Tag: Midtown Crossing

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

ThunderRoad Memphis Delivers Mason Jar Cocktails and More

David Parks and Jef Hicks of ThunderRoad Memphis

ThunderRoad Memphis is a “delivery service,” says founder David Parks. But even so, it’s not competing with FedEx or UPS.

The name came from “the old Robert Mitchum movie,” says Parks, who operates the business with Jef Hicks.

In the Thunder Road movie, which was released May 10th, 1958, Lucas Doolin (Mitchum) is a whiskey runner, or “transporter,” who delivers moonshine in his “tanker” — a 1950 two-door coupe — to Memphis and other areas.

Parks and Hicks deliver cocktails, with names like Tropical Deliciousness and Raspberry Sage Sipper, and food in a 1991 Isuzu Rodeo and a 1988 Jeep Wagoneer to people’s homes in Memphis and nearby areas. But the cocktails are transported in Mason jars. “Harkening back to the old days,” Hicks says. They also deliver wine, beer, and food. ThunderRoad Memphis began five weeks ago, “and it’s gone nuts.”

Parks is a bartender who was laid off at The Second Line because of the quarantine. Hicks was a bartender at Cafe Pontotoc. Since they were “no longer on the payroll,” Hicks says, they decided to do home delivery of their cocktails. They operate out of Midtown Crossing at 394 N. Watkins, where they are partnering with owner Octavia Young. They will deliver food from the restaurant. They also are partnering with local chefs.

Hicks and Parks contacted chef friends to join them and prepare food, which they can pair with their cocktails. “Sandwiches and small plates,” he says.

It was a way to help their out-of-work service industry friends “keep shelter over their head, their utilities on, and a little bit of food on the table,” Hicks adds. “We tried to give as many people a job as we could.”

The chefs include Jesse Parks, a baker who has been doing their bread; Jake Behnke, who was at Iris Etc. catering; and Amanda Hicks. 

They begin their day at 1 p.m. They load up about 2 p.m., and they’re done by 7:30 p.m.
ThunderRoad Memphis operates Wednesdays through Sundays. They recently added Germantown and Cordova to their route.

One of their most popular cocktails is the Tequila Mockingbird, a drink Parks created for a Mid-South Literacy fundraiser. It’s made of tequila, watermelon, lime, and a little spiced Agave. Another popular cocktail, Passionate Purple Drank, which was created by Hicks, is made with Butterfly Pea Blossom infused gin, lavender shrub, ginger syrup, and fresh lime juice.

As for the cuisine, Amanda’s brisket tacos are a big seller. It’s corn beef brisket in “drunken salsa,” which includes a dozen vegetables marinated in vodka for 21 days. The brisket is smoked by Brent McAfee, who was laid off from Cafe Pontotoc and Silly Goose. The barbecue pork butt sandwich with sriracha slaw on brioche bread is another winner.

ThunderRoad Memphis has a Facebook group, which now has more than 2,800 members. People take photos of ThunderRoad Memphis cocktails and food. Some people put the cocktails in their own fancy glasses for the photographs.

Hicks and Parks are pleased with the ThunderRoad Memphis response. “We built an enterprise that provides jobs, builds community, and reduces the instances of drunken driving,” Hicks says. “We need to change home delivery of cocktails from a temporary governor’s resolution to be permanent legislation.”

Parks says he’d “love to have a big, old ambulance and turn it into a mobile bar and we’d do your party.”

The ThunderRoad Memphis motto is “All this and a bag of chips,” Hicks says. “All customers are required to purchase some food item, be it chips, sandwiches, baked goods, etc. This keeps us legal. Also, we give everyone a fortune cookie and ask them to post their fortune.”

Customers have been returning the Mason jars, which are sanitized and re-used. “They get a discount if they return them,” Hicks says.

To contact ThunderRoad Memphis, call (901) 443-0502.

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Za Fest: Memphis’ Largest Pizza Party Is this Weekend

CREDIT: Brenna Huff

Za Fest celebrates its fifth anniversary this Saturday, November 16th, taking over the new Black Lodge location.

“The festival started out as a small kind of DIY,” says Blair Davis, founder and organizer of Za Fest. “And it still is DIY essentially, and that was its core, just for the community purposes and having other people assist. But we kind of raised our little baby, and now it’s 5 years old, and the masses are hungry. They want pizza.”

Brenna Huff

Power to the pizza

Za Fest, dubbed Memphis’ largest pizza party, will offer an assorted menu of pizza from local eateries like Memphis Pizza Cafe, Garibaldi’s, and Midtown Crossing. Beyond presenting a broad ‘za menu, the festival boasts a diverse lineup that includes electronic music producer DJ Chandler Blingg, singer-songwriter Louise Page, hip-hop artist Coldway, and more.

“Ideally, these smaller communities of pocketed musicians can come together and see that there are cool things in the other pocket,” says Davis. “I think musicians and music, especially, are fairly universal. And the more that we can embrace that the better.”

This year, Za Fest has partnered with Merge Memphis, a faith-based nonprofit dedicated to feeding hungry, less fortunate people, by donating food boxes to families and stocking free food pantries throughout the city. Guests are encouraged to bring canned food items in exchange for raffle tickets or simply make a dollar donation.

“When you’re a starving artist, you may not know what it’s like to be a literal starving person,” says Davis.

Za Fest, Black Lodge, 405 N. Cleveland, Saturday, November 16th, 3 p.m.-2 a.m., $10/presale, $15/door.

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Music Music Blog

Standing Rock Benefit at Midtown Crossing

Grace Askew

This Saturday night local musicians will donate all proceeds from a show to the friends and members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe fighting against Energy Transfer’s Dakota Access Pipeline.

Grace Askew, Ben Abney, Barbara Jenice, and Keedran “TNT” Franklin are all set to perform at Midtown Crossing Bar and Grill, with doors opening at 8 p.m. and a $10 (or larger) donation required for entry.  All money raised and 10% of restaurant sales will be donated to the effort.

”It’s about time Memphis had an event to stand for Standing Rock,” says Askew.” I am so honored to unite for our brothers and sisters protecting our water of life.”

Check out music from Grace Askew below.

Standing Rock Benefit at Midtown Crossing

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The Brexit Show at Midtown Crossing

We’ve heard a lot about the perils of Brexit — aka Britain’s exit from the European Union — aka the EU. We’ve witnessed the market’s response and watched as the U.K. bubbled over with nearly instant buyer’s remorse. But there are other Brexit consequences nobody’s talking about. Like how the word Brexit kicks open the door for buzzy portmanteaus that might someday rival annoying acronyms. To address Brexit’s impact on Memphis comedy in ways the MSM can’t or won’t, the Bluff City’s own Comma, Comma, Comma, Comma, Comma Comedians have created the Brexit Show, a free comedy event at Midtown Crossing Grill.

Punctuation- and pop-culture-inspired comics Mark Brimble, Sammy Anzer, Will Loden, and Hunter Sandlin are bringing together funny folk of both British and American extraction for competition and debate. An audience survey at the end of the night may very well determine the fate of English comedy in Memphis.

Brimble says there are two British comics in Memphis. “John Simmons and I,” he says. “We’re both very distressed about the whole Brexit situation so we thought we’d make light of it with our friends in the Memphis comedy scene.”

The show will include lectern speeches, a British football club cheer competition, and Brimble saying things like, “Barnes and Noble managed to close Borders, it’s time for British comics to do the same!”

Debate moderator Will Loden promises impartiality. “Think of a redneck Wolf Blitzer with better suspenders,” he’s been quoted as saying.

Entry is free, but Brimble keeps a Gofundme account for St. Jude and turns his comedy performances into donation opportunities.

The Brexit Show at Midtown Crossing Grill Thursday, July 7th, 7:30 p.m. Free.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Now open: Pink Diva Cupcakery and Carol’s Cheesecakes.

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Vegan cupcakes aren’t supposed to taste this good, right? They’re supposed to have those weird little fibers in them; they’re supposed to taste kind of like banana.

Forget what you know. Cassi Conyers, who is the mastermind behind Pink Diva Cupcakery, is baking some of the best cupcakes in town — vegan or no.

A bit of background. When it comes to baking, eggs pull a lot of weight. They moisten; they leaven; they bind. So the trick to vegan baking is finding a good egg substitute. Most recipes call for things like flaxseed, silken tofu, and banana. Hence those weird little fibers.

But when she set out to build a recipe, Conyers ditched years of vegan wisdom and struck out on her own. Her secret?

“Think back to middle school science class,” says Conyers. “What did you use to make your volcano? Baking soda and vinegar.”

Justin Fox Burks

That may sound too good to be true — but trust me, try the cupcakes. Moist and fluffy, they taste like your sixth grade birthday party. Priced at $3, they come in flavors like Bluff City Blueberry and Crosstown Unicorn Patrol. And — best part — they look as good as they taste, topped with rococo swirls of confetti-colored frosting.

Honestly, I expected to like Snickerdoodle the best. I’m a big cinnamon guy. But I’ve got to give it to Cookies and Cream. These chocolaty little wonders are almost too moist to be real.

Also? I’ve got a hard job.

Of course, it hasn’t always been cake and frosting for Conyers. Last year, she tried to open a vegan restaurant on Jackson, but the project never took off. Conyers says she learned a lot from the experience, including how to build a business model and market herself. Plus she’s found a willing partner in Midtown Crossing Grill, from whom she leases space.

“I’m a late bloomer,” admits 33-year-old Conyers. “I’m like Jesus. This is my resurrection.”

This new venture started last December, when Imagine Vegan Café asked Conyers to pinch-hit for their pastry chef, who was vacationing in England. Her first batch of cupcakes sold out in 24 hours, and soon she was baking 4 to 5 dozen per week. On the strength of that success, she launched Pink Diva in February.

It’s an impressive story, especially when you consider that Conyers is a single mother who, until recently, was working full-time as a chiropractor’s assistant. Check her out on instagram (@pinkdivacupcakery), where she routinely pairs her cupcakes with themed manicures from stylist Kandace Redmond.

It’s almost eerie how many Memphis chefs learned to cook at the elbows of their Italian grandmas. That’s where Michael Hudman and Andy Ticer of Hog & Hominy got their chops. Same goes for Jason Severs of Bari Ristorante.

Justin Fox Burks

Carol and Drew Minneci

Well, you can add another name to that list: Drew Minneci of Carol’s Cheesecakes, which opened in October. Although Minneci didn’t come to cooking the way you might imagine. For 30 years before he opened Carol’s, he was a long-haul trucker.

“Three and a half million miles without a single accident,” he crows. “I think that’s pretty good.”

It all started in 2008, when Minneci, an amateur baker, brought a slice of his cheesecake to work.

At the time, he was a part-time security guard at Kroger. After trying a bite, his co-workers promptly started ordering cakes of their own. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Justin Fox Burks

I recommend the mini-cake sampler ($5.95), a 12-pack split between two different flavors. I enjoyed the red velvet — pleasantly sweet and piquant — and the chocolate with chocolate ganache. Interested in a full slice? Try the Peanut Butter Cup. You can’t go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter.

I was also pleasantly surprised by the Cheese Puppies ($4.95), a deep-fried hybrid of cheese fritters and hush puppies. Crispy on the outside, warm and gooey on the inside, these little artery-cloggers are downright munchable, especially with a dollop of honey mustard. In the coming months, Minneci says he will unveil a new cheesecake pop.

So who is Carol? She’s Minneci’s wife, who first had the idea to bake a cheesecake with Bailey’s Irish Cream. It has since become one of the shop’s signature desserts.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Now Open: Midtown Crossing and Maui Brick Oven.

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

In recent years, Memphis has seen the resurgence of several neighborhoods that most people had written off: places like Overton Square, South Main, and Broad Avenue. Inevitably, those comebacks have been preceded by ferocious bouts of murmuring. Did you hear that Overton Square is coming back? I heard it’s coming back.

Now people have started murmuring about a new neighborhood: Crosstown. Buoyed by the redevelopment of the old Sears building, this formerly disinvested district is starting to show signs of life — and nowhere is that more apparent than at Midtown Crossing.

Justin Fox Burks

Midtown Crossing’s Octavia Young

This friendly neighborhood pub was started by chefs Jeremiah Shields and Octavia Young. Both cooked at Harrah’s in Tunica; both lost their jobs when the casino closed. But in this case, Tunica’s loss is Memphis’ gain.

“I love it here,” admits Young. “I was all set to move to North Carolina, but I wasn’t feeling it. It’s not my scene at all.”

Shields and Young want Midtown Crossing to be a center for the local community. Which is easy enough to say, but they actually seem to be following through on it. When I visited, there was a ukulele night going on in the main dining room.

The concept is simple. Take people who can play the uke and people who want to learn. Get everybody together in a big room — parents, children, hipsters, weirdos — and let them figure it out. All right, it gets pretty noisy. But it’s actually kinda cool when you think about it.

As far as food goes, Midtown Crossing serves an upscale take on pub grub: pizzas, sandwiches, nachos, cheese sticks. I say “upscale” because they do most of it in-house: They smoke their own meat and cure their own bacon. They pickle their own onions and make their own tomato jam.

The best thing I tried was the Wild Mushroom Pizza ($11). Although the mushrooms likely weren’t wild — they were too big, too unblemished — it was nonetheless quite tasty, served with crumbled bacon, caramelized onions, and topped with a fried egg.

Although many of the dishes lean heavily on meat, Young says she is interested in developing more vegetarian and vegan offerings. And she’s got time: Midtown Crossing just opened in December. For now, it seems to be hitting the right note. When I visited, it was crowded with a mix of twentysomethings, neighborhood regulars, and families.

When people talk about Maui Brick Oven, they tend to mention two things. First: gluten-free. Second: Germantown. And while both are technically correct, they also miss the point. Yes, Maui is out past Saddle Creek on Poplar. Yes, the restaurant eschews gluten, which is another word for wheat products.

But no one’s talking about the food, and food is the real story. It’s light, loaded with local vegetables — and actually pretty affordable. In a city swimming in greasy barbecue nachos, Maui is a breath of fresh air.

Take the Barefoot Bowl ($11). Beautiful portobello mushroom slices are arranged in a fan across the top of this hearty vegan dish, which includes pickled carrots, onions, and cauliflower, garlic kale, mandarin orange slices, and crispy garbanzo beans. It’s served over a bed of quinoa and brown rice and drizzled with Thai coconut sauce.

More to the point? It’s delicious.

“Sometimes these big burly dudes come in here for lunch,” says general manager Dana Doggrell, “and I can tell, they don’t know it’s gluten-free.

“And you know what?” he continues. “I don’t tell them. Because they’re enjoying it, and I don’t want to mess with that.”

Maui’s is owned by restaurateurs Taylor Berger and Michael Tauer, who launched it in partnership with the original Maui, in Hawaii. Tauer says he got the idea while vacationing with his wife, who can’t eat gluten.

In addition to pathbreaking grain bowls, the menu also features more traditional fare: things like crunchy coconut shrimp and brick-oven pizza. I particularly liked the Paradise Pesto Pizza ($14), loaded with artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, Greek olives, and feta.

If I had tasted that pizza without knowing it was gluten-free, you know what I would have said? Dang, that’s a good crust. Thin and crispy. Germantown or not, I’ll be heading back to Maui.