Thur/Fri drunk post: EP Delta Kitchen/Hoop’s Bar, Circa, Red Rooster

Sorry for missing the “It’s Thursday night” post for those of you looking for it. I had it typed up before I went to work in the morning, just had a couple of items to verify in the Memphis Flyer. But I left my Flyer at work. So my plan was to get to work, look up those items in the Flyer and then post. But the Internet was down at work for hours. Sorry.

EP’s has several upcoming events. Tomorrow (tonight really, Fri 6/6) it’s the Rovers Morning Glory bikini calendar competition sponsored by Miller Lite and 93x from 8:00 to 10:00.

Saturday 6/14 EP’s will host AQUANET, the most awesome ’80s hair band cover band ever. Yep I just might be there for that one.

And don’t forget, Sun 6/22 is Pub Olympics at Hoop’s Bar 1:00 ’til dusk. 3 local bands and team drinking.

Also received information about this upcoming Circa event:

circa Sundays: Farmers Market Dinner

Memphis Farmer’s Market Produce and global wine finds,

served in a five part tasting portion menu

1

Market-Fresh Field Greens and Herb Salad with Curry-Fried Oyster

Kuentz-Bas, Gewürztraminer 2005 (Alsace, France)

Iconic grape, intoxicating perfume and spice

2

Roast Heirloom Tomatoes Stuffed with Jumbo Lump Crab Salad

Minet, Pouilly-Fumé 2005 (Loire River, France)

Pure, refined, dry French Sauvignon Blanc; zesty, flinty, flowing flavors

3

Neola Farms Beef Short Ribs “Chasseur”

Raymond “R” Collection, Merlot 2005 (St. Helena, California)

Full, fleshy, with classic black cherry and boysenberry flavors

4

Cheese Course: Selected Cheeses from Bonnie Blue Farm

Verget du Sud (South-West France)

Plump, time honored blend of Grenache and Syrah

5

Farmers Market Inspited Dessert Creation – Surprise!

Banfi “Rosa Regale” Brachetto d’Acqui 2005 (Piedmont, Italy)

Aromatic with a hint of rose petals and raspberries, marries well with chocolate, vivacious and aromatic

Complete for

$65 per person (plus tax and gratuity);

30% of Proceeds Donated to Memphis Farmers Market

THANKS!

please, no substitutions except for dietary restrictions

circamemphis.com for details or to make reservations.

I also ran into Red Rooster co-owner Luke. He told me SIN Sunday nights are getting good. He says doors open at 8:00 PM Sunday but it gets interesting about 10:30. Service industry pays no cover; cornhole, tricycle races, kamikaze karaoke (you don’t know what song you’re singing in advance). Looks like I’m going to have pace myself this Sunday and check it out.

Went to the Saucer then Big Foot this evening. Was talking to one of the Saucer bartenders, and she was telling me how they don’t let Saucer employees sit at the bar when they’re off duty. Because, I’m guessing, that looks kind of bad when you, a paying customer, come in off the street and can’t get a seat at the bar due to all the off-duty employees sitting there.

While I was drinking my beer at Big Foot, my former BFF walked in and sat down at the bar. Attn Nuh-Uh Sister: I see what you mean about needing to add strapless bikini tops to the Tube Top Boutique. Tan lines are a bitch.

12:41 AM according to my computer’s clock. Going to bed. Early night.

Thursday update: Itta Bena’s new specials

I didn’t go to the Saucer to laptop after work as planned.  I was at a critical point in designing my latest online store – settling on its look and feel – and that needed to be done someplace where I could focus.  So I worked at home on my laptop until 7:30.

Unfortunately, I had posted that I’d be at the Saucer, and my new BFF Suzy read the post and headed up there to hang out with me.  This is something my former BFF Meghan never, ever did by the way.  So when I walked by the Saucer on my way to Itta Bena, my BFF was in the window waiting for me.  We walked to Itta Bena together.

At the bar at Itta Bena we found the Nuh-Uh Girl and the Nuh-Uh Sister.  The Nuh-Uh Sister told me she had her picture on Memphis Limelight’s BBQ Fest post… somehow I missed that one, glad she pointed it out.  Even there she was identified by her nickname.

The Nuh-Uh Sister then made a very good point.  “You need to add a tube top bikini top, or strapless bikini top, section to your Tube Top Boutique,” she told me.  “Girls want to lay out and not get tan lines.  If we have tan lines we can’t wear tube tops out.”  This is why I depend on my female readers for feedback; she’s absolutely right, and as a guy this is something I wouldn’t have thought of.  I’ll add a bikini top section this weekend.

Then Suzy went outside to smoke – “BRB, BFF!” she said – and the GM came over to say hello.  She gave me a card listing Itta Bena’s new daily specials.  Here they are:

Sunday
1/2 off any bottle of wine

Monday
$3.00 on select SKYY martinis, 5-7 PM

Tuesday
1/2 off steaks

All three of those are great deals.  Every female who saw the special card said they’d be at Itta Bena Monday for $3 martinis.  If the place is going to fill up with girls, I guess I’ll have to be there too, and wait until 7 to hit Pint Nite at the Saucer.

Hmmm… half off steaks on Tuesdays… bet we’ll be seeing less of Ken at trivia night.

My new BFF also told one of the servers she’d loan her a tube top to wear out.  “You will totally rock that tube top,” said my new BFF to the server (I agree, by the way).  My new BFF is the best BFF ever.

Tabbed out a little after 10, and for once I got a full night’s sleep.  I’ll post a “what’s going on Thursday” post around lunchtime.

Wine dinner June 20 at Daily Grill’s Grill Room

After two days of stress I’m back to processing large files, which means I have a few minutes to post while the file runs in the background.

The Grill Room, the super-nice steakhouse in the Westin Hotel’s Daily Grill, will host a wine dinner Friday night, June 20.  The dinner will feature wines of the Pacific Northwest that are not available in this region.  Details below:

A Taste of the

Pacific Northwest

 

Friday, June 20th 2008,

7pm reception, 7:30pm Dinner

 

First Course – Passed Appetizers

 

Seared Ahi Tuna Crisp

Smoked Salmon on Crostini

Kalamata Olive Hummus on Grilled Flat Bread

Chopped Spicy Pecans, Radicchio and Apples in Endive

 

Domaine Ste. Michelle Blanc de Noir sparkling

Columbia Valley, Washington 2006

 

Second Course

 

Lobster Bisque with Caviar and Crème Fraiche

 

Chateau Ste. Michelle Sauvignon Blanc

Horse Heaven Vineyard, Washington 2006

 

Third Course

 

Pan Seared Jumbo Sea Scallops with an Orange Fennel

Beurre Blanc Sauce and Lobster Risotto

 

Montinore Estate Pinot Noir, Willamette Valley

Oregon 2005

 

Intermezzo

 

Mango Sorbet

 

Fourth Course

 

Australian Lamb Chops and a Truffle Red Wine Reduction,

Served with Pesto Mashed Potatoes and a Medley of

Apples, Zucchini and Onions

 

Northstar Syrah, Walla Walla Valley, Washington 2005

 

Dessert

 

Whipped Cream Cheese Pie

with Marsala Infused Blueberry Sauce

 

Montinore Estate Riesling Sweet Reserve,

Willamette Valley, Oregon 2006

 

65.95 – Per Guest

Tax & Gratuity additional

By reservation only, please speak to a manager for details

901-334-5950

Disclaimer:  The Grill Room invited me to be their guest at the dinner as thanks for mentioning it in a post.  See, I’ll gladly accept bribes but at least I’m honest about admitting it.  I also scored a VIP card to Raiford’s this week.  Sometimes it’s good to be a blogger. :)

Plans for tonight:  Laptopping once again at the Saucer.  My newest online store will carry more products than I thought, so I’ll be up there cataloging them and drinking beer from 5 until the laptop battery dies or until I get tired of being there.  Already walked by and Yuengling Lager is the Fire Sale.  May stop by Itta Bena after I get done at the Saucer.

MPD provides another cool new way to track crime

One of my regular blog readers to tell me about a new service MPD offers:

“You should check out the new MPD Cyberwatch (I am willing to bet you are aware of it already) and inform your bloggers about it. I get daily emails from the MPD letting me know of all the crimes that occured with a 1 mile radius of my apartment for the previous 5 days. It also sends the latest warrants for people whose last address is within the 1 mile radius.
 
here’s the web site: https://kiosk.memphispolice.org/cyberwatch/

New service I’d like to see:  Service that text-messages me on a regular basis, informing me of all tube tops within a one-mile radius.

Anyway, this service sounds way cool and I’m going to sign up.

Drunk post: New drinks at Big Foot, BBQ, coffee shop preview

After trivia, hung out at the Saucer and built online stores using their free Wi-Fi til midnight.  Then I went with a friend to Big Foot Lodge.  The 34 oz. drink menu cards came out so I can now report on the ingredients of the two new signature drinks (no I didn’t have one tonight, I had a beer):

Flying Moose – melon vodka, citrus vodka, raspberry rum, sour, and Sierra Mist

Wobbly Mountie – banana, Irish cream, Kahlua, vodka, and milk with a chocolate drizzle.

Both 34 oz. and both $9.99 each.  They need to let me create a signature drink called the Falling Tube Top.  Or Slipping Tube Top or Tube Top that Won’t Stay Up.  Or something.

I’ve told you about our BBQ team head cook Willie and his restaurant Honky Tonk Barbeque in Chicago.  Winning 3rd place in shoulder at BBQ Fest was a huge deal for him and his restaurant.  Tonight I learned that Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley plans to come to Honky Tonk Barbeque next week to eat and to personally shake Willie’s hand.  Congratulations to Willie, Honky Tonk Barbeque, and the Ques Brothers!  Welcome, Mayor Daley!

I’ve heard a new coffee shop will be opening soon in the South Main Arts District area and it is going to kick ass.  More details to come soon.

I have to be at work in 6 hours, so I guess I should go to bed now.

Semi-drunk post: Electoral map, Raiford’s fan club, Elliott’s now open Saturdays, free logo design

Sitting here in the Saucer listening to Leo Lazarus the Tuesday night guitar player while working on my next online shopping site. Former waitress Darbi got up on stage and sang a few songs. Trivia: The first time I met Darbi, she had a tube top on.

Tonight Barack Obama clinched the Democratic nomination. One of my favorite sites, RealClearPolitics, has an electoral map projecting the outcome of a presidential election between Obama and McCain. As of tonight they project 228 electoral votes for Obama, 190 for McCain, with 120 electoral votes in toss-up states. If there were no toss-up states, Obama would win by the razor-thin margin of 272 to 266. Hopefully he’ll pull off a larger victory than that by November, but as I’ve said before, even if McCain wins it will be a tremendous improvement over what we have in the White House right now.

A couple of days ago I mentioned that the Peabody Rooftop now has a fan club on Facebook. Well, now Raiford’s (Hollywood Disco) does too. Search for “Raiford’s Hollywood Discotech Fan Club.” I joined today.  Raiford’s is a great place to see tube tops on the weekends.

One of Downtown’s best breakfast/lunch spots is now open on Saturday. Elliott’s Burgers, on Second between Madison and Monroe, started opening on Saturdays last month. They have some of the best burgers Downtown, as well as many other great lunch sandwich options. And I LOVE their breakfast – they have bowls, burritos, omelets, sandwiches. My favorite is their “Tribute to Bill Saba” which is sausage, bacon, ham, egg, and cheese on buttered Texas toast. My health guru AL definitely does NOT approve of this sandwich. If you live Downtown but don’t work down here, this is your chance to finally try the place for breakfast or lunch.

Cool website I found: Cooltext.com. This site will generate logos for you for free for your website. If you need a website cheap but lack graphic design experience, you can create a nice-looking logo and save it for use on the Web.

All right. Battery’s close to dying. Time to post. Trivia team took second.

Corporate Karaoke Challenge tomorrow (Wed 6/4) in Court Square

The Center City Commission’s Downtown Alive! program is holding a corporate karaoke competition in Court Square tomorrow at lunch (11:45-1:15).  The winning team will get $100 and a cameo in the weekly Livin’ It Up In Downtown Memphis newsletter.  Heh… I’ve missed a lot of the Downtown Alive events but I plan on making it to this one.  Can’t pass up a chance to see corporate people looking like even bigger idiots than they normally do.  I hear AutoZone has entered… need I say more?

If you want to enter a team, it’s not too late… e-mail Stephanie at bennett@downtownmemphis.com.

Stephanie, by the way, pointed out something I totally missed… on the poster about the Orphum summer movie series I posted last night, there’s a pic of Meg Ryan in a tube top.  Good catch, Stephanie!

Monday recap: This BFF of the Month thing seems to be working out well

Last night I was at home building my latest online shopping site, when my new BFF Suzy called. “A couple of your neighbors and I are having a party on your rooftop,” she told me. “Come on up.” So I did. Here’s a pic of some of the party people:

Here’s a pic of me with my new BFF:

Not only did I score free drinks at the party, but my new BFF introduced me to cute girls as well (although none of them had tube tops on). Here’s a pic of me with cute girls:

While on the roof, I tested the 10x zoom on my new camera and took a pic of the rooftop deck on the newly opened Court Square Center/Lincoln-American Tower Apartments, a block and a half away:

After a couple of hours on the rooftop, they left to go watch the stupid Sex and the City movie, and I decided to head to Pint Nite at the Saucer. But as I walked past Big Foot, I saw my former BFF at a nearly empty bar (only one customer). I felt bad for her. She just hasn’t been able to develop any regulars, I guess. So I decided to stop in and have a Flying Moose (the ingredients of which I still don’t know, because they’re taking forever to get their new drink menu cards). While I drank my drink, my former BFF did a lot of important stuff, like text her friend Brittney (or as I call her, Lazy Do-Nothing Sit-On-Her-Ass-All-Day Brittney) and build houses out of straws. She used a lighter to weld the straws together. Here’s a pic of that:

She must have gone through an entire lighter’s worth of fluid building that stupid thing. Good thing there was nothing flammable around, like alcohol.

And here’s the completed house:

Tabbed out about 11:15, decided to do the late shift at the Saucer. But as I walked down Second, who did I run into but my REAL BFF, with the two cute friends pictured above. “We want vodka!” they said. The Saucer isn’t a great place to get vodka, so I suggested a return to Big Foot.

Oddly enough, my former BFF did not seem happy to see us. Funny… if I were bartending a near-empty bar, I’d probably be thrilled if a guy and three girls came in and sat down. But my former BFF’s mood turned sour… even more sour than usual. I ordered the ladies a round and we sat and talked. But when my real BFF tried to order round two, the former BFF said, “I’M NOT SERVING ANY OF YOU. YOU’RE ALL DRUNK. I CAN REFUSE TO SERVE ANYONE I WANT. Here’s your tab, Paul. Pay it.”  She seemed really angry. Odd because I’ve had way more to drink than that in the past and she’s served me, both at Big Foot and when she used to work at the Saucer. I wonder what was different about last night?

Since my former BFF ruined our good time, the three girls and I decided to call it a night after that. First Monday in a long, long time I didn’t make it to Pint Nite at the Saucer. I heard people were calling around, asking where I was, asking if I was okay.

My new BFF is awesome.

Much more to post about… if I can get a quick post in while a large file is processing this afternoon, I will. Otherwise, tonight or tomorrow.

Orpheum Summer ’08 movie schedule

Downtowners look forward to June not only because it’s Tube Top Month, but also because it’s the beginning of the Orpheum’s summer movie series. Today I was walking down the Main Street Mall and saw this poster for the summer schedule and shot a pic:

As always, they’ve loaded up the schedule with classic movies. This year they have “chick flicks” as well, so ladies, this summer you can dress up in your finest tube tops and have Girls’ Night Out at the Orpheum.

In other news of note… Wendy’s now has strawberry-flavored Frostys.  Two locations Downtown, both with employees waiting to serve you a Frosty, and bums waiting to panhandle you for change in the parking lot.

BFF of the Month announced for June

I’m pleased to announce that I have selected my BFF of the Month for the month of June. There were several strong contenders. However, after much deliberation I have decided to name Suzy (see picture below) my BFF of the Month for June.

I ran into Suzy Friday night at Itta Bena, and she presented a compelling argument why she deserved to be my BFF of the Month. “I drink. I cuss. I won’t blow cigarette smoke in your face. And you know I can totally rock a tube top, which is important since June is Tube Top Month,” she told me.

“Well, okay,” I said. “But so far, you’re only running even with my former BFF who works at Big Foot. She can claim all those things. And she didn’t work out.”

Suzy continued, “I won’t expect you to buy me drinks… I’ll just expect you to have a drink with me once in a while. And I won’t be mean to you, or insult you, or hit you, or cuss you out.” Okay, now she had clearly established herself as a breed apart from my former BFF.  Then she pointed out once again how she can rock a tube top.  That is an important qualification for the month of June.

So, Suzy is my BFF of the Month this month.  For the other candidates who were in the running, there’s still hope… a new BFF of the Month will be named July 1.

Lunch break is almost over.  Time to hit Elliott’s to grab a burger to take back to work.