Tomorrow is the season premiere of the Peabody Thursday night rooftop parties. There will be entertainment by Hollywood with special guest Shaggy along with DJ Mark Anderson. The doors open at 6, and the cover is normally $10 but for this special event the cover is $15 this week. Ladies get in free until 7, and the party lasts until 11. Admission price includes a buffet of jerk wings, sweet potato fritters with jerk dip, and pineapple with spiced rum dip. Drink specials for this week include a guava margarita, a Malibu peach sparkler, and Jamaican breeze.
You have the option of buying a season-long pass to the rooftop parties for $150. This gets you into all 18 parties and you get a private area on the rooftop with chef tastings and beer tastings. VIP chef tasting this week includes jerk chicken, pork tostones, Caribbean coconut shrimp, spicy crab balls, pineapple with spiced rum dip, and crudite with jerk dip. The beer tasting this week in VIP is Goose Island IPA.
VIP card holders get other benefits too, including a rooftop party T-shirt, 20% off in several of the Peabody’s restaurants, and 10% off at Sammy Hagar’s bar across the bridge at Southland.
When I listed this weekend’s upcoming Downtown festivals, I totally forgot one: The Harbortown Crawfish Festival happening on Mud Island Saturday afternoon. It’s a fundraiser to benefit the Memphis Food Bank and admission is $5 or two canned goods. One of the most talented musicians I have ever heard, Charvey McLemore, will be performing. Holly has more info about the festival (and Sunday’s Rajun Cajun) here.
Damn. DTO, Harbortown Crawfish, and Memphis Brewfest. That is a STACKED festival day. Not going to Brewfest this year but am going to have to figure out what to do about the other two. Charvey will likely be playing on the Island right when synchronized drinking, the best of the five DTO events in my opinion, is happening on South Main, three miles apart. Going to have to figure that one out. I hope the green buses running the trolley line are efficient. May need them.
Argh… and it’s Goldcrest 51 revival week at the brewery too. There is no way I will be able to do all the things I want Saturday.
And to top it all off, there’s yet another festival happening over in Midtown Saturday: Food Truck Fest. Not gonna make it to that one. Too much to do, not enough time.
AutoZone Park is making national news and unfortunately it’s not good: The park changed its BBQ nachos, going with an in-house vendor rather than The Rendezvous which has done the nachos in years past, and baseball fans are protesting.
Last Saturday night I was at South of Beale for a birthday party. I didn’t eat but people who were at the party had the duck patty melt and had high praise for it, so I wanted to pass that tip on.
Arkansas’ Bobby Portis has declared for the NBA draft, giving up his remaining two years of college eligibility. Not surprised, but the Hogs will certainly miss his contributions next season.
And now it’s being announced that Michael Qualls is turning pro too.
Beer recommendation: Blue Pants Peanut Butter Pinstripe Stout. I had this beer last night at the Saucer after seeing it on the “Just Landed” board. 8%, 15 ounce glass, $6. I did the math and realized this beer had a Value Drinking Index (percent * ounces / price) of 20, an excellent score. I went to the UFO computer (remember when they called it the Beer-Tron-a-Ton? Glad they gave up on that), printed a ticket, and ordered it. It was delicious! Tasted just like peanut butter. I’m not normally a fan of stouts but this one was really, really good.
Speaking of the Saucer, here’s a pic of the 420 glass that will go on sale in less than two hours.
That’s the news. Hope you enjoyed Nikki’s guest post at lunchtime. Outta here for now, time to grab a PBR.