A grilled cheese festival, a brewery party, and a lot more Thursday news

My friend Katie Mac is going to be very, very happy about this first news item: Memphis will see its first-ever grilled cheese cook-off on December 13. Cookteams will compete to win awards, including most cheesy, most ridiculous, best tomato soup, fan favorite, and best overall. It will be held at the Hi-Tone and each general admission ticket will come with a ballot to vote for the fan favorite award. The Hi-Tone lounge will be open and serving drinks. Money raised will benefit ALIVE Memphis Rescue.

Pam and Terry play the Blind Bear tonight from 10 to 1.

The Chris Johnson Band plays Tacos and Tunes on Felicia Suzanne’s patio tonight 7-10. $2 tacos, $5 margaritas.

Save the date for a brewery party: On Saturday, November 7 from 1 to 9 PM, Memphis Made Brewing Co. at 768 S. Cooper will celebrate its second birthday with a party called MALTED. The party will feature big malted beers, including Nut ReMix, Junt, Fireside, Drew’s Day Off and other limited releases. 16-ounce Belgian-style MALTED glasses are free to the first 50 customers. Live music from Tony Maynard, Caleb Sweazy, and DEVIL TRAIN. In addition, New Ballet Ensemble and School will do a preview of Nut ReMix, their interpretation of The Nutcracker which they perform each year at the Cannon Center. The Gourmade and Sushi Jimmi will be on the parking lot if you want to order some food.

Speaking of Sushi Jimmi, that food truck will be at the Fire Haus tonight. Hmmm… I have wanted to try their food… perhaps I will walk over.

And while we’re on the subject of food trucks, Holly Reports that there will be a new food truck on the Memphis scene as of this weekend: 4 Dumplings, an offshoot of the restaurant in East Memphis, where nothing is fried or processed and there are plenty of vegetarian and vegan options.

RiverFit Relaunch happens at Tom Lee Park today. The RiverFit fitness park by the Grizzlies, initially intended as a temporary installation, is now permanent. Come down and celebrate from 5 to 6:30 with yoga, hula hooping, rowing, and food trucks.

The Downtown Neighborhood Association is having happy hour at Twilight Sky Terrace atop the Madison Hotel tonight from 6 to 7:30. You don’t have to be a member to attend and there is no agenda; just a casual environment in which to have a drink and get to know your neighbors.

Keith Burgess and Chris Ashley from Hard Core TV will be at Bass Pro at the Pyramid tomorrow from 1 to 5. They will be doing a Q&A as part of the ongoing Waterfowl Expo.

The Green Beetle (@GreenBeetle39) tweeted that they will have $1 Miller High Life drafts for the Tigers game tomorrow. In other Beetle news, Shufflegrit will play there at 3:30 Saturday, a quick walk from RiverArtsFest.

The Grizzlies posted that they have sold out of the $15 tickets I mentioned in yesterday’s blog.

On Mondays and Thursdays, Double J has bottles of Pepperwood Grove wine – Cabernet, Pinot Noir, Pinot Grigio, and Chardonnay – for only $15 a bottle.

Want to hear something weird? I get my days mixed up, based on which bartender I will be visiting that evening. I was just thinking, “Today is a Jessica day, so it must be Wednesday or Thursday, which is it?” I had to consult the calendar and was pleased to see it is Thursday. I’ll lead off at Silly Goose after work, probably a stop at the Fire Haus after that, then over to the Blind Bear for Pam & Terry. Sounds like a very good evening in Downtown Memphis.