Due to weather concerns the Truth Booth’s appearance at Memphis Park has been changed to today 1-5 PM. This is a portable sound bubble in which you can record your truth, whatever it is. It’s a project that records the truth of the world’s diverse people. Memphis Park is located at Front and Jefferson.
Cafe Keough will present Louder Than Bombs: A Smiths/Morrissey Tribute On Saturday, April 21 from 10 PM to 1 AM. Whoa… wonder if we’ll get a late night John D appearance Downtown that night.
Widespread Panic is coming to the Mud Island Amphitheater Friday, June 29 and Saturday, June 30. Tickets will go on sale this Friday at 10 at Ticketmaster. Tickets will be $55 general admission and $65 reserved.
From the Memphis Business Journal: An investor plans to revitalize a 7-story building at 300 Court Avenue, recently vacated by First Horizon, into apartments. That is great news and will expand Downtown’s residential community eastward toward Danny Thomas Blvd. The building, 46 years old, could have easily gone into decay had this investor not come forward.
Radio host Gary Parrish tweeted this morning that it’s all but a done deal that former Grizzly Mike Miller will be hired as an assistant coach on Penny Hardaway’s staff. Parrish and his radio guests have said this is something Miller has been planning for a while and he would have had offers from other schools if Memphis had not pulled the trigger on his hire. Parrish has also said Penny wants Larry Brown, a former head coach with an NCAA championship, to round out his assistant coaching staff. However, athletic director Tom Bowen is not too excited about having someone on staff who has been in so much trouble with the NCAA in the past.
Tonight is the first night of monthly (first Thursday of every month) Downtown Yoga at South Main Market at 409 S. Main. An instructor from Downtown Yoga will lead an all-levels class at the Market at 6:30. The cost is $10 and includes a token to spend at the market after class. Bring a mat. YOGA!
My friend Michael Butler has a review of the Quasi Halal Asian Street Food truck on the I Love Memphis Blog. The truck makes appearances at Ghost River now and then. What could be better than craft beer and food trucks?
Tonight at Clayborn Temple, PRIZM Entertainment presents MLK50: A Concert for the Next 50 Years to honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The PRIZM Chamber Orchestra and Celebration Choir will perform along with guest soloists 7-9 PM. Tickets are $25. A $50 VIP ticket gets you into the concert as well as a 5:30-6:30 reception with light refreshments and a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the concert.
Yesterday I decided to go to Babalu for lunch after hearing good things about their lamb sliders from several people, including a former employee of the East Memphis restaurant. The sliders are 3 for $9.99 and come with Rosen Farms ground lamb, goat cheese, pickled red onions, arugula and chipotle aioli on brioche buns. I added on fries for $2 more.
The sliders were good, although the goat cheese made them so rich that I only got two and a couple of bites of the third down before giving up. The fries were outstanding. Crispy, thin, just the right amount of salt, made in house. I sat by myself at the bar and the bartender was very attentive, making sure I knew about the lunch specials and their social hour 3-6. He even gave me a card. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bartender give me a card before, but it makes sense, I will remember his name the next time I go back in there. They have a big bar with many local craft beers on tap.
Then came the part of the meal I didn’t like as much… the part where I had to pay. With the sliders, fries, Coke and tax, my bill was a little over $16, leaving me with a $20 lunch expense after I tipped. Yikes! The Coke was $2.95. When I eat, I prefer something sweet to drink to offset the taste of the food. I may have to learn to start liking water though!
The verdict: I liked Babalu and will visit again, but it hasn’t made it to my top tier of my East Memphis/Germantown lunch hour restaurants. So far the top tier is the lunch buffet at Mayuri, the gyros at Cafe Med, and the build-your-own pizza at PizzaRev. On my radar to try: either the lasagna or spaghetti with meat sauce at Exlines’, the sandwich plate at Germantown Commissary, and the smoked wings or smoked Kielbasa dinner at One and Only BBQ.
Happy birthday to my friend Stacey. May it be filled with naps, bath bombs but not the ones that make you smell like a stripper, and booze.
That’s it for now. Back tomorrow with more.