot. Go to Iris and drink the beer.

The beer in question is Blackberry Farm Brewery’s new line of three canned brews: Screaming Cock Pale Ale, TN Times Pilsner, and Coyote Tactics IPA. All three styles were launched this summer and were available in Memphis originally through Iris, but are now available at Andrew Michael as well.

Blackberry Farm is relatively new to the craft beer scene, but they’ve done it right. Back in the late 1970s, the farm opened as a six-room inn snuggled on 4,200 insufferably beautiful acres in Walland, Tennessee. Since then, the brand has out-kicked the title of “luxury resort” to become something of an icon of sleepy-eyed relaxation, farm to table food, and a wine and cocktail menu that seems inexplicably wholesome. Even their website makes me mellow. All of this provokes the question: Can that Smoky Mountain air, free-flowing water, and free-range food be captured in a can? No, not remotely. We’ve all got to go to work in the morning. But it is very good beer.

Given the culinary level at which Blackberry Farm has been operating for 40 years, their move into the craft beer space isn’t surprising. Nothing will bring down a fine meal a peg or two like a bad wine or a bland beer. Nor is it surprising that BFB has produced some award-winning craft brews — including taking the gold in the World Beer Cup for its Classic Saison last year. Blackberry Farm beers are typically sold in “cork & cage” bottles, because they are literally corked like champagne. Beautiful, to be sure, but not the sort of thing that travels well. And they just don’t make that much of it. They can’t. “Craft” isn’t even the right word. As much as “artisanal” is overused, it’s the only one that will do here.

Admittedly, the lowly can o’ beer lacks the style we’ve come to expect from Blackberry Farm, or from Kelly English, for that matter. Sure, the labels are designed by Tennessee artists because, well, of course they are. In the end, though, we aren’t buying the packaging.

So on to the beer. The Screaming Cock Pale Ale is a great, crisp pale ale, and if you prefer the lager style, the TN Times Pilsner is another great choice that won’t wrestle with your dinner. The Coyote Tactics IPA is a little hoppier than the pale ale, but you still get the feeling that these are brewed to pair well with good food. And at a place like Iris, you really don’t want anything wrestling with the moulard breast.

Which is not to say that these beers aren’t interesting. In fact, it’s exactly that quality that makes them stand out. The craft beer circus seems to be getting more extreme and in-your-face every season, as opposed to getting better. I’ve tried a lot of far-out brews in my time, and I’ve enjoyed most of them. Sometimes, though, you aren’t in the mood to pull a sour face or suck your own tongue just to get closure on something as simple as a beer. That is what makes Blackberry Farm’s subtle approach so refreshing.

Is that reason enough alone to head to Iris? Maybe, maybe not. But that grilled lamb loin certainly is. So go.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Tunde Wey’s 44: A Table for Forty-Four at Iris

CREDIT: Moyo Oyelola

despite the popular sentiment, we’re not currently living in a unique moment in race relations in america, but rather a prolonged moment that started with america’s founding and stretches to now. let us not mistake the evolution of racism, from overt bigotry to covert dispossession, as progress. instead let us examine the myriad ways it manifests in contemporary life. to complete a tragic full circle, even that veneer of cordiality has been scratched off as shown by police shootings, white supremacy marches, muslim bans, anti-immigration legislation … join us in memphis for a day of food and honest conversations about where and who we are. — fromlagos.com

Moyo Oyelola

Tunde Wey

Tunde Wey is a Nigerian-born chef who’d been traveling the country putting on pop-up restaurants for a few years when, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, he sharpened his focus. At his Blackness in America dinners, frank discussions about race were on the menu.

On October 9th, Wey will bring 4: A Table for Four and 44: A Table for Forty-four to Memphis. Wey is teaming up with Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) director John T. Edge, Rhodes professor Zandria Robinson, and chef Kelly English. The event, held by happenstance on Columbus Day, will be at Restaurant Iris.

The “4” and “44” in the title of the event are a nod to Jay Z’s 4:44 album.

“I’ve just been listening a lot of rap, and the Jay Z album has been one of my favorites,” says Wey. “The themes that he strikes are very relevant to discuss, whether you agree with them or not. Even in disagreement, we can create a rigorous examination on what it means to be black and also what it means to be white.”

The event will begin with four lunches for four from noon to 4 p.m. The cost is $44.

“The idea is that four people come together and we’re going to be eating and there’s going to be conversation,” Wey says. “We’ll be talking to them and serving them food and we’ll be listening to them, what it is they are saying and thinking about.”

The plan is to focus on four ingredients from Western Africa and the South. Wey would like all the dishes to be black. What he envisions is a black bean bisque, plantain gnocchi and catfish with black garlic, a cassava pudding …

Later, starting at 6 p.m., there will be a dinner for 44. There will be readings by Wey, Robinson, and Edge. There will be West African lullabies and Southern spirituals. Robinson will serve as curator for the discussion, using Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s Racism Without Racists as a guide.

“The overall theme is structural racism, which is one of the themes Jay-Z touches on in the album,” Robinson says. “But the album is more of a jumping off point to push and challenge and broaden the scope of that conversation by telling a history of racism and resistance across these four tables. The dinner is the evening reckoning with that history.”

Wey will already be in the area for SFA’s annual symposium. Wey and Edge have a history. Wey called for Edge to be fired for appropriating black Southern food for his own good. He and Edge now consider each other colleagues, according to Wey, and it was Edge who suggested Memphis and Restaurant Iris for Wey’s next project.

This year’s symposium will focus on ethnicity and identity. The 4 dinner serves as an extension of the symposium, of sorts.

“Memphis has long been a site of of contention and resistance,” Edge says. “A Columbus Day dinner, convented by Tunde, contributes beautifully to that ongoing narrative.

“Restaurants — not diners, not cafes, not lunch counters — have long been place of comfort, bunkers where diners have come to escape discord,” Edge says. What happens when restaurants, if only for the night, become places where discourse and discord are intentional?”

Wey says he lets the time and place set the tone at each of the dinners he hosts. And, yes, sometimes the conversations get intense.

“The idea isn’t to make people feel uncomfortable. It’s just part of the process,” Wey says. “You don’t go to the gym to feel pain. You got to the gym to work out and if you work out, well, you know, you’ll feel sore.

“I let it be what it’s going to be. Just like real life, there’s some contentiousness, some laughter. It’s honest and cordial in a way, but still very forthright.”

To buy tickets or for more information, go to fromlagos.com.

Categories
Cover Feature News

The Bird’s the Word

Over the weekend, a man was arrested for stabbing a gas station worker over “bad chicken.” Now we’re not ones to condone violence —no stabbing! — but people around these parts have certain expectations that their chicken is going to be good.

This issue is all about good chicken. Plenty of words have been written about Gus’s and Uncle Lou’s, so we decided to explore Memphis’ other chicken avenues. We guarantee that you’ll be hungry after reading this.

The Smoked Chicken Debris PoBoy
@ The Dirty Crow Inn

If heaven ain’t a lot like The Dirty Crow Inn, I don’t want to go. (I checked, and it’s fine to rip off Bocephus when you’re talking chicken. “He wouldn’t mind,” is what the rule book says.)

I’d heard tell of a chicken Philly sandwich at the Inn. It’s a special sometimes, the bar man told me, but not part of the regular menu. At that low moment, a ray of hope cut those rainy clouds — the word “debris.”

The Inn keepers have called it the “Chicken Debris PoBoy” online, but the Dirty Crow menu said, “smoked chicken debris” sandwich. To me, debris is debris any way you cut it (or don’t, I guess). And I’ve seen it swimming in the serving pan at Mother’s, the famed New Orleans restaurant that invented debris (the term anyway).

My sandwich at the Dirty Crow was every bit a po’boy, beautifully smoked chicken bathed in an earthy brown gravy riding two light (and lightly toasted) pieces of French bread from Gambino’s, that fine and famed New Orleans bakery.

Sometimes “smoked” menu items, even in Memphis, don’t taste that way. The Crow’s chicken debris sandwich does not leave you guessing. Its smoke flavor is present but delicate, the way it ought to be. It blends seamlessly with that gravy and a nice dose of melted cheese that pulls away in a pizza-commercial string as you pull the sandwich from your mouth.

The place is heaven for dive-bar aficionados (like me). The food makes it a before-you-die destination for all Memphians. — Toby Sells

Dirty Crow Inn, 855 Kentucky, 207-5111, facebook.com/thedirtycrowinn

Fried Chicken @ Cash Saver

Sometimes, you just gotta have fried chicken. Last week, I was so desperate I went to the KFC drive-thru and ordered a box. “Thlbetwtyminawtfcxx” came back over the microphone.

“What?”

“Thlbetwtyminawtfcxx”

“What?”

After several attempts, the fellow managed to get the message to me: “There will be a 20-minute wait for chicken.” Right. At a chicken restaurant. So …

I’ve been hearing about Cash Saver’s fried chicken for more than a year now. Midtowners who I know and trust have said to me, “That fried chicken is the real deal. And cheap!” Some said it was the best in town. I don’t know about that, but I’m here to tell you, they were right about it being very good. And very cheap.

Fried Chicken at Cash Saver

I ordered two breasts and two thighs. Total cost? $5.19.

The pieces were very large, crispy on the outside and perfectly moist on the inside. The flavor of the skin was savory, lightly seasoned but with a little bite. In short, great fried chicken — the real deal. Highly recommended. I’ll be back for more. — Bruce VanWyngarden

Cash Saver, 1620 Madison, 272-0171, memphiscashsaver.com

Romaine Salad with Chicken Skins @ Hog & Hominy

Anytime I see someone slip off and discard the skin from an otherwise perfect piece of fried or baked chicken (but especially fried), I inwardly pray for their poor soul and wonder who it was that set you down a path of self-deprivation.

It’s not only that they are missing out on some heart-healthy unsaturated fats, it’s that they might still fall victim to this woefully false myth that this is something you have to do to make your chicken healthy enough to consume (spoiler, it’s not).

Well, someone at Hog & Hominy decided, “Screw that, we’re devoting a dish solely to chicken skins.” And just to round it out, lest the consumer grew up under the anti-skin mythology, that someone decided to build their chicken dermis homage on a bed of Romaine lettuce.

The result is an unexpectedly cohesive salad, misleadingly and simply titled, “Romaine.” The chicken skins used are more akin to a pork rind rather than the double-breaded crunchiness of most fried chicken pieces. These puffy morsels are strewn atop a decent portion of lettuce, which is in turn covered in snowy Parmesan and drizzled with pecorino vinaigrette.

Justin Fox Burks

Romaine Salad with Chicken Skins at Hog & Hominy

The skins are lightly seasoned so the vinaigrette can come in and work its magic by introducing a low level of spice and tang, two flavors that pair surprisingly well with the fried fat essence of the skins. The Romaine lettuce does what Romaine was put on this earth to do, namely, trick us into thinking we’re consuming something mega-healthy when we are not. And, of course, it’s the perfect semi-crunchy vehicle that supports the crispiness of the skins.

Be warned, though, this is not the type of salad loaded down with auxiliary vegetables and croutons. It’s not going to fill you up. But it will deliver piquancy worthy of what I have determined to be the greatest part of the chicken.

— Micaela Watts

Hog & Hominy, 707 W. Brookhaven,
207-7396, hogandhominy.com

Chicken Tamales from Tacqueria La Guadalupana food truck

Tamales were among the earliest food imports from south of the border to make it onto Norde Americano menus, and they remain a staple, whether in supermarket cans or on restaurant tables. Something of a debate rages as to whether the meat base in those wraparound masa cylinders should be beef or pork, but there is a third possibility — chicken — and a good place to sample it is from the Tacqueria La Guadalupana food truck that sets up daily on the north side of the shopping-center lot where Cordova Road intersects with Germantown Parkway — in an area that is more multi-ethnic than you might imagine. (The internationally focused Cordova Farmers Market is the big-box anchor on the lot.)

The La Guadalupana truck offers numerous cooked-while-you-wait specialties, several involving chicken. Order tamales, and what you get, for a mere $7.99, is three YUGE tamales, each with a generous and succulently breaded tortilla coating, within which is packed none of that minced mystery-meat filling you get at so many places, but steamed and tender morsels of freshly carved, fresh-off-the-bone-looking chicken meat. Two sauces are available as condiments, the green one appears to mix guacamole with chili; the red one (maybe laced with habanero) is scalding hot.

— Jackson Baker

Taqueria La Guadalupana at the corner of Cordova Road and Germantown Parkway

Wood Roasted Half Chicken @
The Kitchen Bistro

Served in a round ceramic casserole the color of red clay, the Kitchen’s wood-roasted chicken earns it $29 price tag with looks, smarts, and personality. First, cornbread panzanella sets the dish with a seasonal cacophony of tomatoes, onions, and olives. Next comes the chicken, brined, flattened, and wood-roasted to a deep and rustic char. And what swirls on top with magical brushstrokes of taste and color? The dressing, a pesto of sorts made with garlic, olive oil, lemon, and anchovies. “You don’t want to eat the chicken and think the chicken tastes like fish,” explains head Chef Dennis Phelps. “You want to eat the chicken and think the chicken tastes delicious.” — Pamela Denney

Justin Fox Burks

Wood Roasted Half Chicken at the Kitchen Bistro

The Kitchen Bistro, 415 Great View Drive East, 729-9009, thekitchen.com

General Tso’s Chicken @ Mulan

It’s a conundrum every office has had to face as they order takeout lunch: What’s the deal with General Tso’s Chicken? Who was the eponymous military man? What’s his connection with poultry? How do you even pronounce it?

If these questions have ever prompted debate at your workplace, take heart. The answers are out there, in the form of Ian Cheney and Jennifer Lee’s 2014 documentary The Search for General Tso. It’s a fascinating look into the ways immigrant communities adapt to American life that also tells you everything you need to know about the sweet and spicy Hunan-style dish which, it turns out, is virtually unknown in China.

The first two things I noticed about the General Tso’s Chicken at Mulan is that the garnish contained a glowing LED and a dearth of broccoli on the plate. Many Chinese restaurants include plentiful broccoli with the stir-fried dark meat, and the florets come in handy for sopping up the sauce that gives the dish its deep red color. But once I bit into the succulent chunks of chicken, I realized the vegetable would have been a distraction from the main show. Each morsel was just a little crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. It was outstanding. I got the standard spice level for scientific purposes, so the sweetness and heat were finely balanced. But if you like it spicy, they’ll be more than happy to oblige.

Chris McCoy

Mulan General Tso’s Chicken

For the record, the Chinese character transliterated as “Tso” or “Zho” means “left.” It’s a syllable that English does not contain, but it is roughly pronounced as “jowh.” However, to avoid confusion with your server, you should probably just go with “so.” — Chris McCoy

Mulan, 2149 Young, 347-3965 mulanmidtown.net

Chicken and waffles @
The HM Dessert Lounge

I’m aware of no other restaurant in Memphis where one can dine surrounded by paintings of the late, great Prince hung on purple walls. I discovered the promised land, and it’s named HM Dessert Lounge. The restaurant’s focus is in its name, with one exception: chicken and waffles.

The chicken is dipped in double honey hot sauce, Jamaican jerk sauce, or spicy peach glaze. It’s then paired with a regular, cornbread, honey butter biscuit, blueberry, sweet potato, or a maple bacon waffle. Options, indeed.

Justin Fox Burks

Chicken and waffles at The HM Dessert Lounge

I settled on four chicken breasts bathed in double hot honey sauce and coupled with a maple bacon encrusted waffle — $12 well spent. Sticky as it is, the hot honey sauce slides from the chicken and blends with the maple syrup, creating a sweet and spicy combination that brings magic to a dish which otherwise would have been too obvious. The chicken isn’t flaky but smooth, and each piece shines beneath the sauce. Slice the waffle, cut the chicken, and fork ’em together. Sauce and syrup united, the waffle coats the chicken, and bacon bits provide a necessary crunch.— Joshua Cannon

The HM Dessert Lounge,

1586 Madison, 290-2099,

facebook.com/fashionablysweetlounge

Smoke Chicken @ Picosos

There are fewer words in the English language sadder than, “Sorry, not today.” Especially if those words are spoken with genuine disappointment in a Mexican accent at Picosos, a terrific little south-of-the-border diner on Summer Avenue. The restaurant’s “Smoke Chicken” is an old-Memphis-meets-old-Mexico delicacy that sells fast, is only available on the weekends, and so succulent and good it’s worth heading out early to get your order in before the Saturday lunch crowd arrives. Served with rice and refried beans and topped with a handful of french fries, the meal is exactly what it sounds like — a quarter, half, or whole chicken covered with a heady-not-hot spice rub that’s a little on the salty side and slow-smoked to barbecue-lover’s perfection. It’s tempting to just wolf the whole thing down, but advisable to savor every spicy, smoky, chickeny bite. — Chris Davis

Smoke Chicken at Picosos

Picosos, 3937 Summer, 323-7003

The Family Chicken Dinner @ SuperLo

It was a snobby Midtowner’s dilemma.

Our Target basket was full. The kids were getting pissy. We were all hungry, but the grown-ups didn’t want to make lunch.

“But there’s nothing to eat in East Memphis,” we whined without saying a word.

Wheeling through the parking lot, my wife caught a scent on the wind. “Oh my god, somebody’s fried chicken smells GOOD!” she said. We both whirled, like castaways searching the skies for a rescue plane.

The only thing that made sense was the deli counter of the Target-adjacent SuperLo. We’d been there infrequently, but I thought I remembered a big deli case. I remembered correctly.

The star of the SuperLo show was a fried chicken dinner, perfect for a Sunday lunch. Plenty of dark-brown-fried breasts and thighs lined a warming tray. But we wanted the eight-piece meal and the case offerings would not do for our wonderful deli helper.

“Nuh-uh. Give me two minutes, baby,” the woman said to my wife. “I’m going to make you up some fresh.”

Two minutes later, she filled a white, cardboard service box with two breasts, two thighs, two drummies, and two wings, like a Memphis-style Noah’s Ark. That Ark came with big-ole sides of green beans, mashed potatoes, and four King’s Hawaiian rolls. (They even added two cookies for my son. No charge.)

The chicken was crunchy-crispy on the outside, fork-tender and moist on the inside, warmly spiced, but not too spicy. It was that eye-rolling, soul-feeding, conversation-stopping, back-home-style kind of good. And all of it for about $14.

Who says there’s nothing to eat in East Memphis? — Toby Sells

SuperLo, 4744 Spottswood, 683-6861, superlofoods.com

Fried Buffalo Chicken Slider (add peanut butter) @ The Slider Inn

The first thing you need to know about Slider Inn’s Buffalo Chicken Slider is that you should order it fried. They’ll serve it grilled, but that’s your loss. As is, the sandwich comes with a palm-sized chicken breast drenched in buffalo wing sauce and topped with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and ranch.

Here’s the second thing you need to know — hidden off the menu, secret but paramount. Ask for peanut butter, and the sandwich will come with a layer of crunchy goodness spread across the bottom bun. The ranch, buffalo sauce, and peanut butter assemble in your mouth upon first bite. It’s manna on the tongue.

For all its glory, there’s no way around it, you’ll smack your way through this mess of a meal. The peanut butter serves as a medium between the milky ranch and hot and tangy buffalo sauce, softening the spice to let the flavors shine.

— Joshua Cannon

The Slider Inn, 2117 Peabody, 725-1155, facebook.com/sliderinn

…

Chefs Speak Out

It’s not easy to eat your way through Memphis, one piece of chicken at a time, especially if you’re trying to go veg (I’m at about a week this go around). That’s why I asked some of my favorite chefs in town to serve as my chicken-chowing proxy and name the chicken dishes they go for when they get a break from the grind.

Chef Kelly English, who can do things with chicken that grant him James Beard Semifinalist awards and spots on television and in Bon Appetit, can’t say enough nice things about the magic that happens in the kitchens of Memphis visionary chef Karen Carrier. “I just had my favorite chicken dish ever at the Beauty Shop — Karen’s smoked chicken dish,” English says. He’s referring to the Hickory Grilled Chicken, which comes in a Thai green curry broth with candied garlic chips, pickled red onion, watermelon, Thai basil, mint, cilantro, and corn fritter. “It was fan-frickin’-tastic. It is my favorite chicken dish I’ve ever had at a restaurant.” He may or may not have posted on Facebook that “Karen Carrier is the coolest kid in school.”

Justin Fox Burks

Gary Williams

Chef Gary Williams, of DeJaVu legendari-ness, has done his share of traveling and sharing his New Orleans recipes with A-listers, and points to several restaurants who serve up chicken goodness in Memphis, including Cozy Corner’s Cornish Hen, Uncle Lou’s honey chicken, and HM Dessert Lounge’s ability to take chicken and waffles to the nth degree. “I’m a chicken connoisseur,” he says. But there’s one spot in particular that has his heart. “There’s this little spot called Pho Binh on Madison, and they do this chicken dish that has pineapple and is a little spicy, served over rice. That is one of my favorite places. It’s a gem,” Williams says. — Lesley Young

…

Being Pirtle

So what’s it like being a Pirtle? It’s good, say Cordell and Tawanda Pirtle. And as they go over the past, present, and future of Pirtle’s Fried Chicken, a couple approaches and asks for a picture. As they move on, the woman exclaims in a whisper, “Oh my goodness!” “Happens all the time,” Tawanda says.

Cordell is the only child of Jack Pirtle, the founder, with his wife Orva, and the force behind Jack Pirtle’s. Cordell describes his father as an outgoing man, a doer and a creator. Jack opened his first restaurant near the Firestone plant in the 1940s and then hooked up with Colonel Harland Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken. Jack sold Kentucky Fried Chicken using Sanders’ special seasoning, alongside Pirtle’s burgers and hotdogs.

Cordell says the first contract with Sanders was a single page, double-spaced. Later, when KFC sought a more formalized agreement, Jack decided to move on, eventually phasing out the KFC part of the business.

Justin Fox Burks

Cordell and Tawanda Pirtle

“He couldn’t use the same cooking equipment because it was part of the process for KFC. He built his own cooking equipment, pressurized cookers, and then my mother had a degree from the University of Tennessee in home economics, so she and he together tried different formulas. They went through a lot of different formulas and came up with this and varied it some for the first year as they saw how it did. That started in 1964,” says Cordell.

Pirtle’s seasoning was originally mixed in a device Jack built that looked like a concrete mixer. The recipe is top secret. “That’s what Pirtle’s is known for, that taste that we have,” Tawanda says. “It’s the same seasoning that the gravy is made out of. It’s a huge deal for us. And the spices have to be mixed up for a period of time for all of them to combine correctly.”

Cordell, who started working at Pirtle’s at 13, took over the business in 1979. “It was doing well. We had six stores at the time. When I took it over, I had been a store manager for 17 years. So I had pretty much been there/done that on almost everything,” Cordell says. “When I took it over it was almost more of an organizational change.”

“Your daddy thought you were going to go broke,” Tawanda interjects.

“Precisely,” Cordell agrees, noting his father’s concern over the purchase of expensive cash registers and a centralized warehouse.

Pirtle’s didn’t go broke. There are now eight stores. They get approached a lot about franchising — about three times a week, says Tawanda.

They’ve resisted franchising, as they want to work out the best deal for them and the franchisee. While none of their kids (he’s got three, she’s got two) have shown any interest in the business, they’re hoping that one of their grandkids or great-grandchildren will sign on and take on franchising.

As for the future, they’re considering more stores. They’ve thought about opening a Jack Pirtle’s Cafe.

Cordell is 72 and retired. Sort of.

“I tell everybody they’ve got the tired part right,” he says, laughing. “But, no, as far as being totally retired, when you’re involved in a business your entire life and you’ve grown up in it and you know all the people, you really can’t just simply say, I’m done. It’s always there. It’s always on your mind.” — Susan Ellis

…

Chicken

Playlist

Oblivians — “Call the Police”

We’ll kick this thing off with an instant classic from the Oblivians. This track was on the band’s last album Desperation. Listen close for the chicken reference.

The Meters — “Chicken Strut”

One of the best Meters songs happens to have some squawking in it, but I would include this in any playlist because the Meters rule, plain and simple.

Those Darlins — “The Whole Damn Thing”

Before Those Darlins went all Fleetwood Mac on us, this was arguably their most popular song. This simple tune about eating a whole chicken was catchy enough to get the band some notoriety and is worth revisiting while raiding the fridge.

Hasil Adkins —
“Chicken Walk”

If you haven’t heard Hasil Adkins before, do yourself a HUGE favor and track down the album Out to Hunch.

Charles Mingus —
“Eat That Chicken”

A classic from jazz legend Charles Mingus.

Project Pat — “Chicken Head”

Hell yeah I included this song in this playlist. Project Pat for life.

Billy Swan — “I Can Help”

By now you’re going to need some help getting out of that chicken coma. Let this classic from Billy Swan get you moving again.

Rufus Thomas —
“Do the Funky Chicken”

A classic from Rufus Thomas. The live footage on YouTube of his performing this song is amazing and should be played on a big screen at every chicken restaurant from now on.

Patrick Hernandez —
“Born to Be Alive”

We’ll close this thing out with a toast to any vegetarians or vegans who picked up the Chicken Issue. If you believe that all animals are born to be alive, dance around with your fake chicken nuggets to this obscure ’70s classic.

— Chris Shaw

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Mardi Gras in Memphis

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

The first American Mardi Gras was celebrated in 1703 in what is now Mobile. The first krewe was the Masque de la Mobile. By 1718, New Orleans was a thing, and by the ’30s (the 1730s), they were doing Mardi Gras too. With a vengeance. In 1875, Louisiana Governor Henry Warmoth signed the Mardi Gras Act, designating Fat Tuesday as a legal holiday.

Somewhere in there the first pot of gumbo was made, and by the Great Depression, the Martin brothers threw some potatoes and roast beef gravy on French bread, and the first po’boys were served to New Orleans streetcar workers on strike.

Just as much as New Orleans is le centre Americain for all things Mardi Gras, its identity is also inseparable from its distinct cuisine.

Mardi Gras is just around the corner — Mardi, February 9th — and area restaurants are offering some traditional New Orleans dishes and signature drinks to save you the six- (or five or four-) hour trip. (And running around like an amateur.)

Chef Kelly English is synonymous with Louisiana in these parts — he’s a native — and if Mardi Gras means traditional New Orleans cuisine, it’s a party all year-round at his restaurant the Second Line. His menu of po’boys, including the O.G., short for original gangsta, short for the Martin brothers concoction of French fries and gravy; chicken and andouille gumbo; and barbecue shrimp will make you think you need to cross the neutral ground to go make some groceries.

For the big holiday, English will be offering drink specials as well as a bread pudding baby lottery, meaning one dish of bread pudding will have a king cake baby, and the lucky diner will receive dinner for two.

The Second Line, 2144 Monroe, 590-2829

Justin Fox Burks

Owen Brennan’s

Owen Brennan’s was one of Memphis’ original New Orleans ambassadors, taking home Best of trophies year after year. They’ll be Mardi Gras-ing it up this year with a celebratory menu of $5 small plates and drink specials. Their holiday menu will offer crawfish beignets with crawfish tails, andouille sausage, and tasso ham fried in a beignet and served with sriracha tartar sauce; Cajun calamari served with agrodolce and remoulade sauces; king cake; hurricanes; Mardi Gras Ritas; and Mardi Gras Mosas. They’ll also turn it up a notch with jazz music and a bead throw from the indoor balcony.

Owen Brennan’s Restaurant, 6150 Poplar, 761-0990

Lafayette’s is the new old kid on the block. After 38 years of shuttered windows, the Midtown music fixture reopened with a balcony that models those characteristic of the Big Easy. This week, from Monday, February 8th through Saturday, February 13th, chef Jody Moyt will serve up Carnival food specials such as red beans and rice for $4 a cup; muffalettas for $12 served on authentic Gambino bread shipped in from NOLA with mortadella, salami, homemade olive relish, and roasted red peppers; and king cake, either by the slice or whole — yes, the whole ones will have babies. “We’re the Mardi Gras spot in Overton Square. We’ve got the double-decker balcony out front and a mezzanine inside. We’ll have a horn band that will get a train going through the restaurant. It will be a big party. We’ll be as close to Mardi Gras as you can get without going down South,” Moyt says.

Lafayette’s Music Room, 2119 Madison, 207-5097

Chef Max Hussey at eighty3 Food & Drink at the Madison Hotel downtown says he loves Cajun cuisine and has been recognized with several awards for his gumbo. The New Orleans cuisine enthusiast added a Mardi Gras special to his menu for a limited time. For $15, revellers can get a crawfish po’boy and a cup of traditional New Orleans-style gumbo, made with clam and seafood stock, crawfish, shrimp, okra, scallops, lobster, rice, and creole seasonings. The special menu will run from Friday, February 5th to Tuesday, February 9th.

eighty3 Food & Drink, 83 Madison, 333-1224

It’s pretty much always Fat Tuesday at the Bayou. “Our menu is already suited for it,” owner Bill Baker says. This year on the big day they’ll have a crawfish boil as well as king cake, and the New Orleans-inspirited Mighty Souls Brass Band will carry you away to Frenchmen on their tuba, trombone, sax, et al. “It will start to pick up mid-afternoon, and by evening it will get crazy. We’ll have a bunch of beads. Beads will get thrown. Laissez le bon temps roulez,” Baker says.

The Bayou, 2094 Madison, 278-8626

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Sports Talk on the Menu

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Memphis is a town of many deep-rooted sports interests. Between the University of Memphis Tigers basketball and football programs, the Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA, et al, sports fandom in Memphis is as passion-filled and potentially divisive a subject as religious faith. And as revered as these teams and institutions are, so too are the newsbreakers and speculators that populate the local sports talk radio airwaves and newspaper pages. Inevitably, these sports media figures are recognized for their talents and influence in numerous ways, including the illustrious honor of having menu items named for them at local restaurants.

Chef Kelly English’s The Second Line features a po’boy sandwich called the Verno on its menu, a tribute to 92.9 FM midday radio host and Grizzlies TV commentator Chris Vernon. According to Vernon, the naming of the sandwich came from an on-air football bet between himself and Chef English.

“The deal was, the Cowboys and Saints were playing. This was before The Second Line opened,” he says. “If the Cowboys won, he had to name a sandwich after me. If the Saints won, I had to say ‘Go Saints’ coming in and out of every segment on my show. The Saints absolutely destroyed the Cowboys, but he named the thing after me anyway.”

The sandwich is built on a generous base of braised and shredded chicken thighs, topped with melted Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato, and pickles on crusty French-style bread.

Justin Fox Burks

The Verno from The Second Line

“I love it,” Vernon says. “Kelly English is one of the best chefs in America, and there is a sandwich on his menu named after me. There’s not a week that goes by that someone doesn’t text or tweet me about that sandwich. It’s unbelievable.”

The menu at Republic Coffee boasts its own sports journalist-tribute item, a breakfast sandwich formerly known as the “Ahab.” “It’s funny, you always think that if you are going to have a sandwich named for you, that you would get to design the sandwich, or at least be asked if you want a sandwich named for you,” says Geoff Calkins, the lead sports columnist for The Commercial Appeal and a morning radio host on 92.9. “But that didn’t happen in my case.”

In fact, Calkins didn’t realize that the Calkins — large hunks of smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, and onions, all packed inside slices of a toasted everything bagel — even existed until he walked in to Republic one afternoon after talking about great Memphis sandwiches on his radio show, and the barista asked him why he didn’t mention his own sandwich.

“I had no idea. Apparently they re-named it after me because I ordered it so much,” Calkins says. “I think I might have singlehandedly kept it on the menu.”

“The fact that I had a sandwich made Gary [Parrish] extremely jealous,” he adds, half-jokingly. “That’s how he got his sushi roll. He lobbied on the air to get it because he was jealous of me.”

Parrish, the evening drive-time host on 92.9 and a national columnist and TV analyst for CBS Sports, denies the claim.

“I would never be jealous of a man who turned a Harvard Law degree into a newspaper job,” he says, returning the jibe. “In all seriousness, that may have been where the whole bit actually started.”

Justin Fox Burks

The G. Parrish Anxiety Disorder at Bluefin

The bit Parrish is referring to was an on-air monologue about not understanding “anonymous donors” and wanting his name on everything, including fast-food items, buildings, etc. This resonated with the folks at Bluefin.

“Fast-forward a few weeks. I’m in Bluefin with some friends, and one of the managers approached me as I was walking out,” Parrish says. “He said he listens to the show and would love to design a roll with me and slap my name on it. Next thing you know, it’s on the menu.”

Dubbed the G. Parrish Anxiety Disorder, Parrish’s namesake roll is a kitchen-sink creation with tempura shrimp, crab, and cream cheese inside, topped with smoked salmon, avocado, eel sauce, and, most crucially, spicy Sriracha, which cuts through the richness of the other ingredients. Not surprisingly, the roll has become one of the restaurant’s most popular items.

“I’m genuinely and oddly proud of how everything has turned out,” Parrish says. “I honestly thought this would just be something that might be funny to me and only me for a few weeks or months, and then they’d change the menu and it would just go away. But here we are, all these years later, and it’s still there.”

Of course, anyone who has listened to sports talk radio in Memphis for more than a few minutes is surely familiar with the legendary George Lapides, currently a morning host on Sports 56. Lapides has been covering sports in print and on the air in this town for longer than some of his colleagues have been alive.

It is very fitting that Germantown Cajun restaurant Mister B’s offers a dish bearing his name, the George Lapides Special. Lapides has long been a spokesman for the eatery — for my money, “I want to tell you about Mister B’s” is up there with “I don’t think the Cardinals will ever win/lose another game” and “I want to play” in the pantheon of George-isms. He is also, in fact, the inventor of the dish.

“I used to always get a cup of the crawfish etouffee as an appetizer, and I knew they had wild rice as a side” Lapides says. “One night I asked my server to fix me a big, dinner-sized plate of wild rice, with the etouffee poured on top.”

And the results?

“Oh, it’s fabulous,” he says. “It was just a word-of-mouth thing at first, but people started ordering it so much they put it on the menu. It looks strange to me to see it, but I don’t mind.”

Not to be outdone, the radio voice of the Grizzlies and afternoon host on 92.9, Eric Hasseltine, has his own signature menu item as well: a dessert-y cocktail at the soda fountain inside A. Schwab‘s called the Eric Hasseltine Cherry. The drink is simple but effective — and delicious. Think of a lighter, sweeter version of a Manhattan; house-made cherry syrup, bourbon, and bitters poured over “Sonic-style” ice nuggets in an old-fashioned soda glass, topped with fizzy soda.

“It’s very flattering,” Hasseltine says. “I’m not a huge partier anymore, but I’ve always been a whiskey guy. Sometimes I’m disappointed they aren’t open later so I could go in and get one after a game.”

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Kelly English takes the farmers market challenge.

CREDIT: John Klyce Minervini

It’s been a lively few years for Kelly English.

Back in 2009, he was named one of Food & Wine‘s Best New Chefs. Since then, he’s appeared in Bon Appétit, Garden & Gun, and Everyday with Rachael Ray. His flagship, Restaurant Iris, is consistently voted the best restaurant in Memphis. Now he’s opening a new Second Line in Oxford. What’s his secret?

“No secrets,” English answers, with an insouciant shrug. “Good food is good food. I just put a little salt on it.”

Which is a bit like David Copperfield saying he’s just playing around with cards — right before he pulls the ace of spades out of your ear. But here at the Flyer, we don’t take our magic on faith. So we signed English up for our Farmers Market Challenge, in which we take a chef to the farmers market and make lunch.

Today we’re headed to the Church Health Center’s tomato festival. Many people don’t know that CHC has a weekly farmers market — but they ought to. The market, at CHC’s wellness facility on Union, is convenient and well-curated, and it has the virtue of being open on Tuesday.

It also has a farm-fresh tomato festival. ‘Nuff said.

English and I start by making a run on the purple hull peas at Harris Produce. Tiny, green, and adorable, they’re practically flying off the shelf, but we manage to score a $5 bag. Next we stock up on peaches and tomatoes. Despite the heat — a blistering 93 degrees — English finds the energy to wax philosophical.

“So often, I think we try to cover up character with newness or perfection,” he reflects, holding up a blemished tomato. “And we lose a lot when we do that.”

He’s right, of course. Good tomatoes do not look like stock photos. They are ugly and delicious. These particular tomatoes — Cherokee purples from Peach World — atone for their funny shape by being rich and heartbreakingly sweet, with a bright, acid finish.

We round out our market basket with a few fresh herbs filched from the CHC Wellness garden. (Shh, don’t tell.) Then it’s back to English’s home, a one-story charmer in Memphis’ Evergreen neighborhood. We are greeted at the door by his brother, Todd, who will run the kitchen at Second Line Oxford.

So I’m dying to know — what was English like as a kid?

“I’m keeping my mouth shut,” Todd answers, “seeing as how he signs my paychecks.”

English, who has begun ostentatiously sharpening a large kitchen knife, nods his approval. Then he starts chopping. He’s dreamt up a medley of summertime produce — peaches, jalapeño, homemade ricotta, and fennel — but he can’t figure out what to call it. His working title is “peach situation.” But whatever you do, don’t call it a salsa.

“A lot of chefs don’t know what to do with fish,” English observes, “so they throw some fruit on it and call it a salsa. I’m thinking, come on. You’ve gotta try harder than that.”

After the “peach situation” is plated, English gets to work on the main event — a sauté of diced onions, purple hull peas, and Gulf shrimp. When it comes off the stove, he tosses it with mayo, Creole mustard, and lemon juice. Then he serves it with shredded basil on a bed of Cherokee purple tomatoes. Time to eat.

What’s astounding about this food is how simple it is. In all, there are about 12 ingredients. It takes about half an hour to prepare. Volume-wise, it probably wouldn’t fill a Starbucks cup. But the ingredients are so fresh, the flavors so intense, that it ends up feeling like a magic trick. David Copperfield would be proud.

While we eat, English remembers his time washing dishes in Barcelona. Back then, he was studying abroad at Ole Miss, paying his way through school by working in kitchens. Funny enough, scrubbing pots in Catalunya taught him that food wasn’t just a means to an end — it was an end in itself.

“We were working with sixth-generation farmers,” English recalls. “Farmers who were representing not just their wife and kids, but generations of their family that they’d never even met. So when they grew a bell pepper, it would have to make their great-grandfather proud. I thought that was amazing.”

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Chubby Vegetarian Pop-up Restaurant this Saturday

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

Grilled watermelon salad with goat cheese, tomatoes, and honey-lime vinaigrette

Exciting news for our friends Amy Lawrence and Justin Fox Burks of The Chubby Vegetarian On Saturday, July 11th, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., it’s the Chubby Vegetarian Pop-up Restaurant at Iris Etc. at 62 S. Cooper. 

The event is the first of what may become a series, according Shawn Mitchell, who is chef at Iris Etc., the catering arm of the Kelly English’s various culinary ventures.   

Mitchell says there has long been talk about collaborating with Lawrence and Burks, plus such an event would showcase the Iris Etc. space.

At Saturday’s pop-up, the space will be set up with mingling in mind. There will be a long farm table, some high-tops, and outdoor seating. Mitchell envisions diners eating standing up as well, with the pop-up having a street food event vibe. 

“It’s going to be a fun, busy Saturday,” Mitchell says. 

The all-vegetarian menu will be small plates, and features dishes such as andouille eggplant poboys, cabbage kimchi dumplings, and carrot corndogs. High Cotton will provide the beer. 

A five-course Delta Sol wine dinner has been set for July 21st. Mitchell says if things go well they hope to have three or four more events in August. 

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Celebrating at Restaurant Iris

Ever since I moved to Memphis almost three years ago, everyone has been telling me to make my way to Restaurant Iris. I finally went for my anniversary. I was ready to see what all the hype was about.

I started with rod bailey’s raviolo with brown butter and mushrooms ($18). The vegetables were soft and perfectly cooked. The brown butter sauce is like a red wine sauce that melts in your mouth and there’s several flavors to it. It was so good that I can’t even describe it and kept getting more bread to dip into the sauce. The raviolo is house-made and didn’t disappoint either, along with the braised short rib meat that’s inside.

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For my entrée, it was strongly suggested that I get the “surf and turf” of New York strip stuffed with fried oysters and blue cheese ($39). So that’s what I did, minus the “surf.” That’s another great thing I want to note about Restaurant Iris. I have a fish and peanut allergy and they accommodated me with such ease.

The steak is rich and a little fatty, very juicy. The blue cheese that’s in the dish hits you immediately. The steak is topped with a béarnaise and hollandaise sauce. This is by far the most flavors I’ve met on a plate. The sauces added to the richness of the dish. The magic happens here.

The “surf and turf” comes with potatoes and bacon. The potatoes are crispy and browned just right with a hint of pepper. The bacon is chewy and salty. I must warn you, the meal is a hearty portion, something I didn’t expect. You can easily share this entrée with two people. I had to pack half of it to go!

For dessert, I went with the homemade cookies and ice cream. You get three cookies; I chose sugar and cinnamon. The cookies were soft, crumbled in your mouth and are simple. For the ice cream, I got strawberry, vanilla and then asked for a surprise when it came to the last flavor. The ice cream was thick and rich. The strawberry ice cream stood out though because it tasted light and refreshing, almost as if I were eating real strawberries. For under ten dollars, this dessert was worth it!

I paired the dessert with a drink, their Brandy Milk Punch ($8.50). This drink could stand on its own as a dessert. It’s an alcoholic beverage with characteristics of a milkshake to it. The flavor of the brandy is strong. Restaurant Iris didn’t go light on the alcohol. You also get a mix of a marshmallow taste and a fluffy texture in your mouth. It’s topped with whipped cream, which helped balance everything out. The brandy milk punch is cold when it hits your lips, and warm going down. This baby is a milkshake with a zing!

Dare I say it… this is the best meal I’ve had in Memphis. Chef Kelly English even came out to make sure we enjoyed the meal. What a personal touch! My response, “thank you for an amazing meal.”

Categories
Food & Wine Food & Drink

Five Spot’s new menu; Aldo’s Midtown now open.

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

A restaurant in the back of a dive bar doesn’t seem like a promising place. But when it involves chef Kelly English, you rethink things.

The restaurant is Five Spot. The dive bar is Earnestine & Hazel’s. And English did the menu.

“I would describe it as fancy shitty bar food,” English reflects. “The kind of thing I would wanna eat in college when I was drunk.”

Must have been quite a college. Take the Watch Yo’ Head sweetbreads ($12). For those who don’t know, sweetbread is another name for the thymus gland, a brain-like organ in the neck.

In other words, as SNL‘s Linda Richman might say, neither sweet nor a bread.

But in this case, quite tasty. English’s bright idea lies in treating the spongy organ like a buffalo wing — double-frying it and dousing it with all manner of tasty sauces: buffalo sauce, buttermilk drizzle, and crumbled blue cheese. Personally, I had never really gotten into sweetbreads. But these will remind you of fried oysters. Try them.

At least as interesting as the menu is the space itself. Back in the ’20s, before it was a dive bar, Earnestine & Hazel’s was a pharmacy, the place where entrepreneur Abe Plough developed his revolutionary hair-straightening cream. And then, of course, there was the brothel, which started around World War II.

“When we bought it in the ’90s,” remembers owner Bud Chittom, “there were still whores upstairs. Russell [George] and I were worried they would go on strike.”

Five Spot’s interior carries traces of both the pharmacy and the brothel, but it has been pleasingly updated for the new millennium. Rustic brick walls and brass table tops are offset by modern furnishings and globed light fixtures. The design, says Chittom, is an homage to Earnestine & Hazel’s proprietor Russell George, who died in 2013.

“We took our cues from what Russell would have wanted it to be,” he says.

Before you ask: The Soul Burger ($6) isn’t going anywhere. English says it has saved his life far too many times for that. But if you’re feeling adventurous, you might instead try the Chicken Skin BLT ($10). Here, deep-fried chicken skin replaces bacon in the classic formulation, and the results are frankly dreamy.

“I think Earnestine & Hazel’s is a lot like Memphis,” muses English. “Everything here is broken, but it works. Nothing is perfect, but there’s a lot that’s really special.”

In recent years, a clutch of food businesses have opened along Cooper: Tart, Soul Fish, Philip Ashley Chocolates, Cooper Street 20/20, Memphis Made Brewing, and Muddy’s Grind House, to name a few. And you know what that means?

It means Memphis may finally knit Overton Square and Cooper Young into a single shopping-dining district. Call it Overton Cooper. Call it Cooperton Squang. Call it whatever you want — but let’s make it happen.

The latest stitch in this promising tapestry is Aldo’s Pizza Pies. Its new location occupies the old Two Way Inn, just across the street from Memphis Made Brewing Co. Formerly a forgettable beige box, the building has been heavily remodeled, and the results are contemporary and inviting.

Justin Fox Burks

Aldo’s Pizza Pies

Chief among its charms is the rooftop patio — the only one in Midtown, says owner Aldo Dean. Kissed by the sun and cooled by breezes, it’s the kind of place where you can forget about work for an hour.

Aldo’s menu — consistently tasty — remains largely unchanged from the downtown location. Everyone talks about the garlic knots, but have you tried the stuffed peppers ($8)? Loaded with goat cheese and marinara, they make an appealing crostini for summer.

Justin Fox Burks

Stevana Mangrum

As far as the pizza, I stand by old favorites like the Vodka Pie and the Trippy Truffle. But lately, I discovered a new winner in Bring Out the Gump ($17). Here, a savory poblano cream sauce is complemented by fresh basil, onion, and sun-dried tomato. The grilled shrimp only sweetens the deal.

Looking to take in a Grizzlies game? Order a pint of the Memphis Made Plaid Attack ($5) and belly up to the bar. This limited-edition Scottish ale combines a solid malt backbone with notes of cherry and chocolate — perfect for a tense fourth quarter.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Big Bad Pop Ups to Return

Oxford super chef John Currence is bringing back the Big Bad Pop Ups at City Grocery. 

The pop up restaurants are set by theme, with menus of low-cost small plates designed by City Grocery folks and visiting chefs: 

Monday-Tuesday, January 19-20
The “Sleepy Dragon Project”
City Grocery Restaurant Group previews a American-Chinese menu they have been toying with.

Monday-Tuesday, January 26-27
“Mumbai, Mississippi”
Chefs Vishwesh Bhatt and Asha Gomez, of Atlanta, make Southern-influenced Indian street food.

Monday-Tuesday, February 2-3
“Second Line 662”
Chef Kelly English previews dishes from his Oxford location of Second Line, set to open late spring 2015.

Monday-Tuesday, February 9-10
“The 132 Foot Journey”
City Grocery welcomes neighbor and friend Corbin Evans of the Oxford Canteen for a taste of North Mississippi “Alley Food.”

The first Big Bad Pop Up, in 2013, was a time-filler of sorts. Currence put together the series while City Grocery was being renovated. This year’s pop ups, the third, will benefit the University of Mississippi Medical Center Children’s Hospital Fund.