Get some sweet shoes and feed the hungry at Stock & Belle

2016-05-28 11.07.22

2016-05-28 11.13.09

Yesterday I walked down to the Memphis Farmers Market about 9:45. After checking in to retain my Farmers Market mayorship on Foursquare/Swarm, I looked around. “Not as many people here as I expected,” I thought. Then I walked to the back and realized where all the people were – standing in line at the food trucks! It was jam-packed back there.

I realized I made a stupid, stupid, stupid mistake. When I made my caffeine run to City Market earlier in the morning, I got a sausage, egg & cheese biscuit to eat. Not that there’s anything wrong with their biscuits, but it spoiled my appetite for the Farmers Market. The tandoori truck had added a new item – bison kabobs! I wanted to get them so bad, but I just wasn’t hungry enough to justify the $9 price. Maybe next week.

I turned my attention to the So Fresh juice truck, source of my weekly smoothie. There were seven people in line and it looked like another fifteen standing around waiting on orders. Based on experience, I knew I was looking at a 20-minute wait if I went up there. With little patience for crowds and no shopping list, I decided I was done with the Market for the week. I walked over to Earnestine & Hazel’s (love the 10 AM opening time) and had a couple of PBRs at Clarence’s bar. By 10:35 I was on my way back to the core. It doesn’t take 25 minutes to get to Bardog from South Main, so I had a little time on my hands.

That time ended up being well spent. As I walked past Stock & Belle at 387 S. Main, I saw a sign in the window advertising shoes with the Mid-South Food Bank logo on them. “The purchase of 1 pair feeds 150 people,” the sign said. I went inside to inquire about the shoes. “We have them through Wednesday,” the cashier at 387 Pantry next door told me. “Sizes 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. The awesome thing about these shoes is that 100% of the proceeds go to the food bank.” Knowing I probably would not be back in South Main before Wednesday, it was now or never to get these shoes. I needed shoes anyway, and if they were $60 or less I decided I would get them. The price was $50. “Ring ’em up,” I said. Nice looking shoes and a great conversation starter about the food bank.

I showed off my shoes at Bardog then moved on to the Blind Bear. My BBQ teammate Tripp joined me. “Want to check out 901 Fest?” Tripp asked. I knew Tripp was of a like mind – we could give a crap about the bands, but we wanted to check out the food trucks. We finished our beers and headed down there.

Food truck success! I never expected to be eating chicken & dressing at an outdoor festival, but I did and it was really good. I didn’t get the name of the truck unfortunately. Tripp went to Sushi Jimmi and gave me an extra egg roll. That was just about the best egg roll I have had in my life! Sushi Jimmi, please come back Downtown soon! I want some more of those egg rolls!

On to the news… I don’t have a lot of news today, but what I have is pretty good, involving some updates to the Downtown bar scene. First of all, Friday afternoon Daniel from the Silly Goose posted to Facebook that lunches and a barista are coming soon. Daniel travels regularly to New York and keeps up with the latest bar trends there, and as a result he is always innovating at the Goose.

The Brass Door has some things happening. They have a new management team and they are rolling out a revised lunch menu with specials Monday through Saturday. Mid-summer they will be rolling out a full dinner menu and also a wine and cocktail menu by Brad Pitts, formerly of Bari.

The tube top burglar I wrote about Friday has been captured in Cape Coral, Florida. Cape Coral officials: If you’re short on jail space, feel free to use my bedroom as an annex.

Sunday Fun Day! D-RANKS with B-RAD at the Blind Bear is first on the agenda. With no Monday Work Day behind it, this Sunday is going to be extra fun. Back tomorrow with more news.