September 24, 2007Downtown Tonight!Downtown Night At The Westin Memphis Beale Street "Elevate Your Senses" You are cordially invited to Unwind at The Westin Hotel's Lobby Bar The last Monday of every month September 24, 2007 5:30-7:30pm Heavenly Happy Hour Prices Please join us at Memphis' new luxury hotel September 21, 2007The Home Plate - A Dinner AlternativeAfter asking Wayne Andrews of The Home Plate to donate a gift certificate to the auction I did for The Church Health Center, he offered to do a demonstration of the service for me and some of my friends. In order to make it more beneficial for him, I decided to invite a couple of bloggers along with some of my other friends. Luckily, my lovely colleague Elizabeth Montgomery agreed to allow us to use her home for the demonstration. (I don't think I actually have used my stove in over a year.) Anyway, I invited my friend Aislyn from work, Patrick from Safeguy, EJ from Cherry Blossom Special, and of course, Drue Deihl and Maggatron.
The Home Plate is a food service where they put together all the ingredients for a fantastic gourmet meal and all you have to do is swing by and pick them up. You skip the grocery store and don't have to buy a bunch of ingredients for a meal that you might only use one time. They break it down for you in three steps: Order You can place your order in a matter of minutes using their convenient website. Just visit the "Plan Your Meals" section and select a location, time and what meals you would like to prepare. Each month they offer 14 or more delicious entrees to choose from. In addition, many of their dishes have alternatives that you may use to customize your order. To view this month's menu, click here. Assemble The moment you step inside, your Home Plate Meal Coordinator will greet you and make you feel at home. After a brief orientation,you will be directed to your personal cubby where your apron and order checklist will be awaiting you. After you have washed your hands, you will travel to each recipe station you have chosen. Following the provided recipe you will scoop and pour the pre-cut ingredients for your meals into baking pans or Ziploc bags. While you're assembling your meals, enjoy chatting with friends or introducing yourself to those at neighboring stations. We hope you enjoy all of the selected gadgets and toys we've gathered that will make your meal assembly a breeze! You can customize each meal any way you like. If your kids don't like onions, leave them out. You prefer extra sauce? Take extra... You assemble it the way your family likes it! Once you have finished assembling, you won't even have to worry about cleaning up after yourself. Our helpful assistants love to do that for you. During assembly, you will be stowing each completed meal on your personal shelf. In two hours or less you will have finished assembling your incredible uncooked entrees, and you will have had fun doing it! At anytime during the process feel free to take a break in the front of our store where we will provide you with some refreshments.
And now it's time to Cook When you're ready to eat one of your dinners just follow the complete and simple instructions on how to quickly prepare your meal using basic kitchen utensils. Soon you will have a delicious meal that feeds 4 people without any of the grunt work. No shopping, no clean up, no waste...just dinner at home......on YOUR plate!
After Wayne did is demonstration it was time for the most important part of the evening, the testing of the food:
Everything down to the Toasted Head wine was super fantastic delicious. I don't remember the names of every dish, but the garlic mashed potatoes, the baja seafood tacos, and the beef tenderloin dish were all stand out favorites. And then there was dessert...
September 20, 2007Sin Ropas and the Animated Films of Brent GreenA 45 minute set of Sin Ropas songs, followed by a screening of Brent Green's films with live narrations and soundtracks by Sin Ropas and Brent. Brent Green's home-made animated films have screened at Sundance, the Getty Museum, Warhol Museum, Walker Arts Center and all kinds of other places. The New York Times has called his work "the most original animations we have seen in years." Sin Ropas are a couple of ex-Califone members who have released three beautiful records out of their abandoned library in the hills of North Carolina. Come and check out Brent's films with It will be inspiring. It will change your life. If you like your life the way it is, stay at home. You can check out Brent's films here- http://nervousfilms.com/multimedia Carlin's the newest one - Hadacol Christmas is really good, too. And you can hear Sin Ropas dark and wobbly rock and roll here: http://www.sinropas.com Paulina Hollers (part 2 of 2) September 19, 2007Detour Memphis Launches ArtistArc 2007Detour Memphis has announced the launch of ArtistArc 2007 - a program to collect and catalog promotional flyers, newspaper clippings, posters, and other documents related to Memphis' art, music, and culture scene. The archives will be available online in late 2008. September 9, 2007September 6, 2007Molly Fountaine Lounge Opens Tonite
Although Karen Carrier once said she has no interest in adding another restaurant to the four she currently owns (Automatic Slim's, Cielo, the Beauty Shop, DŌ), that doesn't mean she's going to sit back and relax. It's just not her style. So Carrier recently set out to reinvent Cielo, her fine-dining restaurant in downtown's Victorian Village. "I'm not fine-dining," Carrier says. "I'm casual. I'm funky. I want my restaurants to reflect that. I don't want this place to be a special-occasion place. I want it to be a place where people can hang out, listen to live music, have a couple of drinks, and order a few small items from the menu without busting their wallets." In true Carrier fashion, Cielo has been turned upside-down and inside-out, stripped, painted, and wallpapered to re-emerge as the Molly Fontaine Lounge, scheduled to open in about two weeks. Molly Fontaine Lounge "To me, making this home into a lounge is like taking it back," Carrier says. She's referring to the mood set a few decades back by a previous owner, a notorious ladies' man, and his friends. "It was a big party house with a different woman on every floor," she says. The building that houses the soon-to-be lounge was built in 1886 as a wedding present for Molly Woodruff Fontaine and is one of the few homes of its type in Victorian Village that didn't get torn down during the 1960s. Carrier's late husband Bob bought the house in 1985. Initially, the house was both home to the couple and an outlet for Carrier's newly established catering business, Another Roadside Attraction. A few years later, with a $35,000 loan from her dad, Carrier renovated the home's carriage house and moved her catering business there. Eventually, the couple started to look for a place that was better suited for a growing family. In fact, Carrier even tried to sell the main house. "I knew I wanted to keep Roadside where it was, but nobody wanted to buy just the main house, so I decided to turn it into a restaurant," Carrier says. She started the rezoning process in 1994 and opened Cielo two years later. More than 10 years have passed since opening day, and Carrier says it is time for a change. "We are still going to be very accessible for everybody," she explains. "We can still accommodate private parties, because we can mold the space according to the event. One of my guys from the Beauty Shop custom-made the bars and put them on casters so they can be rearranged or moved out of the way if needed." The Molly Fontaine Lounge will offer a Mediterranean and Middle Eastern-influenced small-plate menu and a happy hour with cool cocktails, as well as live music. September 5, 2007What Wines go with Tennessee Cheese?I am still going to try to post about my dinner at Circa later tonight - but in the meantime I thought I'd let you know about this. My days of drinking High Life may be done if I keep this up! ************************************************************************************************
Which is what we'll be doing Wednesday, September 19 at 7:00 p.m. when we host Jim and Gayle Tanner of Bonnie Blue Farm, located in Waynesboro, Tennessee. The Tanners will present their goat's milk cheeses, lovingly handcrafted from their free ranging herd. You'll hear more about their circa-tous tale: he was born in Kentucky and plied multiple hoes (from stock broker and motorcycle mechanic to sailor and Asian history professor) in Northern California, and she was a native Californian whose earliest goat's life began on her 21st birthday when her mother gifted her with a Native On Appearance Nubian doe. And of course, Circa's chief bottle washer Randy Caparoso (www.wineloverspage.com/randysworld) will ruminate on basic principles of wine and cheese matching with the following: * Fresh Chèvre with Regis Minet's Pouilly-Fumé - Loire River, France Please note: Seating in Circa's Boardroom for this event is extremely limited. $30/person (telephone reservations only, call 901.522.1488 to reserve, secured with credit card). September 4, 2007I Still Go Out - Just Not As MuchWell, well, well... Haven't done this in a while. I always find it so funny that when there is really a lot of stuff going on to blog about - well, there is never anytime to blog. A few months ago my friend Drue, who is the gallery directer at Jack Robinson Gallery, and I decided that we were gonna get busy making some things happen around town. So, we both revved up our schedule and have traded off on helping each other with our various projects. She helped me with my showcase at SXSW and was my personal photographer when we went to Lollapalooza and a business trip to NYC. I have been trying to use her as much as possible for different articles I have written and shows i have promoted. We even worked together to set up a side gallery at The Hitone this summer that will feature some of the best performances of the venue. I've revved up my internet presence with three internet radio shows, am still working with Ardent Studios and Records as their new media consultant and have countless other projects on tap. Plus I am currently trying to do some casting for Brad Harris again. My cup runneth over with projects. Anyway, Drue also had a huge show last week at the gallery when she premiered a collection of Vogue fashion photographs that had not been seen since the 1960's. She added vintage dressed models and two deejays that only played 60's music to the show to make it even more of an event.
Drue was in, but had a lot to finish up before we went - she finally showed up in the parking lot of Ardent to pick me up about 7:10, which wouldn't have been a big deal - except the tasting started at 7:00. I have been to tastings before - so I didn't think it would be that big of a deal - you just slide in the back and play catch up. Once we got downtown though, we couldn't find a parking space - so we didn't make it inside the restaurant until 7:30 - and when we walked into the private side room where it was being held - the only seats left were the ones furthest from the door. So, we kind of were very fashionably late - ooops!!! We could have bypassed the whole problem if we had just valeted at the corner of Gayoso and Main. The sommelier, Randy Caparoso, was totally cool about it though and I didn't feel like I was sneaking into class late. He just came over and explained all of the wines we had missed and made sure we matched up the right chocolates as they had been especially made to match.
We definitely had to play a little catch up - but who can complain about throwing back wine and chocolates? The restaurant is pretty new. It was opened by John Bragg who I am told has long history of restauranteurship in Memphis. Is that a word? Anyway, he worked at La Tourelle and opened River Oaks - but I've never eaten at either. However, any time I've mentioned his name since last week (cause you know how when you have one story, you tell it over and over and over?) everyone has seemed to have known his name and been impressed. Two of the chocolates were prepared by John Bragg and three were prepared by guest Chocolatier Carol Whitmore of Blues City Pastry Shop. They were all pretty incredible. Whenever some silly fool couldn't finish theirs I was the first to offer up my services. In the end, I think Drue was pretty happy that she dropped everything to come out and play for a little bit.
After the tasting Circa offered the group dinner at 25% off - which sounded really really good - but Drue and I both really needed to get back to work. Since the restaurant is currently offering a prix fix during the run of the Lion King, I decided to come back the next night to check out the food. I'll try to post about that and the photography opening tomorrow. For now, it's back to the grindstone. Two-Day Festival of Events Kicks Off Final Phase Two-Day Festival of Events Kicks Off Final PhaseMEMPHIS, Tennessee, September 4, 2007– A two-day festival that includes a block party with live music, an artists market with more than 20 local artists and a kids fair on Friday and Saturday, September 7 and 8, will mark the official opening of a vital facet of Playhouse on the Square’s capital campaign. The free events will be held on Playhouse’s new building site at Union and Cooper. September’s weekend festival of fun kicks off the community phase of the effort to raise $12 million for a, 350-seat state-of-the art live professional theatre. It is the final phase of the two-year long capital campaign. “We have raised more than $9 million and now we’re turning to the community to put us over the top,” said Jackie Nichols, Founder and Executive Producer for Playhouse. The block party will be held from 4:00 pm to midnight on Friday, September 7, in the space that will house the new facility and that will create a new theatre district for Overton Square and Midtown. Visitors can enjoy live music, view large renderings of the new theatre and have an opportunity to purchase Stars and Seat Dedications. Beverages for the event are being donated by Busters Liquors and food by area restaurants. The stars, which range in size from four inches to eight inches and in price from $150 to $1,000 will bear the name of the donor or anyone they wish to honor and be prominently displayed in the main rehearsal hall and other areas. There will also be nameplates available that will bear the name of the donor – or someone honored or memorialized by the donor – and placed on the armrests of the seats. Cost of the nameplates range from $1,500 to $5,000, depending on the location of the seat. “This is a perfect way to honor someone – or even someone’s pet – in a permanent way and at the same time make an important contribution to the city’s future,” said Nichols. “And, of course, all donations are tax deductible.” On Saturday morning from 9 to 11 there will be a kids festival with games, face painting and a live performances of a children’s version of Robin Hood by the Hampstead Stage Company of New England. The Senior Conservatory players will perform musical numbers. Food and beverages will be available, including 300 doughnuts donated by Krispy Kreme. Saturday afternoon from 1 pm to 7 pm the artists market will offer visitors a variety of art created by artists from the Memphis area. “The space for the artists is free, as is admission,” said Nichols. “We want to say thank you to all the people who have been so supportive to us over the years.” Parking for all the activities is available at no charge on Monroe and Cooper adjacent to Playhouse on the Square. For 39 years, Playhouse on the Square has carried out its programs in spaces not originally designed for a professional theatre company, with limited space for staging (19 years in the current location). The new theatre will be designed and built to be actor, musician, dancer, stage manager and audience friendly by award-winning Chicago theatre designer John Morris. Morris designed the Steppenwolf Theatre, The Lookingglass Theatre and the Northlight Theatre, all in Chicago. The new Playhouse on the Square will have a large fly system, expansive wing space, a full orchestra pit and traps for raising and lowering actors and scenery. “This new theatre will allow us to perform and entertain at a technical level that at last matches the talent level of our actors and directors,” said Nichols. “The new building will have a ripple effect on our other theatre operations as The Circuit Playhouse is able to move to the current Playhouse on the Square location. This combination of the new Playhouse on the Square and the relocation of The Circuit Playhouse with our TheatreWorks facility just behind it create a vibrant theatre district for Midtown, and an exciting and active gateway to the downtown area.” About Playhouse Playhouse on the Square is the only professional, resident, regional theatre company in Memphis. The organization produces 18 plays each season in three venues – Playhouse on the Square, The Circuit Playhouse and TheatreWorks – for a total of 417 annual performances. Playhouse productions reach a combined audience of more than 56,000 people each year. It reaches more than 32,000 children annually through school matinees, education and outreach programs. And, Playhouse founded and operates the national Unified Professional Theatre Auditions which bring representatives of 100 professional theatre companies and almost 1,000 actors from around the country to Memphis each February. |
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<p>Anyway, if you are looking for a quick and easy way to make dinner tonight - I can)
Via The Memphis Flyer
