Tag: Whole Foods

Papi’s Pepper Sauce: How a Collierville Couple Turned a Pepper Patch into a Business

Post author By Michael Donahue
Post date February 3, 2021

When life gives you hot peppers, make pepper sauce. That’s what Joe and Kay Paul did.

“I was growing all these different peppers out back,” says Joe, 73. “And I got to wondering what I could do with them. So I started playing around with different hot sauces. I researched them on the internet.”

One day the couple came up with the perfect vinegar-based sauce: Papi Joe’s Tennessee Pepper Sauce. Made at their commercial kitchen in Rossville, Tennessee, it is now in eight states and 40 stores, including Whole Foods.

Kay and Joe Paul

“It’s a combination of a lot of different flavors,” Kay says. “That’s what makes it so special. Joe didn’t feel like it was really a hot sauce because it’s not so hot that you can’t enjoy it. It’s got more flavor.

“Every batch has 100 cloves of fresh garlic,” Kay adds. “We don’t use garlic powder or garlic salt in our sauce. And he insists that it has to be USA-grown.”

The couple took the sauce to Jungle Jim’s International Market Weekend of Fire in Fairfield, Ohio, where they got a good response. They competed the next year. Out of 3,500 people and 300 sauces, Papi Joe’s took first place. “We knew we had them when their eyes got great-big when they tasted it,” says Kay.

Their business started to grow after Joe took the sauce to gift shops in Collierville, where they live. “I just walked in and said, ‘Hey, do you want to taste something?'”

They then began thinking about making a Bloody Mary mix. “Every time we cooked the sauce, we had the drippings that were literally thrown down the drain,” Kay says. So they took the pepper sauce, tomatoes, and celery salt and came up with Papi’s Sassy Bloody Mary Mix, which now is in about 40 liquor stores, including Buster’s Liquors & Wines.

They then created Papi-Q Tart & Tangy BBQ Sauce. “It’s got plenty of pepper sauce in it, brown sugar, local sorghum molasses, no additives,” Joe says.

They also have Papi Joe’s Tennessee Whisky BBQ Sauce, which is made with George Dickel whiskey. It comes in a 12-ounce flask. And Papi Joe’s X-treme Pepper Sauce includes ghost peppers. “It will not hurt you, but it’s a lot hotter than the pepper sauce in our original recipe,” says Kay.

Joe and Kay’s son, Don Paul, is also part of the operation. “We have the original location in Rossville,” Joe says. “It’s a 100-year-old building. It used to be a general store. We rehabbed that to make our commercial kitchen.”

Their equipment includes a 40-gallon steam kettle and a grape press. “It’s bottled there, labeled there, and shipped from there. All by hand.”

Joe and Kay, who have been married 53 years, met in Lexington, Kentucky. “I was riding down the street backwards on my bicycle and she saw me and fell in love with me,” says Joe. “And a week later she asked me to marry her.”

That’s not exactly how it happened, Kay says: “We were neighbors.”

Joe got his Papi Joe nickname after his first grandchild was born. He wanted to be called Papi.

“I took that picture in the backyard that’s on the bottle,” Kay says. “Every bottle has a picture of Joe on it.”

Joe and Kay are considering pepper jelly, glazes, and rubs but aren’t planning for more products yet. Kay’s thought is, “Let’s just do really well at what we’re doing now and give ourselves a break. And then we’ll get onto something else.”

To buy online, go to papijoes.com.

Tags hot sauce, Joe Paul, Kay Paul, Memphis, Papi's Pepper Sauce, peppers, Whole Foods

Food & Wine Food & Drink

Chewing Over the Food News of 2015

Post author By Susan Ellis
Post date December 29, 2015

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

In looking over 2015, one thing stood out: brand expansion. Aldo’s Pizza Pies, with its swell rooftop patio, and City Market (grab and go!) came to Cooper-Young. Fino’s opened a second restaurant in East Memphis (yay sandwiches!), and Mediterranean mainstay Casablanca returned to Midtown. Both Bedrock Eats & Sweets, the paleo eatery, and the all-vegan Pink Diva Cupcakery and Cuisine got places to call their own.

Justin Fox Burks

Bedrock Eats & Sweets

Ermyias Shiberou, owner of Stickem food truck, opened Blue Nile Ethiopian Kitchen on Madison in Midtown, next to the Bar-B-Q Shop. Stickem’s awesome kabobs are on the menu, and the lentil sandwich is terrific. Reverb Coffee got into the food-truck game, and Relevant Roasters opened its own coffee bar. Tamp & Tap Triad was unveiled in East Memphis.

Justin Fox Burks

Blue Nile Ethiopian Kitchen

Last year, all the action was in Overton Square. This year, one could argue, it’s South Main. The new location of Rizzo’s, after much delay, opened in March. Don’t worry, the Lobster Pronto Pups are still on the menu. The great and always-packed Maciel’s offers downtowners tacos, tortas, and more. South Main Sushi & Grill took over the Grawemeyer’s space, and there’s Ray’z World Famous Dr. Bar-b-que a few blocks north. The hipsteriffic 387 Pantry is a small, curated market with locally sourced goods like Dr. Bean’s coffee and Hanna Farm grits and cornmeal.

Justin Fox Burks

Ray’z World Famous Dr. Bar-b-que

Also new to downtown is the build-your-own tacos and burritos and nachos joint Burrito Blues (mmmm, nachos) and the Cuban and Mexican restaurant Sabrosura (try the Cuban sandwich). Jeff Johnson’s latest venture Agave Maria, with its masterful decor and endless tequila menu, opened on Union. Recommendation: the cheesy mushroom and poblano enchilada. In April, Bass Pro finally opened in the Pyramid. Uncle Buck’s, the underwater-themed restaurant with a bowling alley, offers a little something for everyone. Up top, the Lookout has one of the best views in the city.

Germantown got all the grocery stores. There’s the 1,000,000-square-foot Kroger that opened. (Actually, it’s only 100,000 square feet, but to put it in perspective, the Union Kroger is 36,000 square feet). It has a juice bar and a Corky’s BBQ kiosk. The healthy-food-at-a-discount grocer, Sprouts, after opening Lakeland, introduced its second store in Germantown. Whole Foods opened its second Memphis-area store in Germantown, too. It features a charcuterie cave, a fresh pasta station, made-fresh savory and sweet crepes, and Korean street food from Kei Jei Kitchens. (I think about the steamed bao sliders all the time.) And, in September, there was news, which seems completely unfair depending on your zip code, that the first area Trader Joe’s would open in Germantown sometime in 2016.

Breakfast for dinner? Breakfast for lunch? Breakfast for breakfast? Whenever! Another Broken Egg, a chain, opened in East Memphis. Order one of their scrambled skillets and their beignet biscuits and you’ll feel like you’ve been hit by a bus, but in the best way possible. Also in the breakfast-whenever game is the colorful, pancake-centric Staks. You can even make your own pancakes, if you’re so inclined. They also offer soups, salads, and sandwiches (including the Memphis Hot Brown).

And, and, and … There’s Mac’s Burgers with a menu filled with gourmet mac-and-cheese and burgers. Coffeehouse/gift shop City & State opened on Broad. 3 Angels Diner made way for Maximo’s on Broad. Encore Cafe offers wraps, smoothies, and salads, plus a place for Cozy Corner while it gets its building ready. Crazy Italians is owned by real-live Italians and features a menu of affordable, classic dishes like spaghetti alla carbonara. I Love Juice Bar features juices, smoothies, and essential oil shots. Mardi Gras, in Crosstown, has gotten great word-of-mouth for its Cajun fare. Diners can tour the U.S.A. at Heritage Tavern & Kitchen, which has a menu of regional favorites. Healthy, tastefully done meals are Julles Posh Food‘s focus. Ditto for LYFE Kitchen, where there’s no fryer, and it’s not missed at all.

Finally, two words: Cheesecake Factory.

Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Stickem Owner Opening Ethiopian Restaurant, etc.

Post author By Susan Ellis
Post date February 19, 2015

Ermyias Shiberou, owner of Stickem food truck, is planning on opening a Ethiopian restaurant on Madison near the Bar B-Q Shop in the former site of a Pizza Hut. The restaurant will be called the Blue Nile. Shiberou hopes to have it open by spring.

Shiberou says that he originally hoped to open an Ethiopian restaurant before he began Stickem. The reason that he’s pursuing it now is that the property became available.

“I felt like I’ve to do this now,” he says. “It just makes sense to me — the timing, the location.”

Shiberou says he doesn’t have menu set yet, but plans to serve traditional vegetarian dishes and Kitfo, which he describes as a beef tartare seasoned in clarified butter and Ethiopian spices and served with a homemade cottage cheese.

He also plans to roast coffee in-house, and hold Ethiopian coffee ceremonies once a week.

• Spotted at the corner of Madison and Belvedere …

• For folks who are Lenting … Whole Foods is having a Fish on Fridays special through April 2nd.

Tags Blue Nile, Casablanca, Ermyias Shiberou, Ethiopian, Fish on Fridays, Lent, Stickem, Whole Foods

Food & Wine Food & Drink

The things we ate in 2014.

Post author By Susan Ellis
Post date December 31, 2014

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Last winter, Holly Whitfield of the I Love Memphis Blog announced that Memphis is in the midst of a spectacular “Foodnado.” How apt! My cursory count of restaurants, breweries, and sundry food-related places that opened in 2014 adds up to 40, and not all of them in Overton Square.

But, then again, a lot of them are in Overton Square. Babalu Tacos & Tapas opened in June, offering tableside-prepared guacamole and lots of sharing plates. The place has been packed since. In August came Jimmy Ishii’s Robata Ramen & Yakitori Bar with a fine menu of ramen noodle bowls and skewers. Lafayette’s Music Room, an homage to the original much-loved, circa-’70s Overton Square bar named for the recently passed away ace bartender Lafayette Draper, opened in September and features wood-fired pizzas and a music schedule set at palatable hours. Schweinehaus, a cheeky Memphis take on German food, also opened in September. There’s beer, brats, and the occasional lederhosen sighting — what’s not to like? If you need olive oil, there’s the Square Olive, and there’s more music and fun at the Chicago-based Zebra Lounge.

Justin Fox Burks

Robata Ramen & Yakitori Bar

The most recent addition to Overton Square is Belly Acres, a farm-to-table burger restaurant, the latest of three burger-centric places to open in Memphis. This trend has our full endorsement. Belly Acres has a fantasyland interior and a menu that demands to be gone through one burger at a time. Down the street, there’s LBOE (Last Burger on Earth). Its menu raises the bar with such burgers as the super spicy Lava Me or Lava Me Not and the garlic-laden Love Stinks. Oshi Burger Bar downtown has something for everyone — beef burgers, tuna burgers, vegetarian burgers, gluten-free buns. They also have great milkshakes.

Justin Fox Burks

Oshi Burger Bar on South Main

Plenty of glasses have been raised at the taprooms opened in 2014 at High Cotton Brewing Co. and Memphis Made Brewing Co., and Memphis promises to get buzzier still in the new year with Pyramid Vodka. Wine in grocery stores finally passed, and while that doesn’t happen until 2016, local liquor stores are making the best of it with growler stations and more.

In grocery-store news: Whole Foods opened its expanded store in East Memphis, which includes a site-specific barbecue restaurant and a growler station. There’s the new Fresh Market in Midtown, and Kroger continues to show its commitment to Memphis in updating its stores, most recently the one at Cleveland and Poplar. Plus, there’s been some buzz about a Trader Joe’s opening sometime somewhere. We shall see.

In coffee news: Everybody freaked out when Muddy’s Bake Shop announced a new Midtown store in August 2013. Muddy’s Grind House opened this fall and offers a little of everything, from coffee to breakfast eats and yoga. The Avenue, near the University of Memphis, has great coffee and treats with Christian fellowship. There’s also Cafe Keough downtown in a gorgeous setting with a great cafe Americano. Tart offers quiches and more — a great go-to place when expectations are high. Ugly Mug took over the Poplar Perk’n space, and Jimmy Lewis, who founded Squash Blossom, returned to the scene with Relevant Roasters, selling wholesale, environmentally sound, and worker-friendly coffee with the motto “Every Cup Matters.”

After a few false starts, the Riverfront Development Corporation came through with Riverfront Grill. It serves a sophisticated but not too syrupy Southern menu and also has some of the best views in Memphis. Also new this year to downtown are the Kwik Chek spinoff Nacho’s, Marie’s Eatery in the old Rizzo’s Diner spot, and Cafe Pontotoc. Rizzo’s moved into the old Cafe Soul site, and there’s the Love Pop Soda Shop, a nifty craft soda shop.

In East Memphis, Skewer, serving Yakitori and ramen, opened in January. 4 Dumplings opened around the same time, and, as its name suggests, the menu is built around four dumplings. The vegan dumpling with tofu is not to be missed.

Since at least four people mentioned to me that Jackson Kramer’s Bounty on Broad is “secretly” gluten-free, I’m guessing it’s not really a secret. The dishes at this lovely farm-to-table spot are thoughtfully done and a delight to look at. The menu changes frequently, but at a recent dinner, there were mussels in fragrant coconut milk, charred broccolini, and creamed kale served over polenta. Also gluten-free is the Hawaiian import Maui Brick Oven, serving brick-oven pizzas and grain bowls.

Justin Fox Burks

Bounty on Broad’s Jackson Kramer

At Ecco on Overton Park, Sabine Bachmann’s cozy neighborhood restaurant, there are heaping dishes of pork chops, delicate pasta dishes, and artful cheese plates — something for every appetite. Strano Sicilian Kitchen & Bar serves a great roasted carrot soup and Italian classics from meatballs to pizza.

At press time, Porcellino’s, Andrew Ticer and Michael Hudman’s latest venture, was due to open “any minute now.” File this one under “This Should Be Interesting.” This is a butcher shop/sundry/coffee spot/wine bar offering grab-and-go sandwiches, fresh pastas, cured meats, house-made pastries, and more.

Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Salud! Cooking School Now Open at Whole Foods

Post author By Hannah Anderson
Post date June 25, 2014

Whole Foods Poplar celebrated the opening of its new cooking school, Salud!, this weekend, with a private Tex-Mex Fiesta dinner on Friday night, followed by the school’s grand opening on Saturday, which included a kid’s pasta-making class and a “Simply Blackberry Farms ” dinner, which benefitted the Cooper-Young Community Farmer’s Market.

The school is offering a variety of cooking classes, from demonstration-style classes to more hands-on skills courses, as well as date-night and children’s classes. The school’s course offerings were pre-selected through August, but Salud! specialist Bri Rogers, who is running the school, is seeking input from the community as to what types of courses people would like to see in the future in order to make the school unique to Memphis.

The classes are affordable, with prices beginning at $39 per person. The school provides an intimate atmosphere, with classes capped at 18 people for demonstration classes and around 10 people for hands-on classes.

I attended the Tex-Mex Fiesta dinner on Friday, which provided members of the local media with a first glimpse of the school and included an abbreviated cooking demonstration. The menu for the evening included appetizers of salsa, guacamole, and chips, with vegetarian black bean tostadas as the evening’s main course. After a brief overview of the cooking school, the school’s main cooking instructor, Jennifer Wilkins, demonstrated how to make Watermelon Ginger Aqua Fresca cocktails and Tres Leches Cupcakes with Fresh Berries (both of which were delicious).

The ingredients for all dishes in all classes will be pulled straight from the shelves of Whole Foods, so if you fall in love with a recipe, you can go purchase all the ingredients right after class.

Register for classes online here or by calling 969-4368. Mention any dietary restrictions (vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, etc.) when you register.

Here are some pictures from Friday night’s Fiesta!

[slideshow-1]

Tags Salud! Cooking School, Whole Foods

Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Hypothetical Question: Would a Whole Foods Make It in Midtown?

Post author By Susan Ellis
Post date March 15, 2012

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Justin Fox Burks

That hypothetical question — Would a Whole Foods make it in Midtown? — is just that. I have not heard even the tiniest peep about this actually happening.

In Flyerland, we talk a lot about grocery stores, so this question has come up before. What brought it up most recently was the Wall Street Journal story (warning: paywall) about Whole Foods opening a store in Detroit, Michigan.

Tags Detroit, Midtown Memphis, Wall Street Journal, Whole Foods

Food & Wine Food & Drink

Hungry For More?

Post author By Hannah Sayle
Post date January 20, 2011

CREDIT: Justin Fox Burks

Erling Jensen the Restaurant has a sleek new bar and bar menu to satisfy upscale-casual epicureans. With small plates ranging from $6 to $16, the restaurant has added a more relaxed style of dining to its repertoire. Erling Jensen and his wife/business partner Patti hope this will draw patrons looking for the distinctive Erling Jensen flavor without the length and price of a sit-down dinner.

Small plates include Mimolette cheese with brandied rabbit sausage and whole-grain mustard, crispy soy-braised Portobello mushrooms and white miso dipping sauce, D’Affinois cheese and smoked duck breast with kirsch-laced cherries, and a game burger, such as bison or buffalo, with the meat ground in-house.

In addition to the bar, which seats eight and is buffered from the front entrance by a new dining room, the Jensens have added a small side patio for cocktails in spring and summer. The patio has room for 25 standing, but Patti hopes to put out some small seating arrangements to make the space more intimate and comfortable.

Erling Jensen is still practicing its signature brand of gastronomy, preparing some of the most cosmopolitan cuisine in Memphis: seared La Belle Farm foie gras with brandy-laced cranberry tapioca; jumbo lump crabmeat with hollandaise and beluga caviar; Guadalupe mountain elk tenderloin with truffled wild mushroom gnocchi; and filet of buffalo tenderloin with lobster béarnaise.

Erling Jensen is open seven days a week from 5 to 10 p.m. They will not be taking reservations for the bar, but reservations are encouraged for the dining rooms.

Erling Jensen, 1044 S. Yates, 763-3060, ejensen.com

Vegans and locavores can both celebrate: Whole Foods is now stocking OC Vegan‘s pastries, including banana nut bread, carrot raisin bread, chocolate almond bread, and cinnamon buns with cream cheese icing. These delightful 5-ounce treats are made with organic flour, vegan butter, and organic cane sugar and run from $3 to $4 each.

You may recognize OC Vegan and co-owner Bastet Ankh Re from one of the many farmers markets around town. Ankh Re also was the vegan chef at Wild Oats before its transition to Whole Foods. Then with her godfather, she opened DéjàVu, offering a blend of vegan, vegetarian, and meat options, but soon decided to focus on vegan foods once more.

“After doing DéjàVu, I was like, ‘You know what? I’m vegan and I want to offer them more. I’ve got to do this 100 percent vegan,'” Ankh Re says. “So my partner Nigel Simister and I started OC Vegan Food Distributors.”

Now that their pastries are in Whole Foods, Ankh Re says they hope to add their savory vegan foods, such as a line of gourmet popcorn (Green Goddess, Fire Alarm, and Garlic Lovers), within the next six months. The popcorn has already been approved for sale at Smoothie King, in addition to OC Vegan’s juices, like Jamaican ginger beer and Jamaican Sorrel, a hibiscus-spiced beverage.

For now, you can reserve catering or order prepackaged items in bulk on their website, ocveganfooddistributors.com. Vegan cookies and pastries also are there, as well as jerk veggie burgers, hummus, spinach dip, vegan macaroni and cheese, and meatless meatballs.

Most of these prepackaged items sell from $4.99 to $6.99 a pound and are sold in quantities of three pounds or more. The catering menu is more extensive, offering breakfast options, side items, sandwiches, and dinner entrées.

And starting February 1st, OC Vegan will be moving their operations from the DéjàVu kitchen to a new bake house on Park between Getwell and Highland.

“It’s going to be a natural health and wellness center,” Ankh Re says, “where you can buy herbs and get consultations for those who are interested in becoming vegetarian or vegan but are having a hard time.”

ocveganfooddistributors.com

Tags Erling Jensen, Erling Jensen's, The Restaurant, Whole Foods

Food & Drink Hungry Memphis

Whole Planet Cooking Class Series Kicks Off Saturday

Post author By Susan Ellis
Post date March 5, 2010

CREDIT: wholefoodsmarket.com

wholefoodsmarket.com
Carrie Mitchum

Carrie Mitchum, chef at Fuel, kicks off the local chefs cooking-class series at Whole Foods Saturday, March 6th at 1 p.m.

The month-long series benefits the Whole Planet Foundation, which supports organizations that provide micro-credit loans to people in developing countries.