Neil Rome of the “901 Mafia” team entered his mouth-watering “Italian Muffuletta Meatloaf” in “Anything Italian,” one of the categories at the Memphis Italian Festival, held May 30th through June 1st at Marquette Park.
Lucca Dyer, D. J. Naylor, and Teagan NaylorBrooke Davis and James Little Jacob Andew Bratcher, Abigail Miner, and Briley Faulkner
Rome begins making the dish, based on his grandmother’s take on an old Justin Wilson Cajun recipe, by creating a paste out of breadcrumbs, tomato sauce, eggs, seasoning, and parsley. He then adds ground beef and smoked ham, which he forms into a big ball before laying it out flat. He spreads a mixture of onions, black and green olives, Parmesan cheese, and pepperoncini peppers over it and slowly rolls everything up “like you would a jelly roll,” Rome says. Finally, he pours his gravy, which he makes out of tomato sauce, red wine, olive oil, and seasonings, over everything and slides it into the oven.
Marjo, Andrew, Joseph, and Billy LabonteZoey High, Sarah Jordan Houseal, and Olivia Tashie
Rome’s team’s entry didn’t win Anything Italian, but his team won the Father Milton Guthrie “You Are Great” award.
Forty-three teams participated in this year’s Memphis Italian Festival, which drew more than 15,000 people, says Richard Ranson, who along with his wife Vickie, is the cooking teams and judges co-chair.
In the Oliveus "kitchen" at Memphis Italian Festival: Josh Gianni, Andrew Mullis, Cooper McBride, Jason McBride, Martin Villalobos, Evan Weaver, Scott Brown (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Half the fun of being a judge at Memphis Italian Festival is hearing the stories about how the spaghetti gravy (“sauce” to some people) came about. A lot of times it was made from a recipe handed down from somebody’s grandmother and either tweaked or not tweaked.
But spaghetti gravy recipes also can be concocted by team members.
Like Jason McBride, 41, a member of Oliveus, one of the oldest Memphis Italian Festival teams. McBride created the spaghetti gravy, which was chosen by team members to represent Oliveus in the spaghetti gravy category at this year’s festival, which was held June 1st through 3rd at Marquette Park.
His recipe wasn’t handed down from his grandmother or anybody else, says McBride, who joined the team around 2016.
But he loves recipes. “A recipe is a storybook,” McBride says “And that’s something I’ve always enjoyed with cooking.
“There’s always a story behind it. Always a reason. And that’s just what I enjoy. That’s the fun of food for me.”
The story might be “Who created that recipe?” or “Who did you have that meal with?”
“For me, I can remember, as a child, cooking with my parents and my grandparents. And that carried on.”
Jason McBride and his spaghetti gravy at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)
The spaghetti gravy McBride came up with for this year’s festival includes pork sausage. “Everyone looks at Memphis and associates it with pork and barbecue. It was just a neat addition to continue on with this Italian dish. To me, pork is so versatile.”
McBride didn’t go to a grocery store or meat market to buy sausage. “The team has always made their own pork sausage.” And, he says, “We hand grind all the pork and season it. And we hand-make all of the sauces.”
What makes his sauce different is “the pork, the garlic kick, and then there’s a little bit of what I would call heat. Because there is a dash of red peppers. It’s got kind of a spicier kick to it than some traditional sauces.”
McBride also added some red wine.
Oliveus came in 11th place out of 39 participants in the spaghetti gravy category.
“They’ve been in the top as many years as I can remember,” says Richard Ransom, who, along with his wife, Vickie, are Memphis Italian Festival cooking team chairpersons.
For next year’s Memphis Italian Festival, McBride plans to come up with a new spaghetti gravy recipe, which he hopes his fellow team members will once again choose to represent the team. “For me, for the most part, the ‘game work’ I’ll call it, will always exist. I’ll always experiment with new ingredients and new seasonings and just see where it goes from there. For me, cooking is never this static product that never changes. The evolution of it is what’s fun.”
It was also fun for McBride to see his 11-year-old son Cooper taking part in Memphis Italian Festival. “He worked nonstop. This year in particular, he was in the kitchen cooking as soon as the festival opened and when it closed at night.
“He assisted with the gravies, pizzas, all the pasta dishes, meatballs, really the whole menu. He was a key player.”
It won’t be surprising to see Cooper one day representing Oliveus with his spaghetti gravy at Memphis Italian Festival.
“Instead of a basketball or a new bike, I just recently got him a new flattop grill,” McBride says. And it was a hit. “It was like Christmas morning for this kid. He was so excited.”
This year’s winners in the Memphis Italian Festival spaghetti gravy contest were:
1st Place – Pastafarians
2nd Place – Pasta La Vista
3rd Place – Foodfellas
4th Place – Molti Cuigini
5th Place – Da Friends
6th Place – Pazzo!
Scott Manes, Sebastian Manes, Anthony Lammey, Michael Sansone at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)Madison Fleming, Johnny Fleming, Isabel Fleming, Brian Fleming at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)Yulia and James Britton at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)James Anthony Edwards at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)Wade and Ashlee Jones Plumlee at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)Stephen Roberts and Gabe Roberts at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)Wade Plumlee at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue) Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)We Saw You
Gravy judging at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Anna Powell)
I was a spaghetti gravy (don’t say “sauce”) contest judge once again at the Memphis Italian Festival presented by the Holy Rosary Catholic Church parish. In addition to getting a great purple (my favorite color)-and-white festival T-shirt, I got to taste gravy at three of the booths.
And, I have to add, all three were exceptionally good. They were so good, I asked for second helpings at each booth.
I love to tell people I was a judge at the very first festival, which was held in 1990. That year it was called “Holy Rosary Spaghetti Festival.” Sixteen teams participated that year. Now, it’s a sprawling festival with numerous teams in Marquette Park.
I’ve been a spaghetti gravy judge many times over the years at the “Italian Fest,” including last year’s scaled-down-event. That festival, held June 5th, featured 27 teams, but the event wasn’t open to the public. It was held without the live music, throngs of people, and several days and nights of partying. It also was held in front of Holy Rosary school instead of in the park.
This year’s event, which was held June 2nd through 4th, was business as usual with 36 teams and live music each night on the Chuck Hutton Main Stage.
Maggie Miller and Anna Powell at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)Rhett, David, and Tyler Stamm at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)Johnny Fleming and Brian Fleming at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)
It was fun talking to people on the teams.
I love the stories from gravy makers Anna Powell and Maggie Miller from the Meatball So Hard team.
The base of the recipe is from their grandmother, the late Anna Sabbatini Hill, Powell says. “She was our ‘Nona,’” she says. But, she adds, “Everybody put their own spin on it over the years. She changed it almost every time she made it depending on what she had in the fridge.”
Her grandmother also used to separate the various ingredients when she put them in the pot. “Your base always started with the celery, onion, and carrots. The carrots acted as the red of the flag, even though they weren’t red. She put them in that order so when you looked down in the pot you’d see the colors of the Italian flag. So, that way you knew you were going in the right direction.”
The first thing I noticed was how tomato-y their gravy tasted. Which is a good thing as far as I’m concerned. In their gravy, for the first time, they used tomato juice that a family friend bottled and saved when canning home grown tomatoes, Powell says.
Jay Foreman, who made the gravy at Bats Amore, is a professional chef. While talking about his gravy, he told me, “The gravy’s like the chef: thick and crunchy.”
I love the clever booth names. Looking at my map I saw “Foodfellas,” “Ciao, Y’all,” “Pastafarians,” and “Eat, Drink & Be Italian.”
Teams get creative with their names and logos at Memphis Italian Festival. (Credit: Michael Donahue)Julie Earnest and Jackson Earnest at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue) Ciao Y’all team members at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)Members of the Ciao, Y’all team at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Booths had themes. Pasta la Vista’s theme had to do with the 1980s. Team member Evan Wilson wore a pair of pink socks that weren’t Italian-centric. They featured a chicken-and-waffle design. But, Wilson says, “It was the hottest pink neon thing I could find ‘80s.”
Pasta La Vista at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)Kyra Howard and Daniel Webster at Pasta La Vista booth at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Vickie and Richard Ranson were back as cooking contest and judging team chairs.
This year’s Spaghetti Gravy Contest winners:
First place: Foodfellas
Second place: Thursday Night Italians
Third place: Italian Gravy Train
Fourth place: Pastafarians
Fifth place: Molti Cuigini (Many Cousins)
Sixth place: Venetian Villa’ns
Wood Rodgers and Caroline Peters at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)Gwendolyn and Ernie Vescovo at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue)Hunter Black at Memphis Italian Festival (Credit: Michael Donahue) We Saw You
With the end of the Memphis in May celebrations and the beginning of June, summer is well and truly underway in Memphis.
Okay, the first day of summer isn’t technically for another couple of weeks, but let’s be honest — it feels like summer. It’s hot, humid, and summer thunderstorms have already begun rolling through town. So if it’s time to break out the sunscreen for the season, then we may as well party like it’s officially summer. But how to get your seasonal groove on? Worry not, dear reader, your faithful Flyer staff is here to help.
In this issue, we’ve got a list of happenings we hope will keep you cool — festivals, movie nights, Elvis Week, anniversaries, book launches, and more. Our advice? Circle everything that sounds fun, slap on some sunblock, swig a seltzer, and go out and enjoy the Memphis heat.
Summer Fest: Memphis Pride Fest Memphis Pride Fest is back, louder and prouder because it’s IRL this year after two years of online events.
The weekend of events is billed as the single largest gathering for the LGBTQ+ community and allies in Memphis and the Mid-South. Organizers expect more than 35,000 attendees “to celebrate the most colorful weekend of the year.”
Pride kicks off Thursday at the Malco Summer Drive-In. Gates open at 7 p.m. for a viewing of To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything!Julie Newmar at 8 p.m. A drag show featuring Brenda Newport, Kaiyla JonVier Dickerson, Zoey Adams, and more starts at 10 p.m. Tickets are $35 per vehicle.
On Friday, the Big Gay Dance Party returns, this time at Crosstown Theater at 8 p.m. The event features DJ A.D. “and a safe, inclusive environment to be their true selves.” Tickets range from $15-$150. After-parties start after midnight at Dru’s Bar and The Pumping Station.
Saturday will find Robert R. Church Park awash in rainbows as the festival gets under way at 10 a.m. It features two stages, more than 150 vendors, food trucks, a car show, a kids area, an adult area, a VIP lounge, free and discreet HIV testing, and more. The festival ends at 5 p.m. Tickets are $1.
“What would Pride be without a big, bold colorful parade?” ask the organizers. We won’t have to find out this year. The Memphis Pride Parade steps off at 1 p.m. from 4th and Beale and makes its way through the Beale Street Entertainment District. It will feature 100 different floats, performers, and more with more than 3,000 people participating.
Head back to Beale Sunday at 11 a.m. for the Grand Marshal’s Drag Brunch at the Jerry Lee Lewis Cafe. — Toby Sells Memphis Pride Fest, various locations, June 2nd-5th. Event tickets range from $1-$150. Check midsouthpride.org for more information.
Mike Kerr Memphis Botanic Garden
Summer Sounds: Music in the Open Air Hearing live music outside as the day cools to dusk is one of the great joys of summer in Memphis. With Covid concerns having lapsed over the past year and outdoor gatherings being among the safest anyway, there is sure to be an outdoor music event happening nearly any weekend you care to find one.
We’ve recently covered some of the ongoing series offering such delights, venerable local traditions such as the Memphis Botanic Garden’s Live at the Garden series (kicking off on June 11th with Steely Dan) and the Overton Park Shell’s Orion Free Concert Series (which launched Sunday with the Sunset Symphony concert, followed by Jackie Venson on Thursday, June 2nd). Farther east, yet with a more local flair, there’s always the Germantown Performing Arts Center’s Bluebird Concerts at The Grove. All of them offer green spaces for lounging under the trees as the summer breeze rises — not to mention food and drink vendors.
Some summer series actually began in the spring. The River Series at Harbor Town offers the prime acoustics of an amphitheater on the eastern banks of Mud Island, in full view of the Memphis skyline, and their final spring concert, featuring MouseRocket and Ibex Clone, goes down this Saturday, June 4th. Trolley Night has been livening up the last Friday of every month since March, and will carry on through October, bringing plenty of casual live music to the South Main area. And the Sunset Jazz series has already begun gracing the second Sunday of each month down in Court Square. If Thursday is more your thing, consider the Rooftop Parties atop the Peabody Hotel, which have been featuring a mix of live bands and DJs since April.
Finally, don’t forget the many private venues that specialize in outdoor shows, like Railgarten, Loflin Yard, Carolina Watershed, and Slider Inn Downtown. Thanks to them, you can find live music in the open air nearly every night of the week. — Alex Greene
Summer in the Garden: Twilight Thursdays Every week between now and October 27th, the Memphis Botanic Garden is featuring a “Twilight Thursday” from 5 till 8 p.m. What is a Twilight Thursday? Glad you asked, because there’s a lot happening at these events, not to mention the fabulous Alice in Wonderland topiary exhibit going on right now.
Hungry? Twilight Thursdays offer a rotating array of food trucks each week with a variety of culinary options so you can create your own picnic dinner. There are picnic tables in a nearby grove of trees. If you like getting your drink on, there’s also a “Curious Cocktails” cash bar, which could potentially help you better appreciate the Cheshire Cat’s looming grin. More of a beer person? MBG has got you covered with a special selection of “Alice’s Ales” from Memphis Made Brewing Company.
Memphis Botanic Garden promises there will be additional surprises each week, including vendors, performers, and other special guests, plus presentations from various community partners and groups.
And here’s another bonus: You can bring your favorite pupper to Twilight Thursdays. You know they’d like nothing more than a hike around the grounds on a summer’s eve. Just don’t forget to keep them on leash at all times.
For advance information on food and drink options and performers and other special activities, check with the garden’s Instagram and Facebook accounts. Nonmembers are required to purchase time-entry advance tickets for Twilight Thursdays. — Bruce VanWyngarden
Michael Donahue Team Mama Biondini at Italian Fest
Summer Spaghetti Gravy: Italian Fest On cross-country European railways, there’s always that one train car that sticks out. Rather than a collective of quiet, mild-mannered passengers elsewhere, this car opens its door to release a noisy deluge of yelling, partying, dancing, card-playing, drinking, general hoopla, and hand gestures, dio mio, the hand gestures. Yes, that’s right: It’s the one and only Italian car.
But fear not: The exhilarating merriment of such an encounter doesn’t have to require a transcontinental trip — Memphis’ very own Italian Fest is back in full force this summer, shedding the private, Covid-enforced subdued environments of recent years to embrace its former glory. We’re talking large cooking pots from which the red sauce endlessly floweth, throngs of jubilant festival-goers dancing the tarantella in large fields at Marquette Park, and thrilling clashes of perhaps one of the world’s most intense sports: bocce.
It’s a list of festivities that would make Chef Hector Boyardee himself proud, bringing together many fine staples of Italian-American culture into one place. The festival, running from Thursday, June 2nd, to Saturday, June 4th, is a wild three-day party; it’s a Mediterranean-style version of barbecue fest, where instead of pork there are enough noodles to make a bridge across the Mississippi. It’s fine enough to hang out, listen to some music, and peruse the festivities. But the real fun is in the cook-off, where various teams pack into their tents as they attempt to create the best spaghetti gravy on site or other Italian entrees and desserts. (Pro tip: try to link up with someone who has an invite to one of the cooking tents. The experience is far superior that way.)
If you need an extra glass of wine, toss the kids over to the carnival rides at Luigi Land before popping open another bottle. There’s fun aplenty, and while we may not be in Rome, well, … do as the Romans do anyway. — Samuel X. Cicci Learn more about Italian Fest dates and tickets at memphisitalianfestival.org.
Jesse Davis 901 Comics
Summer Reading This issue is jam-packed with ways to get out and experience hot fun in the Memphis summertime. But this one’s for the fans of air-conditioning.
There are no end of book events in the Bluff City this summer. First on our list is the 36th anniversary celebration at Comics & Collectibles Saturday, June 4th, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. General manager Donny Juengling says the store opened in 1986 and, “We’re really just thankful that we’ve been in business that long.” There is a 20 percent off sale, and illustrator Scott Kolins will be on site for the event.
Next up, 901 Comics is celebrating the store’s sixth anniversary on Saturday, June 4th. Writer and illustrator Al Milgrom will be there signing books. “You can walk back in the back room and pick up a book from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and he probably worked on it,” says Shannon Merritt, who co-founded the store with Jaime Wright. “When we opened this thing, we weren’t sure if it was going to last a year,” Merritt says.
Why not make Saturday a book-stravaganza? Hit two comic shop anniversary parties, then stop by Novel at 6 p.m. for the launch of Finding Jupiter, the new novel by former Memphian Kelis Rowe. “Kelis grew up in Memphis, where she had her first big love as a teenager,” the event announcement says. “She did not see herself or her big love reflected in the pages of a YA novel at the time and now writes contemporary YA to give Black young people more reflections of themselves and their love to enjoy.”
For less time-sensitive book needs, consider going to Burke’s Book Store or DeMoir Books & Things, perhaps to scope out a new novel, short story collection, or poetry book from a local author. Jeremee DeMoir just restocked copies of Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow — for the fourth time — and Burke’s has signed copies, as does Novel. Memphis made the list of The Bitter Southerner’s “2022 Summer Reading Roundup,” so it’s not just me begging you to read the beautiful debut.
However you get your fiction fix, there’s no better time than summer to kick back with a good book. — Jesse Davis
Courtesy Elvis Presley Enterprises Elvis Week
Summer Kisses, Winter Tears: Elvis Week Some of you out there have never been to Graceland — you know who you are. But this is as good a year as any to immerse yourself in our very own pop culture phenomenon, and get it on with Elvis. It’s now or never, baby.
The 2022 Elvis Week 45th anniversary celebration happens from August 9th through the 17th, rain or shine, with or without hound dogs. Just bring your burning love. And you’d better snap to it since some of the Elvis 45 packages and events are already sold out.
But there’s still plenty in store. There will be special guests, notably Priscilla Presley and Jerry Schilling (among the few living Memphis Mafia members). They’ll be at several events and will even lead tours of the mansion.
There will be plenty of music, much of it provided by Elvis Tribute Artists past and present. The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest runs through the week with hopeful Elvii turning on the tunes and the charm. And winners of past contests will be livening things up as well. For one, the 2011 winner Cody Ray Slaughter (who portrayed Elvis in the traveling production of the Tony Award-winning musical Million Dollar Quartet) will headline a concert at the Graceland Soundstage. And for another, Dean Z (he won in 2013) will be hosting several events during the week.
Meanwhile, musicians Terry Mike Jeffrey and Andy Childs will host a tuneful reminiscence that includes TCB band members. And there’s a concert experience at Graceland Soundstage with Elvis’ image backed by live musicians. Pretty much everywhere you turn, you’ll see and hear the King of Rock-and-Roll.
For fans who need more than music and celebrity, there will be live tour guides throughout Graceland Mansion celebrating the 40th year of it being opened to the public. (And even a “Hidden Graceland Tour” to see what most mortals cannot.) Go farther afield if you want and take an excursion to Tupelo to see Elvis’ birthplace and other landmarks.
There are themed dance parties throughout, plenty of Elvis art, an Elvis karaoke for the brave, and even a bingo contest. That’s alright mama, any way you do. Not enough of a mix for ya? Keep in mind that there will be plenty of gospel music as well as Elvira: Mistress of the Dark. Not kidding.
The big draw, of course, is the Candlelight Vigil on August 15th. Get your candle and walk on the grounds of Graceland to the gravesite along with thousands of fans.
Elvis really is everywhere, so follow that dream. — Jon W. Sparks Best to get tickets sooner rather than later at graceland.com/elvis-week-tickets. For ticket questions, call Graceland Reservations at 800-238-2000 or 332-3322, or email reservations@graceland.com.
Thor: Love and Thunder with Natalie Portman
Summer at the Movies Memorial Day weekend began the summer blockbuster season with the strong pairing of Top Gun: Maverick and The Bob’s Burgers Movie.
This week, David Cronenberg’s Crimes of the Future marks the legendary Canadian auteur’s return to the body horror genre he pioneered. On June 10th, the dinosaurs are back, they’re mad, and they’re going to the mall in Jurassic World Dominion. Chris Evans provides the voice for the Toy Story astronaut in Pixar’s Lightyear, due June 17th. The next week, Memphis’ favorite son gets a blown-up biopic from Baz Luhrmann. Elvis stars Austin Butler as the man who would be king, and Tom Hanks as his Machiavellian manager Col. Tom Parker.
On July 8th, Marvel comes roaring back with Thor: Love and Thunder, with Chris Hemsworth coming out of semi-retirement to thwart the God Butcher (Christian Bale, in his Marvel debut), only to find that his ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) is now wielding the magic hammer. July 15th offers something completely different in Where the Crawdads Sing, a Southern Gothic whodunit produced by Reese Witherspoon. One of the most hotly anticipated releases of the summer is Nope, director Jordan Peele’s third sci-fi/horror outing. The trailer for this one, coming July 22nd, looks spectacular. Then on July 29th, the DC Legion of Super-Pets boasts an all-star voice cast including Dwayne Johnson as Krypto the Superdog.
August 5th weekend is crowded with new titles, including the slasher comedy Bodies Bodies Bodies, a new entry in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, and the Brad Pitt action comedy Bullet Train. Finally, the summer season closes magically with Mad Max director George Miller’s Three Thousand Years of Longing starring Tilda Swinton as a shy professor who is offered three wishes by a djinn, played by Idris Elba. — Chris McCoy
Kim Bearden Cemetery Cinema at Elmwood
Summer Classics: Cemetery Cinema
That’s not exactly what Rick, aka Humphrey Bogart, says to Ilsa, aka Ingrid Bergman, in the 1942 classic, Casablanca, but if the plot involved Elmwood Cemetery’s “Cemetery Cinema,” everyone’s favorite nightclub owner (Rick’s Cafe, remember?) might say something like that.
“We show classics or very popular films in the cemetery on specific nights,” says Elmwood executive director Kim Bearden.
“Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into my cemetery to watch a movie.”
Casablanca will be the featured movie at 8:15ish (depends on when the sun goes down) Friday, June 3rd. Gates open at 6:30 p.m.
The movie showings are fundraisers for the cemetery, Bearden says. “Event goers bring lawn chairs and they set up on the driveway in front of the cottage.”
Elmwood provides a food truck, but moviegoers are invited to bring their own food. As for adult beverages, Bearden says, “We say coolers are allowed.”
Movies are shown on the roof of the 1866 cottage used for offices at Elmwood, she says. The circa 1886 cottage, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, is the only example of “Victorian Gothic carpenter cottage architecture” in Shelby County. “So, the roof on the cottage is in the Gothic style and has a very high pitch. Because of the high pitch we were able to project films on the roof and people can see them from the drive.”
Cemetery Cinema isn’t a scary movie series; Elmwood, which began the movie showings in 2016, recently aired the 1961 Walt Disney film, The Parent Trap, starring Hayley Mills as twin sisters. They will show the 1964 film, My Fair Lady, on June 17th.
Elmwood has shown “some of the old classic black-and-white” horror movies, including the 1931 movie, Frankenstein, starring Boris Karloff.
But there are some types of horror movies they would not show. “Probably slasher flicks,” Bearden says.
Tickets to Casablanca, which are $15, must be purchased in advance at elmwoodcemetery.org. — Michael Donahue
Summer History: A Pugilistic Milestone On Saturday, June 8, 2002, a full generation ago, the Pyramid on the Memphis riverfront was the site for the kind of spectacle it might have been created for: the heavyweight championship fight between Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis.
The Pyramid was already on the way out as a showcase arena after the NBA’s recently arrived Grizzlies had turned it down as outmoded for their purposes and forced the city and county to go on the hook for a new facility, the soon-to-be FedExForum.
The Big Fight was a sort of Last Hurrah for the place, arranged by then Memphis Mayor Willie Herenton in an inspired act of personal diplomacy that may rank, historically, as his greatest single achievement. The fight was intended to resolve lingering doubts about the rightful ownership of boxing’s most prestigious title. And landing it in Memphis bailed out the promoters who had seen all the big traditional venues shun the opportunity to host the event after Tyson, already a pariah for biting off a chunk of a previous opponent’s ear, brawled with Lewis at the fighters’ signing.
Orphan event though it was, the fight was a genuine extravaganza. Co-produced for television by long-standing rivals HBO and Showtime, it was then, as Wikipedia notes, “the highest-grossing event in pay-per-view history, generating U.S. $106.9 million from 1.95 million buys in the U.S.”
On hand to help fill the Pyramid were such celebrities as Samuel L. Jackson, Denzel Washington, Tom Cruise, Britney Spears, Clint Eastwood, Ben Affleck, Hugh Hefner, Halle Berry, Richard Gere, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Vince McMahon, The Undertaker, LL Cool J, Tyra Banks, Wesley Snipes, Kevin Bacon, Chris Webber, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Morgan Freeman, Alec Baldwin, and heavyweight fighter Evander Holyfield — the latter having been the victim of the aforementioned ear-biting.
And I was there, at ringside, covering the fight in what was my all-time plum assignment from Time magazine, for whom I worked as a part-time associate or “stringer.” (Curious readers may consult the magazine’s files for “Who Gets the Black Eye?” — published online on the day of the fight.)
Given the ferocity of Tyson’s style, the fight had more than its share of excitement, but the rangy Lewis was the superior boxer and outlasted Iron Mike, knocking him out in the 8th round, ending all doubt as to who was champ and closing out the Tyson era of big-time boxing. — Jackson Baker
Mama Biondini's took first place at this year's Memphis Italian Festival Photos by Michael Donahue
The show must go on. Memphis Italian Festival took place this year, but it was scaled down and it wasn’t open to the public.
It was held without the live music, throngs of people, and several days and nights of partying.
But, hey. You still had bocce ball games and, most importantly, that heavenly smell of spaghetti gravy wafting through the air.
27 teams participated in this year’s festival, which was held June 5th in front of Holy Rosary school instead of sprawling Marquette Park. It was a throwback to the first festival, held in 1990. Sixteen teams took place that year, which, I believe, I judged. We had to taste all 16 entries. This year’s duties were divided up between many judges, and judging was done on site.
Vickie Ranson, who along with her husband, Richard, are the cooking team chairs, wore her T-shirt from that first festival. It read, “Holy Rosary Italian Spaghetti Festival.”
Richard wore this year’s T-shirt. His read, “Holy Rosary Presents Italian Spaghetti Festival 2021.”
The T-shirts by Vickie and Richard Ranson span the years of Italian Fest.
Mama Biondini’s came in first place this year, followed by Pazzo! and The Spicoli’s.
Noodleheads, which has participated in every festival since it began, took fourth place.
And we all can look forward to Italian Fest, hopefully, returning in all its glory in 2022.
“Next year, barring any tragedy or COVID-type event, we will be in Marquette and wide open,” Richard says.
Italian Fest spaghetti gravy teams pay homage to their Italian heritage.
HOEDOWN ON HULING RETURNS
Tiffany Harmon performs at Hoedown on Huling Photos by Michael Donahue
I covered my first festival since 2019 on May 29th. It was Hoedown on Huling, a street party held on Huling Avenue between South Main Street and South Front Street.
It felt good to just read the Facebook post by Zach Stark, one of the hosts: “The annual Hoedown on Huling is back y’all if you’re lookin’ for a rootin’ tootin’ hell of a time then come on down! We plan to grill the Memorial Day classics — burgers and hot dogs — as well as provide a couple of kegs and spirits. We will also have some live music.”
Phil Sims and Victor Sawyer were at Hoedown on Huling
And, he posted, “Overall, we’re just looking to have a good ole fashioned summer kickoff block party.”
Hoedown on Huling hosts included Patrick Bolton, Chris Cordova, JoBeth Graves, Aaron Krunsyinsky, Zach Stark, and Robbie Britt. Josue Butler, third from left, wasn’t a host but is resident of The Paperworks.
“I think the first year they did it was ’16 or ’17,” Stark says. “This is the first year I was a host ‘cause I wasn’t living down there until this year. But they just started having an annual, basically, Paperworks building party.”
And, he says, “It just started out as a little neighborhood party and got bigger. It was not on last year.”
The 28th Annual Memphis Italian Festival was held in Marquette Park last weekend and photographer Frank Chin was there. Think grape-stomping, bocce ball, live music, cornhole, cooking demos, and gravy, gravy, gravy!
If you’re in the mood for Italian, head to Marquette Park for this weekend’s Memphis Italian Festival. Now in its 18th year, the event is a meatball and gravy (that’s “sauce” to you and me) extravaganza celebrating those of Italian-American heritage.
The festival, a fund-raiser for Holy Rosary Catholic Church, will offer plenty of Italian-inspired foods and activities, but what everybody really wants to know is who makes the best spaghetti gravy in Memphis. The gravy judging is on Saturday at 1 p.m. There will also be olive-oil tastings, a grape-stomping contest, a wine race, and chef demos. New this year is “Luigi’s Little Italy,” which will offer fine dining prepared by Rick Savoiri of Ciao Bella and Jason Sartain of Macaroni Grill. Seating is limited, and reservations can be made at the wine garden.
The festival runs from Thursday, May 31st, through Saturday, June 2nd, and will kick off with a mass said in Italian and led by Father William Parham at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday. Gates open at 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Admission is $10; children 12 years and under are free, and admission is free on Friday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
For his latest venture, High Point Pizza, Spencer Hays of Movie & Pizza Company in Harbor Town has created a simple Italian getaway in the tiny building that once housed Geeker’s Coffee.
While the pizza offers big taste, High Point Pizza’s interior is quite modest. The ovens and kitchen take up half of the space; the other half is filled with five tables that sport red-and-white checkerboard tablecloths. When the weather is nice, the restaurant’s outdoor seating becomes a hot commodity. Be prepared to invite strangers to sit at your table when space gets limited. It’s okay — just pretend that that’s how they do it in Italy.
The menu is simple: four salads (side, Greek, Italian, chicken), four sandwiches on a white hoagie (ham and cheese, Italian sausage, Italian, meatball), and five pizzas (Margherita, barbecue pork or chicken, Cajun chicken, four-meat, veggie) as well as a “build your own pie” option. Pizza-by-the-slice is available during lunch, and the restaurant offers beer, tea, and sodas. Guests are welcome to bring their own wine.
Patrick Neely, Paula Deen, and Gina Neely
Although barely open a month, the place is packed, particularly at night, and the staff will warn you that it takes at least 30 minutes for your order to be ready. You won’t regret the wait, especially if you have leftovers to enjoy for lunch the next day.
High Point Pizza, at 477 High Point Terrace, is open Tuesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. (452-3339)
If you want to re-create Grisanti’s Miss Mary’s salad at home, head to your local grocery store for a bottle of the family’s signature salad dressing. The Italian dressing, named after Frank Grisanti’s grandmother Mary, hit the stores earlier this year. The dressing joins the Grisanti marinara and Italian meat sauces in Kroger stores in West Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, and the Missouri Bootheel, as well as in local Schnucks and Super-Lo stores. Also in the works are two new sauces: Alfredo and Fra Diablo.
Although the Memphis In May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest is over, the heat is still on for the Neelys of Neely’s Bar-B-Que.
The local barbecue family was invited to be part of Paula Deen’s Paula’s Party. The Neelys will show off their favorite barbecue recipes in an episode called “Fried vs. BBQ,” which will air on the Food Network on June 1st at 8 p.m. This showdown stems from Deen’s remark that you have to pick a side — fried or barbecued — when it comes to Southern cooking.
For the show, Deen’s sons Jamie and Bobby were joined by Patrick Neely, who was recently voted restaurateur of the year by the Memphis Restaurant Association, his wife Gina, his two brothers Anthony and Mark, and Neely’s mom, Lorine.
The Neely/Deen friendship began when Jamie and Bobby featured Neely’s Bar-B-Que on Road Tasted last summer.
When Paula came to Memphis for her appearance at the Mid-South Fair last September, she didn’t leave town without paying a visit to Neely’s. The two families had a great time when they filmed the show in Savannah, and Paula enjoyed tasting Neely’s barbecue spaghetti and pork ribs.
Neely’s Bar-B-Que: 670 Jefferson (521-9798); 5700 Mt. Moriah (795-4177); 2292 Metro Center, Nashville (615-251-8895)
