Month: May 2010

I just took a walk and quite by accident happened upon Cockadoos, the new restaurant at 85 S. Second, which is now open.  They serve breakfast, lunch, and coffee.  They gave me a menu to take home, and here is a quick summary.

Breakfast: Egss, omelets, hashbrowns, sweet potato hashbrowns with brown sugar, Belgian waffle, Texas French toast, buttermilk pancakes, cat head biscuits and gravy, Memphis BBQ omelette, catfish and grits, breakfast casserole, bacon, ham, sausage, grits, fresh baked items

Lunch: Chicken salad sandwich, country ham sandwich, catfish po’boy, the Shag (French toast, peanut butter, bananas, maple syrup, sugar), rice with tomato gravy, stuffed bell peppers, cornbread turkey pot pie, chicken and broccoli bowtie pasta, Andouille pasta

They have a salad bar!  You can get combos involving salad, potatoes, and the soup of the day.  I hope they know what they’re doing offering a bottomless salad bar when the Nuh-Uh Girl lives so close by.

They also have juices, Luzianne tea, and Pepsi products including MOUNTAIN DEW!!!!!  Here are a couple of pics I took:

Since I’m on vacation all week, I’m sure I’ll probably take the netbook up there sometime for breakfast and blogging.  Check out their website, “like” them on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter at @Cockadoos.

(Disclosure: They gave me a free T-shirt)

Pepper Jack by Jon Pendergrass, a novel set in Memphis, is now available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle edition.  I bought the Kindle edition and read it on my iPhone last week and it is really, really good.  Ladies, there’s a romance involved so I think you’ll enjoy it; but guys, you’ll enjoy it too due to an unraveling murder mystery and tales of computer hacking.  Anyone who’s worked in the service industry will feel a common ground with some of the characters as well.

Then there’s the fact that it’s set mainly in Memphis.  As I read the book, I thought, “They’re sitting at the bar at the Midtown Monkey!  I’ve been there too!”  (Mike from the Monkey is a character in the book.)  “They’re going upstairs at Club 152!  I’ve done that!”  “They’re getting a room at Talbot Heirs!  That’s right down the street from me!”  Other scenes happen at the Rendezvous, the University of Memphis, Harbor Town, Mollie Fontaine’s, Peabody Place (back when they had a movie theater), Grisanti’s (in the days when Frank Grisanti owned it), and Jillian’s (now Primetime Sports Bar).  If you’re a Memphian, you’ll identify with this book.  The only factual error I saw was when a character took a cab down Second past AutoZone Park – the park is actually on Third.

Jon will be in town today signing copies of the book at the following locations:

• Blue Monkey (Midtown), 4 PM
• Mollie Fontaine’s Lounge, 7 PM

Great book!  Definitely worth a read, and if you have an iPhone you can get the Kindle app for free and read it for under 8 bucks.

(Disclosure: Jon is my high school classmate, and because I’m linking to Amazon, them thar iz affiliate links.  But seriously, if I hadn’t enjoyed the heck out of this book, I wouldn’t be blogging it.)

Yes, it’s really her.  You can now follow the @NuhUhGirl on Twitter to receive tweets about food, both free and otherwise.  Her profile image is a pic of a fork and knife and a wine glass.  She’s really getting into her persona.

VACATION HAS STARTED!!!!!  The BBQ team is out in East Memphis, to load up the flooring to be used in this year’s booth.  I’m heading to the Saucer to drink some beer.

See this CA article by Michael Donahue for details.

Up early this morning, so I have time to go through photos from the past week and post the good ones.  (Note: There are several tube top photos, and I’m holding those until June.)

Bicycle Bobby drinks Zima.

Bikes on Beale.  Rows and rows of Harleys… and then you have these.

Josh, Moody, Chris and Buddha.  The camera was a little out of focus, which is appropriate because the people in the photo are WAY out of focus.

Stepbrothers performing at the Silly Goose Tuesday night.  Next Tuesday from 9:30 to midnight will be their final performance, so don’t miss it.

Brick in her new work uniform at the Silly Goose

This is what you missed if you didn’t make it to the Cinco de Mayo party at Kooky Canuck:  $3 34 oz. margaritas.

The Nuh-Uh Girl eating at the Peabody rooftop party last night.

Counting the minutes until the workday is over and my week-long vacation begins.  For the 9 days following, this blog will revert to the crazy post schedule that was in place from October ’08-March ’09:  Posts can go up any time, as I’m temporarily freed from the chains of a work schedule.  I also have a BBQ Fest orientation post almost done.  It’ll probably go up tomorrow.

Hopefully this will make up for the lack of posts today.  Below are pics of a new bar on Beale, Absinthe Room Billiards.  It has 3 private pool rooms, 2 overlooking Beale, and a cozy, intimate feel.  $2 PBR cans.  It’s above King’s Palace at 162 Beale.  They told me that for now, they plan on opening 6 PM weekdays and 4 PM Sat-Sun (or was it Fri-Sat? Stupid beer, can’t remember)  Anyway, here are some pics.

(Edited to add:  I guess I should mention they also have a full bar, and I saw absinthe in one of the cabinets, so they are true to their name.  They also have a fairly good sized selection of domestic and import beers, considering the size of the place.  Apologies for leaving these details out of the original post – I tend to have a one-track mind when I see PBR on the menu.)

No lunchtime post today.  I spent the entire hour eating and running errands.

I did see a good site on Twitter today and wanted to share it – AntiDuckface.com.  I fully support the mission of this site.

Dr. Zarr plays the Peabody rooftop tonight from 6-10.  Get there early, before the Nuh-Uh Girl eats all the food!  I’ll probably have a warm-up beer at the Saucer then head down there.

The Red Rooster is having a crawfish boil this Friday, May 7, starting at 5 PM at their new location at Fourth and Beale.

If you have a dog and would like a dog park Downtown, get on Facebook and join the “I Support Downtown Doggies Dog Park!” group.

There will be parade next Tuesday on Beale at 10 AM, as the Memphis CVB kicks off National Tourism Week.  Hey, I’ll be on vacation!  I’ll have to go.  I imagine the parade will end around 11… hope I can find someplace nearby that serves beer.

Al Lyon, member of the Board of Directors of Memphis in May, will speak at the South Main Association next Tuesday, May 11, at Rum Boogie Cafe on Beale.  Cash bar, and hors d’oeuvres provided by River City Management’s restaurants.  Free food?  Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

The Peabody/Chez Philippe will host a Taste of Tunisia dinner to celebrate Memphis in May’s honored country on May 7-8 from 6-10 PM.  The evening will feature a menu created by Chez Philippe’s Chef Reinaldo Alfonso and guest Chef Rafik Tlatli of Tunisia.  Cost is $65 and this is an official MiM-sanctioned event.  Reservations: 901-529-4188.

Coming up on the end of my hour lunch break, and I am outta here… will start work on the longer BBQ Fest orientation post tonight.

I plan to do a longer post explaining what Memphis in May BBQ Fest is all about, how I came to be on a team, what I do on the team, etc., as soon as I find time to type it. Right now, though, I want to take a minute to say “cheers” to the sponsors of our team The Ques Brothers. We have a really, really, super cool new sponsor this year and I’m excited beyond belief. I’ll tell you who it is in a minute. I’ll give you a hint – in a sense, you’re looking at it right now. And no, it isn’t me or one of my websites.

First, though, I want to say “thanks” to our returning sponsor, Circa by John Bragg. Circa is back with us for our third year. They’ve been a great help, having provided beer, tables, cups, napkins, a distribution point for membership packets, and lots more in the years they’ve been a sponsor. Plus, their food is pretty darn good. Check out the menu on their website if you’ve never eaten there. Insider’s tip: That new halibut dish that they just added is amazing.

Another returning sponsor is Holliday Flowers.  When we got to our booth space the Sunday before BBQ Fest last year, it was a muddy, smelly pit.  In three days, Brent from Holliday built a structure that looked like a posh nightclub.  We had wood bars, bench seating, a facade that looked like a cliff on Easter Island… we had it all.  He’s back this year and I can’t wait to see what he has in mind.  If you need an event planned or decorated, you really need to give them a call.

All right… now for the announcement of the new sponsor… as I said, in a sense, you’re looking at it right now… because it’s the engine I use to publish my blog. That’s right, WordPress is our newest sponsor. If you want to get technical, WordPress is an open-source project found at wordpress.org. WordPress.com is the commercial arm, and that’s who is sponsoring us.

I wish I could take credit for the sponsorship, but I can’t… team member Otto wrote a significant amount of code for the current version, and for the upcoming beta versions. The head guy, Matt Mullenweg, was in Memphis recently, and Otto had lunch with him. Matt’s a huge BBQ fan, so Otto contacted him and asked if he’d like to sponsor a team.  I hope I get to meet Matt in person this weekend.

Looking forward to a great BBQ Fest with our sponsors… and even more than that, I’m looking forward to Friday at 5 PM, when my week vacation starts.

I still have 10 minutes left in my lunch break – they expanded us to an hour.  Guess I’ll see how much news I can type up before my break is over.

I don’t have a lot of time to post before work this morning, so instead I’ll link you to a blog that I’ve been meaning to mention lately:  The Swell Belle.  The Swell Belle does interior design, and she writes about that, as well as jewelry and vintage clothing she finds around town.  She’s been mentioned on this blog before but I’m not allowed to reveal her identity.

Congrats to the trivia team on a first-place win last night – we actually ended up with more points than were possible, due to an extra credit beer.  Afterward I went to the Silly Goose and caught the Stepbrothers, Cameron and Tyler, in their second-to-last performance.  I got a few pics of them which I will download and post later.  I also got a few pics of Brick in her new work uniform.

Fun night coming up tonight – Cinco de Mayo parties at Kooky Canuck and the Silly Goose.

I need to do a BBQ post soon, kind of an orientation for people who’ve been reading this blog for less than a year about what it’s like to be on a Memphis in May BBQ Fest team.  Maybe I’ll work on that at lunch.