Bianca Phillips and Joe Yester (Photos: Michael Donahue)
Loving Local returned this spring in a new location : Grind City Brewing Company.
And, to make things even more festive, tap room manager Ashley Creecy created a special drink, “Peach, Please,” for the Project Green Fork event. It’s made with black tea, peach juice, lemon juice, and a Grind City seltzer base, all garnished with a lemon wheel and fresh mint sprig.
Jon Van Hoozer, Will Coleman, Donna Van HoozerAli Manning and Beth WilsonDaniel Taylor and Daishu McGriff
“The staff was fantastic to work with,” says Leann Edwards, Clean Memphis/Project Green Fork program director. “And the location is a great backdrop, with a lot of places for people to roam.”
Guests also dined in the tap room where they could “get a respite from the heat.”
Kevin SullivanSelah and Darius NelsonKofi Asare, Khendra Lucas, Ashley Peterson, Meredith Woloshin, Nathan Woloshin
About 300 people attended the event, which featured fare from Biscuits & Jams, Good Fortune Co., Kitchen Laurel, Lulu’s Cafe & Bakery, and Shroomlicious Meals.
“Our chefs really love to be part of this event,” says Edwards. As a press release states, “This community event celebrates the creativity of Project Green Fork certified chefs, breweries, and bartenders who create custom, small-plate appetizers, desserts, and cocktails for the evening.”
Myra Cochrane, Grace Hill, Grace Siler, Kristen Lloyd at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)
I asked Beth Wilson what she was eating at that moment at Loving Local.
“Goodness,” she replied.
She had just visited Good Fortune Company’s food station, where chefs Sarah Cai and Arturo Leighton were serving “Big City Halal Cart” — chicken or tofu over rice.
So, I had to try it a.s.a.p. “Goodness” — and may I add “gracious” — it was so over-the-top good.
Arturo Leighton and Sarah Cai at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Janet Boscarino, Kathleen Quinlen, and Beth Wilson at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Good Fortune was just one of the food stations at the Project Green Fork event held June 15th at The Ravine.
Also on hand were Monique Williams of Biscuits & Jams, Kevin Sullivan from Tsunami, Terrance Whitley of Inspire Community Cafe, and Caleb and Brandon Ellenburg from Central BBQ.
Caleb Ellenburg and Brandon Ellenburg at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Kayla Pritchett, Chef Mo (Monique Williams), and Maegan Jade at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Stacy and Kevin Williams at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Terrance Whitley, Jacqueline Thomas, and Jayden Whitley at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Gabrielle Shirley at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Project Green Fork is part of Clean Memphis, whose mission is to make Memphis a cleaner and greener city. The certified Clean Memphis restaurants at Loving Local take six steps to reduce their environmental impacts. That includes recycling, composting, and not using styrofoam.
The restaurants at Loving Local were among the 40 Project Green Fork certified restaurants, says Clean Memphis project manager Lisa Brown.
Lisa Brown at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)
“We’re spearheading zero waste events in Memphis,” Brown says. “Zero waste doesn’t literally mean no waste. It means sending the least amount of material to the landfill with our preferred waste streams being recycling and composting.
“We work with chefs and attendees to make sure everybody understands that we’re trying to keep as much material out of the landfill as possible. So, for our events, we typically send as low as three percent of the event waste to the landfill. And the other waste is either recycled or composted. We’re talking zero waste to the landfill because that stuff is going to sit there for 30 years. That stuff will likely outlive you and me.”
About 200 or so people attended Loving Local, which Brown describes as “an event that is fun for the entire family. You want to make sure the kids all the way up to grandparents are able to come to this event and eat good food and have fun.”
And, she says, “The guests are also able to mingle and talk with the chefs about their dish, about their restaurant, about their personal mission for environmental sustainability.”
Jake Tribble and Becky Campbell at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Rob and Lauren Williams at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Rob Jaffe and Sara Boscarino at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Hayes Nobert and Margaret Cowens at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Jake Allen, Janice Allen, Shelia Allen-Barron, Tammy Herron at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Sierra and Jack Lowry at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)
If you missed Loving Local, make plans to attend Project Green Fork’s Reharvest Memphis November 16th Downtown. The annual event is “to bring the awareness to the overall issue of food waste and how we are encouraged to think about food waste.”
They work with four or five chefs, who take surplus food “nearing the end of its life,” and “create new purposes for it.” Brown says.
For instance, a chef might take surplus Mid-South Food Bank cans of black eyed peas nearing their expiration date and, instead of sending them to a landfill, they create a dish with them. “We encourage attendees to be more creative with our food instead of looking at food as a resource and not necessarily as a commodity.”
In August, they will begin a new project, Brown says. “We’re planning a restaurant challenge. We will ask local restaurants to basically adopt two to three new practices that are going to help them reduce the majority amount of food waste that they’re producing. We’re going to start this in the Crosstown Evergreen area.”
Drew and Melodie Barton at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Jared Bulluck, George Abbott, Shaleen Ragha at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Dawn and Mike Weaver at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Ivan and Amanda Janga at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Scot Cowan, Michelle Cowan, Steve Boscarino, Georgia Edwards, Rob Jaffe, Sara Boscarino at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)DJ Alpha Whiskey at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue) Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)David Moore, Phoebe Moore, Tommy Schlather, Emma Simmons at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Kristen Rambo, Silas Armstrong, Elizabeth Blondis at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Duncan Galbraith and Day Galbraith at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Tim Hartline, Brandon Moss, Brenda Moss, Monica Townsend, Ben Townsend at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)Emma Page, Becky Campbell, Heather Page at Loving Local (Credit: Michael Donahue)We Saw You
Laura Gentry, Michael Donahue, and Dory sous chef Brandon Burke with a citrus-braised pork tostada at Loving Local. (Credit: Nannie Harris)
Memphis never fails to amaze me. And I’m a native Memphian.
I received an invitation to Loving Local, a Project Green Fork tasting event with cuisine from area restaurants, which was held June 16th at The Ravine at 435 Madison Avenue.
I’d never been to The Ravine. And, I discovered, this was the first event at the venue, which hasn’t officially opened yet.
Wow. Was I surprised when I saw the space. In addition to the beautiful about-to-open Memphis Made Brewing Co., the outdoor area in the rear was mind blowing. Looking down from a balcony, I saw tables, food vendors, DJ Crystal Mercedes, and plenty of room.
Let me reiterate. Wow.
I called Ethan Knight to fill me in on The Ravine. Knight is vice-president of development for Development Services Group, the lead master developer for a number of efforts in The Edge District, which includes The Ravine, Rise apartments, and Orion Federal Credit Union.
“The Ravine is difficult to describe because it’s really unusual,” Knight says. “It’s a community gathering point, a public plaza, a park, and, ultimately, it creates a natural gathering point for The Edge District.
Loving Local at The Ravine. (Credit: Michael Donahue
“We’ve taken a piece of land that was basically a throw away. Was totally forgotten. We saw this unique opportunity to make it a very unique public space. That idea has evolved over time. Me and our team have been working on this for seven plus years. Trying to figure out how this whole Edge District comes together.”
The Ravine was an old railway, which used to be the end of the old Norfolk Southern Railway, Knight says. “There was a railroad station north of Madison back before Danny Thomas [Boulevard]. Tracks ran along The Ravine and underneath Monroe and Madison. In the ‘60s and ‘70s the train station went away and they put in Danny Thomas. I’m a civil engineer by trade, so all that stuff is fascinating to me.”
That view from the balcony where I was standing is “20 feet below Madison,” Knight says. Noting the trees above, he says, “We have tons of shade — morning shade, evening shade. You’re down in this bowl. Down in this ravine. It’s a good bit cooler down there than up on Madison and Monroe.”
And that’s a fact. I told someone at the party, “It’s not so bad tonight.” I thought temperatures had cooled down, but I think it was because of where I was standing at The Ravine.
The Ravine is “a long term vision,” Knight says. “What you saw last night is just the beginning in a sense. We have a whole second phase of plans for The Ravine after we see how people use it. It will continue to grow and evolve over time as The Edge District grows.”
Memphis Made Brewing Co. co-owner/president Drew Barton says, “I’m hoping we’re up and running pretty soon. Waiting on a few final things. Code inspections.”
This will be the second location of Memphis Made Brewing Co., which is at 768 South Cooper. It put out its first beer October 11, 2013, Barton says. “We’re keeping our current location. We’re just adding a second location, (which is) probably 17,000 square feet. So, it’s roughly three times the size of our current location.”
Janet Boscarino and Drew Barton at Loving Local. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
They thought The Ravine would be open in time for the event, says Janet Boscarino, executive director of Clean Memphis, the umbrella group that includes Project Green Fork. “We pushed on,” she says. The event “allowed people to see the space and see what it’s going to look like.”
Clean Memphis’s mission is “to work on Memphis, making a cleaner and greener city.”
Project Green Fork is “our restaurant sustainability certification, where our restaurants take six steps to reduce their environmental impacts.”
That includes “recycling, composting, and not using styrofoam. And so all the chefs that were there are all from Project Green Fork certified restaurants.”
Participating Project Green Fork restaurants represented at Loving Local were Good Fortune Co., Hen House, Salt/Soy, Tsunami, Da Guilty Vegan, and Dory. Mempops also was on hand. The Tipsy Tumbler provided the bartending service.
Loving Local at The Ravine. (Credit: Michael Donahue)JeraVonte Twillie from Hen House at Loving Local. (Credit: Michael Donahue)Manus McMeen at Loving Local. (Credit: Michael Donahue)Sarah Cai and Arturo Leighton from Good Fortune Co. at Loving Local. (Credit: Michael Donahue)
“We do zero-waste events,” Boscarino says. “We control the atmosphere so that anything that comes in material wise can be recycled and composted, including forks, cups, everything. Food scraps, plates, everything that can be composted, and beer and wine bottles recycled. It’s a way for us to socialize the idea of zero waste.”
More than 200 attended, Boscarino says. “We loved it. Every time we do Loving Local — we’ve been on a two-year hiatus from the pandemic — we try to do it in a new location. The first one we did was when Loflin Yard was just opening. We were the first event in the Old Dominick space. We always try to find a new and interesting place that’s about to open.”
The Ravine has “that perfect indoor/outdoor atmosphere. The fact you’re in a ravine, which was something overlooked as a dead space, is now infused with energy and innovation. We love those kinds of spaces and bringing people together in them.”
Lajoyce Cole, Becky and Mike Todd, Devin Marzette, and Kevin Marzette at Loving Local. (Credit: Michael Donahue)Ari Zelig and Danielle Blake at Loving Local. (Credit: Michael Donahue)DJ Crystal Mercedes at Loving Local. (Credit: Michael Donahue)Henry Turley and Wanda Shea at Loving Local. (Credit: Michael Donahue)Rob Jaffe, Sara Boscarino, Conner Forrester, Stewart Hart, Leesa Gavin, Georgia Edwards, and Jake Ratliff at Loving Local. (Credit: Michael Donahue)Bill Ganus, Ali Manning, George Abbott, and Shaleen Ragha at Loving Local. (Credit: Michael Donahue)Faith Butler and Nannie Harris at Loving Local. (Credit: Michael Donahue) We Saw You
If you haven’t yet, there’s still time to sign up for Project Green Fork’s annual Loving Local fund-raiser, which takes place tomorrow (Saturday, Oct. 4th, 6-9pm) at the Malco Summer Drive-In. Order tickets online, or just show up at the door.
Want to be entertained? There will be live music by Impala, miniature golf, giant Jenga, cornhole, and a silent auction. Auction items, which include caramels from Shotwell Candy Co. and custom jewelry from The Bead Couture, can be viewed on Project Green Fork’s instagram.
If all else fails, you can always just look up. During the event, two classic movies—both shot in Memphis—will be playing on the big screen: Mystery Train and Walk the Line.
Since 2009, Project Green Fork has helped Memphis restaurants become more environmentally friendly by teaching them to do things like compost, use less water, and recycle. Tickets to this year’s fund-raiser start at $30, but if you upgrade to a VIP pass, you can get some cool swag.
