Sat update: Memphis Oktoberfest, Miss Cordelia’s open house, Blind Bear menu

All right, let’s bang out a quick news update this Saturday morning. I have to be at Panda’s bar at Bardog at 11 and I want to try and get a Paul’s PBR Review online in addition to this post.

More details have been added about Memphis Oktoberfest, to be held next Saturday from 5 to 10 on Peabody Place, which will be blocked off at Second. Radio host Gary Parrish will be on hand to tap the celebratory keg. Krombacher Brewery will host a beer hoisting competition. The Flying Fish, Crazy Good specialty foods, and Grawemeyer’s will provide the festival food. Tickets are $15 and you can get ’em here.

By the way, here’s a fact that I learned as I drove home Thursday afternoon: Gary Parrish enjoys peeing in his yard.

Miss Cordelia’s, the grocery store on Mud Island, has announced an Open House on Thursday, November 7 from 6 to 8 PM. At least 8 vendors (and they’re adding more) will be on hand to give away samples and to discuss their products with customers. Some of the vendors already signed up include Tom’s Tiny Kitchen, Eggcellence deviled eggs, Guilt Free Pastries, and Pistache. Free food? Wonder if the Nuh-Uh Girl will show up.

Last night I had a beer with Chef David Scott Walker at the Saucer. DSW, of course, is my BBQ team’s pitmaster and the new executive chef at the Blind Bear. He wanted to show me the new menu but he couldn’t get it to pull up on his phone. “They have a copy behind the bar,” he told me, and with the Eric Hughes Trio playing at 10 it was a foregone conclusion that the Bear was in my plans. When I got there, Jeannette showed me the menu. I won’t spill the beans just yet but I will mention one thing. For years I have been saying kim chee is an underappreciated food in Memphis. It’s spicy cabbage that Koreans make, burying it in pots in the ground. I first learned about it on M*A*S*H when the kim chee pots would sometimes be confused with land mines. Finally, someone has had the vision to make kim chee a topping on a sandwich, and you’ll be able to get it at the Bear. Overall, the menu is a significant upgrade, taking the Bear from basic bar food to upscale cuisine on the level of what you would find down the street at Local or Bardog. The menu will begin late next week or early the week after.

Don’t forget that today is Downtown Museum Day, with museums offering free, half-off, or 2-for-1 admissions. I’ll be visiting the PBR Museum known as Bardog in a couple of hours to celebrate. Time to upgrade iTunes, figure out if I’m ready to go to iOS7 on my phone, and get this PBR Review done.