Typing this while I eat a sausage & black olive pizza from Domino’s. Nice to have a location next door to work.
Got two pieces of very good news this morning from the Memphis Business Journal. First of all, the Red Rooster is coming back Downtown! The MBJ reports that they’ve signed a lease for the space at 340 Beale, formerly the Double Deuce. The Rooster was a great place to hear live music, dance, and watch sports. Thrilled to hear they will be back.
Also, good news for those of us who live in the Downtown core – we may be getting a new grocery and deli. City Market has applied to the CCC for a retail forgivable loan. If they get it, they’ll sign a lease for the ground floor of Radio Center Flats at Main and Union, and open a grocery/deli. According to the MBJ, the market will sell grocery and specialty foods, as well as prepared dishes, and will have a small dining area for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I really hope that works out. Not only will it be nice to have an upscale deli and grocery less than two blocks from my front door, but it will fill one of Downtown’s most visible street corners. That will lead to increased foot traffic and the perception that Downtown is booming.
The beer dinner at the Saucer last night was fantastic. It was fun to sit with people who’d never been to a beer dinner before, some of whom were undoubtedly thinking, “Yeah right, you say beer pairs with food better than wine does, but you’re a beer bar, you’re supposed to say that.” I thought the same thing when I attended my first beer dinner there in 2007. The courses came out, and everyone tasted how well the Yazoo Dos Perros complemented the bacon potato soup; how the Orval trappist ale enhanced the flavor of the cheese on the salad. The pork tenderloin, eaten with a bite of apple and a sip of the beer served with it, was amazing. I could tell some of my table-mates were beginning to see beer in a whole new light. Thanks to Drew from French Broad brewery for hosting, and to the staff at the Saucer. We want more dinners!
Kooky Canuck has rescheduled their “Stetsons and Stars Kick-Off Party” which got messed up due to bad weather a couple of weeks ago. New date will be Friday, February 19. Starting at 8 PM, you can join Brian Elder of KIX 106 for $1.06 Bud Light drafts until 2 AM. There will be no cover, and the headlining band for the upcoming Stetsons and Stars event, The Mulch Brothers from Nashville, will take the stage at 10.
Di Anne Price and Her Boyfriends will perform in a special “Love and All That Jazz” service Sunday at 11 at the First Unitarian Church of the River. In addition to the music, there will be special V-Day readings.
Wow did I just recommend a church service in my blog? Hell truly has frozen over. Well, I don’t know about hell, but Mississippi is frozen over today, and that’s pretty damn close.
This isn’t a Downtown event, but I know Downtowners who have attended it in the past, and they’ve said it’s really neat: Chinese New Year celebration tomorrow at the Rose Theatre at the U of M. Performances at 2-4 and 7-9.
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Calhoun’s will have their annual Mardi Gras party Saturday night starting after the Tiger game (around 8ish). Gumbo cookoff where you can pay $5 to judge the entries, and for every $5 beer you buy (note: this means PBR does not count) you get an entry to win prize packs full of shirts, beads, gift certificates, and Mardi Gras stuff. These will be given away every 30 minutes. Also a “king and queen of Calhoun’s” will be selected based on who is wearing the most festive Mardi Gras attire.
I’m in the same precarious situation as last week… it’s Friday already and I do not yet have a BQotW for Sunday yet. Anyone got any suggestions for conversational topics that could lead to a quote from Brick? I think we’ve pretty much exhausted the topic of the moon.
Air Traffic Mike is coming home. Cool. See you at trivia Tuesday, ATM. Hope you have safe travel home.
John Calipari’s Kentucky Wildcats host Bruce Pearl’s Tennessee Volunteers tomorrow night. People are calling this game the Jersey Shore of college basketball because both coaches are such douchebags. Up until this year I rooted for Kentucky to win this matchup, but I just can’t cheer for Coach Cal after what he did to our Tigers. Nor can I pull for a team led by the Bruchebag. So I’ll be neutral for this game and make a prediction: Arkansas will upset the winner of this game in the finals of the SEC tournament, to win an unlikely bid into March Madness.
Winter Olympics start today. Good TV watching for the rest of February. Hope this doesn’t lead to the creation of a winter version of DTO. Go USA (because that’s us), go Canada (because they’re the host country), and go Romania (because the girls there are hot).
Plans for this evening: Don’t know. Beer will be involved though.