(Edited 6:41 PM Wednesday, January 10: I have some updated information. See below in yellow type.)
Happy birthday to my friend Mike, who is also my trivia teammate and one of Downtown’s best home beer brewers. Last night after trivia (we won second place, adding a $25 gift certificate to our stash and bringing the total to $200) we took Mike to a birthday dinner at EP’s. He had attended the South Main Association meeting earlier in the evening and came back with lots of juicy information about Downtown happenings.
Some of what he told me is below. This is all hearsay based on what was said in a meeting I didn’t go to, so if anything isn’t accurate e-mail me and I’ll correct it. I suppose if I were a real journalist I’d make phone calls and confirm all this stuff, but that’s an awful lot of work.
– The restaurant on Monroe that used to be Mike’s is going to be converted into a neighborhood bar. I hear they’d particularly like to have the residents of the Shrine Building and Number 10 Main (both less than a block away) as regular customers. I asked Mike (my friend, not the restaurant namesake) if it sounded like it was going to be upscale (like, say, LoLo’s Table) or more casual (like Sleep Out Louie’s). He said he thought it would be more like Sleep Out’s. VERY cool… that is very much needed in the neighborhood.
Followup: Mike just sent me a Memphis Business Journal article about the new bar. It will be called Bardog Tavern, will seat 75, and will offer pub food and a full liquor bar. It will be open until 2 weekdays and 3 weekends.
– The shop at Main and Pontotoc, two blocks south of Beale, that used to be a tattoo shop, is going to be converted into an oyster bar. Wow… a new oyster bar and a new neighborhood bar… “businesses that will compete with Sleep Out’s” seems to be the theme of downtown development this month.
– Also, a new restaurant called Condo Club is going to open in the South Main area. I don’t have any more details on this one; if anyone’s got the 411 let me know. Hmmm… I don’t own a condo… I rent an apartment. Wonder if they’ll stop me at the door and say, “I’m sorry, sir, your type isn’t welcome here”? (Edit: Well, I heard the name wrong. It’s Congo Club, with a “g” not a “d.” So I guess I won’t have to worry about my renter status keeping me out.)
– Then Mike dropped the big news on me… up until two years ago there was a festival called Arts in the Park. It was held in October in Audubon Park, and it had the best arts and crafts of any Memphis festival. I could easily spend several hundred dollars there on cool stuff I couldn’t find anywhere else in town. Well, the word is that the festival will be renamed and moved to South Main. AWESOME. Not sure what time of year it will be held. Again, if anyone has more details let me know. Mike, who had never been to the old festival, asked me if it was a drinking/partying festival like Cooper-Young. “No, it wasn’t, not nearly as much,” I replied, “but I guarantee it will become one if they move it downtown.” (Edit: The Memphis Business Journal released a story about this festival today – it’s not a case of them moving Arts in the Park, but starting a new arts festival which will have some of the same characteristics. The fest has some big dogs on board, including Jay Etkin, so it’s off to a good start. They’re looking at the last week in October and the fest would extend from Huling to St.Paul.)
– Mike also e-mailed me this article from Slashdot, indicating that Bran Castle near Brasov, Romania may be up for sale. Legend has it that the castle was the home of Vlad Tepes, who inspired the Dracula character. Maybe I should buy it… it would be a real asset if I cruised the bars in Brasov to pick up beautiful Romanian girls… “Hey baby, let’s go back to my castle for a drink”… come on, no girl could say no to an offer like that.
– Good article in the Commercial Appeal today about Joe Cartwright, the chef at LoLo’s Table. He got his cooking experience in the kitchen with Hop Sing, cooking meals for his Pa and his brothers Hoss and Adam… wait, that’s a different Joe Cartwright. Maybe I need to quit watching so much TV. Anyway, it’s a good article, check it out. Says he went to Arkansas State University and is 26… wonder if Semi-Charmed Kat knows him?
– Speaking of which… looks like I’ll be hanging out with Semi-Charmed Kat Friday night. That will probably lead to some good blogging this weekend, as things tend to get interesting when SCK comes downtown.
– Saturday night I’ve been invited to a Democracy for America/Democracy for Tennessee mixer with the people attending the National Conference for Media Reform. Looking forward to that… not only to meet some of the people attending the conference, but also to meet some of the DFA/DFT members, whom I have not yet interacted with other than being on their mailing list.
– Speaking of the conference: In the next day or two I’m going to be posting some recommendations on what to see and do in Downtown Memphis, for the benefit of conference attendees. It may be up as soon as tonight, definitely no later than Friday lunchtime.
– The conference is the front-page article of this week’s Memphis Flyer, so be sure to grab a copy from one of the boxes.
– Holy crap! Someone finished the 4-pound Sasquatch burger at Big Foot Lodge! And they finished in 11 minutes! How in the world?
All right, tired of typing, so I guess I’ll publish. I have plenty more topics to blog about, so check back.