Tag: Mama Gaia

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Mama Gaia Ballet Memphis Location To Close

CREDIT: Bianca Phillips

Bianca Phillips

It was announced today that Mama Gaia, an all-organic vegetarian restaurant, will close its Ballet Memphis location at the end of April.

Mama Gaia was one of the first businesses to open in Crosstown Concourse. It opened in  spring 2017.

The restaurant offered pitas, quinoa bowls, salads, and soups.

The restaurant was owned by Cru and Philipp von Holtzendorff-Fehling. Philipp said before the opening: “Our goal is to inspire people to be more conscious about what they are eating and encourage them to incorporate high-quality, organic foods into their regular diet to promote healthy living and a sustainable environment. Right now, we are focusing all our efforts on building our brand with this Crosstown location, but we hope to make it an emerging trend for future generations.”

The Crosstown restaurant closed in September. Saucy Chicken, owned by the same ownership group, took over the space.

The second Mama Gaia opened in Ballet Memphis in August 2017.

From the release:

MAMA GAIA to cease operations in Ballet Memphis’ Midtown headquarters
Mama Gaia will be open until April 30, 2019; Ballet Memphis in discussion with potential new partner

MEMPHIS, TENN. (April 17, 2019) – – – MAMA GAIA, a fast-casual organic vegetarian cafe, will close its location in Ballet Memphis, effective the end of April. Mama Gaia has leased the cafe space at Ballet Memphis’ headquarters at 2144 Madison Avenue since September 2017 and will continue operations through April 30, 11am – 6pm Monday through Saturday.

This was the second location for Mama Gaia; it closed its original Crosstown Concourse cafe in September 2018 in order to focus on catering operations and other ventures. The ownership group opened the successful Saucy Chicken concept in the same Crosstown location.

“We have enjoyed our nearly two-year partnership with Mama Gaia, and we look forward to welcoming another enthusiastic partner to our beautiful cafe space here at Ballet Memphis,” Dorothy Gunther Pugh, CEO & Founding Artistic Director, said. “The Memphis food scene in the Midtown area is thriving and we are excited to be a part of it. We wish the Mama Gaia team all the best in future endeavors.”

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

The Chicken Business

CREDIT: Obsidian

Obsidian

Philipp von Holtzendorff-Fehling says he would often see people leave the Crosstown Concourse and return with big bags of food. (Those bags were not, by the way, from Mama Gaia.) He’s seeing those same folks lining up at his newest investment Saucy Chicken.

Opening Saucy Chicken was simply a matter of giving the people what they want, not a 180 turn on healthy eating principles.

As von Holtzendorff-Fehling explains, Mama Gaia’s organic ingredients were expensive, which made the meals pricy. Chicken, even locally sourced, antibiotic-free chicken is cheaper. Hence, Saucy Chicken was able to offer bigger plates of food for cheaper prices.

“If people are happy, then I’m happy,” he says.

von Holtzendorff-Fehling says he had little to do with the concept — just that he wanted something unique that would fit the Crosstown vibe.

He brushes off the lack of transparency regarding the other investors, saying it’s not all that unusual.

Ultimately, he says, “Mama Gaia is my passion and a business. Saucy Chicken is not a passion, it’s a business for me.”  

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Saucy Chicken Opens Today

Announced this morning: Saucy Chicken opens today at 10:30 a.m. in the Crosstown Concourse in the space that once held Mama Gaia.

Here’s the release:

Saucy Chicken, a fast-casual restaurant offering traditional Southern cuisine, announced today it is now open for business in Crosstown Concourse.

With antibiotic-free chicken and dishes made with locally sourced ingredients, Saucy Chicken focuses on creating affordable, quality food that caters to the palates of Mid-Southerners.
Obsidian

“Those of us who grew up below the Mason-Dixon know a thing or two about cooking up mouth-watering Southern fare,” said Shauntel Steward, Saucy Chicken restaurant manager. “Saucy Chicken’s offerings are made with love by team members who have a passion for comfort food. I’m looking forward to sharing the dishes I grew up on with our customers.”

Saucy Chicken’s name derives from the various homemade sauces it will offer to accompany its Southern-inspired dishes. Chef Celina Webb, formerly of Alchemy, created six signature sauces from scratch that will be made in-house daily. Sauces include Saucy Chicken’s signature Saucy Sauce and Crosstown Comeback, bleu cheese, honey mustard, ranch, house barbecue, spicy mustard and sweet and spicy. There are also options for tossed tenders, including garlic parmesan, buffalo, house barbecue, sweet and spicy and the signature Saucy Wing Sauce. Webb will also develop daily plate specials and dessert specials to add variety to the menu.

“Saucy Chicken will give our vertical village visitors a taste of something Memphis knows a lot about – Southern hospitality,” said Todd Richardson, co-leader of the Crosstown Concourse. “Crosstown’s restaurant lineup now spans the cuisine spectrum, and I believe this endeavor will prove to be wildly successful.”

In addition to fried chicken, Saucy Chicken’s menu also boasts grilled chicken, shrimp and catfish po’boys, deli sandwiches, salads and more. The restaurant will be open Monday-Friday from 10:30 a.m.-8 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday from 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Obsidian

About Saucy Chicken:
Founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 2018, Saucy Chicken is a fast-casual restaurant inspired by traditional Southern cuisine. It is a sustainable establishment offering antibiotic-free chicken and dishes featuring locally-sourced ingredients at affordable prices.

It’s a 180 turn from Mama Gaia’s all-vegetarian focus. Saucy Chicken is owned by an ownership group which includes Philipp von Holtzendorff-Fehling, co-owner of Mama Gaia with his wife Cru, who is not involved in the restaurant.   Obsidian

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Mama Gaia Closed in Crosstown

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

Mama Gaia announced today it closed its Crosstown location.

The restaurant, which serves all-organic vegetarian fare, was one of the first businesses to open in the Crosstown Concourse.

It will now focus on its Ballet Memphis location.

From the press release:

Mama Gaia (pronounced ma-ma \ˈgī-ə\), a fast-casual dining experience offering organic vegetarian menu options announced that it will shift focus to its location inside Ballet Memphis and close its Crosstown Concourse location Tuesday, Sept. 4.

Mama Gaia’s successful catering business will continue serving its fresh, organic menu to customers around the Mid-South. The restaurant will still offer delivery through UberEats, among others as well. Crosstown Concourse leadership has already secured a new restaurant concept to occupy the space, which will open this month.

Co-founders Philipp and Cru von Holtzendorff-Fehling set out to offer Memphians a new dining experience that served delicious dishes that were both good for patrons’ health and the planet, and opened the doors in Crosstown in March 2017.

“We believe wholeheartedly in this concept, but we need to make this strategic shift,” said Philipp, CEO and co-founder of Mama Gaia. “Crosstown is home to 265 apartments, a high school and more than 40 other tenants,” Philipp said. “An estimated 3,000 people visit the building every day. We absolutely love the vertical village and what it has accomplished as a whole. Unfortunately, there has simply not been enough interest in organic vegetarian food to sustain business. As we move forward, we’re concentrating on the Ballet Memphis location, catering, delivery and are certainly looking at other ways to expand the concept.”

“We really love Mama Gaia, and appreciate all of Philipp’s and Cru’s hard work the past year,” said Dr. Todd Richardson, co-leader of the Crosstown Concourse development. “The Crosstown neighborhood can look forward to a new restaurant moving into the space in September.”

We’ll keep you posted on what’s going in the new location. 

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Next Door, 2nd Mama Gaia Now Open

Crosstown Concourse


Next Door American Eatery in the Crosstown Concourse officially opened its doors on Tuesday.

The restaurant, a Kimbal Musk joint, is a more casual offshoot of the The Kitchen, located in Shelby Farms.

Next Door had a soft opening last week with the goal of ironing out the kinks while raising money for The Kitchen Community’s Learning Gardens. (No money was charged for the meal, and lieu of tips, donations were suggested.) Ninety-two of these “outdoor classrooms” have been in established in area schools so far. The goal is hit 100 by November.

The menu is designed around a clean-eating ethos using locally sourced goods — eggs and chickens from Marmilu Farms, pork chops from Home Place Pastures, for example.  

The dishes we sampled were the grilled broccolini with spicy sesame aioli and sunflower seeds; the Next Door Roasted Veggie bowl; and the veggie tacos. Other dishes include a beet (!) burger, Cuban and BBQ pork sandwiches, soups, and Calamari Fritto Misto. There are daily specials as well.

All the dishes were good, but that veggie bowl was standout — with broccolini, mushrooms, cauliflower, peppers on red quinoa topped in a tahini dressing. So tasty and satisfying. A comfort food that won’t hit you like a ton of bricks later.

The restaurant seats 126 inside with additional seating for 50 more on the patio. They are open daily, starting at 11 a.m., and a full bar will be in operation soon.

• Mama Gaia, the organic vegetarian restaurant, opened its second location in the new Ballet Memphis building on Madison last week.

The space designed by archimania, which recently won an award for the Mama Gaia restaurant design in the Crosstown Concourse, fits well the Mama Gaia aesthetic. The Mama Gaia menu lets the ingredients do most of the talking, with small but expertly done flourishes. The space is open with a collection of small tables lining floor-to-ceiling windows surrounding most of it. One side has small bar for sitting and eating, and there is a bar for drinks at another.

Note this bar for drinks — new to the Mama Gaia brand. At the preview we sampled the Crosstown Cooler (360 brand organic vodka, fresh-pressed organic cucumber juice, fresh organic lime juice, organic agave, and locally grown organic mint) and the Allegro (organic 360 vodka and organic OJ, lemon juice, berry puree, and agave).

The menu should be much the same as the first restaurant’s, though the Ballet Memphis site does have Copia Pizza and an Asian Bowl, plus new Quinoa Dippers. 

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Mama Gaia Announces Second Location

The folks behind Mama Gaia, the all-organic, vegetarian restaurant in Crosstown Concourse, announced today that they are opening a second location in Ballet Memphis’ new headquarters in Overton Square.

Diners at the new location can expect the same menu, though more compact. And, the Ballet Memphis location will offer organic wine and local beers, perhaps some cocktails as well.

The new Mama Gaia will be open concurrently with Ballet Memphis’ new headquarters, sometime in August.

From the release:

Visitors will have something extra to look forward to when they visit Ballet Memphis’ new purpose-built headquarters scheduled to open this summer in Overton Square: Mama Gaia, a Memphis-based, fast-casual organic vegetarian restaurant, will operate the cafe inside.

This will be the second location in Memphis for Mama Gaia. Mama Gaia at Ballet Memphis will offer a select food menu each day (including breakfast items) as well as coffee drinks, wine and beer. The cafe is open to the general public.

“Part of my vision and mission for this new building always has been to provide creative and imaginative experiences for everyone in the community. By bringing more people to Ballet Memphis, we are providing not only the experience of our art form but also the opportunity to spend time together and to encourage exploration, whether it is watching the professional company rehearse, taking a child to ballet class, or attending one of our special creative events or movement classes,” Dorothy Gunther Pugh, CEO/Founding Artistic Director, said. “It was always an important part of this vision to have a food and beverage offering; to have the right partner was critical.

“Mama Gaia’s food is delicious, healthy and made with care and commitment; it’s the perfect complement to Ballet Memphis’ programs. It’s also the passion and dedication to the brand that drew us to them.”

Created and owned by Philipp and Cru Peri von Holtzendorff-Fehling, Mama Gaia opened its first location in the Crosstown Concourse in March 2017. The inspiration to launch Mama Gaia came after Cru was diagnosed with Lyme disease. After she self-prescribed changes to an all-organic and plant-based diet as part of her treatment, Cru noticed a remarkable difference in her health. The couple wanted to provide delicious fast-casual options for the marketplace.

“Partnering with Ballet Memphis to bring Mama Gaia to the new headquarters fit wonderfully with our mission,” Philipp said. “We have already seen tremendous success in Crosstown Concourse, so to open a second location where more community members can experience healthy and delicious food at an affordable price was an easy decision.”

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Mama Gaia Raising Funds for St. Jude

I’ve been working my way through the Mama Gaia menu. I love the fresh, healthy no-fuss approach to food.

Asian salad

Falafel salad

Cena Pita with oven-baked fries

My recs: the Copia Pita with roasted vegetables and olive basil sauce and the Asia Pita with terrific sesame-crusted tofu. Mmmmmmm.

On Monday, April 17th, the restaurant will donate 25 percent of all sales to St. Jude.

The event is set for Monday in recognition of Meat Free Monday, a campaign launched in 2009 by Paul, Mary, and Stella McCartney.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Opening soon: Mama Gaia and Area 51

On Saturday, the first commercial sign in decades will hang in the Sears Crosstown building.

Mama Gaia, a startup organic vegetarian restaurant, will hold a ribbon-cutting on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. near the west atrium of the much-anticipated renovation project, Crosstown Concourse.

“We couldn’t imagine a better place to do this,” Philipp von Holtzendorff-Fehling, who designed the restaurant with his wife, Cru Peri, says. “We heard they were restoring the building, and at some point we took a tour. Then we heard the philosophy and mission, and we felt a connection. It is such a great fit.”

Philipp and Cru Peri von Holtzendorff-Fehling

Mama Gaia, which means “Mother Earth” in Greek, will be a fast-casual restaurant that serves locally sourced vegetarian cuisine at an affordable price and in a timely manner.

“It’s deliciously prepared, delivered in a reasonable time frame, and is affordable,” Philipp says. “That’s not out there and it is hard to do, but we’ve worked through all of that for a very long time.”

They will offer five different flavors of pitas, such as antipasti, mushroom and quinoa, or Asian, some of which can also be turned into salads and some of which can be converted into quinoa bowls. They will also serve petizzas — miniature pizzas, using the same ingredients.

Baked potato fries — nothing is fried — soups, side salads, organic sodas, homemade green tea lemonade, cold-pressed juices, homemade chai tea, and coffee are some of the other offerings. They also plan to begin serving breakfast at the end of April.

Philipp says he and his wife got the idea after his wife turned vegan when Lyme disease had taken control of her life.

“She loved to play tennis, but after playing for five minutes, she was done,” Philipp says. “She changed her diet significantly, turned vegan, and only bought organic foods. She changed some other things, too, but diet was one of the main factors so that now she can play tennis for hours.”

They found the food landscape in Memphis didn’t offer many options for the two, so they did a lot of cooking at home.

The German couple have lived in Memphis for five years after living in Seattle and Europe. Philipp says he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

“We fell in love with Memphis,” he says. “We want this to be a Memphis story.”

Mama Gaia, 1350 Concourse Ave., #137, (901) 352-9616, mamagaia.net. Opens March 25th at 9:30 a.m. Hours will be 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily.

Speaking of fresh, homemade, and locally sourced, imagine if it was ice cream.

That’s what recent entrepreneurs Steve and Karin Cubbage were thinking when they deciding to go out on their own and develop their own business.

“We were in the casino business, and they downsized and got rid of my position,” Steve, who was in marketing in Lula, Mississippi, says. “We didn’t want to move our kids, and we thought if we didn’t open our own business now, we were probably never going to.”

After tossing around some ideas, one morning Karin said, “What about ice cream?” and Area 51 Ice Cream was born.

The couple opened their first shop close to three years ago in Hernando at 117 W. Commerce and have met with great success. So much so, that they’re expanding. To Crosstown Concourse.

Using only the freshest ingredients and local when available and making everything by hand, the duo offer unique flavors such as Mexican Hot Chocolate and Snickerdoodle.

And when they say Snickerdoodle, they mean Karin is in the kitchen making Snickerdoodle cookies from scratch to add to the ice cream.

The same goes for chocolate chips — made from scratch — or brownies or chocolate sauce or carrot cake.

“Our goal was always to offer something unique and high-end,” Steve says. “We make sure we use high-quality ingredients, and we don’t freeze anything.

“We get as many comments on social media about the quality of our service as we do the ice cream,” Steve continues.

He says this business model fits seamlessly with that of the Crosstown Concourse building.

“It’s an experiential thing,” he says. “It’s a historic building full of great people making connections there. It’s a more organic experience, which fits in well with us. We are part of a community.”

Area 51 Ice Cream will be located in the middle atrium in a 600-square-foot space with some seating in the shop and additional cafe-style seating outside of the space. They plan on offering 12 flavors every day with daily updates of what they are serving posted on their Facebook page.

They hope to open in May, but plans are still being negotiated.

“This is going to be really cool, and it’s very exciting,” Steve says.

Area 51 Ice Cream, 117 W. Commerce in Hernando and in the Crosstown Concourse building, (662) 298-3028.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Vegetarian Restaurant to Open in Crosstown, etc.

An all-organic vegetarian restaurant will open in the Crosstown Concourse, it was announced this morning. 

Mama Gaia (“Mother Earth”) will feature pitas, quinoa bowls, salads, and soups as well as options for the kids. 

Cru and Philipp von Holtzendorff-Fehling, along with two partners, are opening the restaurant. Cru, a professionally trained chef, will lead the kitchen. 

Mama Gaia is guided by three principles: health consciousness, ethical obligation, and environmental stewardship. 

From the press release: 

“Our goal is to inspire people to be more conscious about what they are eating and encourage them to incorporate high-quality, organic foods into their regular diet to promote healthy living and a sustainable environment,” Philipp said. “Right now, we are focusing all our efforts on building our brand with this Crosstown location, but we hope to make it an emerging trend for future generations.”

* Petra Cafe is joining the Highland Strip at 547 S. Highland, with an opening date set for early 2017. 

• The Flyer’s Crafts and Drafts is returning November 12th at Crosstown Arts. 

As the name suggests, there will be lots of crafts and beer. This is a fun one, folks.