Tag: Michael Hudman

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Best Bets: Gray Canary’s S’more

CREDIT: Michael Donahue

Michael Donahue

S’more at The Gray Canary

I didn’t discover s’mores — that graham cracker, marshmallow, Hershey’s chocolate bar concoction — until I was a grown-up. My sister was a Brownie scout, but I don’t remember her mentioning the glories of s’more making over a campfire, which I associate with scouting.

I do know that I love the glorified “S’more” dessert at The Gray Canary. It’s absolutely delicious.

Instead of making gooey treats over a campfire, this dessert — which is quite large — reminds me of Baked Alaska, which I used to order as a birthday cake at the old Justine’s restaurant. I also got a Baked Alaska “birthday cake” at Antoine’s one year in New Orleans. This is that great ice cream/cake concoction that arrives at the table in flames.

Ditto The Gray Canary’s “S’more.” It also arrives at your table on fire.

I ordered one at a recent dinner with five friends at the restaurant and I immediately said I wasn’t going to share it. The server brought extra spoons, so I reluctantly relented. Then a fellow diner said, “Let’s order another one for the table.” We did. And that immediately was devoured. To the last smudge of cream.

I asked Michael Hudman, who co-owns Gray Canary with Andy Ticer, the history of their S’more dessert.

They were working on a dessert menu while driving to New Orleans, Hudman says. “We knew we wanted to use fire in some form or fashion. We played around with smoked cream, burnt cream, this and that, a lot of different ways. Andy may have said, ‘Hey, I love s’mores.’ So, we thought about that. It makes so much sense. When you’re down on a beach doing s’mores with the kids, it was a lot of fun.

“The restaurant kind of encapsulates high energy, lots of fun. The whole premise behind this restaurant was fun.”

The Gray Canary chef de cuisine Ysaac Ramirez showed me how he assembles the dessert.

He poured chocolate and hazelnut ganache — the base — on a plate. On top of that, he placed a frozen graham cracker-encrusted flor di latte soft serve cream, which he covered  with Italian merengue that he piped on. He then torched the whole thing to give it a golden brown, added graham cracker crumbs and hazelnuts to the plate and, finally, doused the dessert with grappa and ignited it.

Hudman agrees the dessert looks like a Baked Alaska. So, it perfectly fit with the restaurant theme — fun. “That same vibe — nice, loud, and rambunctious.”

The Gray Canary is at 301 South Front; 901 242-2932

Best Bets: Gray Canary’s S’more

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

A Sneak Peek at the Gray Canary

It was the hottest ticket in town. Marc Gasol was there! I had to invite myself.

Saturday evening saw a soft opening of the Gray Canary, Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer’s latest restaurant in the Old Dominick Distillery.

The decor is stark chic — with interesting light fixtures and art. Dark wood four tops, booths along the wall with a stunning view of the bridge and river. Lots of gray accents. There are sound buffers on the ceiling, but it is still quite loud.

The food is centered around an opened fire. I approve. On the current menu is octopus and clams. The country ham was praised as was the hearty t bone steak. I had the Maitake Mushroom — charred mushrooms with an eggy mayonnaise. An interesting dish, sour/rich, loved the char.

One thing the boys have in the bag is their cocktails and pastries by Kayla Palmer.

Can a girl marry a cobbler? I’m in love.

Gray Canary is opening Wednesday at 5 p.m.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Now open: Char and Catherine & Mary’s

Earlier this year, restaurateur Ben Brock took home the Restaurateur of the Year award from the Memphis Restaurant Association.

Brock owns 11 restaurants in Tennessee and Mississippi, including Amerigo and, most recently, Char, a seafood and steakhouse in the Highland Row development near the U of M.

This is the second Char location after 15 years of success in Jackson, Mississippi. From floor to ceiling, kitchen to table, it is no surprise that Brock can add the MRA trophy to his mantel.

“It’s unlike your typical steakhouse,” Brock says. “It has a little more personality, a little more Southern charm.”

It’s a perfect mixture of old and new, with dark wood and white tile, big open spaces and large windows, and a menu that will inspire a following of regulars who will want to check off every item.

Brock says their gumbo won a Jackson, Mississippi, gumbo contest, with its thick, dark roux and generous chunks of crab, sausage, and chicken ($5/cup, $7/ bowl).

“It’s stirred a lot,” Brock says. “It gets a lot of love.”

The Cornbread Dusted Redfish, which has been getting a lot of attention from the clientele, is served with Delta Grind grits, spinach, and Abita Amber crab pan sauce ($15 lunch, $28 dinner).

“That’s a recipe from [chef] Steven Howell,” Brock says. “He’s newer to our concept, so he gives everything a new spark.”

Ben Brock’s Char — not your typical seafood and steakhouse

Char-Jackson veteran Anthony Hatten is the other half in the kitchen, the brains behind the longtime favorite, the filet, a cut of tenderloin served with two choices of sides ($36/eight ounces, $51/12).

And Brock swears by his pecan pie.

“We also sell them whole during the holiday season,” he says. “[In Mississippi], we’ll sell up to 150 during Thanksgiving week. It’s one of the best, and we make it in-house, every day.”

Char is located at 431 S. Highland, #120. Brock owns the restaurant along with three partners through his company 4-Top Hospitality.

Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mon. through Sat., and Sun., 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. 249-3533, memphis.charrestaurant.com.

Childhood friends, co-chefs, and business partners, Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman have done it yet again.

The pair behind Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, Hog & Hominy, and Porcellino’s Craft Butcher have branched out of their familiar Brookhaven Circle multi-digs and headed west with their latest edition of traditional Italian cuisine with a Southern flourish, Catherine & Mary’s.

Housed in the ground floor of the Chisca on Main, this iteration of their brand of distinct Italian food would make their grandmamas proud.

It is named for them, after all — from Hudman’s grandmother, Catherine Chiozza and Ticer’s Mary Spinosa.

The approach can be bracketed between Andrew Michael and Hog & Hominy, according to Ticer and Hudman.

There are no shrinking violets on the menu, with oysters served with spinach, brandade, paddlefish, caviar, and panna gratta; radiatore served with pistachio pesto, mint, basil, and smoked ricotta salata; monkfish; cassarecce served with foie gras and giblets; and yes, they have Maw Maw’s gravy … with meatballs.

With a menu like that, you need a knockout setting, and the Chisca delivers.

Full windows flank the northwest walls with enviable views of Main Street.

Walls are left rough, and I kind of want to take all of the furniture home with me.

A 27-foot bar seats 20 along the north wall, and they offer a private dining room with access to a Chisca event room.

In 2008, they opened their flagship restaurant, Andrew Michael, followed by the more casual Hog & Hominy in 2012. Porcellino’s, which, in my opinion, offers some of the strongest coffee in town, made its debut in February of last year, and early this year New Orleans hipped themselves to the Memphis duo with the opening of Josephine Estelle in the new Ace Hotel.

Catherine & Mary’s is located at 272 S. Main. Open Mon.-Thurs., 5-10 p.m., and Fri. and Sat., 5-11 p.m. 254-8600, catherineandmarys.com.

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

A Look at Catherine & Mary’s Menu

Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman’s fourth restaurant, Catherine & Mary’s, is set to open Monday in the Chisca building. 

The fall menu for the restaurant looks pretty fancy to me. It includes grilled quail, pate, oysters, and lamb Bolognese. 

Check it out below … 

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Hudman, Ticer To Open Restaurant in Chisca

A press release went out this morning announcing that Michael Hudman and Andrew Ticer will open their fourth restaurant downtown in the Chisca building. 

The restaurant will be called Catherine & Mary’s and will serve “traditional Italian cooking through the lens of the American South.”

From the release: 

Catherine and Mary’s, named for chefs Hudman and Ticer’s grandmothers – Catherine Chiozza and Mary Spinosa – will feature pastas, open fire cooking, and an ambience inspired by The Chisca’s historic interior. The two plan to bring to the downtown market the same vision and service that have made their East Memphis eateries successful.

“A partnership with Chase and Chance Carlisle for our first downtown project perfectly fits our priority to be a part of the revitalization of downtown Memphis,” said Michael Hudman, co-executive chef and owner of Catherine & Mary’s. Andrew Ticer, co-executive chef and owner of Catherine & Mary’s continued, ”We felt kindred spirits in both the Carlisles, and we couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be involved in The Chisca, particularly with it being so steeped in the story of Memphis and the city’s music.”

The entire EnjoyAM restaurant group will collaborate on Catherine & Mary’s. Hudman and Ticer have tapped Chef Ryan Jenniges, former Chef de Cuisine of Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, to run the kitchen upon his return from serving as a month-long stagiaire in Bergamo, Italy. The front of house team, made up of Operations Director, Matt Farmer, Wine Director, Ryan Radish, and Beverage Director, Nick Talarico, will create the service, wine, beer, and cocktail lists to round out the experience.

Ever mindful of their community, Hudman and Ticer will continue to work with local farms, such as Hana Farm, Woodson Ridge Farms for their produce and Newman’s Farm and Claybrook Farms for their meats, sourced and cut through Porcellino’s Craft butcher.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Late Night Noshing in Memphis

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Would you order a bowl of ramen noodles from an Italian joint or pick up a fried-rice grilled cheese from a place that specializes in German cuisine? If it’s past any respectable person’s dinnertime and you aren’t going to scarf down a bean burrito in a parking lot in the passenger side of your buddy’s Toyota Corolla, you most certainly would. Lucky for you, the creative chefs at two popular restaurants ditch the constraints of their restaurant concepts and switch up their menus for dinner procrastinators and late-nighters.

David Todd, executive chef at Schweinehaus in Overton Square treats his fourth-mealers to something off-kilter and off-menu. “I think late-night eaters get the short end of the stick sometimes,” he said, “so it’s kind of cool to offer specials and cool new dishes to those who have most likely been serving others in some capacity all day.”

Justin Fox Burks

David Todd

Todd admits that he’s really cooking these imaginative dishes for himself as a creative outlet but loves to share his wild creations with a wider audience. “It’s a nice little window of time every day of no-pressure idea exploration,” he said.

Justin Fox Burks

Schweinehaus’ Brat-chos

So what can you expect if you show up hungry to Schweinehaus between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m? You’re presented with a menu that’s printed up nightly with eight late-night staples, and at the top is a “Late-Night Chef’s Creation” section that has two to three unique choices, including such dishes as Brat-chos (yes, bratwurst nachos), the aforementioned fried-rice grilled cheese, Pancake Breakfast Sandwich, NY Reuben Fries, or the Third Grader, a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The choices range in price from $7 to $13.

Justin Fox Burks

Schweinehaus’ smoked jerk pork sandwich

I stopped in after 10 p.m. last Saturday and found a full patio and the front room packed with a party of 20-plus millennials having a big time. The menu that night was geared toward the Elvis Week crowd, with an ice-cream sandwich aptly called “The Elvis” and “Fools Loaf,” which is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with bacon on buttery brioche bread.

Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman‘s Hog & Hominy on Brookhaven Circle draws late-night eaters in with the smell of oak burning in a traditional wood-fired pizza oven, but the star of the after-hours menu, available from 10 p.m. to midnight, or later if the restaurant is full, isn’t the pizza. It’s two dishes that are pretty far removed from the place’s Italian roots.

The chef duo fell in love with ramen noodles while traveling the country cooking at places like the James Beard House. “The first guest-chef dinner we did at Hog & Hominy was with Chef Tien Ho [of Ma Peche fame],” Hudman told me. “He taught us the proper way of making ramen broth, so we put it on the late-night menu as a way of paying homage to him.”

The chefs are also frying up the much lauded John T. Edge Burger, a deceptively simple-sounding sandwich with onion, yellow mustard, pickled lettuce, and American cheese on a white bun. “The ramen and burger are staples that are always on, but we also do specials like our Frito Pie from time to time,” Nick Talarico, general manager, said.

Hog & Hominy is less than a mile from my house, so I dropped in around 11 p.m. on a weekend night to find an unusually quiet scene. The regulars were all at Live at the Garden’s ZZ Top concert nearby, no doubt singing along to “Sharp Dressed Man” and spinning their fuzzy air guitars. So Talarico joined me at the bar to paint a picture of the typical scene. “We’ll have people in tuxedos and evening gowns eating hot dogs, right alongside servers and cooks from other establishments slurping down ramen noodles,” he said.

A look at the full dinner menu, which is also available until closing, made no mention of the John T. Edge Burger or the ramen noodles. “We make sure to tell every table … although those in the know come here just for the ramen,” Talarico said.

This is one of those rare times when procrastination is rewarded. So go out late and enjoy the creative food being served to other night owls. You could nap through your regular dinnertime or, heck, just go ahead and have another dinner. Or you could call it a really early breakfast.

Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

At the Swine & Wine for Cozy Corner

CREDIT: Frank Chin

Frank Chin

On Monday, Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman hosted Swine & Wine, a benefit for Cozy Corner, which had a fire in January. 

It was a progressive dinner with folks divided between Hog & Hominy and Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen and then switching places. The evening culminated in a block party at Porcellino’s. 

The list of participating chefs was long and impressive. Among them Felicia Willett, Kelly English, Jackson Kramer, Patrick Reilly, and Ryan Trimm. 

About 150 people packed the sold-out event, with some $20,000 raised for Cozy Corner. 

Cozy Corner is also raising funds via Go Fund Me. 

All photos are by Frank Chin.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Culinary creativity and craft butchery at Porcellino’s.

CREDIT: John Klyce Minervini

With its black-and-white honeycomb tile and quaint vintage tableware, Porcellino’s — the new restaurant from chefs Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer — strikes an appealingly casual note, one that is matched by its affordable menu.

Porcellino’s is essentially two shops. In the front, there’s an espresso-centric, European-style café where you can order pastries for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and small plates for supper. In the back, there’s a craft butcher shop that features traditional steaks, sausages, and cured meats — plus some truly exotic cuts.

I began with a double shot of espresso — which, for me, is kind of a big deal. I’m pathologically sensitive to caffeine, so I usually draw the line at a single cup of green tea in the morning.

It was worth making the exception. The espresso — a Metropolis Redline blend — was like an awakening. It had a thick, creamy body and a beautiful crema, with notes of honey and lavender in the finish. Pair it with a couple of Bomboloni ($2) — fluffy Italian donuts — and you’re ready to take on the world.

“I want our coffee to be a craft experience,” says head barista Destiny Naccarato. “And that means eliminating guesswork. It means timing everything out, measuring it, weighing it.

“I actually think the first sip should be a little shocking,” she adds.

John Klyce Minervini

Apple Cider

On to small plates. When building their menu, chefs Hudman and Ticer say they were inspired by their friend the late Mark Newman of Newman Farm. The word “porcellino” means “baby pig” in Italian, and many dishes were created to showcase the farm’s heritage pork and lamb.

“We kept asking ourselves,” says Ticer, “why do we have to go to New Orleans to get boudin? Why do we have to go to St. Louis to get decent cured meat? We can do those things at least as well as anybody else. Hell, we can do them better.”

One of my favorite dishes was the Collard Green Dumplings ($9). Loaded with collards from Woodson Ridge Farms, spicy nduya sausage, Calabrian chili oil, and Newman Farm pork belly, these demure little rice paper packets pack a punch. But if you can stand the heat, they’ll reward you. Drizzled with benne oil — an aromatic, nutty oil derived from an heirloom ancestor of the sesame seed — they are interestingly tangy and peppery.

John Klyce Minervini

Ash Flour Pita

For those seeking something less spicy, I recommend the Ash Flour Pita — stippled with melted cheese and marinated olives — or the New Orleans-style boudin, served with pickled onions over corn bread porridge.

But Porcellino’s is first and foremost a butcher shop, so I decided to take a tour with head butcher Aaron Winters.

“You remember how, in The Brady Bunch, they had Sam the Butcher?” asks Winters. “That’s what I want. I want people to say, ‘Aaron’s my butcher.’ I want to start the conversation again.”

Naturally, the conversation will include things like tenderloin and pork chops. But part of Winters’ mission at Porcellino’s is to introduce Memphians to more uncommon cuts of meat. Things like bavette — a strip of beef loin that runs along the ribcage — and spider steak — named for its web-like pattern of marbling.

“In America,” Winters says, “most of these cuts get ground up for hamburger, so we never even see them. Which is a shame, because they are some of the tastiest parts of the whole animal.”

To learn about bavette and spider steak, Winters spent the summer in Italy. There he studied with Dario Cecchini, the world’s foremost master butcher, and Filippo Gambassi, scion of an ancient Italian salumi dynasty.

It probably goes without saying, but Winters is the only person within 300 miles of Memphis with that kind of training. Why don’t you pay him a visit and let him recommend something?

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

A Peek at Porcellino’s

Porcellino’s Patissier Kayla Palmer

Porcellino’s, the latest venture from Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman, is opening any day now. 

In the meantime, John Klyce Minervini offers a glimpse at what this ambitious butcher/sundry/breakfast and lunch spot has to offer.

[slideshow-1]

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Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

On the Scene at the AFJ Food Journalists’ Conference

Kat Kinsman (left) of CNNs Eatocracy and Kim Severson of the New York Times address food journalists from around the country at the 2014 AFJ Conference.

  • Kat Kinsman (left) of CNN’s Eatocracy and Kim Severson of the New York Times address food journalists from around the country at the 2014 AFJ Conference.

The Association of Food Journalists (AFJ) is an elite society about which little is known. Much like the Illuminati or the Freemasons, they gather in secret, donning strange robes and reading from arcane manuscripts. The extent of their holdings has only been guessed at.

Until now. This year, the AFJ is holding its [annual conference] in Memphis, and the Flyer has been able to secure unprecedented (OK, somewhat precedented) access to its secret meetings. Be advised: the following content may not be suitable for young children.

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Big Barton performing at the food truck rodeo

  • Big Barton performing at the food truck rodeo

The conference began on Wednesday with a food truck rodeo in Court Square. Attendees were treated to some of Memphis’s finest street food, including kebabs from Stickem and pizza from Rock’n Dough Pizza Co. Meanwhile, Big Barton provided the entertainment, performing classic country hits like “Ring of Fire” and “Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys.”

After lunch, AFJ members retired to the Peabody Hotel for a series of staged talks. One of the first was a conversation between Kim Severson of the New York Times and Kat Kinsman of CNN, who discussed the problem of getting readers to pay for food journalism in the age of Buzzfeed and Reddit.

“My friend David Carr likes to say, you gotta open up the kimono a little bit,” said Severson. “Although if I’m being honest, you probably don’t want David to open his kimono.”

By “opening the kimono,” Carr and Severson meant going behind the scenes and revealing more of the writer’s craft: how a story was discovered, how it was reported. For her part, Kinsman seemed to agree.

“The kimono,” she said, “is back at home, in the closet. At this point we’re walking around naked.”

The day wrapped up with a Smokin’ Taste of Memphis at the Stax Museum. Here, journalists were treated to a series of small plates that showcased Memphis’s culinary talent—everything from charcuterie to barbecue pizza to bread pudding. Participating chefs included Kelly English, Erling Jensen, and Michael Hudman.

The 2014 AFJ Conference continues today and tomorrow, with talks by Melissa Peterson of Edible Memphis and Justin Fox-Burks of the Chubby Vegetarian.