Tag: Vice & Virtue

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

You Have Arrived: Cocktails, Coffee, and Carbs at Arrive Hotel

I’m a total baby about cold weather. If it dips below 50 degrees, I’ll easily opt for Uber Eats over a trip into the cold to get food. This is one reason I think places like the Arrive Hotel are so cool: Once you’re there, everything you need is in one place.

Arrive is home to Longshot restaurant, bakery Hustle & Dough, coffeeshop Vice & Virtue, and the lobby bar, Bar Hustle. Each has its own look, feel, and menu, so you can spend the afternoon wandering from one to the other without ever really leaving the building.

Ali Rohrbacher, formerly the head baker at the cafe at Crosstown Arts and at The Liquor Store, runs the boutique bakery Hustle & Dough and shares the lobby with Tim and Teri Perkins of Vice & Virtue.

Photos by Lorna Field

Pablo Mata, lead bartender at Arrive’s Bar Hustle

The bakery serves up homemade breads like sourdoughs and baguettes, as well as special pastries and treats. Snacks for Bar Hustle are also cooked up in the Hustle & Dough kitchen, like the mushroom toast on porridge sourdough with basil pesto, wild mushrooms, ricotta, and parmesan; or Grandma Alice’s Pecan Pie, served with an all-butter pie crust and dark chocolate ganache “black bottom” — the Rohrbacher family recipe.

Erik Hmiel, beverage director for the hotel, says that fermentation is one thing the drinks and food have in common.

“One of the parallels that Ali [Rohrbacher], as a chef and baker, and I share is a mutual interest and appreciation for fermentation,” Hmiel says. “Obviously, that’s a big part of bread-making. She’s really obsessed in a great way with fermentation, and I’ve sort of jumped on that bandwagon and learned a lot from her.”

For example, Bar Hustle serves a cocktail with fermented blueberries, as well as a seasonal kombucha.

Like fermentation, a focus on flavor is another commonality between the food and drink menus at Arrive. Bar Hustle offers a selection of specialty cocktails dreamt up by Hmiel, each with their own unique ingredients and presentation. The Bird Graveyard is prepared with aquavit, Scotch, banana, carrot verjus, and marjoram and served in a tumbler glass with one large ice cube. It tastes slightly sweet and earthy. The deep purple Fabio’s Roller Coaster is made with rye, lemon, fermented blueberry, pastis, dry vermouth, and black sesame and served in a delicate coupe glass.

The cocktail menu is just as whimsical as the decor. The lobby is filled with velvet couches, plants, and oriental rugs. It’s easy to feel like you’re in a speakeasy or in Europe or in an eccentric aristocrat’s penthouse. It certainly doesn’t feel like a hotel lobby.

And that’s, in part, because Bar Hustle is for locals as much as it is for hotel guests.

“We put a lot of time, effort, and thought into what we’re putting out there,” Hmiel says. “We also have a service industry night on Sunday. At the end of the day, we just wanted to be a fun and inviting space for everyone.

“One of the things we might do in the future is a series of pop-ups every month, or every two months. That’s something we’re thinking about right now, going into the new year,” Hmiel continues. Bar Hustle also hosts musicians on Friday nights and is looking to expand their entertainment offerings in the coming year.

So if, like me, you hate going out into the cold, but you also don’t want to feel too stir-crazy at home all winter, take a trip to Arrive. You can start your day with coffee at Vice & Virtue, have lunch at Hustle & Dough, then grab a cocktail and a show at Bar Hustle — all without leaving the hotel. And, hey, if it’s too cold to go home, you can always rent a room for the night.

The Arrive Hotel is located at 477 S. Main.

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Wrap it Up: A Roundup of 2019 Food News Tidbits

This was the year of seafood, South Main, and comeback stories, with old favorites like Fino’s and Zinnie’s making triumphant returns. Here are a few items of note from 2019.

RIP

Mary Burns, longtime owner of Java Cabana, died on October 4th after a nearly three-year battle with lung cancer. Burns purchased Java Cabana in 1998 and had become a fixture of Cooper-Young, serving as a member of the Cooper-Young Business Association and the Cooper-Young Garden Club. Burns is largely remembered for making Java Cabana what it is today, a welcoming safe haven for artists and poets alike.

City of Sole

Several seafood restaurants — particularly those specializing in crab dishes — have opened or opened new locations, including Crab’N’Go, Crab Island, DeeO’s Seafood, Red Hook Cajun Seafood & Bar, Saltwater Crab, and others.

Saltwater Crab opened its doors over the summer with an expansive menu including sushi, sandwiches, and crab options such as crab cakes, king crab, snow crab, and a saltwater crab roll. Atlanta-based restaurateur Gary Lin opened Saltwater Crab in early July, but the kitchen is managed by Memphis chefs. The menu is entirely “coastal,” so you won’t find any catfish here.

The Juicy Crab, a Georgia-based seafood chain, opened its first Memphis location on Winchester earlier this year, and The Coastal Fish Company opened in Shelby Farms in October. Mardi Gras Memphis, which specializes in Louisiana-style seafood boils, recently reopened their restaurant across from the Crosstown Concourse. And Picasso’s — a seafood and pasta place — opened in August at 6110 Macon, making it the newest seafood addition to East Memphis. The Cousins Maine Lobster food truck also opened in March.

Downtown Dining

South Main is now home to quite a few new dining and drinking destinations, including the restaurants (Hustle & Dough, Longshot), coffeeshop (Vice & Virtue), and bar (Bar Hustle) inside the Arrive Hotel, as well as those inside Puck Food Hall, Memphis’ first and only food hall, which had its grand opening in May.

The Central Station Hotel also opened on South Main in October, and with it came a new bar, Eight & Sand, and restaurant, Bishop — Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman’s newest project.

Justin Fox Burks

BarWare

BarWare, a neighborhood bar that features craft cocktails and elevated bar food, opened on Front this year, too. And several other notable establishments opened their doors Downtown, including Comeback Coffee, Hu. Diner, 3rd & Court, and more.

Old Favorites Return

This was also the year we saw many old favorites come back to life. Fino’s, the beloved Midtown deli, reopened on June 6th, bringing their classic gourmet sandwiches back after closing in late 2018.

Old Zinnie’s — the “best little neighborhood bar in the universe” — first opened in 1973 but closed abruptly in 2018, leaving many Memphis barflies feeling abandoned. They reopened on Halloween, the perfect night to welcome the regulars back to their local haunt. As if it never closed, Zinnie’s feels very much the same, and they’re even serving popcorn again like in the old days.

The infamous and inimitable Hernando’s Hide-A-Way also celebrated its reopening near the end of 2019. The spot, famous for hosting music legends like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis, closed in 2007 but was recently purchased and reopened by partners Dale Watson and Celine Lee along with co-owner Patrick Trovato of Long Island, New York. The owners plan to maintain the integrity of the original, offering plenty of local music and color, and, supposedly, the “best hamburger in Tennessee.”

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Food & Wine Food & Drink

Grind City Coffee Expo set for March 9th; plus Comeback Coffee and Vice & Virtue.

CREDIT: Photographs by Justin Fox Burks

Is Memphis in a coffee renaissance? It may be too soon to tell. But something certainly is, ahem, brewing. For proof, look to all the third wave places like Launch Process and Low Fi popping up. Our next piece of evidence is the Grind City Coffee Expo, set for March 9th at Memphis College of Art.

Daniel Lynn and Rachel Williams are the event’s organizers. “It’s a way to bring Memphis coffee [purveyors] together under a neutral roof,” says Lynn. “And it’s a way to expose Memphians to what [these purveyors] have to offer.”

Photographs by Justin Fox Burks

Daniel Lynn (left) and Rachel Williams, organizers of the Grind City Coffee Expo

Guests will be given a tasting card and a five-ounce tasting mug to sample coffees from the nine vendors who will be at the event. The vendors include: Dr. Bean, Vice & Virtue, Comeback Coffee, The Avenue, Awal Coffee, The Hub, Reverb, Launch Process, and French Truck. Each, in turn, will offer something special for the show. Vice & Virtue is bringing a mini-roaster and guests can roast their own beans. Comeback Coffee will have coffee sodas(!).

Lynn says he was inspired to create the expo after attending the Science of Beer event, though he acknowledges “coffee’s more of my speed.” Lynn notes that he’s learned a lot from setting up the expo. For example, “spro” is short for espresso.

“Coffee is almost like a plate of barbecue,” says Lynn. “It’s something you can bond over.”

Tickets are $30, with proceeds going to Protect Our Aquifer.

Grind City Coffee Expo at Memphis College of Art, Saturday, March 9th, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

Comeback Coffee, set to open in Uptown March 29th, has a lighted sign on the wall that reads, “Stay a while,” and they mean it. Comeback is owned by Hayes and Amy McPherson. Hayes marvels at the variety of potential customers. You’ve got your Uptowners, your St. Juders, North Memphians, Mud Islanders, and so on. “All those people can rub shoulders,” he says.

Hayes vows that Comeback will be quick and consistent. He plans on a little quality pushing. What this means is that there are no fancy pour-overs; drinks will be made by machine but from the finest sources. Folks can “sit and be,” he says. Plus, price points will be reasonable.

There will be classic coffee drinks as well as seasonal and specialty drinks such as mochas. A giant espresso machine sits on the counter just waiting to hit customers with a caffeine buzz. In addition, a menu, designed by noted local chef Cole Jeanes, will feature pastries, sandwiches, and toasts.

Comeback is in a pretty, old building on North Main. There is exposed brick and large windows on the west side. The McPhersons, who live upstairs, had taken note of the building, fantasizing what they could do with the space. Amy’s father is in commercial real estate. He had, on his own, taken interest in the building as well. The two sides compared notes and decided it was meant to be.

Hayes says he’s excited about the upcoming expo. “We’ve needed this for a long time,” he says. “We on the cusp of a coffee culture.”

Comeback Coffee, 358 N. Main

Wee beginning roasters often start with an air popper (meant for popcorn) to roast their first beans. Tim and Teri Perkins of Vice & Virtue Coffee did and quickly moved on to a whirley pop, trading up to better equipment as their knowledge grew. They are currently working out of a space on Hollywood with a commercial roaster and hope to eventually open a small shop of their own. Their coffees are currently available at Curb Market, Cooper-Young Community Farmers Market, Belltower Artisans, City Silo, the Grecian Gourmet Taverna, and at the roastery.

Tim and Teri Perkins of Vice & Virtue Coffee

Tim calls this a passion project, but this is an obsession of a Fatal Attraction variety. They travel to conferences, take classes. They talk, talk, talk coffee and never get sick of it. They caught the fever when they heard their first bean crack.

On the name, it involves Aristotle, the human condition, good versus evil. “It appealed to us,” says Tim. “I’m vice, she’s virtue.”

Tim points out that the “v” in the logo is actually a martini glass, which points to the notion of craft coffee moving into the craft cocktail space and the Perkinses’ plan to serve coffee cocktails one day.

The Perkinses say they’ve enjoyed learning about different beans from different countries, experimenting with coffee, and coaxing out the best flavors. “We know what we’re doing, but we can get better,” says Teri.

At the expo, Tim plans to walk guests through the roasting process, having them immerse themselves in the sensory experience. Like the McPhersons, the Perkinses say the expo is a long time coming and that Memphis’ coffee community has thus far been underserved.

“It’s a craft,” says Tim. “It’s an artform.”

Vice & Virtue offers cuppings on the first Friday of the month, from 6:30-8 p.m., at the Hollywood roastery, in conjunction with Broad Avenue First Friday. The next cupping is March 1st and will have a March Madness theme, where tasters are put to the test. Cost is $5.

Vice & Virtue Coffee, 482 N. Hollywood