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Hungry Memphis

Hog and Hominy Opens Friday, November 5th

On entering the newly rebuilt and redesigned Hog and Hominy the other night, co-owner Michael Hudman told his wife how the restaurant has an “old Art Deco diner feel.”

From the silver metal lettered sign out front to the fluted light fixtures in the dining room and just the general vibe, the new Hog and Hominy indeed has a diner feel — a diner that serves Neapolitan-inspired pizzas instead of patty melts.

The new Hog and Hominy opens to the public Friday, November 5th.

After a fire January 9th, 2020, the new Hog and Hominy, one of the many restaurants owned by Hudman and Andrew Ticer, was rebuilt. It’s about twice as large, says general manager Evan Potts. They expanded the restaurant as far as it would go in all directions, he says. Now, entering the restaurant on the right front instead of on the left side, diners will see the bar in a separate but open area on the right and the dining room on the left.

The new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)

J. D. Caldwell with Carlton Edwards Architects was lead architect. Natalie Lieberman of Collect + Curate did the interior design.

Ticer loved the fact they had a “blank slate” to work with. They were able to “reimagine” the restaurant without being confined to the former “three bedroom house” they originally had with the pre-fire structure. They were able to “think out of the box.” 

Nick Talarico instructs the staff at the new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Front patio at the new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Front patio at the new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Interior of the new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Interior of the new Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)

Justin Solberg is chef de cuisine at the restaurant. The fare will include “Neapolitan-inspired pizza,” Potts says. “We like to have that wood fire crust that has that little bit of toothsome-ness to it. The chew, if you will. And super thin in the middle to showcase what we put on top.”

There will be new pizzas as well as old favorites, including the Thunderbird and Red Eye.

Meet the Hog and Hominy kitchen and staff (from left): Trevor Anderson, Evan Potts, Michael Hudman, Ryan Jenniges, Ryan Dunn, Justin Solberg, Andrew Ticer, Zach Hart, Jamie Lawrence, and Ronnie Roberson. (Credit: Michael Donahue)

The pizzas will be the entrees. They also will serve snacks and small plates — “Little things to share for the table.”

And, Potts says, “We do a lot of fun takes on traditional Italian fare. We like to twist it. Like taking the idea of eggplant parmesan and substituting pork belly. Italian ideas and twisting them and putting the little Southern spin on it like we do.”

They will continue to serve their craft cocktails, which Hog and Hominy is known for. For instance, Potts says, “The same old fashioned where we make the orange bitters in house.”

They also got their own barrel of Maker’s Mark whiskey from Empire Distributors to make their old fashioned cocktails.

Hog and Hominy also does its own take on the dirty martini, but instead of the usual olive juice, they make their own brine using shishito peppers, which gives it more of a “vegetable flavor,” Potts says. “You’ll still have the salty flavor, but it adds a whole other depth of flavor to it.”

Hog and Hominy is at 707 West Brookhaven Circle; (901) 207-7396

Hog and Hominy (Credit: Michael Donahue)
Categories
Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Bishop Restaurant Slated to Open in Mid-December in Central Station Hotel

Michael Donahue

Bishop dining room

Meet “Bishop,” the newest restaurant brought to you by Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman, chef/owners of Catherine & Mary’s, The Gray Canary, Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen, Hog & Hominy, and Josephine Estelle in New Orleans.

Bishop, a 3,500 square-foot space in the Central Station Hotel on the corner of South Main and G. E. Patterson, is slated to open to the public in mid-December.

It was named Bishop after the late Church of God in Christ Bishop G. E. Patterson.

The food will be French brasserie style served in a “more upscale environment,” says assistant general manager Pablo Villarreal. But still in a “more casual setting.”

Guests will start with “le comptoir” (the counter), which are “snacks high in acid and salt that will be great to start off to cleanse your palette and get you ready to enjoy the menu,” Villarreal says. These will include tinned seafood, which are “delicacies common in France – baby eel, baby squid, and calamari.”

They then will move on to “petite plats” (small plates), which include escargot and oysters, and “grand plats” (large plates), which include steak au poivre, chateaubriand, and lamb chops.

Desserts, including crepe cake, will be made in house by chef Kayla Palmer.

Ticer and Hudman always wanted to open a French restaurant. They worked under chef Jose Gutierrez (River Oaks chef/owner) for five years at Chez Philippe in The Peabody. “We learned our palette from him,” Ticer says.

He and Hudman fell in love with the French “philosophy and approach to food” when they went to cooking school in Southern France.

Bishop seats 130, the bar area seats 18, and a private dining room seats 18, says general manager Emily Stanford.

The interior, with its black-and-white Cathedral style flooring and lots of windows, is a perfect accompaniment to the food. The approach was “keep the old train station feel,” Villarreal says. As if you’re “still in a train station having a drink.”

Natalie Lieberman of Collect+Curate Studio with the help of art consultant Anna Wunderlich designed the interior of Bishop.

Lieberman says she “started with a story” when she began work on the restaurant. “The only info I had was the name ‘Bishop,’” she says. She began to “create a narrative.”

Earthly elements, including leaves and mushrooms, combine with objects, including keys and bells, that go along with “Bishop,” Lieberman says.

There’s also a “spiritual underlying theme” with the stars, beads, and tarot cards, she says.

A bishop’s cape from France is in a frame on one wall.

Butch Anthony of the Museum of Wonder in Alabama created the hand painting in the dining room.

“Moody and rich and textured” was the feel she was going for at Bishop, Lieberman says.

She succeeded.

Diners will agree.

Michael Donahue

Bishop

Michael Donahue

Bishop

Michael Donahue

Bishop

Michael Donahue

Michael Hudman and Andrew Ticer at Bishop.

Michael Donahue

Natalie Lieberman, Pablo Villarreal, and Emily Stanford at Bishop.

Categories
Style Sessions We Recommend

Karlee Hickman, Propcellar Vintage Rentals

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“Look for new and interesting ideas, move outside your comfort zone a little — fitting in isn’t always a good thing!”

California-native Karlee Hickman moved to Memphis with her husband, a FedEx pilot, four years ago. It was a big move in many ways — geographically and culturally, certainly outside her comfort zone.

“I’m independent, but after a couple of months, I had a distinctive dark moment where I consciously had to make the decision sink or swim. Sink — meaning give up and go back to my family and friends in California or swim — meaning make the most of it and get out there and start making some roots,” she recalls.

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Even at the beginning of her big transition, she could tell there was potential in the city. “I told my husband, “You mark my words. Give it 10 years and Memphis is going to be on those ‘Top 10 Cool Places’ lists.”

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For Karlee, making roots wasn’t about fitting in. It was about making connections and letting her entrepreneurial spirit contribute something unique to the growth happening all around the city. She was so inspired that she gave her new attitude its own tagline — “Memphis Proud.”

“Memphis Proud embodies the spirit of the renaissance that’s happening all around us right now. Memphis is cool place full of character and soul and enormous opportunity. Yes, my family and I happened to end up here. But that’s changed and now we know better and are choosing to be here. We’re proud to call this city our home and proud to be even a small part of the awakening that it’s experiencing.”

After a few odd jobs as a waitress, a bartender, a nanny, and an au pair in Sweden, Karlee took her Fashion Design/Apparel Production education and interior design background with her love for collecting vintage furniture and created something almost unpredictable as a business — renting out vintage furniture and décor as props. Propcellar Vintage Rentals was born in 2013 from one couch she found at a yard sale then refurbished with aqua blue fabric and red legs.

The inventory grew with more and more requests to provide props for weddings, photo shoots, parties, and film productions.

Now Propcellar has a new home in a converted glass factory on Summer Avenue that channels the energy of the Broad Avenue arts district just south of their building. With 10,000 square feet of space, Karlee has seized the chance to not only store more inventory to rent but hopes to rent out the space itself for parties and photo shoots.

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For the building restoration, Karlee enlisted interior designer Natalie Lieberman of Collect + Curate. Careful detailing and new lighting upgrade the space without losing any of the mid-century character. The showroom portion of the building hopes to be complete and open by early September.

In the hectic schedule of this major build-out, Karlee balances time as a mom of two young kids. “Balance is a generous word,” she jokes. Knowing she’s not exclusive to this day-to-day dilemma of finding time is part of the Propcellar service of saving their customers time in finding that perfect piece. She has taken many requests to find anything she doesn’t currently have in stock.

Her eye for style and vintage design doesn’t stop at furniture or interiors. Her design philosophy also evolves into personal style. “Editing is the most important step in any design process, be it clothes, interior or event design. Fabulous color selection is an art and makes all the difference in the world.”

And her style advice? Confidence. “Nothing looks as good as confidence. A gal is unstoppable with a great moisturizer, YSL Touché Eclat, blush, lip gloss, sunglasses, caffeine…and wine.”

Details
Dress: Vintage. Purchased from Twisted Vintage Textiles “right here in good old Memphis!”
Shoesies: Chelsea Crew. modcloth.com.
Necklace: Anthropologie
Earrings: Southern Couture
Prop and shoot location: Jens Mid Century Chair, Propcellar Vintage Rentals.