I’ll start off with reminders for a couple of things going on tonight… it’s the annual “Rock & Roll for Red” party tonight at the Red Rooster from 7 PM to midnight. Your donation (I think they’re suggesting $10) raises money for the American Heart Association. Great cause, great venue.
Meanwhile, over at the Saucer, the Dempseys take the stage at 9:30. It’s been over two months since I last caught a Dempseys show Downtown… can’t wait. If you’ve never seen this band, you’ve got to. Wonder if they’ll do their “cities, states, counties and towns” song medley tonight… I have a special hand gesture I do during “Rocky Top” that I especially look forward to doing this time of year because Bruce Pearl is such a tool.
Automatic Slim’s is going to have live music and DJs on the weekends beginning in March… a good move now that they’re staying open until 3 AM every night. Chef Michael Patrick said he’d e-mail the lineup and I’ll post it when he does. I saw DJ Mark Anderson quite a bit on the listings they wrote on their outside sandwich board. Good choice.
This Sunday is the annual Soup Sunday fundraiser for Youth Villages at FedExForum from 11 AM to 2 PM. For a $20 donation ($10 children) you can sample soup from about 50 Memphis restaurants, and some will offer other treats as well. This is a great event but I’ll offer the same advice I offer every year… GET THERE EARLY. By “early” I mean, be waiting at the door at 10:55. The lines get ridiculously long within a half hour of opening, and by 12:30 some of the restaurants start to run out of soup.
Note to Mountain Dew lovers: Since the Forum carries Pepsi products, you get all-you-can-drink Mountain Dew as part of the bargain. The two years I did Soup Sunday I walked out with a caffeine buzz that had me soaring for the rest of the day.
I’m probably not going to make it to Soup Sunday this year… promised John Bragg that I’d give Circa’s brunch a try.
Looks like there are several good Mardi Gras parties going on Saturday night the 21st. The Phoenix Club will be Downtown at the Cadre Building (Second at Monroe) from 8 PM to 1 AM. Party guests can play casino games for the chance to win prizes, and later in the evening Lord T and Eloise will take the stage. Tickets are $40 per person and can be purchased at the Phoenix Club’s website. Sauces and Red Rooster are among the sponsors, so I have reason to believe there will be some pretty good food there. VIP Memphis is also a sponsor, so I have a feeling Ptolemy Kat and her friend Amanda will show up and badger the photographers to take their pictures all night. Plus they’ll probably take their own pics and post on Facebook. If I see one more Facebook pic of Amanda with her mouth open I just may delete my account.
Calhoun’s is having a party that night as well. Jambalaya cookoff from 7 to 9 PM with guests tasting for free and participating in the judging, and guests are invited to “show their flair” and Calhoun’s staff will crown a king and queen of the “Calhoun’s Krewe” based on the best male and female costumes at 10. $2.50 Abita specials throughout the night. Mikey told me they recently acquired one of those all-in-one stand-up video games that has many of the classic ’80s games including Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man, and Galaga. I think he said it had 3-D golf too.
As I’ve blogged previously, Orleans on Front and its downstairs bar, the Voodoo Room, will also have a Mardi Gras party Saturday night. Upstairs, Chef Clint will offer a special menu of Cajun dishes including stuffed bell peppers, shrimp Creole, jambalaya, red breans & rice, Gulf Coast Ribeye with lump crab and crawfish sauteed in creole butter, crawfish cakes with pepper jack cheese sauce, Mardi Gras pasta, parmesan fried green tomatoes with comeback sauce & grilled shrimp, and the traditional Mardi Gras dessert, king cakes (individually sized). Clint will give away a bottle of Caymus Cabernet to the person wearing the best costume or mask for the evening.
Downstairs in the Voodoo Room, there will be a PBRtini and crawfish pie eating contest at 11 PM. A maximum of 6 people can enter, and if you want to enter you need to let Hoop or Clint know right away – e-mail him at chefclint@orleansonfront.com. A $50 bar gift will be the prize. At 1 AM there will be a giveaway for a huge string of beads for the person who “best represents themselves” in true Mardi Gras fashion. You can figure out for yourself what that means.
Then there’s Bardog Tavern, which is saving its Mardi Gras party for Tuesday night the 24th. I’m sure that one will be fun. Tuesdays are $3 Pint Night there. Hmmm… thinking about taking a week off from trivia to bar-hop Tuesday night.
Time to get busy… I’ll be at E&H for a party my apartment building is having for residents tonight (free Soul Burgers and the Nuh-Uh Girl lives in my building… hmmm wonder if she’ll show up). After that it’ll be time for the Dempseys.