Paul Ryburn’s Journal

’80s cover band Venus Mission plays the Peabody rooftop party this Thursday night. Doors open at 6, $10 cover to get in but it includes your first drink, ladies free until 7.

The food theme this week will be Caribbean. On the buffet (included in price of admission) will be jerk chicken sliders, Caribbean beans & rice, [...]

The full set of “food porn” photos I took last week are now online. Last Wednesday I attended Clandestino Dining’s first “underground dining” event in Memphis, combining art with a 7-course dinner. I posted about a dozen pics on my blog Saturday, but now you can view the full set of photos here.

Speaking of food: The [...]

Last night I started the evening at Bardog’s happy hour. A new menu item they’ve been doing lately is “Dog of the Day,” a gourmet hot dog. Last night the Dog of the Day was a McSorley’s beer-battered hot dog with caramelized onions, Dijon mustard and American cheese. Shame I wasn’t hungry because it looked delicious. [...]

Last night as I was walking to the bar, I looked across Second and saw a big sign outside women’s clothing store Coco & Lily. “Blowout sale,” it advertised, “everything 50% off.” Ladies, this is an excellent opportunity to stock up for Tube Top Month, which starts in only 3 days.

Actually, I prefer to see tube [...]

Rudy Williams, the Beale Street ambassador and trumpeter who plays outside King’s Palace Cafe and The Pig on Beale, is missing. He got home from work Saturday night, went out for a walk, and has not been seen since. More info and a pic of Rudy here.

If you see Rudy, please contact River City Management or [...]

Today’s Groupon is a good one: $10 for $20 worth of food at Lunchbox Eats. This little restaurant, on Fourth just south of Linden, has become one of my favorite places. My favorite is the Third Period Smoking Birds sandwich, which is like a turducken in a sandwich. Mac & cheese is good too, and I’m [...]

The Commercial Appeal reports that Pabst is moving its headquarters to Los Angeles. A lot of speculation is going on as to whether Pabst will be able to keep the blue-collar image of its portfolio of beers, and particularly its signature beer Pabst Blue Ribbon.

My opinion? I couldn’t care less where the HQ is, as long [...]

The evening of Friday, May 27 is not only the beginning of a long 3-day Memorial Weekend, but it’s also Trolley Night on South Main. Many of the shops and galleries will be open from 6 to 9 PM, and many will put out beer, wine, and hors d’oeuvres.

South Main is celebrating by throwing a carnival. [...]

Based on reaction on Twitter tonight, I’m only supposed to blog/tweet about Memphis to say how good it is. Sorry, I didn’t know Kim Jong-il had been elected mayor.

I tell it like it is.

The Tigers made Memphis look awesome.

The Grizzlies made Memphis look even more awesome.

But not as awesome as the seniors at Booker T. Washington [...]