If any of you have thought about getting into bartending, but have never pursued it, I learned of an outstanding opportunity over the weekend. I can’t remember if it was Facebook or Twitter where I saw it – I just copied/pasted into Evernote. The Gray Canary posted the following:
“Interested in learning how to bartend? We’re hiring! Send all front of house inquiries and resumes to nick@enjoyam.com.”
The Gray Canary is the Andrew Ticer/Michael Hudman restaurant in Old Dominick Distillery. I am stunned that they are willing to train. Usually bartenders applying to restaurants of this quality are expected to have several years experience. This is a chance to learn from the best. Get hired there, get trained there, work there for 2 years (and pick up shifts at any of the other Ticer/Hudman restaurants if offered) and you will be able to get a job behind any bar in this city. Seems like there would be some other perks too, like no ultra-late hours and some delicious shift meals.
Jennifer Biggs has a must-read article in The Daily Memphian about the history of the food scene in Memphis.
If you’re looking for something to do tonight, as of yesterday there were still spots open for the Coppola Wine Dinner tonight at Rizzo’s at 6:30. Treat yo self!
For those who live on the island: Cordelia’s Market will have another meet your neighbor dinner tomorrow night, Thursday, May 30, from 5 to 7 PM. This dinner will have some special guests: Memphis 901 FC will be there.
As for tonight, Stanley’s Sweet Street Treat will be the truck for Food Truck Wednesday at Cordelia’s 5-8. Try the crab po’boy!
Magician Hayden will come to the Halloran Centre on August 3. Based out of Charlotte, NC, he has been gaining popularity for his fast-paced magic show. He will perform tricks with audience members’ borrowed smartphones, perform in sleight-of-hand card tricks, and engage in mentalism with members of the audience. Visit Hayden’s website to learn more.
Here’s a list of black owned businesses to support in Memphis. The Four Way and Payne’s? I need to get out there and do some supporting!
Sorry for the lack of posts the past two days. Monday I had a good reason for taking a day off… I just didn’t have much news to post! Sometimes that happens, especially now that we’re in the dog days of summer where there’s not much interesting to do outside for two and a half months. Tuesday I had a different good reason… my friend Spiros came to town. Spiros is one of the most interesting people I know, and he has a job traveling around work sites across the U.S. This week his job brought him close enough to Memphis that he was able to stop for a visit.
About 8:30 yesterday morning, Spiros messaged me and asked if I knew of a place Downtown to get breakfast. I replied, “There’s a place right around the corner from me that has great breakfast. Bardog Tavern,” and Spiros said he’d meet me there.
While there, I got a new tambourine!
Someone left it in lost & found and Teryn told me they were going to throw it out. It was battery powered and lit up in four different patterns.
Unfortunately I didn’t have a tambourine for long. When I ate lunch at Lenny’s I forgot to take it with me when I left. Someone’s kid got a new toy yesterday, probably.
Don’t worry, I didn’t lose the troll.
For my new readers, I’ll tell you about the big thing going on this weekend. It’s not a Downtown thing – it’s out east at Park and Mt. Moriah at Marquette Park. Italian Fest is a three-day cooking competition. In some ways it is like BBQ Fest – teams build elaborate booths, and to get in a booth you have to be on a team or know someone on it. The teams tend to have names that reference Italy, as opposed to BBQ Fest where the team names reference pigs. For example, one of the Italian Fest teams I know is called The Made Men. Prize categories include Spaghetti Gravy, Anything Italian, People’s Choice, and Best Booth.
If you don’t know anyone on a team, is it worth going? Yes. There will be live music all three days, including Trouble No More and Hope Clayburn’s Soul Scrimmage on Friday and Ingram Hill on Saturday. Luigi’s Cafe will offer Italian dinners in air-conditioned comfort for only $15. There will be Italian food vendors such as Garibaldi’s and Coletta’s in the park too. Luigi Land will offer carnival games and mini carnival rides, and there will be arts & crafts too.
One caveat – if there is heavy rain at any point between now and Saturday, my take on Italian Fest changes from “worth going” to “not worth going.” Rain turns Marquette Park into a mud pit the likes of which Tom Lee Park during Music Fest cannot even compare (except for the year the river flooded maybe).
Activists are removing the middle bar on some of the benches Downtown, saying that the middle bar makes it uncomfortable for the homeless to rest.
Whoa! I turned on The Price Is Right and got Robert Mueller instead. I’ll leave it to the news sources to summarize.
(Edit: Changed my mind. Here’s a summary of what Muller more or less said.)
Shorter Mueller:
1. I wasn't allowed to charge the President with a crime.
2. I believe he committed crimes, or I would say otherwise.
3. Congress does have the authority to charge him with a crime.
— David Jolly (@DavidJollyFL) May 29, 2019
Damn they just gave away a Tesla! It’s Dream Car Week.
All right, that’s it for now. Back tomorrow with more.