Memphis - November 2022

EGGLESTON

life and career of

JAKE LAWHEAD

THOMAS MURPHREE HUGH MALLORY

SHELDON ROSENGARTEN MARCY MATHIS SEIDEL

JIMMY REED OWNER DAVID TESTER OWNER

JOHN WEST

MELONIE SAIN SIMPSON JIM SIMPSON

MYRA

KELLY ERB

CATHLEEN BLACK

ASHLEY BONDS MELODY BOURELL

MELANIE BLAKENEY KATIE NICHOLS COOK JEFF BLAKENEY

ROBIN FAUSER

LAURENCE KENNER GLOBAL

DIRECTOR

RIP HANEY

ANDREA LOPEZ HAYES

MARY GRAYSON FAUSER

My worst fears became my greatest moment of thanks.

ANGELA BAKER Thankful Cardiology Patient

When Angela Baker was admitted to the hospital for chest pain, she needed a team of dedicated cardiologists to diagnose and treat her, but she also needed supportive caregivers who reassured her when she was most vulnerable. In a letter, she writes, “Because you were with me every step of the way, I was never fearful, not even for a second. I cannot thank you enough for the care you provided. Your kindness, dedication and healing touch were nothing short of amazing. You will always be in my heart.”

Hear Angela’s full story of thanks at methodisthealth.org/angela .

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lifestyle

the world of

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real estate marketing.

Collierville

Center Drive,

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548-2000

on the cover: PHOTOGRAPH BY WILLIAM EGGLESTON, UNTITLED, C. 1970-1973; © EGGLESTON ARTISTIC TRUST COURTESY EGGLESTON ARTISTIC TRUST AND DAVID ZWIRNER

FRONT

IN THE BEGINNING ~ by anna traverse fogle

CLASSIC DINING ~ by michael donahue

SIPS ~ by bruce van wyngarden

Homegrown Holiday Gi Guide

A few local treasures for that special someone at that special time.

Frame by Frame

The life and career of William Eggleston.

~ by alex greene

ROAD TRIP

The Spirit of the Crescent City

An autumn search for old New Orleans.

~ by chris m c coy

901 HEALTH

The Darkest Place

The only way we can prevent suicide is by confronting mental illness directly, with compassion and a certainty that treatment options exist.

~ by frank murtaugh

Remembering Rabbi James Wax

A multimedia exhibit at Temple Israel tells of a life of devotion, resolve, and bravery.

~ by jon w. sparks

ASK VANCE

Nadia Price / The Parkview Hotel

Our history expert solves local mysteries of who, what, when, where, why, and why not. ~ by vance lauderdale

100 DINING OUT Restaurant Iris

A perennial Memphis favorite dazzles with a new menu, look, and location.

~ by samuel x. cicci

104 CITY DINING

The City’s Most Extensive Dining Listings

112 FLASHBACK Raleigh Inn

~ by vance lauderdale

SECTIONS

MANAGERS

INSIDE MEMPHIS BUSINESS

Philanthropy

building great futures

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Memphis continues to uplift. keeping the momentum

Kevin Dean, the CEO of Momentum Nonprofit Partners, views the changing nonprofit landscape in Memphis.

by samuel x. cicci

Memphis (ISSN 1622-820x) is published monthly for $18 per year by Contemporary Media, Inc., 65 Union Avenue, 2nd Floor, Memphis, TN 38103 © 2022. Telephone: 901-521-9000. For subscription info, please call 901-521-9000.

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CEO AND EDITOR-IN-CHIEF anna traverse fogle

EXECUTIVE EDITOR michael finger

MANAGING EDITOR frank murtaugh

SENIOR EDITORS samuel x. cicci, shara clark, jon w. sparks

ASSOCIATE EDITOR abigail morici

EDITORIAL INTERN izzy wollfarth

CONTRIBUTORS michael donahue, alex greene vance lauderdale, chris mccoy

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EDITOR samuel x. cicci

SENIOR EDITOR jon w. sparks

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joe

Hardheaded and Grateful

If you want Memphians to agree with you, I recommend talking about the ways this community isn’t working as well as it could. In my past two columns in this space, I’ve reflected on our city’s problems, and more readers have reached out than usually do. Some of those readers have wanted to have solutions-oriented conversations, focusing on how those of us who choose to live here can work together to continue fostering the community we desire. But some others, inevitably, prefer to offer a fist-bump in solidarity with what they hear as appropriate negativity. ‘Finally, she’s come to her senses!’, I imagine this latter group concluding.

Sorry, folks, but I have not come to my senses, at least not in the way that you mean. Yes, I too fret about crime rates in Memphis, and yes, I want our local government to function more smoothly. Yes, I want there to be more stable, well-paying jobs here, motivating young people to stay and invest in Memphis. Yes, I would greatly prefer to assume that I can drive through an intersection when the light turns green, rather than pausing to make sure no one’s planning to test their stunt-driving skills today. That would be nice.

All the same, I consider myself a Memphian by choice. I was raised here from the age of 18 months, which wasn’t up to me. I never intended to live here as an adult, so I left for college and didn’t look back — at least for a while. Moving home at 25 was a matter of necessity, not choice. But that was 13 years ago. At some point along the way, whether or not each of us arrived here by choice, staying becomes a choice we make over and over again. With each rent or mortgage check written, tag renewed, ballot cast, and damn given, we reinvest in the place we call home. (Good luck with that tag, though.)

You’re probably reading this in November, the month many celebrate Thanksgiving. We’re entering a season of shorter days and longer nights, of greater time for reflection and greater need for togetherness. In this season, we’re reminded that gratitude is more a decision and a practice than some sponta neously occurring condition.

Nothing is simple. The Thanksgiving holiday’s origins seem more obviously complicated now, in 2022, than perhaps we realized as schoolkids. Sharing one harvest

festival with Native Americans sounds nice, and makes for a good story, but surely doesn’t erase the brutality that white settlers visited upon the people indigenous to the lands we now call America.

‘So, Anna,’ you might ask, ‘do you celebrate Thanksgiving?’ Sure do. I would probably even say, if asked to rank such things, that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year: It’s peaceful and humble, requiring no more shopping than what can be done at the grocery, and asks us to focus on the simple gifts of togetherness and earthly sustenance. Nothing is simple, but we have choices to make about how we deal with the complications.

I suspect that most of us don’t want to cancel Thanksgiving any more than we want to walk away from Memphis. That it’s complicated doesn’t stop people as stubborn as Memphians from proudly celebrating our city.

Plenty of Memphians will nod in agreement if you gripe about this city. Griping is easy; I can confirm this from having griped my share of gripes. But plenty of us, too, wake up each morning and continue to invest their time, their talents, and their hope here. That’s no accident. Not everyone has the means to leave. If you do have that option, though, and you choose to stay anyway, then you can’t convince me you don’t feel at least a little thankful to be right where we are.

This fall, as the sky darkens earlier and earlier and the light falls more gently, as woodsmoke curls into crisp silvery air, as the ginkgo across the street shifts from grass-green to lemon-yellow, I’m grateful — by choice — to be exactly where I’ve found myself.

The Wing Factory

BY MICHAEL DONAHUE

Ruben Webber’s first cooking attempt was Italian: When he was 13, he made a pizza from a box mix. His first restaurant job was Tex-Mex: He worked at Taco Bell.

But he ended up as the co-owner with his wife, Michelle, of a restaurant specializing in fare that’s about as straightup American as you can get: hot wings.

different; people swear by it. An homage to Memphis called ‘Memphis Soul,’ nobody has that. It’s a sweet chili-based sauce and topped with our special house-based seasoning. ‘Orange Mound’ pays tribute to the area we are in. ‘Flavor’ is a honey-gold based flavor — citrus, with a hint of orange flavor.”

She says “Lemon Pepper” is another signature wing. “We were the first to start putting fresh lemons and all that lemon pepper seasoning on top of our wings.”

Ruben’s uncle, who gave her the hot wing base, was proud of her. “He called our wings ‘ e Erling Jensen of wings.’”

Ruben’s brother, Donrico Webber, came up with the name of e Wing Factory. He said he always envisioned Ruben and Michelle in a “factory of wings” and “working in lab jackets, creating all these different sauces. But I’m the one creating all the sauces.”

64, Suite 103.

Ruben and Michelle make it a point to work at the main location and the express location. “We make sure we are there,” Michelle says, “and the people we have placed at the express have been in the food business

eir restaurant, e Wing Factory, has now expanded into a drivethrough location and one franchise, with another slated to open in two or three months.

As a kid, Ruben played football and Little League baseball, but he also loved to cook. His mom even told him, “You’re going to end up a cook,” Ruben says. He learned all the basics at Taco Bell. “Always at that point I wanted to start my own business.”

Michelle remembers the day Ruben said, “Michelle, I want to open a hot wing place.” She recalls replying, “‘Are you serious?’ He said, ‘Yeah.’”

But that wasn’t all he said. “He told me to come up with the sauces.’”

Michelle got advice from Ruben’s uncle, who had been a chef. “He gave me a base and said, ‘Go from there and use your creative juices.’ And I went from there,” opening e Wing Factory at 2280 Park Ave. in 2005.

Growing up in Raleigh, Michelle was the oldest of four and says she was “usually in charge of cooking. I think I started cooking really early — 10, 12 years old. My mother always told me I was creative.”

She came up with the sauces they still use. “‘April Special’ is a combination of all our flavors and is topped with parmesan cheese. ‘Erica Special,’ named after our daughter, is hot-based, but has a zesty seasoning on top that makes it unique and

When the Webbers opened e Wing Factory a couple of days after Christmas in 2005, “Our friends and family were very supportive,” Michelle says, and they went through a 50page order book. “We were just so excited about that.”

ey now offer more than a dozen hot wing flavors. “But the beauty of it is people are able to intermix what they want,” she says. “We let the customers mix and match. ey can be creative on their own.”

ey also sell other items, including hamburgers and chicken sandwiches. Two months ago, Ruben and Michelle opened a drive-through Wing Factory at a converted Checkers location at 1351 Airways.

A franchised location that belongs to Ruben’s nephew, Leon Baker, is at 7395 U.S. Highway

for a long time. We make sure a seasoned veteran is around all the time.”

e Wing Factory is continuing to expand. “We have a friend, Terry Draine. He wants to open up one farther out Airways [at Holmes] closer to the Mississippi state line. And that should be going up here real soon.”

Like the Highway 64 location, Ruben and Michelle won’t be part owners of the newest branch of their business. “ at will basically be a franchise,” she says. “We set them on a right path and let them fly.” Good thing they have plenty of wings.

e Wing Factory is located at 2280 Park Ave., 1351 Airways, and 7395 U.S. Highway 64.

“Memphis Soul” and “Orange Mound” are two of its Memphis-centric hot wing creations.

left: Ruben and Michelle Webber. above: The author with hot wings.

Parks and Recreation

BY BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN

If you haven’t been served a drink by bartender David Parks — aka “Parks” — you’re either new to town or you probably ought to get out more. A perennial contender for the Memphis Flyer ’s “Best Bartender,” Parks has been working behind various bars in Memphis for four decades.

drinks not get put in ‘girly glasses,’” he laughs. “It wasn’t until 2005 or so that people began wanting more creative cocktails with real ingredients. Drinks shifted into more custom concoctions, with fresh twists like rosemary, basil, and genuine liqueurs. People became more discerning. It’s still that way.”

I ask Parks about his look, which hasn’t changed for decades. “My grandfathers were both known as natty dressers,” he says. “ ey taught me a style — how to be dressy without being prissy: dark suits, black shoes; brown suits, brown shoes. at kind of thing. No ties with short sleeves or button-down-collar shirts. And I was raised that when you come to work, you look like you’re working. It kind of stuck with me, so it’s not hard to pick me out of a group.”

“Well, from your perspective,” I ask (segueing beautifully), “what should I drink?”

“What do you feel like?” Parks says. “I got a pocket-full of ’em.”

“Surprise me.”

Parks decides to make what’s listed on the drink menu as a “Tepache Raid.” Tepache is a traditional Mexican street drink made with pineapple skin and pulp. Parks makes his own version as the base for the cocktail.

“You take the pineapple and butcher it,” he says, “then put it in a big container and add lime juice and sugar. You stow it in the fridge for a week, stirring every day. For the cocktail, I blend tepache, mezcal, cinnamon-fused agave nectar, and seltzer water for effervescence, then add a little flex of freshgrilled pineapple as a garnish.”

His résumé includes such venues as Madison Avenue, Alfred’s on Beale, In the Grove, Captain Bilbo’s, Bogie’s Key Largo, Molly’s La Casita, Mortimer’s, Bistro Hemmings, Maxwell’s, Alchemy, e Cove, Iris, and Second Line. For the past year or so, he’s been plying his trade at McEwen’s, the iconic — and recently expanded — Downtown restaurant owned by Bert Smythe and John Littlefield, where his personality and signature white-shirt-and-tie look are a perfect fit.

Parks says he got his start “as a kid working as a bar-back”

in the late 1970s. By the mid-1980s, he was managing the bars at Madison Avenue, a dance club located in Overton Square.

“It was a huge space,” he recalls. “Eight thousand square feet with 12 bars working during busy shifts. Sometimes there were hundreds of people there. It was the era of foo-foo drinks — nothing was genuine. We used store-bought grenadine, artificial lime juice, maraschino cherries.”

He winces at the memory. “ e 1990s were more about cosmos and martinis — and guys demanding that their

So what’s the most important thing he’s learned in his years in the public eye? “I guess maybe it’s to keep your mind open to other perspectives,” he says. “You meet a lot of people in this business, and in Memphis particularly, you meet a lot of tourists from around the world. What may seem odd from our perspective might be customary or normal for someone else. When I hear a northern U.S. accent and they ask for an old-fashioned, I know to ask whether they want it made with bourbon or brandy, because the drink is made with brandy in much of the North. It’s a small example, but seeing things from another’s perspective is just a good thing to be able to do.”

“For the cocktail [Tepache Raid], I blend tepache, mezcal, cinnamon-fused agave nectar, and seltzer water for effervescence, then add a little flex of freshgrilled pineapple as a garnish.” — David Parks

He slides the golden elixir my way and I take a sip. e drink is smoky from the mezcal, with a little sweetness from the agave nectar and the pineapple. It’s complex but balanced and tasty — and evokes memories of long-ago Mexican vacations in Quintana Roo.

“ is is really good,” I say.

“And good for you,” says Parks. “It prevents scurvy.”

“Good to know.”

“Just be careful, because it can sneak up on you.”

at’s good advice, and it’s from a man who’s been dispensing it for a long time. Now here’s some advice from me: Go see David Parks at McEwen’s. You’ll be glad you did.

McEwen’s is located at 120 Monroe Ave.

David Parks with a “Tepache Raid.”

A visit with a legendary Memphis bartender.

2022

HOMEGROWN HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

OUR NINTH ANNUAL CURATED COLLECTION OF LOCAL FINDS, FOR WHEN A NEW PAIR OF SOCKS SIMPLY WON’T SUFFICE.

With the gift-giving season approaching, put yourself at ease with the help of our local shopping suggestions. Whether you’re a late shopper, a mom on a mission, or looking for the perfect gift for your most difficult-to-please loved one, this gift guide aims to offer something for everyone.

ROCKIN’ PURSES FROM LANSKY’S

Looking for something special for the purse-lover in your life who has everything? Well, chances are very, very good that person doesn’t have one of these rock-themed handbags from the legendary Lansky Bros. in Downtown Memphis. And it’s pretty much a guarantee that heads will turn when you sashay into the club with one of these bad boys. Tap into your inner lead singer with the Freddie Mercury Jacket Bag. You say you’re more of a guitar goddess? No problem. The Brian May Guitar Bag is also a great, er, pick. Both will free your inner Queen for only $274.

LOCATED INSIDE THE PEABODY, 149 UNION AVE., OR ONLINE AT LANSKYBROS.COM

EGGLESTONWORKS SPEAKERS

No holiday party is complete without family, friends, food — and a little music. Or maybe a lot of music if you have a matched set of Nico EVOlution speakers. The sound geniuses at EgglestonWorks have designed products “to strike that powerful, emotional chord naturally present in live music, to recreate the palpable realism of a live performance, complete and authentic to the most minuscule detail.” Prices begin at $5200. The Nico, their smallest model, matches a six-inch woofer with a tiny one-inch tweeter, and the sound quality is … well, you have to hear it to believe it.

AVAILABLE ONLINE, OR LOCATE A DEALER NEAR YOU AT EGGLESTONWORKS.COM

MEUCCI POOL CUES

Forget those old movies showing dingy poolhalls with battered cues and scuffed tables. The ancient game of billiards has acquired considerable class, and many aficionados have slate-bed tables in their own homes. The Meucci family offers players customized billiard cues when playing straight, rotation, nine-ball — whatever the game. The craftsmanship is superb, with rock maple shafts, Irish linen wrapping, rare wood or abalone inlays, and other high-end features that change the game in one swift break. Prices begin at $425 and top $2000 for the custom models. Rack ’em up!

AVAILABLE AT 3709 MS-302, BYHALIA, MS, OR ONLINE AT MEUCCICUES.COM

FEAST & GRAZE’S CLASSIC BOX

Charcuterie boards are trending these days, and it’s easy to see why. The cheese, the crackers, the fruits, the meats, the garnishes — all arranged so beautifully, perfect for everyone’s favorite pastime of grazing at any occasion, and the holidays are no exception. So for this holiday season, turn to Memphis’ tried-and-true Feast & Graze. The local business prioritizes sustainability; uses fresh, in-season produce; incorporates local makers in each board; and makes gift-giving easy with its Classic Box ($50-$245). Four sizes can feed from two to 18 people, and include cheese, meats, mustard, jam, pickles, produce, nuts, and more.

AVAILABLE AT FEASTANDGRAZE.COM

FINE JEWELRY FROM MEDNIKOW

Family-owned and -operated since 1891, Mednikow Jewelers offers nothing less than refined, classic, and timeless jewelry. A perfect example is this 24 karat gold link bracelet with color-drenched cabochon gemstones accented with diamonds (price on request). Also shown: a one-of-a-kind 25.96 carat blue topaz oval cabochon ring in 24 karat gold ($5250). An elegant gift from Mednikow is perfect for any occasion, any generation, and any family member.

AVAILABLE AT 474 PERKINS EXTD., SUITE 100, OR ONLINE AT MEDNIKOW.COM

SILVER BELLS FOR SENIORS

Remember how you felt when you gave a present that scored really big? And it wasn’t even remotely extravagant? So, do it again. Meritan, which provides services for seniors, has its Silver Bells program to benefit more than 300 frail and homebound seniors who are all below the poverty line. Their asks are typically very basic, such as a bathrobe or a gift card for food. And you can be an individual giver, or get a group together. Go to the Silver Bells section on the nonprofit’s website, choose from among the seniors on the list, purchase the gifts, and deliver them to Meritan. ’Tis the gift to be simple.

AVAILABLE AT MERITAN.ORG

MYSTIC JEWELRY

Mystic Agora is a holistic wellness brand made for people who want to embrace the oneness that is in their community. They offer handmade jewelry, incense, books, and more. Head over to their website to support a local small business. Everything is ethically sourced, and made or chosen with love and intention. Prices range from $10 (rings) to $40 (bracelets).

AVAILABLE FROM MYSTICAGORA.COM

PRIME MEALS FROM FOLK’S FOLLY

Humphrey’s Prime Collection offers a combination of prime filet mignon, ribeye, and New York strip steaks from Folk’s Folly Prime Steak House, year after year the winner of “Best Steakhouse” in our annual readers’ restaurant poll. The marbled and aged cuts are packaged fresh and can be shipped overnight from Memphis to any doorstep nationwide (including your own). For $280, the pack of six steaks makes a deliciously thoughtful — and thoughtfully delicious — gift for the holidays.

AVAILABLE AT 551 S. MENDENHALL, OR ONLINE AT HUMPHREYSMEMPHIS.COM

THISTLE & BEE GIFT SETS

As a social enterprise, Thistle & Bee offers a safe place for women survivors of prostitution, trafficking, and addiction to heal and employs them in caring for 50 beehives, baking granola, harvesting and bottling honey, and making other products, all of which can be found online or at various retail locations and markets. For your gift-giving convenience, Thistle & Bee has premade gift sets that’ll wow any recipient — from the Honey Trio Gift Box ($45), which includes three flavors of honey, to the Gratitude Gift Box ($38), packed with a jar of honey, a bag of granola, tea bags, and a beeswax candle.

AVAILABLE AT THISTLEANDBEE.ORG

SWEETS FROM DINSTUHL’S

Do readers know how lucky we are that Dinstuhl’s has called Memphis home since 1902? It’s like having Willy Wonka here, producing a never-ending supply of sweets. This Memphis institution blends batches of chocolate, caramel, vanilla, peanuts, pecans, sugar, strawberries, and so much more into enticing creations that add mouthwatering sweetness to any occasion. With so much to choose from, we suggest a 16-ounce box of chocolate fudge. Take your pick from pecan or no-nut for only $18.50.

AVAILABLE AT ANY DINSTUHL’S LOCATION, OR ONLINE AT DINSTUHLS.COM

ARTWORK BY FRANCES BERRY MORENO

PRIME CUTS FROM HOME PLACE PASTURES

Mom and dad fancy themselves grillmasters? Then make sure they’re serving holiday dinner with high-quality cuts from Home Place Pastures in Como, Mississippi. The farm can ship anything from a full barbecue pork kit to Rosette de Lyon salami, and hungry carnivores won’t be able to resist flipping open their favorite recipe books. But instead of settling for one cut, the best bet may be signing up a family member for one of the monthly Home Place Pasture boxes ($65-$199), with containers ranging from 5 to 15 pounds of assorted meat. Getting hungry yet? Then just order the whole dang animal. They can do that too.

AVAILABLE AT HOMEPLACEPASTURES.COM

For a gift that’s bold, eclectic, sometimes irreverent, but perpetually fun, look no further than Frances Berry Moreno, whose art always draws the eye and brings out smiles in any space. You’ve probably seen her whimsical murals around town at places like Society Memphis Skatepark and Coffee. Typically working in acrylic, paint markers, charcoal, and oil pastels, Moreno brings a zest of femininity and humor to her pieces. Her prints are $65+ and one-ofa-kind paintings are $165+.

AVAILABLE AT WHEREISFRANCES.COM

by FRAME

the life and career of EGGLESTON

william

Worldwide appreciation of the self-taught photographer, who turned the art world on its head a half-century ago, has reached an alltime high — culminating in a stunning new show in New York this month.

BY ALEX GREENE

above: This month, David Zwirner Gallery will publish The Outlands: Selected Works in tandem with its Eggleston exhibit.

left: As a rule, Eggleston’s photos are untitled, but they sometimes take on names among curators and writers. All images are taken from The Outlands: Selected Works.

below: Eggleston was deeply attuned to Cartier-Bresson’s “decisive moment,“ shooting when gestures, colors, and light worked together most evocatively.

Those who know Memphis know weddings

— and wedding photography — are serious business in this town. So it’s especially telling to hear how one unconventional photographer plied his trade at the local nuptials.

“He went to photograph somebody’s wedding,” says one associate, “and apparently he was shuffling around photographing ashtrays or something.” To be fair, ceramics can be quite beguiling. But, as the story continues, “he then presented the bride and groom with a set of prints, and they were just of the sky.”

The photographer, of course, is William Eggleston Jr., 83, a titan in a long tradition of iconoclastic firebrands whose art sprang from the Bluff City. And the story, related by curator Mark Holborn in the 2009 documentary The Colourful Mr. Eggleston, is an object lesson in the artist’s blithe disregard for conventional expectations. Yet that iconoclasm alone didn’t center him in the world of fine art photography, starting in the 1970s. Shrugging off the status quo was merely an afterthought in his single-minded pursuit of a vision that persists to this day, continuing to yield hidden gems of character, composition, and color as his archives are further explored.

The latest example: The Outlands, an Eggleston exhibition at the David Zwirner Gallery in New York, opening November 10th, accompanied by a book offering fresh insights into his unique photographic language. That his vision is bound up with the most mundane objects and landscapes is part of its mystery, and that vision’s power makes it hard to define. As the artist himself says in the same documentary, “Often, people ask what I’m photographing. Which is a hard question to answer. And the best I’ve come up with is, I just say, ‘Life today.’” Emulating the open spaces of his photographs, the artist takes a supremely unhurried pause, then adds slyly, “I don’t know whether they believe me or not. Or what that means.”

One gathers that putting his subject matter into words doesn’t matter much to Eggleston, nor does explaining the provenance of particular photographs.

He’s not currently granting

above: As Robert Slifkin writes, “Eggleston’s pictures are at once sensuous and impassive, imparting an unabashed beauty alongside what could be called a consciously refined blandness.”

right: Photographer Lewis Baltz notes that Eggleson portrayed “trivial stuff that other photographers have mistakenly found beneath their attention.”

EGGLESTON

william

PHOTOGRAPHS: WILLIAM EGGLESTON,

1970-1973;

EGGLESTON ARTISTIC TRUST; COURTESY EGGLESTON ARTISTIC TRUST

DAVID

“He’s a bit like Bob Dylan, really. He’ll give these amazing, funny, insightful interviews that actually don’t give anything away. He’s very elliptical. I think it’s a genius skill, to be honest — to be engaging and insightful and intelligent and intriguing, but still maintain the secrets.”

— johnny hopkins

interviews, and such dialogue is of dubious value in any case. Johnny Hopkins, senior lecturer in popular music and media industries at Solent University, Southampton, U.K., having interviewed and written about Eggleston at length, notes, “He’s a bit like Bob Dylan, really. He’ll give these amazing, funny, insightful interviews that actually don’t give anything away. He’s very elliptical. I think it’s a genius skill, to be honest — to be engaging and insightful and intelligent and intriguing, but still maintain the secrets.”

Nevertheless, through published sources, my own recent

conversations with him in his Memphis home, and interviews with scholars and his family, a clearer picture of Eggleston as a living artist emerges. To see him recline on the sofa, ascot undone, one immediately senses the erudite Renaissance man, the avid reader of Robert Burns, the classical pianist and improviser who might hold forth on Degas at any moment — but also the rascal, pondering the onset of happy hour. He contains multitudes.

As his daughter, Andra Eggleston, notes in The Colourful Mr. Eggleston , “I know that his photographs are very indicative of who he is and how he sees life. And I’ve always seen that, not only in his photographs, but how he looks at things and what he looks at. And what he

notices. He definitely has a different eye. I’ve seen him stare for hours at a china set. And not a particularly valuable china set. It’s sort of maddening, too, but it’s extraordinary.”

It was certainly maddening to the critics when Eggleston had his breakthrough show at New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1976. By then, he had already been working with color images for over a decade, but the art world had not quite caught up to him. “Perfectly banal, perhaps. Perfectly boring, certainly” was the terse verdict of a New York Times review of the exhibition.

Nonetheless, with its vivid color images addressing such galva nizing subjects as a tricycle, cars by the side of the road, or sometimes just the side of the road, the show marked a paradigm shift. While Eggleston’s were not the first color images to grace MoMA’s walls, the accompany-

left: Rosa Eggleston, pictured here, recalled he told her, “Now you must not take anything for granted when you take a picture. Never do that. Every single little tiny line and space works and counts.”

ing book, William Eggleston’s Guide, was the first collection of color images published by the museum, thanks to John Szarkowski, then curator of photography at MoMA, who had championed Eggleston’s work since 1969. And he was not alone.

While pioneering American artists like Lee Friedlander, Diane Arbus, and Garry Winogrand had already found the sublime in mundane street scenes and shop windows from the late-Fifties on, their works were resolutely black and white, the default medium for art photography. Even a decade later, using color film struck many as crass, echoing advertising, magazine illustrations, or the unschooled family snapshots of the hoi polloi.

As Hopkins sees it, the shock of the color images ultimately worked in Eggleston’s favor. “It probably did his career a lot of good to have that kind of sensationally negative publicity,” he says. “A bit like a rock-and-roll group, like the Sex Pistols or the Rolling Stones winding people up. Or indeed Elvis. When Eggleston’s color work started to get known, it was seen as vulgar. But it’s not vulgar at all, it’s beautiful and powerful.”

It was a paradoxical moment. As the artist’s son, William Eggleston III, notes, “Dad’s career began with the MoMA show and the Guide, even though that show was greatly panned when it debuted. And it took some 25 years for those works to be understood and appreciated.”

THE DECISIVE MOMENT

Today, the works from the MoMA show are canonical, and Eggleston is widely regarded as a visionary artist. But it was not always so, especially as he was creating the photographs that later would be among his most celebrated. After a bucolic, affluent childhood on the family cotton farm near Sumner, Mississippi, playing piano from the age of 4, with a penchant for tinkering, Eggleston tried stints at several colleges. While at Vanderbilt, a friend gave him a Leica camera, and he began teaching himself the basics of photography. It was around then that he discovered the work of French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson.

“Henri was one of the greats,” Eggleston told me in 2017. “He was my first discovery, in the sense of, I knew at once that he was so much better than anybody whose work I had seen. And I still feel that way. In black and white. He would not even entertain working with color. He was so good he didn’t have to.”

“The great influence was Cartier-Bresson,” Holborn confirms in e Colourful Mr. Eggleston, noting that Cartier-Bresson’s theory of the “decisive moment” impacted Eggleston’s intuitive, “shoot from the hip” approach. “There’s such extraordinary structure,” Holborn says of Cartier-Bresson. “When you break down the frame, the frame has its inherent geometry. And it’s fluid. And I think that’s what Eggleston aspired to.”

By his early twenties, Eggleston had begun pursuing his vision in Memphis, where he and his wife, Rosa (whose family was also of some means), hoped to settle. In one of history’s great wrinkles, the Egglestons befriended an older couple with a passion for the arts, whose son, Alex Chilton, would soon make his own mark on the world of music via the Box Tops, Big Star, and an iconoclastic solo career. As Rosa explains in Holly

George-Warren’s biography of Chilton, A Man Called Destruction, “We didn’t have a place to stay, and the Chiltons kind of adopted us. We were thinking about driving back to Mississippi, and Mary [Chilton] said, ‘Oh, spend the night here!’ We had this rapport going on. ey did not seem like parents.”

In Robert Gordon’s book, It Came from Memphis , Eggleston tells the author, “Sidney and Mary Chilton, Alex’s parents, were some of my closest friends ... Mary held what you might call a salon, and things happened in the house. People would come

there; it was an art gallery. ey had a piano and Sidney would play. I would play, different people would come in.”

Eggleston would eventually make a cameo as a pianist on Alex Chilton’s recording of “Nature Boy,” but long before then, the Chiltons let Eggleston set up a darkroom in their carriage house. “During the Sixties I had an intense period of development,” Eggleston tells Gordon, “and by the late Sixties I had formed a way of working that was thought out, that is still continuing. It’s evolved, but it’s identifiable as the same person’s work.”

“When you break down the frame, the frame has its inherent geometry. And it’s fluid. And I think that’s what Eggleston aspired to.”

— mark holborn

Having originally emulated Cartier-Bresson’s use of black and white, Eggleston began working with color film in 1965, his instincts already so honed from his pre-color days that his very first exposure became one of his most iconic images. “ ere’s one picture of a boy with a shopping cart,” remembers the younger Eggleston, “and it’s an image I knew well. Dad says it was his first color photograph. It was taken at a grocery store on Lamar called Hogue & Knott. I remember the store from when I was 6 years old.”

Yet Eggleston’s son William stresses that interpretations of his father’s work should not “bend towards anything to do with sentimentality or the past.” e photographer was not memorializing a lost South, but confronting its changes frankly.

In The Colourful Mr. Eggleston , Rosa Eggleston — “Dad’s original fan,” says William — reinforces this, recalling a crucial moment in her husband’s art: “Bill at one time said to his great, highly respected friend, ‘Well, what am I going to photograph? Everything around here is so ugly.’ And our friend said, ‘Photograph the ugly stuff.’ We were surrounded everywhere with this plethora of shopping centers and ugly stuff. And so that is really initially what he started photographing.”

Aside from his use of color, Eggleston’s disciplined shooting style showed Cartier-Bresson’s continued influence. “I never crop,” the senior Eggleston mused when we spoke. “I may owe this to Henri. e frame is the frame. To crop is not a good thing.” Furthermore, Eggleston rarely takes more

left: Curator Mark Holborn relates that after their weddding Eggleston “presented the bride and groom with a set of prints, and they were just of the sky.“

ABOVE: WILLIAM

EGGLESTON ARTISTIC TRUST; COURTESY EGGLESTON ARTISTIC TRUST

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than one shot of any given image. With these guidelines, and an eye for framing images rapidly, Eggleston was off and running. By the early Seventies, he had discovered what he found to be the best method for printing his images, the dye transfer process, used chiefly at the time by advertisers. To Eggleston, it was simply the state of the art, and the method conveyed his images’ hues as no other could, further sealing his reputation as a maverick of color.

“HE JUST DOES WHAT HE WANTS”

Meanwhile, with his wife Rosa’s financial support for their family unmooring him from concerns of gainful employment, photographing prolifically but independent and hungry for experience, Eggleston indulged his taste for the unconventional in more ways than one. “He’s the freest person I’ve ever met. He just does what he wants,” muses photographer Juergen Teller in The Colourful Mr. Eggleston, and as the Seventies unfolded, that meant a recreational and romantic life as untethered to conventional mores as his art was. The always dapper photographer was an unlikely fixture in the burgeoning scene of artists, oddballs, and outcasts blooming in Memphis at the time. (This also helped jumpstart rock bands’ use of Eggleston’s work for their album covers, starting with Big Star’s Radio City LP.)

A slice of this era is documented in footage he shot on an innovative new video camera at the time, the Sony Portapak. He experiment-

ed with the camera only briefly, in 1974, but in that time documented everything from the sleepy faces of his children to visits with local bluesmen to the freakishness of the Memphis underground. Scenes with the latter are striking for both their carnality and their flights of poetic inspiration, and Eggleston recorded it all unflinchingly — as with his still photography, there’s an implied deadpan in his lens that prompts viewers to look beyond superficial aspects.

In 2008, the Portapak footage was edited by Robert Gordon into a single film, Stranded in Canton, revealing in gripping detail the world of bohemian Memphis at the time. As Hopkins notes, “All that film footage he recorded, of these mad characters that were part of his social world, really tells you about his life and his lifestyle. Most of his pictures are very ordered, and meticulous. But many of them have a dark side to them, and a mystery, and that darker side really comes through in Stranded in Canton.”

Eggleston’s gravitation toward the margins of society may be the key to how his photographs imbue even the most banal images with a sense of the uncanny or even the foreboding. This extends to his lesser-known work, such as his images of Elvis Presley’s Graceland, taken soon after it opened to tourists in the early 1980s. That’s Hopkins’ particular obsession, as detailed in his chapter,

below: Slifkin notes that when photographing Black communities, Eggleston “defies photojournalist reportage.”

Life on the Bright Side

THE EGGLESTON ARTISTIC TRUST

O ver the years, Eggleston’s work spoke for itself, only growing in stature, and he continued to publish and exhibit his images as the twentieth century came to a close. Notable exhibitions were 1999’s William Eggleston and the Color Tradition at the J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles; 2008’s William Eggleston: Democratic Camera, Photographs and Video 1961–2008, which premiered at New York’s Whitney Museum of American Art; and 2016’s William Eggleston Portraits at the National Portrait Gallery in London. Still, under-recognized collections such as the Graceland photos dot the artist’s history, and even archives represented by

the Guide and other publications were barely explored until recent years. The emergence of new work from this backlog is largely due to the efforts of the artist’s sons, William and Winston.

As William explains, “I helped Dad set up the Eggleston Artistic Trust when I was in my twenties [in 1992], and then I really wasn’t involved in it at all for about ten years. I got involved again about 11 years ago, and it’s taken a lot of very deliberate work over that time to get people to appreciate and buy works that are not the few iconic works that are in the Guide and elsewhere.”

Indeed, the eventual success of Eggleston’s initial exhibits and publications has served to obscure the sheer volume of images that he produced in his most active years. With at least 50,000 photographs in total, there is a depth to the Eggleston archives that continues to bring revelations and insights into his work, thanks largely to the efforts of William, Winston, Holborn, and the elder Eggleston himself. In recent years, a kind of Eggleston Renaissance has been under way.

“Memphis Icons: Elvis Presley, William Eggleston and the ‘Lost’ Photographs of Graceland,” from the forthcoming Oxford University Press collection, Rethinking Elvis

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As a case in point, 1989’s The Democratic Forest, edited by Holborn, was just the tip of an immense iceberg, 150 images out of 12,000 in the archive by that name (the other major archives being The Kodachromes [5,000 images] and Los Alamos [2,600 images]). When William returned to working with the Trust, he set out to reveal the depth of his father’s work, editing new volumes for the art publisher Steidl. After first perfecting their editorial process with multi-volume publications drawn from The Kodachromes archive (Chromes, edited with Thomas Weski) and the Los Alamos archive (Los Alamos Revisited), he and Holborn winnowed the 12,000 Democratic Forest images down to 1,010, which then comprised a ten-volume set, also titled The Democratic Forest.

This increased the profile of a period in Eggleston’s career that had previously received less attention. “There were certain images from the Guide that, over the years, started slowly showing up in auctions,” William says. “But the Guide was just 48 images. And for a long time that was considered the holy grail of Dad’s work. What happened after that didn’t seem to matter as much. So he was suffering a little bit from a kind of greatest-hits syndrome.”

If the Steidl volumes helped counteract that tendency, so did auctioning new prints. In 2012, the Trust put three dozen prints, some previously unseen, up for sale at Christie’s, using advanced digital printing methods to create large-format prints more than five feet across. The pieces collectively fetched nearly six million dollars. “That was a very stressful, risky moment,” says William. “But we felt that we needed something to really shake things up and establish a new paradigm. And it did.”

Last year, they took the process to new heights, issuing a three-volume set, The Outlands, which dug even deeper into The Kodachromes archive than Chromes had, with three volumes derived from the same source as the Guide and Chromes. Noting that The Outlands

above: Eggleston photographed his grandmother, Minnie Maude Mae, at her home in Sumner, Mississippi.

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is dedicated to his mother Rosa, who died in 2015, William reflects, “It’s been quite the ride, going through this process the last 11 years with Dad and Winston. And this moment is the end of that process. Truly, there’s not a large corner of the archive that hasn’t had a light shined on it. This is really it. But I think what’s most amazing about The Outlands is that Mark and I had this project in mind for years, as the last go from The Kodachromes. And we expected when we put that together that we would be including stuff from the Guide, stuff from Chromes, and it would just be this kind of definitive pass. But the great revelation was that we ended up with 400 images that were unseen in those volumes. That was shocking.”

Layers upon layers: The Outlands paved the way to this month’s Eggleston show of the same name at the David Zwirner gallery in New York, opening November 10th. Coinciding with the show, the gallery is publishing a unique single-volume book, The Outlands: Selected Works, which William considers the most carefully curated statement of his father’s work.

“That book,” says William, “has had more work put into than any other book that Dad’s ever published. In terms of time and expense spent on the color corrections, it was probably ten times what we did on any of the other books. And with 109 plates, it’s a much more concentrated presentation of The Outlands three-volume work. It also bookends his career against his first book, William Eggleston’s Guide, because it’s all from the same body of work, The Kodachromes, but it’s mostly unseen images from that archive.”

Not unlike his father, William takes a long pause to consider his words carefully, then adds, “The last decade has been an instrumental time in establishing the greater breadth of Dad’s work. I think what we’re going to see in New York on November 10th is really the culmination of his career.”

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ROAD TRIP THE SPIRIT OF THE CRESCENT CITY

An autumn search for old New Orleans.

BY CHRIS M C COY

C ities have spirits. You can call it “atmosphere” or “vibe,” but it’s the feeling you get walking around a place and paying attention. In my view, no city in North America has a stronger spirit than New Orleans, Louisiana. It’s a place whose culture has had a deep and lasting effect on our country. Its people have endured great tragedy. rough it all, it’s a place that protects its unique identity.

LIVING LARGE IN THE CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT

New Orleans exists because of its position close to the mouth of the Mississippi River. e port city has always been a place where travelers mixed, and left behind traces of their own cultures. In a city anchored by the hospitality industry, the Windsor Court is one of the grande dames. e hotel opened in 1984 to host visitors to the Louisiana World Exposition, and it was our home base on a recent trip

“ e founder was James Coleman,” says Isabella Marciante, marketing and communications manager for the hotel. “Born in New Orleans, he was an Oxford graduate, and he just loved everything about England. We’re a very French- and Spanish-inspired city. When he came back here, he wanted something sort of Anglophile.” Coleman’s 2019 obituary states that he was “the longest serving British honorary consul worldwide,” and that Queen Elizabeth II “made him one of few Americans appointed as both a member of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 1986 and Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 2015.”

e lobby is one of those sprawling, comfortable gathering spaces that used to be a fixture in luxury hotels. Its centerpiece is a model of Windsor Castle created in the 1820s by architect Sir Jeff ry Wyatville to show King George IV how his proposed renovations would look.

e miniature castle is part of the hotel’s $10 million art collection, most of which came from Coleman himself, and includes paintings by Anthony van Dyck and omas Gainsborough. e rooms are spacious and well-appointed, but what really sets the Windsor Court apart is the staff ’s confident professionalism. As New Orleans filmmaker Randy Mack explains, “ ey have a sort of casual vibe. ey know how to cater to the elite, but it’s also chill — ‘don’t worry, we have this under control.’”

In a city filled with great food, the Windsor Court’s Grill

Room is a top-tier option. From the Chateau Uenae Wagyu beef from Hokkaido, Japan, to the Loch Etive steelhead trout, every dish is exceptional. If you’re looking for a cocktail and conversation, the Polo Club Lounge is always busy on the weekends — especially if the New Orleans Saints are playing a home game in the nearby Superdome. If you’re seeking a unique Big Easy experience, try the traditional English afternoon tea at La Salon, where the beverage selection is as impeccable as the house-made scones.

e Windsor Court is located in the Central Business District, on the western edge of the French Quarter. New Orleans has had a lot of ups and downs in its 304-year history; in the 1980s, the area then known as the Warehouse District was in the midst of a down time. en, in 1990, celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse left his post at Commander’s Palace in the Garden District and opened his own restaurant, Emeril’s, in the blighted neighborhood.

“When he opened that restaurant, they told him he was crazy,” says Marciante, “and it was going to fold, because you cannot get people to go to this neighborhood. Now, this is where there are so many restaurants and shopping and everything. It’s different from even a decade ago.”

Mother’s Restaurant, which opened in 1938, is one of the few places that has survived the decades Downtown. e cafeteria-style eatery claims to serve the world’s best ham. Joe Balderas, the general manager, says they source their ham from Chisesi Bros., a Louisiana company that has been in business for 112 years. “It’s the same company. ey did change locations, because when Katrina came by, they were underwater. So now they’re in Jefferson [Parish], but it’s the same people. Everything’s still the same. We don’t like to change anything.”

Mother’s serves breakfast all day, and offers no-nonsense, defi nitive takes on classics of Cajun and Creole cuisine such as jambalaya, gumbo, and étoufée. e restaurant is

opposite: The New Orleans riverfront is always bustling with activity, with the French Quarter just a few blocks away. above: Dating from 1727, St. Louis Cathedral is the oldest Catholic church in the United States.

PHOTOGRAPH BY GIOVANNI GAGLIARD / DREAMSTIME; ABOVE: ENGRAVING OF ST. LOUIS CATHEDRAL COURTESY PAVEL KUSMARTSEV / DREAMSTIME

the birthplace of the ‘debris,’ a roast beef po’ boy served in a distinctive gravy. “We braise the meat on the bone right here in the kitchen,” says Balderas.

New Orleans is a food-forward city that embraces all cuisines. Just around the corner from Mother’s on Tchapitoulous Street is Geisha Sushi Bistro, where the chefs take full advantage of the fresh seafood that comes into New Orleans from the Gulf of Mexico. Geisha plays all the sushi hits well, and adds their own innovations such as the White Ninja, a spicy tuna, cucumber, and cilantro combo topped with slices of albacore and jalapeño, fi nished with wasabi cream and ponzu sauces.

“I think we have an obligation to protect the city, and I think that means protecting the environment, protecting the community, making sure that people are educated, and the infrastructure’s safe.”

— Isabella Marciante

“My dad was a chef; his dad was a chef,” she says. “My mom was a bartender. It’s something I always took for granted. I knew that tourism and hospitality are very important, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that I realized: is is everything. Tourism is the rock that we stand on. It’s our bread and butter. I think we have an obligation to protect the city, and I think that means protecting the environment, protecting the community, making sure that people are educated, and the infrastructure’s safe. We all have an obligation to it.”

hero of A Confederacy of Dunces, a darkly comedic novel written by John Kennedy Toole. In the book, Riley is an over-educated layabout who is forced to get a job. His extensive knowledge of Medieval history and literature serves only to alienate him from the modern world of 1960s New Orleans. Only his college friend, a beatnik named Myrna Minkoff, understands him.

Toole wrote the novel several years before he died at age 31 in 1969. Louisiana author Walker Percy was instrumental in fi nally getting it published in 1980, and it won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction the following year.

e book’s vivid descriptions of Big Easy life still strike a chord with the city’s residents.

“I landed here at 10 p.m., August 29, 2014,” says actor Charlie Talbert. “You remember when you get out of your car in the heat of New Orleans and cicadas are flying around and you’ve got the rest of your future in front of you.”

Originally from the Midwest, Talbert came to New Orleans from Hollywood, looking for roles in the city’s then-burgeoning film scene. “ e thing about living in New Orleans is that these people have been through some real stuff,” he says. “To see people come from anguish and just thrive, it really affects you in some way. So you’re trying to give a little back to them. I got a chance to play Ignatius Riley in A Confederacy at Dunces at the Tennessee Williams Festival in 2019. … I had never read or heard of the book until I came to New Orleans. I realized the history of the book is a story itself. [Toole’s] mother finding the carbon copy of the manuscript, him being rejected, him taking his own life in Mississippi. It’s a lore that there’s beauty within everybody here, and I think they grasped onto that, and I have a lot of respect for that. I think it’s not so much the character that’s special, it’s the story of how that character got out to the world.”

Beginning around 2010, many big film and television productions cropped up in New Orleans and Louisiana. Jeff Pope, an actor and native Memphian, moved to the city around that time. He and Talbert hang out at Mojo Coffee, a hub for film folk, where they can

e restaurants that make up the city’s rich culinary heritage were hit hard during the pandemic, and many are still struggling. Marciante says the hardships have given her a new perspective on the city’s unique status.

IGNATIUS J. RILEY

I n an unassuming alcove on Canal Street stands a life-sized, bronze statue of a pudgy man in a deerstalker cap. is is Ignatius J. Riley, the fictional

top: Oil painting from the artist Roman Nogin’s series Jazz People ILLUSTRATION BY ROMAN NOGIN / DREAMSTIME above: Illustration / painting of the Birthplace of Jazz from the film New Orleans, 1947 ILLUSTRATION BY MICHELLE BRIDGES / DREAMSTIME

Ignatius J. Riley statue PHOTOGRAPH BY LAURA JEAN HOCKING

often be found sipping coffee and playing backgammon.

“The architecture here, Spanish and French, makes it good for filming,” says Pope. “This whole place is like being on a movie set. You turn the corner, and you’re somewhere completely different.”

Pope and Talbert can both be seen in the new AMC series Interview with the Vampire , based on the iconic horror novel series by New Orleans native Anne Rice. As for a film adaptation of A Confederacy of Dunces , don’t look for it any time soon, says Pope. “John Belushi was going to play [Riley], then he died. Then it was John Candy, then Chris Farley. That project is cursed.”

“The architecture here, Spanish and French, makes it good for filming. This whole place is like being on a movie set. You turn the corner, and you’re somewhere completely different.” — Jeff Pope

Talbert says that choosing New Orleans instead of Hollywood meant trading “large roles in small projects for smaller roles in large projects. … There’s so much culture here that you can’t help but learn something new every 15 seconds. And I’m not much of a drinker. So, living in New Orleans, it’s like, what are you doing here, guy?”

Talbert’s in luck: Many of the classic and craft cocktail bars now offer creative mocktail creations alongside the potent potables.

Memphis is published monthly. Annual subscription $18. Publisher/Editor: Anna Traverse Fogle. Managing Editor: Frank Murtaugh. Memphis is owned by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. Stockholders: Ward Archer Jr., 1902 Nelson, Memphis, TN 38114; Jack Belz, 100 Peabody Pl. #1400, Memphis, TN 38103; Kate Gooch, 2900 Garden Lane, Memphis, TN 38111; Josh Lipman, P.O. Box 45, Memphis, TN 38101; Henry Turley Jr., 65 Union Ave. 12th Floor, Memphis, TN 38103.

AVERAGE NUMBER COPIES EACH ISSUE DURING PRECEDING 12 MONTHS: Net press run - 16,580. Paid outside county mail subscriptions - 3,154. Paid inside county mail subscriptions - 10,636. Sales through dealers, carriers, street vendors, counter sales and other Non-USPS paid distribution - 549. Other classes mailed through the USPS - 0. Total paid distribution - 14,339.

Free or Nominal rate outside-county copies - 189. Free or Nominal rate inside-county copies - 1,396. Free or Nominal rate copies mailed at other classes through the USPS - 0. Free or Nominal rate distribution outside the mail - 155. Total Free or Nominal distribution - 1,740. Total distribution - 16,079. Copies not distributed - 501.

ACTUAL NUMBER COPIES SINGLE ISSUE NEAREST TO FILING

DATE: Net press run - 16,390. Paid outside county mail subscriptions - 3,081. Paid inside county mail subscriptions - 10,484. Sales through dealers, carriers, street vendors, counter sales and other Non-USPS paid distribution - 1,018. Other classes mailed through the USPS - 0. Total paid distribution - 14,583.

Free or Nominal rate outside-county copies - 181. Free or Nominal rate inside-county copies - 1,340. Free or Nominal rate copies mailed at other classes through the USPS - 0. Free or Nominal rate distribution outside the mail - 155. Total Free or Nominal distribution - 1,676. Total distribution - 16,259. Copies not distributed - 131.

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Just down Magazine Street from Mojo’s Coffee, tucked in between the vintage clothing shops, Peaches Records, and the upscale boutiques, is Saffron, an Indian restaurant that serves some of the best mocktails in the city, such as the Nahin Paloma, a mixture of pomegranate, grapefruit, lemon, lime, soda, and pink Himalayan salt. It’s proof (at zero proof) that New Orleans’ notoriously boozy culture is changing with the times.

JAZZ AND HISTORY

I

f there is a single place where the spirit of the city lives, it’s Preservation Hall in the heart of the French Quarter. Jazz began in the streets of New Orleans in the late nineteenth century. In the 1920s, Louis Armstrong, arguably the most important figure in American popular music, was instrumental in bringing the sound to the masses. By the late 1950s, Armstrong had fled the pervasive racism of the Jim Crow South and resettled in Brooklyn.

New Orleans jazz players started to thumb their noses at the segregation laws by playing integrated shows in an alley next to an art gallery on St. Peter Street. In 1961, Ken Grayson Mills and Barbara Reid took over the gallery and renamed it Preservation Hall. Allan Jaffe, a tuba player from Pennsylvania, gathered a crack band that quickly became famous.

“This is really a civil rights monument as well as a musical monument,” says Greg Lucas, executive director of the Preservation Hall Foundation. “When they took over the hall in 1961, they

Louis Armstrong statue PHOTOGRAPH BY LAURA JEAN HOCKING

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Antique shops and stylish boutiques. Worldwide cuisine and Gulf-to-table fare. Championship golf courses and a thriving arts scene. The wide variety ensures that every day offers a completely new experience.

Surrounding Lake DeFuniak, Circle Drive was once home to the vibrant local Chautauqua Assembly. Visitors can tour the classic architecture of nearly 200 homes and buildings, about 40 of which are noted in the National Register of Historic Places.

Morrison Springs is a 161-acre park highlighted by a crystal-clear, spring-fed pool 250 feet in diameter. Dive enthusiasts flock here to explore the deep underwater cavities, but it is equally attractive to casual swimmers and ecotourists as well.

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at VisitSouthWalton.com.

and out of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, playing up close and personal with the crowds who line up before the doors open every day at 5 p.m. “We don’t sell alcohol. The only income is from ticket sales and merchandise,” says Lucas.

Walter Harris is one of the musicians the Preservation Hall Foundation kept on the payroll during the pandemic. He can be seen in the 2018 documentary about the band A Tuba to Cuba . He says that even though much of the music they play is a century old, “I feel very connected, because some of them are marches and a lot of them are spirituals. You have a spiritual connection, plus you have this connection from when we know that guys were actually marching in the fields during war time, playing these songs to keep their spirits up.

“These songs really have essence, and anything that we play, we take a part of it,” he continues. “Being a musician is totally vibration. When you’re using vibration and you’re delivering vibration, you have to feel it to deliver it. You’re taking part in the song, feeling the song. We very much live in those songs.”

Amid the tourist spots of Bourbon Street and the happy chaos of the French Market, the spirit of the French Quarter lives on at Muriel’s Jackson Square. Located in a building said to be haunted, the fine dining restaurant on the vieux carré is led by executive chef Erik Veney. The deep menu includes such delicacies as turtle soup au sherry (they’ll ask if you want more sherry added, but it’s fine as-is) and pain perdu bread pudding. Their fixed-price menu is a good way to get the most out of the meal without breaking the bank, and the ambiance is unparalleled.

Present-day New Orleans music can be heard in the venues that crowd Frenchman Street, and at the Saturn Bar, a 60-year-old music hall on St. Claude. Here, folks like filmmaker Randy Mack gather to catch the freshest acts. It’s the vibrant connection to the past that keeps him in New Orleans.

“Most cities in America seem to have

MEMPHIS

ically protected a two-block area of downtown,” says Mack. “New Orleans has got the exact opposite of that. It’s like everything’s protected except our downtown. at’s why you only have tall buildings around the Central Business District. at’s why there’s no proliferation of fast-food and Starbucks and stuff here. at’s why the city is so mom-andpop — old fashioned in the best way.”

For a real taste of old New Orleans, take a ride on a river ferry across the Mississippi to Algiers, the community where Louis Armstrong was born. “It’s the same architecture as the Quarter, but it’s untrammeled by 200 years of tourism,” says Mack.

“Being a musician is totally vibration. When you’re using vibration and you’re delivering vibration, you have to feel it to deliver it. You’re taking part in the song, feeling the song. We very much live in those songs.”

— Walter Harris

Algiers was largely spared the destruction of Katrina. Even though you’re in sight of bustling Jackson Square, you can still have a quiet breakfast at the charming Tout de Suite. A stroll on the levee reveals the best views of the city.

“ ere’s a real tradition here of, instead of learning something in a classroom, you learn through experiences and day-to-day living,” says Mack. “ at’s how we learn history in New Orleans — everyone’s passing on these stories. It keeps us connected to the city’s past, and the deeper you get into the past of where you live, the more you want to protect. e erasure of the past in the rest of America is one of the problems with people’s lack of commitment to their own communities. It all goes hand in hand. It’s a virtuous cycle here which is constantly under attack, of course, but it’s still holding together.”

New Orleans’ French Quarter is home base for a long tradition of great musicians.

THE DARKEST PLACE

BY FRANK MURTAUGH

Homicides make headlines, and understandably, they being the most sinister of human transgressions. But consider this: According to the National Institute of Mental Health, there were almost twice as many suicides in the United States in 2020 (45,979) as there were homicides (24,576). e second number should horrify you, considering the toll of such loss. But then what do we make of that first — considerably larger — number? e coronavirus pandemic will forever be associated with 2020, even as the initial agent that caused it (Covid-19) is attached to the previous year. But the effects of the pandemic — the damage of the pandemic — lingers. And it’s dealt a worldwide blow to mental health. While it’s difficult to clinically connect the pandemic to particular forms of mental illness, there’s a tragic result when cases of depression spike: suicide.

“People who are single, the pandemic really hurt them more,” says Dr. Dan Boyd, medical

director at Lakeside Behavioral Health System. “Families were stuck with themselves, but at least they had each other. Singles really got depressed because going to work was a social event. I had some patients [in this category] who really got depressed.”

Depression doesn’t necessarily lead to suicide, but suicide attempts can almost universally be connected to a form of depression or another measurable imbalance in mental health. “I see suicide as a human behavior,” explains Boyd, “and like so many other behaviors, there are a million reasons people do it. What we see in our work: depression, bipolar, schizophrenia, alcohol and drug troubles are the big factors.”

As a young physician, Boyd was drawn to these troubles in patients. A 14-year-old girl who had overdosed convinced him that psychiatry was his calling. He arrived at Lakeside in 1996 and has been director of its

center since 2011. “My interest,” he says, “is more in people’s stories

BUTLER VIN COLE wants to be part of the healing, both for people, like them, who have attempted suicide, but especially for those who fi nd themselves trapped in the darkness, contemplating the end of life as being a solution. A palliative care chaplain at the Memphis VA Medical Center, the 36-year-old asked to be identified by their real name, not a pseudonym. Their story is one of survival and, ultimately, hope.

“I’ve suffered depression since I was 12 years old. I’ve had seven or eight episodes since then. My first episode started at age 12 when my basketball coach committed suicide. Since then, I’ve lost four people close to me to suicide. Another mentor of mine, the Memphis musician John Kilzer, was my seminary professor, and he committed suicide in 2019. That was the same year my mom died, and I began to have complications in my marriage. My spouse struggled with depression, too. It was all on top of each other. I resorted to isolating. I was drinking, and on the highest antidepressant I could possibly take. On top of that, I was working in a hospital with mentally ill veterans.

“Grief can be a death, but it can also be a loss. A loss of family. As an LGBT person, we had our challenges in my family. It all hit at once. I was doing everything I could to survive each day. Seeing a great therapist regularly. One day I went to work, and I couldn’t function. Couldn’t even write an email. I had no energy, no motivation. The essence of who I was had just dissolved. I was desperate, and having tons of suicidal ideation.

“I went inpatient at Lakeside for the fi rst time. I felt like a walking zombie and just wanted to die. I wasn’t going to make it. All the death and dying, the trauma. It was a lot.”

Thoughts and acts of suicide have demographic distinctions.

“White people are much more likely to kill themselves than Black people,” says Boyd. “Men are much more likely to kill themselves than women. [According to Boyd, women are twice as likely as men to attempt suicide, but men are twice as likely to succeed. Men tend to use more violent means such as firearms.] Past attempts

are a huge risk factor for completed suicide. Serious medical issues — people on dialysis, for example — are high risk.”

Most perplexing to those who study suicide is the root of such severe depression, the beginning of a darkness none of us wants to experience. And it’s challenging to identify such a point on a human being’s timeline.

“So much depends on what’s the underlying force,” says Boyd. “Somebody who’s schizophrenic might hear voices that tell them that if they don’t jump off a bridge, their family will be killed. ey’re doing something that, in their mind, is loving, caring, and gracious.” In other words, what appears to be an internal decision and act to those of us who read or hear about a suicide could well be considered externally influenced by the victim. Suicide is a directive.

“ at voice is so real,” emphasizes Boyd. “I’ve had patients way smarter than me who have hallucinations. Intellectually, when they’re doing well, they understand it’s not a real voice. But when they experience it, it’s overwhelming. It’s too powerful.”

Boyd notes schizophrenia has genetic predispositions, and such a condition places a person at higher risk of suicide than the general population, even before a first attempt, or consideration of an attempt. Another underlying cause of suicide is substance abuse, the deadliest substance being also the easiest to acquire. “Alcohol can get you depressed and uninhibited,” says Boyd, “so it’s a double whammy. You’re more likely to dance on a tabletop or shoot yourself. A really toxic combination is alcohol, gunpowder, and testosterone. A drunk male with a gun is a disaster.”

What about cases of suicide where there were no indications or predispositions toward a person harming himself? People can spend their lives lifting others, who then choose to end their own life. e most famous recent example may be actor/comedian Robin Williams. “Our field isn’t good at explaining that,” says Boyd, “because we never see those people. ere’s no record. ey never became part of our world. People can be severely, clinically depressed and just don’t show it. ey’re good actors. It’s a great skill set, because you can’t show your depression on the job.” Poor energy, poor appetite, and a lack of enthusiasm are traits Boyd suggests should lead a person to ask for help.

“I HAD MADE PLANS, options for how to be done with myself,” says Cole. “I did have a suicide attempt [in 2019] that I didn’t report to anyone until recently, when I told my psychologist. I took a bunch of pills — a combination of muscle-relaxers and painkillers — and had a hallucination that lasted 45 minutes. I was testing the waters, took probably half the [lethal] amount. I wanted to see how it would make me feel. I did report the hallucination, but I attributed it to new medications, because I was so ashamed. It scared me so bad, I didn’t want to tell anybody. And I knew I needed help. I called my former spouse, and they drove me to another good friend’s house. I relaxed, came down from it, and was able to go to sleep.”

Once the underlying cause of suicidal thoughts is identified, treatment can begin. More than 20 drugs can play a role in helping individuals emerge from personal darkness. Lithium has measurably reduced the likelihood of suicide in bipolar cases. Likewise, Clozaril in cases of schizophrenia. “Clozaril has an interesting history,” explains Boyd. “It was invented in the 1950s but didn’t get to our country until 1991. It can cause blood counts to drop, so there was liability risk. It’s a strict protocol, and a balance of risk. It has a lot of side effects, like a drop in white blood cell count. But it’s the most effective drug in the world of schizophrenia.”

his life numerous times. The first time you do it is the hardest. Your muscles tense up in a way they probably never have. Everything’s sore that first time. But for the most part, it’s a very doable procedure. I’ve had three rounds of treatment, and I might wake up with a headache, or feel tired. The ECT staff made you feel welcomed, like you weren’t a freak. Mental health has that stigma. They treated me like a human being, with respect. They genuinely cared.

“After four or five treatments, my friends could tell it was working. ‘Butler, you look like you’ve got life back in you.’ People have this image from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and that’s not what it is at all. Feeling better, that made me want to do more things to help myself. I’ll go for a walk today. I’ll go on a hike with some friends. It was still a struggle, but I could tell I was improving.

“When mental-health struggles are at their darkest, and you start to come out of it, it’s the most amazing thing ever. You want to get where you might have a cou ple of rough days over a two-week period, instead of every day. I’ve had another episode since the one in 2019, but it was nowhere near as bad.

Antidepressants require four to six weeks, typically, to take effect for a patient. In cases where a person is at dire risk of suicide, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a primary option. Boyd calls it “the sledgehammer” of treatment for potential suicide. It involves a brief (one minute) electrical stimulation of the brain while a patient is under anesthesia (usually ten minutes). A standard schedule would call for six to 12 treatments (two or three per week).

An alternative to ECT is transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), a procedure that uses magnets to stimulate the brain’s nerve cells. (Boyd says a combination of ECT’s efficacy with TMS’s tolerability would be the ideal approach, and it may be coming with a recent trial procedure overseen by Stanford University professor Nolan Williams: Stanford Accelerated Intelligent Neuromodulation Therapy, or SAINT.) “We use ECT if a patient hasn’t responded to other treatments,” notes Boyd. “Or if they are really suicidal, and we just can’t wait. It’s up to them; their choice.”

“I HAD HEARD bad things about Lakeside,” notes Cole, “but my experience there was amazing. One of the patients — he was a first responder — asked me if I’d considered ECT. He said it had saved

[Butler’s former spouse lost her battle with depression and took her own life in 2021, and Butler’s father died earlier this year.]

“I have major depressive disorder, and I’m perfectly fine being transparent about it. I don’t have a lot of anxiety, but I get overwhelmed, and when I get overwhelmed, I shut down. I’ve had a lot of loss since 2019. Going through the anniversaries and holidays … . It’s actually a big part of why I’m doing this interview. I’m choosing to honor [my ex-spouse], to no longer hide my mental health, or hide who I am as an LGBT minister.”

R elapse, sadly, is common with most mental illnesses, which requires a form of monitoring, starting with the patients themselves. “A lot of our illnesses are chronic episodic,” says Boyd. “Some people have one bad depressive episode and never have one again. That’s great. But the chance for recurrence is around 50 percent. Once people have had three episodes, the likelihood for another is around 90 percent, at which point they’ll need treatment — with whatever antidepressant worked — for life. One drug is often enough to keep them [stable].”

Can a person be considered “cured” of

episodic illnesses get out of the suicidal part,” says Boyd. “The suicidal thoughts will go away. Most of our patients are not chronically suicid al. The suicidal thoughts are a subset of really bad depression.”

Boyd doesn’t hesitate when asked about the first step for an individual with suicide entering their daily thoughts. “A lot of people feel comfortable with their family doctor,” he says. “That’s a good place to start. If they have a therapist, great. But find somebody. [Lakeside is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.] Get started somewhere.” A new call line — 988 — offers support and resources in both English and Spanish for those suffering mental distress.

“I HAVE TO BE intentional about sleep, exercise, staying connected with people,” says Cole. “It takes a lot of energy and planning to manage my mental health. I’m a grief counselor. I’m around people who help others with mental health, so you pick up some coping skills. We share what we see on a regular basis. There was so much I hadn’t processed. I’ve gained some tools for managing trauma since my inpatient time at Lakeside. I kept in touch with some of the other patients, and that’s been a gift, being able to text them, to talk and vent with each other. With other healthcare professionals, we can vent without having to filter. It’s the same thing with veterans, with police officers, with divorced people. Finding that niche, it’s important.

“We check on each other on a regular basis, and we have to be intentional about it. Also athletes, those who play soccer with me, or go mountain biking with me … people who don’t do what I do at work. Just being able to talk about normal life stuff.

“I don’t have any profound answers, ex cept those things that we all hear. Spend time in nature. Sleep hygiene. Eat healthy. Eat something bad for you one day a week, instead of every day. When I’m in a depression episode, I go to sugar, and sugar just makes my depression worse. I’ll eat it maybe once a week now. I might have a drink once a week, but even then, I’m real careful about when, where, and how I’m doing it. Alcohol wrecks your sleep.

“And I look at therapy like paying rent: it’s not an option. You go, not just when you’re feeling bad, but when you’re feeling good. It has to be part of your budget. There are so many options out there, which says to me that we’re doing better with mental health.”

Remembering Rabbi James Wax

A multimedia exhibit at Temple Israel tells of a life of devotion, resolve, and bravery.

BY JON W. SPARKS

Rabbi James Wax was a powerful presence in Memphis history and many remember him for his role in serving his congregation and his city. He was senior rabbi at Temple Israel from 1954 to 1978 and his dedication to his faith and to his community resonate to this day.

His contributions on so many levels were significant, and his life is presented in a new exhibition at Temple Israel: “Righteous Among Men: Rabbi James A. Wax, A Life Dedicated to Social Justice.” Much of the information in this article came from the exhibit narrative.

As happens with some people of destiny, Wax had a moment in history that put him in the spotlight. It brought him praise and condemnation and is, for many, the one thing they remember about him. Yet his life was a steady stream of achievements and he inspired people over decades of service. e exhibit takes a thorough look at his life and the many ways he impacted society, from his religious principles to his involvement in the city’s life.

at one shining moment was breathtaking in its boldness. Wax was president of the Memphis Ministers Association in 1968 — a time when he was the only rabbi in a group of 115 ministers, of which only 15 were Black. By this time, he had already been a longtime advocate of civil rights issues, having joined the board of the Memphis Urban League in 1952, and having been honored by the Tri-State Defender for working to bring peace and harmony between the races.

But that key moment came in 1968, when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis. He had come to town to support

above: Viewers entering the exhibition space at Temple Israel see a banner with a photo of Rabbi Wax. The exhibit was curated by Laura Gray McCann and the narrative written by Tom Jones.

“Speak out in favor of human dignity for every person. Let us not hide behind legal technicalities. Let us not wrap ourselves up in slogans. Let us do the will of God for the good of the city.”

the striking sanitation workers whose efforts were being strongly resisted by Mayor Henry Loeb. Wax, working with Black and white ministers, had been pressuring the mayor to resolve the strike before King came to town. e assassination on April 4, 1968, changed everything. “I decided to participate in the march and call on the mayor,” he wrote to a colleague.

e next day, he and several of the ministers made the 1.7-mile march from St. Mary’s Episcopal Cathedral to City Hall, and Wax spoke directly to Mayor Loeb, saying, “We come here this morning with a great deal of sadness in our hearts but also with a great deal of anger, sir. What has happened in our city is the result of injustice and oppression and lack of human decency and concern, for human beings shall be ruled with justice and justice for all. I realize we live in a society of law and order. We must have laws, but I would remind you most respectfully, sir, there are laws that are greater than the laws of Memphis and of Tennessee.  e laws of God, and the laws of God are not subject to any Gallup poll. Speak out in favor of human dignity for every person. Let us not hide behind legal technicalities. Let us not wrap ourselves up in slogans. Let us do the will of God for the good of the city.”

e rabbi’s rebuke of the mayor got national coverage and lifted Wax’s profi le. He got 81 letters of support, and 121 letters of condemnation. ere were countless hostile phone calls and a loss of friends. Some members of the congregation talked of removing him from the pulpit, but the temple’s board of trustees refused to consider such an action — although other ministers who had participated in the march did lose their jobs.

It was an electrifying moment and because of the drama and wide exposure, it was destined to stay with Wax. In part, it was because he not only talked the talk, but he walked the walk. Temple Israel’s current senior rabbi, Micah Greenstein, reflected on this aspect of Wax’s commitment. “ ere was no fence sitting with Rabbi Wax,” Greenstein says. “He was one big call to action. When people ask, ‘Would you have done what he had done?’ It’s very easy to say we would have — but we probably wouldn’t have. He’s a reminder that it’s not impossible to take a stand when it’s a matter of moral conscience.”

Wax took action because he believed in the necessity of social justice, partly because it had long been at the core of Temple Israel’s mission, but more fully because it

applied to all of civilization. As Greenstein says, “He reminded us that the purpose of Judaism is, as Eli Wiesel said, to make the world more human. God does mean one humanity, and I think that’s what Rabbi Wax essentially was saying to Mayor Loeb.”

While there may be satisfaction in doing the right thing, even if controversial, it doesn’t necessarily follow that there will be great public approval. “ ere’s a tendency to glorify people after they’ve died,” Greenstein says. “Dr. King was vilified at the end of his life — he was disinvited by the NAACP to speak because of his stance on Vietnam. And similarly, everyone now quotes Rabbi Wax, but he was very lonely. He wasn’t alone, but he was lonely. I guess that’s the price one pays, and yet maybe that will move us to be more honest in our own self accounting and not be afraid.”

THE LIFE OF RABBI WAX

One might not imagine that a young Jewish man who was born and grew up in the tiny town of Herculaneum, Missouri, just south of St. Louis, would turn out to be the fierce proponent of Judaism and defender of humanity working out of a synagogue in Memphis. For one thing, there were barely any other Jews in his hometown. He excelled academically and was known as a fi ne speaker. He spoke to community organizations and in Christian churches, talking about patriotism, brotherhood, values, and citizenship. In 1930, he gave his high school commencement address on “Missouri’s Ability to Finance Education.” He decided he wanted to study law and become governor of Missouri.

A transformative moment came when a Methodist minister in his hometown encouraged him to become a rabbi, and on graduation from college, Wax applied to the Hebrew Union College in Cincinnati — but he was rejected as he did not know Hebrew. His solution was to take a crash course in the language and he was eventually admitted in 1935. He studied, he preached around the region, and he learned from Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, a charismatic orator, a champion for social justice, a leader of the Reform Movement, and a founder of the NAACP. Inspired, Wax wrote: “ e Jew has a duty to save civilized values and to hold on to the moral standards now trampled upon. He is fighting for man and for God.”

At age 29, he wrote: “If America is

left: A bust of Rabbi James Wax by noted sculptor Ted Rust, also director of the Memphis Academy of Arts.

— Rabbi James Wax

to be truly free as the leader of nations, it must redeem itself from injustices that detract from the happiness of countless Americans.”

Wax continued his work as a rabbi and as a proponent of social justice. He was in a photo published in Life magazine in 1945 testifying on behalf of the Central Conference of American Rabbis before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee in support of the United Nations. The next year, he applied for an opening as an assistant rabbi at Temple Israel in Memphis.

It was here where he could put his convictions to work and where he found additional influences. Rabbi Harry W. Ettelson, Temple Israel’s senior rabbi, had interests in public policy, was a founder of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, and believed that community service carried more weight than rituals — or put another way, rights over rites.

Still, Wax made sure a number of customs were

Wax was also a vigorous advocate of providing mental health treatment. It was a time when admitting mental issues was considered shameful, but he was having none of that. He was elected president of the newly formed Memphis-Shelby County Mental Hygiene Society in 1950 and pushed to establish a mental health clinic in Memphis. In 1956, the governor appointed him as a trustee on the first Tennessee Mental Health Commission, a position he held for more than 25 years. In 1962, thanks to his influence, the Tennessee Psychiatric Hospital and Institute opened near downtown Memphis.

His dedication to making sure the city had proper mental health resources led him to another conflict with a political bigwig. Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton fired the superintendent at Western State Hospital in Bolivar and installed one of his political cronies. Wax

went face-to-face with the governor and said: “There is a difference between patronage in the Highway Department dealing with concrete and roads and patronage dealing with lives.”

He further said, “The sad fact, governor, is the people of our state disapprove, strongly disapprove of any political intervention in the operations of our hospitals.” The state Mental Health Board would later adopt a policy statement submitted by Wax that would prohibit hospital employees from dismissal except by the hospital’s superintendent.

Rabbi Wax received countless awards in recognition of his work in an array of areas. But he felt that his finest achievement was the building of a new synagogue at its current location on East Massey Road. It was constructed to reaffirm the congregation’s religious heritage, but it is also outward-looking. Rabbi

Greenstein says, “It’s part of our mission to be a force for good. That’s why the sanctuary is in a semi-circle — it was designed with the other half in mind, which is the community, to live the words we pray.”

The fullness of Wax’s contributions are well displayed in the exhibit at Temple Israel, from his intellectual explorations to his love of Judaism to his passion for social justice to his devotion to the people of Memphis.

Leave it to another distinguished clergyman who was a good friend of Wax in good times and bad to deliver the benediction. The Rev. Frank McRae, minister of St. John’s United Methodist Church, said, “Jews are better Jews and Christians are better Christians because Jimmy was around.”

“Righteous Among Men: Rabbi James A. Wax, A Life Dedicated to Social Justice” is on display at Temple Israel, 1376 East Massey Road.

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left: Rabbi Micah Greenstein is flanked by pictures taken by Commercial Appeal photographer Robert H. “Bob” Williams of the 1968 City Hall meeting with Mayor Henry Loeb.

“Jews are better Jews and Christians are better Christians because of Jimmy.”

— Rev. Frank McRae, St. John’s United Methodist Church

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2022 MEMPHIS FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGERS

These days, it takes a village to manage your financial world. Whether it is managing your assets with a wealth manager, navigating the ever-changing tax landscape, sorting out your estate and succession planning or picking the right life insurance, finding the right team can be a daunting task. In fact, many consumers have a hard time figuring out where to even begin.

Sometimes, a few simple questions can put you off on the right path. Asking a professional what makes working with them a unique experience can help you understand how they work and if their style meshes with your own.

This is a great place to start! Five Star Professional uses its own proprietary research methodology to name outstanding professionals, then works with publications such as Memphis magazine to spread the word about award winners. Each award candidate undergoes a thorough research process (detailed here) before being considered for the final list of award winners. For the complete list of winners, go to www.fivestarprofessional.com.

RESEARCH DISCLOSURES

In order to consider a broad population of high-quality wealth managers, award candidates are identified by one of three sources: firm nomination, peer nomination or prequalification based on industry standing. Self-nominations are not accepted. Memphis-area award candidates were identified using internal and external research data. Candidates do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final lists of Five Star Wealth Managers.

• The Five Star award is not indicative of a professional’s future performance.

• Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets.

• The inclusion of a professional on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the professional by Five Star Professional or Memphis magazine.

• Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any professional is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected professionals will be awarded this accomplishment by Five Star Professional in the future.

• Five Star Professional is not an advisory firm and the content of this article should not be considered financial advice. For more information on the Five Star Wealth Manager award program, research and selection criteria, go to fivestarprofessional.com/research.

• 489 award candidates in the Memphis area were considered for the Five Star Wealth Manager award. 46 (approximately 9% of the award candidates) were named 2022 Five Star Wealth Managers.

FIVE STAR PROFESSIONAL

PROPRIETARY RESEARCH PROCESS

NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES

Three sources of nominations:

– Firm nominations

– Peer nominations

– Prequalification based on industry credentials

REGULATORY CONSUMER COMPLAINT REVIEW

All candidates must demonstrate a favorable regulatory history.

CANDIDATE SUBMISSION OF PRACTICE INFORMATION

Candidates must complete either an online or over-the-phone interview.

EVALUATION OF CANDIDATE PRACTICE

Award candidates who satisfied 10 objective eligibility and evaluation criteria were named 2022 Five Star Wealth Managers. Eligibility Criteria – Required:

1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative. 2. Actively employed as a credentialed professional in the financial services industry for a minimum of five years. 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review. 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal firm standards. 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation Criteria – Considered: 6. One-year client retention rate. 7. Five-year client retention rate. 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered. 9. Number of client households served. 10. Education and professional designations.

Regulatory Review: As defined by Five Star Professional, the wealth manager has not: been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; been convicted of a felony. Within the past 11 years the wealth manager has not: been terminated from a wealth management or financial services firm; filed for personal bankruptcy; had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them (and no more than five total pending, dismissed or denied) with any regulatory authority.

Five Star Professional conducts a regulatory review of each nominated wealth manager using the Investment Adviser Public Disclosure (IAPD) website. Five Star Professional also uses multiple supporting processes to help ensure that a favorable regulatory and complaint history exists. Data submitted through these processes was applied per the above criteria; each wealth manager who passes the Five Star Professional regulatory review must attest that they meet the definition of favorable regulatory history based upon the criteria listed above. Five Star Professional promotes via local advertising the opportunity for consumers to confidentially submit complaints regarding a wealth manager.

Candidates are evaluated on 10 objective evaluation and eligibility criteria.

FIRM REVIEW OF AWARD CANDIDATE LIST

All candidates are reviewed by a representative of their firm before final selection.

2022 AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

Finalization and announcement of Five Star Professional award winners.

— WEALTH MANAGERS —

The MMA Group Team

The MMA Group is a team of independent financial advisors affiliated with LPL Financial. By working closely with our clients throughout all of life’s stages, we provide personalized service and comprehensive financial guidance to individuals, families and businesses. Long-term relationships that encourage open and honest communication have been the cornerstone of our foundation of success.

Regardless of your life stage, income or goals, we can work with you to create a financial plan to help you manage your short-term objectives, long-term aspirations and work toward meeting your financial targets. It is our goal to simplify financial decisions, making them as easy as possible for our clients to understand and approach with confidence. By developing an objective wealth management plan, our clients attain the highest probability of reaching their goals and preserving their wealth.

You Pursue It

• Comprehensive financial planning, insurance planning, education planning

• Investment and portfolio management

• Retirement planning, employee benefits, 401(k) and defined benefit plans

6060 Poplar Avenue, Suite 450 • Memphis, TN 38119 Office: 901-685-2700 MMAGroup@lpl.com www.mmafinancialadvisors.com

Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor. Member FINRA/SIPC.

This award was issued on October 1st, 2022 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period January 31st, 2022 through August 5, 2022. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. Award winners may pay for marketing tools, including this advertisement. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a registered investment adviser or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. 489 Memphis-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 46 (9% of candidates) were named 2022 Five Star Wealth Managers. 2021: 548 considered, 50 winners; 2020: 542 considered, 42 winners; 2019: 544 considered, 54 winners; 2018: 548 considered, 69 winners; 2017: 400 considered, 52 winners; 2016: 447 considered, 105 winners; 2015: 690 considered, 143 winners; 2014: 1,034 considered, 152 winners; 2013: 880 considered, 166 winners; 2012: 695 considered, 166 winners.

STAR WEALTH MANAGER

WINNER

— WEALTH MANAGERS —

Hulon O. Warlick

Senior Vice President, Senior Investment Advisor

2013, 2015 – 2022 Five Star Wealth Manager

• It’s about your dreams and goals

• It’s about listening, understanding and adapting

With decades of experience and a passion for serving our customers, Independent Wealth Management, LLC is more than our name — it’s our commitment to you. Our job is to help you establish the foundation for your financial security, uniquely defined by your dreams and objectives. As your life and circumstances change, we will be there to make sure your plan evolves right along with you. Our core values guide us as we guide you. We treat you like a person, not a portfolio balance. It is our privilege to know you, serve you and empower you to achieve financial security and be independent.

Securities and advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network®, member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser. Investments are not insured by the FDIC and are not deposits or other obligations of, or guaranteed by, any depository institution. Funds are subject to investment risks, including possible loss of principal invested. Independent Bank is not a registered broker-dealer or Registered Investment Adviser. Independent Bank and Commonwealth are separate and unaffiliated entities. Fixed insurance products and services offered through Independent Wealth Management, LLC or CES Insurance Agency.

Hyde

George H. Moore Jr.

CLU®, ChFC®, RICP®, Managing Partner

6060 Primacy Parkway, Suite 175 Memphis, TN 38119 Phone: 901-602-5100 george.moore@ashfordadvisors.net www.georgehmoore.com

Helping

Protect,

With 30 years of industry experience, George is focused on assisting those planning for retirement or business succession. His focus is on planning and building a relationship while bringing unique ideas to the process. With an emphasis on developing and executing strategic plans to reduce taxes and maximize income opportunities, his goal is to put his clients’ minds at ease so they can enjoy a memorable retirement.

Registered Principal and Financial Advisor of Park Avenue Securities, LLC (PAS). Securities products and advisory services offered through PAS, member FINRA, SIPC. General Agent of The Guardian Life Insurance Company of America® (Guardian), New York, NY. Park Avenue Securities is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guardian. Ashford Advisors is not an affiliate or subsidiary of PAS. Ashford Advisors is not registered in any state or with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as a Registered Investment Advisor. AR Insurance License #2469707 CA Insurance License #0H13269.

This award was issued on October 1st, 2022 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period January 31st, 2022 through August 5, 2022. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. Award winners may pay for marketing tools, including this advertisement. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a registered investment adviser or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. 489 Memphis-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 46 (9% of candidates) were named 2022 Five Star Wealth Managers. 2021: 548 considered, 50 winners; 2020: 542 considered, 42 winners; 2019: 544 considered, 54 winners; 2018: 548 considered, 69 winners; 2017: 400 considered, 52 winners; 2016: 447 considered, 105 winners; 2015: 690 considered, 143 winners; 2014: 1,034 considered, 152 winners; 2013: 880 considered, 166 winners; 2012: 695 considered, 166 winners.

FIVE STAR WEALTH MANAGER AWARD WINNER

Left to right: Debbie Whaley; Donald Scott, CPA, PFS; Nine-year winner Hulon O. Warlick, CRC®, CPFA; Atalya Peterson

— WEALTH MANAGERS —

Business Planning

Charles Robert Brown · Ameritas Financial Planning

Sudhir Kumar Agrawal · Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Susan Kasserman Babina · Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Lindsey D. Donovan Rhea · Alia Wealth Partners

Brian Kevin Douglas · Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Lee R. Elander · Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Kathleen Marie Fish · Fish and Associates

Julius Randolph Flatt · MML Investors Services

Jonathan Glenn · Securian Financial Services

Marty Samuel Kelman · Kelman Lazarov

Vincent Carlton Perry · Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

David Anthony Pickler · Pickler Wealth Advisors

James Edward Sims Jr. · Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Julie Westbrook Terry · Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC

Michael Lowell Turner · Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC Insurance

Mark Christopher Miller · UCL Financial Group Investments

William Alexandre Bizot · Wells Fargo Advisors

Becky Ahl Bridgmon · Morgan Stanley

Larry Corragon Clayton · Anchor Point Financial

Nancy Hughes Coe · Dominion Partners Wealth Management

Mark Paul Collinsworth · Vere Asset Management

Robert Joseph Cremerius · Prudent Financial

Rik Schaben Ditter · Pier Financial Advisors

Leslie Hill Drummond · Summit Asset Management

Cecil Adair Godman · Mercury Investment Group

Jeff William Grimm · LPL Financial

Sarah Russell Haizlip · Summit Asset Management

Jay Lawrence Healy · Beacon Pointe Advisors

Lance Wayne Hollingsworth · Summit Asset Management

Kevin Johnston · Financial Resource Management

Joshua James Joiner · Vere Global Wealth Management

Larry Wayne Karban · Atkins Capital Management

John Norfleet Laughlin · Summit Asset Management

Frank Mitchell Lequerica · Shoemaker Financial

David Landon Mills · Shoemaker Financial

Conrad Butler Richards · Wells Fargo Advisors

Ivan Juan Rodriguez · New Southern Advisory Services

Bryan L. Roper · Wells Fargo Advisors

Edward Tennent Taylor · Delta Asset Management

Samuel Alexander Thompson III · Summit Asset Management

Steven Wishnia · Highland Capital Nabagement

This award was issued on October 1st, 2022 by Five Star Professional (FSP) for the time period January 31st, 2022 through August 5, 2022. Wealth managers do not pay a fee to be considered or placed on the final list of Five Star Wealth Managers. Award winners may pay for marketing tools, including this advertisement. The award is based on 10 objective criteria. Eligibility criteria – required: 1. Credentialed as a registered investment adviser or a registered investment adviser representative; 2. Actively licensed as a registered investment adviser or as a principal of a registered investment adviser firm for a minimum of 5 years; 3. Favorable regulatory and complaint history review (As defined by FSP, the wealth manager has not; A. Been subject to a regulatory action that resulted in a license being suspended or revoked, or payment of a fine; B. Had more than a total of three settled or pending complaints filed against them and/or a total of five settled, pending, dismissed or denied complaints with any regulatory authority or FSP’s consumer complaint process. Unfavorable feedback may have been discovered through a check of complaints registered with a regulatory authority or complaints registered through FSP’s consumer complaint process; feedback may not be representative of any one client’s experience; C. Individually contributed to a financial settlement of a customer complaint; D. Filed for personal bankruptcy within the past 11 years; E. Been terminated from a financial services firm within the past 11 years; F. Been convicted of a felony); 4. Fulfilled their firm review based on internal standards; 5. Accepting new clients. Evaluation criteria – considered: 6. One-year client retention rate; 7. Five-year client retention rate; 8. Non-institutional discretionary and/or non-discretionary client assets administered; 9. Number of client households served; 10. Education and professional designations. FSP does not evaluate quality of services provided to clients. The award is not indicative of the wealth manager’s future performance. Wealth managers may or may not use discretion in their practice and therefore may not manage their clients’ assets. The inclusion of a wealth manager on the Five Star Wealth Manager list should not be construed as an endorsement of the wealth manager by FSP or this publication. Working with a Five Star Wealth Manager or any wealth manager is no guarantee as to future investment success, nor is there any guarantee that the selected wealth managers will be awarded this accomplishment by FSP in the future. 489 Memphis-area wealth managers were considered for the award; 46 (9% of candidates) were named 2022 Five Star Wealth Managers. 2021: 548 considered, 50 winners; 2020: 542 considered, 42 winners; 2019: 544 considered, 54 winners; 2018: 548 considered, 69 winners; 2017: 400 considered, 52 winners; 2016: 447 considered, 105 winners; 2015: 690 considered, 143 winners; 2014: 1,034 considered, 152 winners; 2013: 880 considered, 166 winners; 2012: 695 considered, 166 winners.

™ and federally registered CFP (with plaque design) in the U.S., which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements. The Chartered Financial

Biz 901 PHILANTHROPY

Building Great Futures

The Boys and Girls Clubs of Memphis continues to uplift local youth.

BY SAMUEL X. CICCI

Visit any one of the ten independent Boys and Girls Clubs in Memphis and it’s likely to be filled wall to wall with smiling students looking for something fun to do after school. More than 1,400 students, ages 6-18, file into the clubs each day, and the organization wouldn’t have it any other way. After all, students will be participating in programs that enrich them, improve their education, and offer the opportunity to build solid foundations for their future. That, at its core, is what the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis (BGCM) has always been about.

President and CEO Keith Blanchard has been leading the Memphis chapter of the Boys and Girls Clubs since 2014, but his involvement extends back much farther. He first connected with a club in California during his time as a police officer 25 years ago. “We were running a lot of youth programs, things like soccer leagues, or ballet classes,” he says, “and we found that we needed a bigger facility to accommodate all these things. So I went all over California looking at different organizations, and found that the Boys and Girls Clubs had been looking to open a club near us, and it was a good match.”

above: The Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis provides all manner of after-school activities for students ages 6-18.

Blanchard took up an official position with the nonprofit at its Gainesville, Florida, location, but after years there he jumped at the opportunity to take over the Memphis branch.

e idea that appealed to Blanchard the most was that, at the time, Memphis was the only club location to have a dedicated workforce development program. “ at wasn’t quite seen as ‘traditional programming,’ but it was such an important service to provide, I knew that this was where I wanted to be.”

That development comes in many shapes for students at BGCM. e organization takes them on college visits to campuses both in and outside of Memphis. ere are visits to job sites with corporate partners like FedEx, Nike, Williams-Sonoma, and various banks. Clubs invite speakers that range from lawyers, to doctors, to firefighters to talk about their professions, and

“One of the major challenges here is poverty. It’s such a complex issue but it’s one that we’re always looking at ways to help. For example, food insecurity is one of those issues, and we look to provide meals for our club members.”

— Keith Blanchard

these connections enable students to pursue internships or jump straight into the workforce. “Our goal is to really make a significant dent in the employment situation here,” he says, “and with quality training and quality young people that have gone through our employability skills programs.”

Beyond academic pursuits, the clubs also of-

BGCM president and CEO Keith Blanchard

©Jeffrey

fer plenty of training in other skills. “We’ve got programs for welding, culinary, automotive, logistics, IT, and we even have a greenhouse, too,” says Blanchard. “Students can get a certification in those fields, which goes a long way towards getting a good job.”

Workforce development has been publicly championed for a long time by BGCM supporter Jay Martin, the founder of Juice Plus+, and Blanchard says it’s large-scale support like that which allows the Memphis organization to remain focused on tackling one of the city’s biggest issues.

“One of the major challenges here is poverty. It’s such a complex issue,” he says, “but it’s one that we’re always looking at ways to help. For example, food insecurity is one of those issues, and we look to provide meals for our club members.”

During the school year, Blanchard says the clubs supply snacks and dinners, while during the summer there are three meals available a day. “We also put on cooking classes so they can learn to do it themselves,” he adds, “and we also have a produce garden where students can grow their own food and use that to prepare meals.”

wants his organization to keep expanding its services to become a resource for kids all over Shelby County. “We won’t necessarily make a huge short-term impact,” says Blanchard, “but I think long-term we can really start to help with these problems and give these kids a platform.”

And that isn’t all talk; the organization kicked it up a gear last year, when it announced it had signed a three-year, $9 million partnership with Shelby County Schools to set up ten additional clubs inside Memphis schools. “For us,” says Blanchard, “we always knew that the best way to grow would be through the schools, where we could directly serve more students.” The BGCM identified ten high-pri ority schools that were struggling academically and began to set up shop. Once administration and principals were bought in, the organization hired over 100 new employees to help staff the new clubs.

“Our first school program at Craigmont has seen the participants have a 100 percent graduation rate from high school, which is amazing. Our goal is to keep those numbers after we’ve scaled up the number of clubs in schools.”

Blanchard identifies mental health issues and juvenile crime as two of the biggest challenges facing young students hoping to rise out of poverty. While he says there’s no magic solution that can fix all of this at once, he

“All told, we actually have 11 total school clubs, since we used Craigmont High School as our model for this program,” says Blanchard. “So far, I think it’s been a huge success. I remember giving one tour to an interested partner, and we had 450 kids at that club. That’s almost half the population of a school! You have to think about the fact that the kids don’t have to be there. But they’re

BGCM last year signed a contract to set up additional clubs in ten Shelby County Schools, where it can directly provide access to educational and recreational activities for students.

coming after school to spend their time there, and I think that’s an indicator that we’re on the right track.”

But for Blanchard, the number of clubs right now isn’t enough. He says that the organization is always aiming higher, and that the goal is to boost the number of clubs in Memphis up to 50. “It will take a lot of work to make that happen, but there’s no reason why we can’t do it,” he says.

After all, if the organization has a bigger footprint, it can help even more students and fix some of the issues in Memphis it’s trying to fix. “Our first school program at Craigmont has seen the participants have a 100 percent graduation rate from high school, which is amazing,” says Blanchard. “Our goal is to keep those numbers after we’ve scaled up the number of clubs in schools. Then, if we continue to have kids want to show up and participate in our programs, I think we can start to make a dent.”

“I’m really excited about that [relaunching the Memphis music studio]. We built a mobile studio, and we’re going to take that to all our schools and introduce students to the music industry. Not just performing, but even things like music marketing, management, being a roadie, really all the things associated with the industry.”

Looking ahead, Blanchard is immediately excited about the relaunch of the organization’s Memphis music studio. Created in partnership with a Nashville-based organization called Notes to Notes, BGCM six years ago stocked a full music studio with instruments and equipment to introduce members to various facets of the music industry. While the studio shut down during Covid, the club is planning to reopen it this fall, replete with a completely new set of equipment, a reconstructed stage, and even a separate podcast station.

“I’m really excited about that, and even more so because we built a mobile studio, and we’re going to take that to all our schools and introduce students to the music industry,” says Blanchard. “Not just performing, but even things like music marketing, management, being a roadie, really all the things associated with the industry. We launched on October 17th, so we’ll be doing that frequently, bringing in guest speakers from the industry, and so much more to get people interested in music. We want to help youth in Memphis, and I think this studio is a very Memphis way to do that.”

With ten locations across the Memphis area, Healthcare Realty is the go-to source for on Baptist Memorial Hospital campuses.

A variety of locations and levels of build-out provide move-in ready suites, time-share space and the ability to build to suit.

It’s your move.

Keeping the Momentum

Kevin Dean, the CEO of Momentum Nonprofit Partners, views the changing nonprofit landscape in Memphis.

BY SAMUEL X. CICCI

It’s been several whirlwind years of change for Memphis’ nonprofit sector. The Covid-19 pandemic forced almost every organization into a rethink of their entire structures, adapting everything from service execution to fundraising efforts. Kevin Dean and Momentum Nonprofit Partners found themselves at the center of the maelstrom, helping to connect other organizations with grants and keeping them up-to-date on information and other support efforts. And while organizations are finding their feet again after things have mostly returned to normal, fallout from the pandemic has forced nonprofits in Memphis to continue seeking innovative ways to service the community.

“A lot of nonprofits are stabilizing, which is good,” says Dean. “But there were a lot of unintended consequences from the pandemic which are creating some sticky situations.” He points to something in the nonprofit world referred to as “the great resignation,” which found that many executive directors had been looking to step down at almost the same time. “We did a state of the sector survey in 2020 and found that 51 percent of EDs were planning to leave their positions within five years,” he continues. “We’ve been talking about a leadership crisis in the nonprofit world for years, and it’s affecting Memphis just like it is everywhere else.”

But it’s not just holes at the directorial level. Overall staffing shortages have plagued every industry around the country, including the nonprofit sector. A limited staff means that organizations can’t offer the same scope of services that they could just a few years ago. And attracting new employees means becoming more competitive with salaries.

“I’ve been fighting for the sector to have competitive wages for a long time,” says Dean. “It’s really important and overdue, but as they get more competitive, with benefits included too, it can mean a significant increase in your workforce budget, and that might be while having a staff shortage at the same time.” Dean has also seen increased demand for remote work, with many organizations shifting to a hybrid schedule. Remote work isn’t applicable, however, for nonprofits that provide hands-on services, creating another conundrum to solve.

Increased budgets and stretched resources create a need for greater fundraising, but many organizations are finding that traditional outreach isn’t as effective as it once was.

Dean mentions that even among digital platforms, fundraising has changed drastically. “Facebook isn’t what it once was, and it’s hard to fundraise on Instagram,” he says. “It’s tough from both a messaging and fundraising perspective to stand out on those platforms, but people want to give digitally as opposed to just sending envelopes with donations.

“National data show a huge increase in online giving over traditional methods,” he continues, “so it’s about organizations finding ways to make it easy for potential donors.” Dean cites a recurring donation he makes to BRIDGES, which is simplified via a platform on their website. “I’ve set it up as a recurring payment, where it just takes the money out of my account every month. That’s something growing really quickly, and I think organizations will find they can have some success by making donating even more accessible.”

Momentum also polls donors on how they respond to various nonprofit messaging. Many donors, according to Dean, are getting tired of what he calls “poverty porn,” when organizations constantly spin sad stories about clients they’ve helped. Donors are getting fatigued by those types of ads, he says. “So what organizations have to do now is find a new, more direct method of messaging. It’s a tough process, because people do respond well to a story about a specific person, as opposed to a large group. So that’s what everyone is trying to figure out right now, and there’s no easy answer at the moment.”

It’s a lot to tackle for small organizations, but Dean is cautiously optimistic about the future. “Covid was crisis after crisis, and it’s hard to say what the next few months will look like, but Memphis has always shown a willingness to adapt. No nonprofit is likely to close their doors, but we may see scaled-back services as organizations shift their focus.”

Kevin Dean

GIVING GUIDE

While most people know us for our research, we do so much more. We promote healthy lifestyles to help you prevent cancer. We research cancer and its causes to find more answers and better treatments. We fight for lifesaving policy changes. We provide everything from emotional support to the latest cancer information for those who have been touched by cancer. And we do it all 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The American Cancer Society exists because the burden of cancer is unacceptably high. We are the only organization that integrates advocacy, discovery, and direct patient support to measurably improve the lives of cancer patients and their families. Cancer affects everyone, but it doesn’t affect everyone equally. We are working to ensure everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.

OUR WORK IN MEMPHIS INCLUDES:

• Rides to and from cancer treatment for patients through our Road To Recovery program

• Providing a free place to stay near treatment centers in Memphis at our Hope Lodge, which provides 40 guest rooms near treatment centers in the area.

• Investing in groundbreaking cancer research, with more than $12.3 million (as of 9.30.22) invested at Tennessee institutions.

• Providing $92,000 in rapid impact grants across the state in 2021 to support transportation and lodging needs

• Mobilizing volunteers in underserved communities through the CHA program to help educate, direct to no cost screening, and conduct follow-ups to ensure individuals are making and keeping screening appointments. In 2021, 90 CHA volunteers educated nearly 5,000 Memphis community members.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Lindsay Langley-Liboreiro Executive Director, Tennessee

Verushka Wilson

Director, Memphis Market

BOARD MEMBERS

John B. Bearden

Self Employed

Robert Berra

Principal / Owner, Robert Berra Consulting, LLC

Cathy Cate

Executive Director, Leadership Tennessee Matthew DuFour

COO, cademy Fight Songs and Founder and CEO, Loose Change Ventures

Connie French

Sr. Vice President, Mountain Commerce Bank

Melinda S. Gales

VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES: Road To Recovery — The American Cancer Society is seeking volunteers to drive cancer patients to treatment appointments. To learn more or to volunteer visit cancer.org/drive.

FUNDRAISING EVENTS: American Cancer Society fundraising campaigns and events provide corporations, individuals, and communities the opportunity to support our mission to save lives and improve access to quality health care for all. Local events include:

• Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of Memphis — participants celebrate and honor breast cancer survivors and caregivers and raise funds to help end breast cancer. Visit makingstrideswalk.org to learn more.

• Relay for Life of the Midsouth — brings communities together to honor cancer survivors, remember loved ones lost, and fight back. Learn more at relayforlife.org.

• Real Men Wear Pink of Memphis — distinguished groups of community leaders to raise awareness and money for breast cancer treatment and prevention. Visit realmenwearpinkacs.org to learn more or join us!

• Memphis Discovery Ball — Join the American Cancer Society at the Hilton Memphis on April 29, 2023, for a black-tie event to support our work in Memphis. Visit memphisdiscoveryball.org for more information on sponsorship, tickets, and entertainment.

Owner, Strategy Advisors Group

Mary Alice

Global Vice President, Alliances, Heston Reltio

Samantha Kirby

Regional VP, TriStar Division, Sarah Cannon

Cancer Center

Jim Lancaster Main Street Health

Ted Limmer

President, Alfred Williams Market

Paula Masters

Vice President, Ballad Health

Amanda Mathis

CFO and Executive Vice President, Bridgestone

Americas Lauren Peach Audit Partner, KPMG Chad Pendleton President & CEO, Amerigroup TN

Sam Savage Owner, Savage Ventures

Robin Shah

CEO, Thyme Care

Darlene Smith Insurance Manager, Chattanooga Plastic Surgery

David J. Smith

President, eviCore Q-Juan Taylor

Co-Owner, Sinema and 8th & Roast Marc R. Watkins

Chief Medical Officer, Kroger Health

Daniel Weisman

Vice President, AllianceBernstein Todd Werner Vice President, TELUS International

OUR MISSION IS SIMPLE

cancer as we know it, for everyone. Every Cancer. Every Life.

While most people know us for our research, we do so much more. We promote healthy lifestyles to help you prevent cancer. We research cancer and its causes to find more answers and better treatments. We fight for lifesaving policy changes. We provide everything from emotional support to the latest cancer information for those who have been touched by cancer. And we do it all 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Learn more by visiting cancer.org.

Visit the ACS Tennessee webpage by scanning the QR code to learn more about our local events and opportunities to get involved.

Information, Answers, and Hope.

Minute of Every Day. 800.227.2345

GIVING GUIDE

ABOUT US ANNUAL REVENUE: $4M EMPLOYEES: 50 ESTABLISHED: 1916

SOURCES OF FUNDING Individuals – 20 % Corporations – 3% Organizations and City of Memphis – 23% Foundations – 54%

ADDRESS Open in Overton Park 1934 Poplar Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104 PHONE 901.544.6200

WEBSITE brooksmuseum.org facebook.com/brooksmuseum instagram.com/brooksmuseum/

MISSION: The Memphis Brooks Museum of Art enriches the lives of our diverse community through the museum’s expanding collection, varied exhibitions, and dynamic programs that reflect the art of world cultures from antiquity to the present.

OUR VISION:

Transforming lives through the power of art.

OUR CORE VALUES:

e work of the Brooks is guided by:

• the responsible and thoughtful stewardship of the art entrusted to our care.

• the promise that art is accessible to all people.

• a culture of warm hospitality and polite civic discourse.

• a commitment to inclusion and diversity at all levels: collections, programming, board and staff, volunteers and audiences.

• a dedication to excellence, best practices, and constant improvement in order to merit the public trust.

• the abiding belief that art inspires, enlightens, and educates, and, in doing so, transforms lives, engages citizens, and builds communities.

GIVING:

e Brooks enjoys and depends on the financial contributions of both our public partners and private supporters, including individual members and patrons, corporate sponsors, and foundations. Our donors make possible the enriching art experiences we offer year round and, in turn, we commit to upholding our mission, vision, and values in gratitude for their investment and trust.

Like so many cultural institutions in these challenged times, the Brooks relies more than ever on the continued generosity of donors to sustain and support our city’s art museum. As we work to secure resources to build a new museum Downtown overlooking the river that will define the heart of Memphis and be a welcoming destination for all, we invite you to come visit the Brooks in Overton Park, and to support us in bringing art to life for young and old alike.

LEADERSHIP

Zoe Kahr Executive Director Pa y Burt

CFO Jennifer Draff en Director of Registration Exhibitions & Publications

Kathy Dumlao

Director of Education & Interpretation Johnny Hill

Director of Operations Dorothy Lane McClure Director of Development

Jeff Rhodin

Director of Marketing & Communications Rosamund Garre Chief Curator

BOARD

Carl Person, President Retired, UPS

Barbara Hyde, Vice President Chair & CEO, Hyde Family Foundation

Milton L. Lovell, Treasurer

CFO & General Counsel, nexAir, LLC

Wendi Mihalko, Secretary Community volunteer

Nathan A. Bicks

Member, Burch, Porter & Johnson, PLLC

Gloria Boyland

Retired, FedEx Corp.

Pam Cain (ex-officio)

Executive Assistant to the Mayor, City of Memphis

Rebecca Belz Artist

Kristi Carmichael Community Volunteer Darrell T. Cobbins

President, Universal Commercial Real Estate, LLC

Mary Lee Copp Community Volunteer Derek Fordjour

Artist

Gail George (ex-offi cio) President, Decorative Arts Trust September Gingras

Vice President, International Paper Eleanor Halliday Community volunteer Adam Hanover

Founder & CEO, Union Main

Tanya Hart

Executive VP, Human Resources, First Horizon

Debi J. Havner

Community volunteer Robert G. Heard, III Executive VP, First Horizon Bank

Rodney Herenton Co-CEO, Channing Capital Management Domingo Hurtado

Senior VP International, AutoZone Bernice H. Hussey

Community volunteer Linda Ivy-Rosser

VP, Digital Platforms & Enterprise Systems Executive Research, Forrester T. Mathon Parker, Jr. Head of Fixed Income Sales, Raymond James

Patterson OB/GYN

Rushton E. Pa erson, Jr. Patterson OB/GYN Logan Scheidt

Crye-Leike Realty Teresa Sloyan

President, Hyde Family Foundation Melyne Strickland Community volunteer

James K. Pa erson

Zoe Kahr Executive Director

Photo Credit: Lucy Garrett

ABOUT US

ANNUAL

$41,000,000

435

GUIDE

1871

FUNDING Individuals: 17%

27% Organizations: 42%

14%

LOCATION 650 East Parkway South, Memphis, TN 38104

901.321.3270

cbu.edu

For more than 150 years, Christian Brothers University has prided itself on transforming the lives of our students, but we can’t do this work alone. It only happens because of generous donors who believe in providing life-changing scholarships for students from all socioeconomic backgrounds.

CBU is right here in the heart of Memphis and we are proud to be a part of the solution when it comes to investing in our future leaders. From providing high quality, affordable education to giving 27 million dollars a year in scholarships, we are committed to meeting students where they are and helping them reach their highest level of learning. is includes many fi rst-generation college students.

Students attend CBU ready to take on the world and your support is invaluable in

BOARD MEMBERS

OFFICERS

Louis (Bo) Allen (MBA ’95)

Chair

Emily Sawyer Greer (’84) Vice Chair Cathy Ross (’78)

Secretary Michael Keeney Treasurer David Archer President

M EMBERS

Robert Buckman

Br. Francis Carr, FSC

J. Robert Carter (’77)

their exciting journey toward advancement opportunities in their careers and beyond.

According to U.S. News & World Report, CBU was voted number 3 in Best Value because of our affordability.

No gift is too small or insignificant and we hope you will fi nd it in your budget and heart this year to make a donation and continue to transform the lives of our students for many years to come.

Donations can be made at cbu.edu/ giving.

TRUSTEE EMERITI

Joseph F. Birch Jr. AFSC (’78)

Bena Cates

Dr. Jason Chandler (’94)

Raegan Cook (’13)

Tyree Daniels (‘01)

Br. Chris Englert, FSC (’77)

Richard L. Erickson Jr. (’90) Br. Michael Fehrenbach (’69) John R. Lammers

Maria T. Lensing (’01, MEM ’07)

Bishop Robert Marshall Jr. (’80) Paul Posey Jr. (’89, MBA ’08)

Beverly Robertson Christopher Singer (’83)

Dr. Altha Stewart (’73) Scot Struminger (‘91) Greg Wanta

Richard T. Gadomski, AFSC (’62) Robert G. McEniry, AFSC Joyce Mollerup

David L. Archer President

Mark Billingsley Vice President of Advancement

in Memphis

our campus food pantry to providing from your generous support every day. CBU is an affordable institution preparing our students for their futures for many reasons, but we couldn’t do it without your continued kindness. Consider giving to CBU today!

osten Pancreatic Cancer Support ResearchAdvocacyEducationHope

ABOUT US ANNUAL REVENUE: $250,000 ESTABLISHED: 2003

SOURCES OF FUNDING INDIVIDUALS: 90% CORPORATIONS: 5% ORGANIZATIONS: 5%

ADDRESS

6060 Poplar Avenue, Suite 140,Memphis, TN 38119 PHONE 901.606.7542

WEBSITE www.kostenfoundation.com facebook.com/KostenFoundation/ @KostenFDN

EVENTS:

The Kosten Foundation in-person and virtual support group is free and open to everyone affected by pancreatic cancer including patients, family members, caregivers and anyone interested in supportIng those affected by the disease and learning more. Everyone is welcome. The Support Group meets on the second Saturday of every month. If you would like to join the support group and for additional information, please contact Kathryn Gilbert Craig, Director of Community Engagement, kgilbertcraig@ comcast.net, 901.832.4782

Kick It 5K: The Kick It 5K takes place on the last Sunday of October and is the largest fundraiser for the Kosten Foundation. The all-ages event includes a 5k run, 1-mile fun walk, opportunities for spirit runners, an inspirational memorial and survivor ceremony, entertainment and food vendors. The 13th annual Kick It 5k is scheduled for October 29, 2023.

Tribute at Twilight: For Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month in November, the Kosten Foundation is proud to host the Tribute At Twilight. The event is for survivors of pancreatic cancer, Kosten Foundation support group members and those who have lost loved ones to the disease. Participants share stories and there is a symbolic presentation in remembrance and honor of those lost to pancreatic cancer and those still fighting it.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Alan L. Kosten

Chairman Of The Board

Jeffrey A. Goldberg President

Kathryn Gilbert Craig Director of Community Engagement

GUIDE

MISSION

To establish support and a forum for communication among those afflicted with pancreatic cancer via support group meetings, our website, social media channels, and events.

To assist with the training of future pancreatic cancer surgeons.

To provide funding for a yearly Memphis public lecture on pancreatic cancer delivered by a nationally and or/internationally renowned expert on the disease.

To provide funding for clinical and basic research toward improving outcomes for those afflicted with pancreatic cancer

It is our sincere hope that we can provide an informative, compassionate, and humane approach toward improving the quality of life for those afflicted with pancreatic cancer and their families. Additionally, through research efforts, it is our very realistic passion to find a path to the early diagnosis and cure of pancreatic cancer in our lifetimes.

ABOUT THE HERB KOSTEN FOUNDATION:

The Herb Kosten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research was founded in 2003 by the family of Herb Kosten after his death due to pancreatic cancer. Kosten’s family sought to improve community support, awareness, and funding for pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest known cancers.

As the only organization of its kind in a five -state area, the group focuses on providing access to resources and support through a combination of communication, initiatives, programs, and events. All members of the Foundation are volunteers who donate hundreds of hours each year and believe in leading by example. The organization has raised more than $2,500,000 for pancreatic cancer research and hosts a very active monthly support group meeting for patients, their families, and anyone interested in learning more about pancreatic cancer.

In 2004, in honor of Kosten’s love of tennis, the Memphis-based organization began hosting annual tennis tournaments to raise money to fight pancreatic cancer and in 2011 the group held its first Kick It 5K run/walk. The annual event has grown to include more than 2,000 participants. Money raised from the Kick It

5K and other Kosten Foundation events help fund pancreatic cancer research, In addition, the Foundation presents a yearly symposium headlined by nationally recognized leaders in the field of pancreatic cancer. For more information about the Kosten Foundation, its programs, and events, visit the website at kostenfoundation.com.

Kick It 5k

Support Group

Herb Kosten

Bonheur

GUIDE

METHODIST LE BONHEUR

HEALTHCARE MISSION: To enhance your health and well-being through high-quality, innovative and compassionate care.

The mission of the Methodist Healthcare Foundation is to uplift Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare’s compassionate care for our entire community through philanthropy, health advocacy, and a vision of healing and hope.

KEY AREAS OF NEED

Cardiology, to advance research, treatments and technologies available to our patients and families.

Hospice Care, to ensure that quality, compassionate end-of-life care and bereavement services are accessible to all.

Mental Health, resources, support and navigation to address the behavioral health needs of our community.

Neurology, to advance our knowledge through research, expand supportive resources and programs for patients and families and advance the forms of treatment and technologies available to our community.

Oncology, to provide excellent clinical care, advance treatments through research and technology and combat disparities through improved access to preventive screenings for the underserved.

Sickle Cell, to provide a dedicated medical home and expert care to patients living with sickle cell disease in order to improve their quality of life.

Social Determinants of Health, to remove barriers that community members face in improving and maintaining their health and well-being.

Transplant, to prov ide resources to patients and their families throughout the organ transplant process.

WAYS TO GIVE:

Donations can be made in a variety of ways to support programs, clinical service lines, community programs and other initiatives that are important to our donors, including through:

• Bequests

• Cash

• Corporate, Government and Foundation Grants

Employee Matching Giving Programs

• Event Sponsorships and Tickets

• Stock

• Honorarium and Memorials

• In-Kind Contributions

• Shopper Loyalty Programs

Joey Maurizi

Garner

of

BOB LEOPOLD Thankful Bone Marrow Transplant Recipient

When Bob Leopold required a bone marrow transplant to treat leukemia, he needed a specialized team with proven clinical quality and safety. He got that and so much more. Our dedicated oncology experts and surgeons pushed the boundaries of stem cell research and exceeded every single one of Bob’s expectations. In a letter, he writes, “My surgery was successful because of the commitment, skills and positive energy of my team. They were always willing to go the extra mile. I am so grateful for the care you gave me.”

Hear Bob’s full story of thanks at methodisthealth.org/bob.

My health issues are a lot smaller and I’m a lot happier.

GIVING GUIDE

ABOUT US

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: 45

ESTABLISHED: 1923

ADDRESS

1005 Tillman Street, Memphis, TN 38112

PHONE (901) 433-4300

WEBSITE www.UWMIDSOUTH.ORG facebook.com/uwmidsouth @uwmidsouth linkedin.com/company/united-way-of-the-mid-south/

United Way of the Mid-South, the region’s largest public grant-making foundation, is transforming the lives of individuals and families by making strategic investments in agencies and programs aligned with our mission to address poverty. This work is expanded through United Way’s Driving The Dream™, a network of supports and services that provides easy access to multiple resources for our communities’ most vulnerable citizens. Additionally, United Way supports the fi nancial stability of low- and moderate-income families through Free Tax Prep, a direct service to families that annually facilitates the return of millions of dollars to these families, and protects them and their earnings from predatory practices.

COMMUNITY IMPACT: Gifts to United Way of the Mid-South’s Community Impact support grant-making to agencies that are making a difference in communities across our eight-county service area in TN, AR, and MS. Together we are helping to transform the lives of individuals and families who are struggling to break the cycle of poverty and build a more secure financial future. United Way invests 84 cents of every dollar donated to Community Impact to support 68 highperforming nonprofits that are working in the domains that directly affect poverty, including housing and financial stability, youth development, job training, health, and much more.

e traditional way to support United Way of the Mid-South is through payroll deduction at your workplace, and it is easy to start a giving campaign at any small business or large corporation. However, United Way is grateful for direct donations, sponsorships, and grants to our United Way programs that help to improve lives, neighborhoods, and the communities in which we live.

DRIVING THE DREAM ™: Driving e Dream™, launched in 2016 by United Way of the Mid-South, is an unduplicated system of multi-domain human services and supports which offer families living in poverty the opportunity to grow their capacity, and to move beyond the vulnerabilities that necessitate supplemental public assistance.

is robust network of over 100 collaborating agencies delivers an evidence-based approach to creating a path to self-sufficiency for those in need. Driving e Dream™ breaks down the walls of siloed services to create equitable access to a system of care in which individuals can create their personal roadmap to economic advancement.

Driving e Dream™ provides a “no wrong door” approach, so that people can connect to the resources they need through any participating agency, through self-referral on our website, or by calling the Relief Call Center at 844-444-4211.

FREE TAX PREP: United Way, in partnership with the Internal Revenue Service, actively promotes economic self-sufficiency and financial stability by providing Free Tax Prep throughout the Mid-South. Low- and moderate-income households may have their returns prepared by IRS-certified volunteers with no fees. Clients are encouraged to take full advantage of the Earned Income Tax Credit. Free Tax Prep returned $15 million to tax-payers in the Mid-South last year, averaging over $1500 per household. Free Tax Prep sites are located throughout Shelby County and the surrounding counties in the United Way service area. Many sites offer translation services for non-English speakers and fully on-line services are also available.

EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP

Rev. Kenneth S. Robinson, M.D. President & CEO

Gia Stokes

Chief Financial & Administrative Officer

Angelia Allen

Chief Program Officer

Cynthia Todd Graham

Chief Marketing & Development Officer

BOARD MEMBERS

Eric Brown

Valero Energy Corporation

Shannon A. Brown

FedEx Express

Johnekia “Neki” Catron

Southland Gaming

Darrell Cobbins

Universal Commercial, LLC

Rebecca Cullison

Methodist LeBonheur

Jeff ery Greer

FedEx Freight

Sco y Hendricks

New York Life Insurance, W. TN

Mary Ann Jackson

Baker, Donelson, Bearman, Caldwell & Berkowitz

James Jones

Teamsters Local representing UPS Melanie A. Keller

Meritan, Apelah & Generations, Inc.

Robert C. Klesges

University of Virginia Medical School

Todd Lochner

Principle Toyota Memphis Ursula Madden

Ford Motor Company David May

Regions Bank Jean M. Morton

Truist Bank

John Pe ey, III Raymond James Josh Poag

Poag Shopping Centers

Ayoka Pond

Baptist Memorial Health Care Corporation

Nataline Purdy Communities In Schools of Memphis Randy Stokx Deloitte Services LP

Leticia Towns Regional One Health

Keith Townsend International Paper

Chris VanSteenberg

First Horizon Bank Craig L. Weiss Tower Ventures Kevin Woods

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Richard Wright Ernst & Young, LLP

Rev. Kenneth S. Robinson, M.D. President & CEO

Nadia Price

Our history expert solves local mysteries: who, what, when, where, why, and why not. Well, sometimes.

BY VANCE LAUDERDALE

DEAR VANCE: I’ve noticed that old school yearbooks often carried ads for “Photography by Nadia.” Who was Nadia, and what happened to her business?

— P.K., MEMPHIS.

below: Nadia Price displays the first camera she ever owned, a battered Speed Graphic, in front of a display of some of her favorite photographs.

DEAR P.K.: Oh, I wish I had hired Nadia to photograph the various members of my family before they were hauled off to prison. The mugshots would have made the Lauderdale scrapbooks complete, and it would have given me the chance to meet a most remarkable woman — one of the most talented photographers and artists in our region, and a person who was apparently quite a character.

After all, this was a lady who once told a reporter, “A photographer is the only person who can shoot someone, frame him, hang him, and be thanked and paid for it.”

Nadia Price was born in Memphis in 1919, the daughter of Olive and Raymond R. Price, who owned Southern Motors, the largest Cadillac dealership in the MidSouth. Let’s get one thing straight from the beginning: She pronounced her unusual first name (a Russian word

that means “hope”) with a long A: NAY-dia.

She was the older sister of Billy Price, who (perhaps better known as Billy Price Carroll) became one of this city’s most acclaimed painters. The family lived in Hein Park, and later moved to a bungalow on Central, and I assume Nadia had a pretty good life growing up. Photo albums and scrapbooks lovingly preserved by her niece, “Pixie” Woodall, contain images of Nadia and Billy perched in fancy cars, riding horses, and enjoying outings at various camps in our area.

Both sisters attended the Memphis Academy of Arts, with Billy studying painting and Nadia taking classes in sculpting and drawing. When she was 16, her father gave her an old Speed Graphic press camera, and she told reporters, “Naturally, I photographed everything I could capture on film. My favorite shots were ‘human interest’ photographs. Thus began my collection.”

She took pictures and also began to hone her sculpting and painting skills while attending Miss Hutchison’s School. She graduated from there in 1937, and began an internship paying $12 a week with a local commercial photographer named Avery N. Stratton, where she first learned film processing, printing, and retouching skills.

Nadia would probably have stayed with that job, but when World War II started — that would be December 7, 1941, for my younger readers — she enrolled in a drafting school (I’m not exactly sure where that was) and began working as one of the first — and quite possibly the only — female draftsmen (or should I say drafts woman?) for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

She was fond of saying that her life “came in thirteens” and sure enough, she was employed by Stratton for 13 months, worked for the Army for 13 months, and then took an assignment that lasted — yep — 13 months as a photographer for the Fisher Aircraft Works, a former General Motors auto-body factory in North Memphis that had been converted to making parts for B-25 bombers. Working in a man’s world, she photographed the production lines, made ID tags for workers, and performed other duties, again making the news as quite possibly the only female photographer for the Army — and General Motors — until the war ended.

In 1946, she teamed up with another photographer, Caroline Jenkins, and opened a studio in the basement of an old house on Union. They called the business “Photography by Nadia” and at first their specialty was children’s portraits, but they soon branched out to include all kinds of photography: commercial, architectural, family portraits, camp meetings, church groups, weddings — even insurance claims. By 1949, the two women were doing so well that they opened their own studio in a corner of the old Baggott Sheet Metal Works company at 187 South Cooper.

With her distinctive touch, Nadia converted that corner of the hum-drum building into an eye-catching art-deco-style studio, complete with pink neon lighting and an apartment on the second floor. She had a special talent, it seems, for working with restless kids, even putting her little dog on a platform next to the camera to catch their attention. Jenkins left the partnership after a few years, and Nadia continued on her own. She was quite a success, in such demand that clients often had to book her services as much as a year in advance, and one client told a reporter, “Nobody seemed to have

a wedding photo in the paper unless it said, ‘Photography by Nadia.’”

One of the few women in Memphis known only by her first name, Nadia caught the attention of the Downtown Association of Memphis, which in 1966 named her one of the “Five Outstanding Women Who Work.” A newspaper reporter noted, “Capturing the essence of Nadia would equate to catching water in a sifter.” In addition to her photography, in her spare time she worked on incredibly detailed drawings and paintings of plants and flowers, illustrated cartoons, and sculpted animals (usually horses, her favorite) in ceramic and bronze. At one time, she even hand-painted scarves that were sold at Memphis department stores and produced a line of picture postcards of Arkansas scenes.

With her health finally beginning to decline, Nadia returned to Memphis in 2005, moving into an apartment and studio behind the home in Central Gardens where her niece “Pixie” lived with her husband, Richard Woodall. Still painting and sculpting, she passed away at home on September 27, 2013, at the age of 94.

“I hope that through my photographs people will feel inspired to love each other.” — Nadia

Why Arkansas? Well, at the age of 52, she met William Bates, a sales executive for Republic Steel, and they married in 1971 and moved to the Bates family farm near Quitman, Arkansas. There they lived in what Nadia called their “bouse” — a custom-designed combination house and barn. She shut down her popular photography business in Cooper-Young, but continued to take pictures of anything and everything that suited her. By the time she officially retired in 1974, she estimated she had photographed more than 50 weddings a year (sometimes two in one day) and had filed away more than 100,000 negatives.

Bates passed away in 1982. Still living in Arkansas, Nadia had spent time in Heber Springs, where she met Oscar Strid, a retired railroad executive. They married in 1985, and moved to a lovely home on Greer’s Ferry Lake. But it wasn’t a sit-by-the-lake-and-fish kind of retirement. They purchased a 35-foot Airstream trailer and roamed the country, visiting almost every state and Canada, until Oscar’s death in 1995.

More than 600 of her images that captured African-American life in this region, part of an exhibition called “A Delta Era Gone By,” along with some of her cameras and equipment, were donated to Arkansas State University. Another large group of her pho tographs now comprise the Nadia Price Collection at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library. “Photos by Nadia were coveted and cherished,” her niece recalls. “With one camera to her eye, and the other over her shoulder, Nadia’s style was to flit around a crowded room snapping every possible angle and expression. The result was wonderful memories for those who were her subjects.”

Nadia was fond of saying, “God has been good to this chick” and she hoped others benefited as much from life as she did. She had a simple aspiration: “I hope that through my photographs people will feel inspired to love each other.”

In a letter written to friends and family after the death of her aunt, “Pixie” had this to say about Nadia: “She was a pioneer. She was undaunted by challenges, never saying no to whatever she faced in life. She made use of every moment. If she wanted something done, nothing and no one could get in her way. She was bold, yet gentle. Wiry, yet feminine. … She genuinely wanted everyone to love one another. So, she spent her life trying to show them how.”

E ditor ’ s N ot E : This column originally appeared in our March 2016 issue.

Got a question for Vance?

EMAIL: askvance@memphismagazine.com

MAIL: Vance Lauderdale, Memphis magazine, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101

ONLINE: memphismagazine. com/ask-vance

Or visit him on Facebook.

Nadia designed her own studio in Cooper-Young, and the bright-pink building became a neighborhood landmark.

ASK VANCE

The Parkview Hotel

Our history expert solves local mysteries: who, what, when, where, why, and why not. Well, sometimes.

BY VANCE LAUDERDALE

DEAR VANCE: In September

I attended an auction of items from the Parkview Manor. I didn’t know the place had closed, and I also never knew the old building had first opened as a hotel. Can you share its history?

— C.D., MEMPHIS.

DEAR C.D.: When the Parkview Hotel Apartments opened on Poplar in 1923, at the southwest corner of Overton Park (hence the building’s name), it was the first major hotel located outside of Downtown. Memphians can’t take credit for that distinction, however.

e St. Louis firm of Barnett, Hayes, and Barnett owned and designed the 10-story property, an almost identical twin to the Gatesworth Hotel in their city (still standing today, but part of a complex called 275 on the Park).

Most Memphians learned of this impressive project when they opened the January 29, 1923, edition of e Commercial Appeal and discovered a half-page rendering of the proposed building. On one hand, you’d think they’d be happy a developer was fi nally making use of the neglected site of Fairyland, an amusement park that burned to the ground in 1908. On the other hand, residents of the lovely homes lining the streets west of Overton Park opposed such a “skyscraper” looming over them, and they worried about the traffic it would bring.

first opened, since few Memphians owned cars in the early 1920s. As the automobile business here grew, however, the Parkview built its own parking garage on the south side of Poplar. Many years later, the hotel added a parking lot behind the hotel.

Although readers today consider Overton Park the heart of Midtown, in the 1920s Parkview newspaper ads touted the virtues of living “far removed from city dust and din. As delightfully situated as a resort hotel — with cool breezes, flowers, lawns, and the wooded land of Overton Park at its doors — the Parkview offers all the advantages of country life.”

Residents could choose from one-bedroom units to six-room suites. Parkview ads explained, “Each apartment is completely furnished. Silver, glassware, linens, as well as light, heat, refrigeration, and maid and bellboy service are included in the modest rental. Everything except food is provided.” What’s more, residents needn’t worry about such pesky details as “laundry bills, furniture bills, coal bills, gas bills, water bills, ice bills, or lightbulbs.” Bachelor apartments cost $75 a month, and “completely furnished kitchenette apartments are as low as $120.”

But let’s go back to the beginning. Construction on the $1.7 million building began in February 1923, but the work apparently took longer than expected. e owners first announced a grand opening in September, then postponed it to October, and then changed it to New Year’s Eve of that year. By then, only five floors were completely finished, but the owners invited the public to tour “the entire fi rst floor … and the most beautiful dining room in the city.” Afterwards, “an elaborate dinner will be served to a limited number of people, with music and dancing.”

Residents began to move into the Parkview while it was still under construction, and that’s when neighbors’ complaints became more specific. ey couldn’t do anything about the size of the building, but its residents were a different story. In his Commercial Appeal column, historian Paul R. Coppock noted that neighbors griped about “bottles containing illegal liquids discarded in their shrubbery … and some of the high-living apartment dwellers neglected to draw their shades.”

In the 1920s Parkview newspaper ads touted the virtues of living “far removed from city dust and din. As delightfully situated as a resort hotel — with cool breezes, flowers, lawns, and the wooded land of Overton Park at its doors — the Parkview offers all the advantages of country life.”

Now let me clarify something here. is was not an ordinary hotel, with a steady stream of outof-town guests checking in and out. Instead, as you can tell from its full name, the Parkview was actually an apartment building, with only 164 units (later expanded to 195). By comparison, e Peabody, which opened two years later, had more than 400 rooms. Residents stayed at the Parkview for weeks, months, and even years. Traffic wasn’t really a problem when the place

Look, I still feel bad about that. Sometimes my family hasn’t behave the way they should. My grandparents, Maximillian and Maxine Lauderdale, were among the first residents of the Parkview, and they treated it like a party house. Oh, the shame. When the management fi nally evicted them for their wild antics, the hotel’s neighbors breathed a sigh of relief.

From the beginning, ground-floor retail bays along Poplar Avenue were home to a bakery, a gown shop, and other establishments. e two that most Memphians remember, I bet, are the Parkview Beauty Shop and the Parkview Pharmacy, complete with a marble-topped soda fountain. Both opened in the 1930s.

HOTEL PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY VANCE LAUDERDALE; CAR PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OAKLEY FORD

Clara Gould kept the beauty salon running until the 1970s. Frank Russell ran the pharmacy and often gave hand-cut roses from the garden of his home on Oakley to his customers. He closed the soda fountain in 1960, explaining “it took up so much room and was hard to run profitably,” but customers could still grab a quick meal or milkshake from the Parkview Café, which offered “the efficient service and tastefully cooked food of the better resort hotels.” Diners could even enjoy live music there on Sunday evenings.

A 1923 newspaper story conveyed the eye-popping elegance of the interior. “ e furniture on the ground floor will cost $50,000, with one of the lounges finished in the French style, and another in the Tudor design. e main lobby will be of the Italian Renaissance period. A special feature will be a Mah Jongg Room, in which all of the red lacquer furniture will be imported from China, and two young ladies will be brought from San Francisco to teach the difficult game.”

A particularly nice touch outside was the terraced grand entrance, with a long awning that stretched from the front doors to the street.

sive place, and occupancy rates dropped to 50 percent. A holding company, the Parkview Bondholders Protective Committee, took ownership of the building, somehow managed to keep it going, and it survived those lean times.

In addition to the revenues provided by its regular occupants, it also attracted all sorts of social events — fraternity and sorority dances, bridge club matches,

is became a popular backdrop for photographs of well-known people and fancy products such as cars. As early as 1924, a newspaper ad for local Ford dealers, in fact, posed an imposing Lincoln sedan in front of the Parkview, and years later, Oakley Ford showcased a very unusually painted underbird (shown here) in the same location.

Over the years, the Parkview became a rather exclusive address. Famous Memphians who called it home included Piggly Wiggly founder Clarence Saunders; Wesley and Nelle Halliburton, parents of the best-selling author and adventurer, Richard Halliburton; and (much more recently, of course) the world-famous photographer William Eggleston (see page 28 in this issue). After all, as their ads reminded everyone, “ e Parkview has that air of quiet distinction that isn’t born of crowds and confusion. It’s clean, well-kept, and the friendly, interesting people who live here all contribute much toward good living.”

I’m sure they did, but for a while, it seemed the building wasn’t going to last ten years after it opened. When the Great Depression swept over the land, many people moved out of what was (by 1920s standards) an expen-

weddings, receptions, birthday parties — whoever needed the Wedgwood Dining Room, Azalea Room (better for dancing), and other meeting spaces. I suppose I could provide a day-by-day — or year-byyear — account of various activities that took place at the Parkview, but I’d rather not. Instead, I’ll jump ahead to 1965, when a church group, Presbyterian Services, Inc., purchased the hotel. ey changed the name to Parkview Manor (later dropping “Manor”), and converted it into a retirement home. Nobody under the age of 62 could live there. Instead of ads promoting a “resort” lifestyle, now the emphasis was on “religious, cultural, and education activities.” I believe this is also when somebody decided the red-brick landmark looked better slathered in white paint.

The Parkview operated under various owners, most recently the Florida-based Starling Group, until August 2020, when new investors took over. Forge Partners, headquartered in California, purchased the property for $4.8 million. They plan to renovate the building inside and out, working with the Memphis firm, Designshop (designshoparc.com), whose projects include the Edge Motor Museum, the Grizzlies Training Center, the Grand Carousel pavilion at the Children’s Museum, and lots more around here. That explains the auction conducted in September, which mainly cleared out tired furniture and outdated kitchen equipment.

Don’t worry; that fine old building isn’t going anywhere. After all, next year, the Parkview celebrates its 100th birthday.

opposite : A 1939 postcard shows the Parkview before it was painted white, as it looks today (above). left: Automakers often posed their latest models at the hotel entrance. I can’t explain the unusual color scheme of this 1955 Ford Thunderbird — or the Scottish attire of its driver.

Got a question for Vance?

EMAIL: askvance@memphismagazine.com

MAIL: Vance Lauderdale, Memphis magazine, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101

ONLINE: memphismagazine.com/ ask-vance Or visit him on Facebook.

DINING OUT

Restaurant Iris

BY SAMUEL X. CICCI

During the several hours I recently spent at the new location of Restaurant Iris in Laurelwood, no one seemed to want to leave. e hands of the clock had long swept past lunch service, but diners chatted away, enjoying the food, the drinks, and the enormous new space. e staff were all smiles, showing no sign of stress despite the restaurant opening only a few days before. It’s everything customers enjoyed about the original Iris near Overton Square, but now dialed up to 11.

Closing the original location and moving across town was an ambitious undertaking for chef Kelly English and team, but the new space is the culmination of all the restaurateur’s know-how. After almost 15 years, English made the decision to leave the comforts of Iris’ longtime Midtown home. (That space now houses the very different Pantà, a Catalan tapas bar that is also part of English’s culinary empire.) “It’s been great watching this come together, both front and back of house,” says English, a Louisiana native whose roots are evident in Iris’ menu. “But we’re open, and I

think we have a good mix of old and new from the Iris brand.”

It’s the “new” that immediately jumps out. e reopened Restaurant Iris invites customers to the former Grove Grill, and there’s no doubt that the new tenant has an identity all its own. With English taking a step back from the kitchen, executive chef Russell Casey whips up a New Orleans-style menu full of Cajun and Creole flourishes, but a few Iris classics like trout amandine and the knuckle lobster sandwich are back. Meanwhile,the layout of the new space is spectacular, creating all at once a vibrant, twisty,

mythical, and sometimes even magical feel to the restaurant, thanks to inspired work by Ann Parker and her team from Parker Design Studio.

The entryway’s white and green mosaic floor sets the colorful tone to follow. To one side are shelves carrying dry goods and prepared foods that customers can take to-go. In the 80-seat main dining room, multiple bright balloon-shaped light fi xtures hang from the ceiling, radiating the whole spectrum of color at the fl ip of a switch, from blue, to yellow, to pink. ey bathe the dining area in a festive atmosphere, and can be changed to suit any mood or blend with natural lighting from outside.

Booths and tables are placed beneath a mural by Dorothy Collier depicting a Louisiana swamp, full of bright colors and animals — an evolution of the swamp mural that ran above the bar at the old Iris. Snaking down the side of the room is a set of cre-

ative serpentine booths, forming alternating crescent-shaped sitting areas in a tribute to English’s hometown. At the old Iris, tables were tucked into corners, making customers feel as if they had their own private dining nook. e crescent-shaped booths here recreate that vibe, each table housed in its own cozy little section.

And it’s in such a booth where I’m treated to one of Casey’s favorite items, the pan-seared flounder. It’s a light dish that manages to be both soft and comforting, with the seared crispy exterior segueing into the flounder’s warm fl aky texture. It’s savory without being too fishy courtesy of a mild vinegary accompaniment, just one of the notes from the thick buttery blanket of a classic bearnaise sauce gently dolloped over the flounder. e lima bean succotash is an excellent accompaniment, sweet vegetables blending together for a slightly harder texture than the fish. Mix all three

A perennial Memphis favorite dazzles with a new menu, look, and location.

Crescent-shaped booths extend all the way down the main dining room, giving diners a sense of privacy.

components together for a bite and it turns into a masterfully creamy seafood stew.

“Always use white pepper on fish,” says Casey, “so we put a little salt and white pepper on one side, seasoning it perfectly. For the classic bearnaise, we use vinegar, tarragon, lots of butter, and hot sauce. Then with the succotash, we mix lima beans with corn, and add fresh basil and tomatoes. It’s about layer ing all the ingredients, and when everything comes together it just does so perfectly.”

After the fish, it’s a tour of Iris’ four private dining rooms that have their own signa ture looks. The fish room, for example, has a hanging fishshaped light fixture that can change colors at will. Over in the garden room, the zany Alice

in Wonderland -esque wallpaper makes diners feel as if they’re at their own garden party, seated at the table with the Mad Hatter himself.

No matter where you’re seated, it’s the perfect platform for Casey to show off some of his creations. “I came here from Bounty on Broad, and that was a great experience,” says Casey, “but I wanted to explore a new opportunity. I reached out to Kelly and said, ‘Look, I’m your guy. I’ve got the skills to work in the kitchen while you can focus on running the brand, and I think we’d make a great team.’ We got coffee, and here we are.”

The layout of the new space is spectacular, creating all at once a vibrant, twisty, mythical, and sometimes even magical feel to the restaurant, thanks to inspired work by Ann Parker and her team from Parker Design Studio.

A few Iris staples are still around, but for the most part, almost everything on the menu is Casey’s creation. For now, the restaurant is open for lunch seven days a week and for

limited dinner hours, but those hours will expand as the team settles. Lunch fare has some casual options, like different styles of po’ boys and sandwiches. And again, there’s the familiar Iris trout amandine made with market gulf fish, toasted almonds, brown butter, and fresh-squeezed lemon. Plus plenty of oysters.

While Casey says that Iris marks his first time exclusive ly cooking New Orleans-style cuisine, he embraced the challenge, frequently collaborating with English as he spent much of the last year crafting his menu. “You’ll see my style, utilizing all of my previous kitchen experience,” he says, “but it all has a New Orleans flair to it.”

Salad lovers should enjoy a taste of Casey’s beet salad. The layering begins with a bed of greens on the plate, then topped sequentially with healthy servings of roasted golden and red beets. Spiced pecans are placed around the perimeter of the sal-

Top CenTer: L to R: Larin Culp, Russell Casey, Rob Roby IV, Kelly English, and Inga Theeke make up the lead Iris team.salmon.

BoTTom lefT: Executive chef Russell Casey‘s favorite dish is the pan-seared flounder, left, served with lima bean succotash and topped with a classic bearnaise. The Iris salad is sweetly accentuated by cherry tomato confit, and pairs well with Kvaroy salmon.

BoTTom righT: The beet salad mixes the sweet and earthy flavors of golden and red beets, respectively, and is graced by a crostini with fluffy goat cheese.

ad, and a crunchy crostini topped with warm fluffy goat cheese sits atop it all. The red beets’ earthy taste melts away into the sweetness of its mellow, nuttier golden counterpart. And the pomegranate molasses vinaigrette adds an extra layer of natural sweet to the whole dish. The cheese and crostini, at the end, offers a savory escape to balance the palate.

For something a bit more traditional, there’s always the Iris salad. Fresh greens provide a foundation for the sweet, oil-infused, melt-in-your-mouth cherry tomato confit to star. Toss in some slivered red onion, mari nated cucumber and artichoke, and brioche croutons, and all that’s left is to drizzle the creamy house vinaigrette. I topped my Iris salad with fresh salmon, my fork gliding through and letting the tomato confit spread its juices throughout for a sweeter fish, and a wholly enjoyable dish.

Diners can enjoy plenty of other options from the bar menu of

both the full meal or grazing variety, which the restaurant plans to serve all day. is is a New Orleans-style restaurant, after all, so expect plenty of po’ boys (fried oysters, fried or sauteed shrimp, or grilled gulf fish), andouille sausage or crawfish flatbreads, or a plate of NOLA barbecued shrimp. I had my eye on the smoked duck wings, served alongside the crunchy and light jicama slaw.

The bar snacks are, of course, best enjoyed at Iris’ large bar area. Just off to the right of the main dining room, it provides total seating for up to 40 people at both the bar and various tables and lounge chairs. The bar itself features spaces for bartenders to whip up Culp’s cocktails, like the popular Iris Sour, as well as provide oyster services, but the most exciting aspect is the brand-new Cruvinet that English ordered for the restaurant. It can hold up to 29 wines, and English says there’s nothing like it in Memphis. “What that system does is pump nitrogen into the wine bottle that creates a layer between oxygen and nitrogen,” he explains. “So it keeps wine fresh for up to three weeks. at will allow us to have bottles of wine by the glass that you can’t find almost anywhere else.”

chocolate and white chocolate mousse on top.”

It’s easy for diners to focus completely on Casey’s delicious offerings or Culp’s cocktails, but they would be remiss not to check out pastry chef Inga Theeke’s dessert creations.

I don’t eat too many desserts, but this cake drew me in immediately. e fork simply glides through with little resistance, and the sweet softness of the mousse creates the closest thing to a dream in food form, with soft, quick bites easily spoonable from the fluff y center. It’s like wrapping yourself into a soft blanket and falling into a bed of cotton candy atop a layer of feather pillows. e less chocolate-inclined can fix their sweet tooth with some interesting vegan options, like banana bread or red velvet cake.

I enjoyed my cake in Iris’ demo room, a private space that can seat up to 30 people and includes a full-service kitchen. English envisions it as the perfect place for meetings or large gatherings, or for up-and-coming businesses to provide food demonstrations. “We’ve got full audiovisual capabilities in there, so chefs, influencers, anyone can fi lm their cooking in a professional way,” says English. “We’re also going to open that space up for minority-owned businesses so they can utilize the space.”

credits as a calming force on the rest of the team, is utilizing the enormous, 3,500-square-foot kitchen as her base of operations, whipping up delectable desserts for both Iris and Fino’s from the Hill, one of English’s other restaurants

To run the front of the house, English brought in Rob Roby IV as maître d’hôtel. A veteran of the Memphis restaurant scene, Roby worked for English as a server before making his name at other fine dining restaurants around the city like e Peabody restaurants. But he was easily convinced to help run the front of house at Iris.

“I had a good job before, but I sat down with Kelly to discuss the position here,” says Roby. “He really sold me on his vision for the place, what Iris could become here in Memphis. It was such a great opportunity, to work alongside great people, and I knew I would regret it if I didn’t join this team.” Working with Roby is Brian urmond, another Restaurant Iris vet who traded executive chef for an additional front of house role.

While I can sense a slight grimace at my layman’s “wine on tap” comparison, English is excited about the options it offers to customers. “I’m not necessarily one for ordering a $200 bottle of wine,” he says. “But customers don’t have to do that if they see something that looks appealing.

ey can walk in and pick almost any wine off the list, and we’re able to open it on the spot and serve it by the glass.”

It’s easy for diners to focus completely on Casey’s delicious offerings or Culp’s cocktails, but they would be remiss not to check out pastry chef Inga eeke’s dessert creations. e star of the show might be her take on chocolate cake (pictured left). “It’s a flourless chocolate cake,” says eeke, “with milk

If it all sounds like a lot more than the old Iris, it is. But English knew he needed to expand to grow his business and create better opportunities for his employees. “I wanted to take this next step because going bigger meant that we have a space where people could enjoy working,” he says. “ e whole team is doing a great job with this so far. I want this to be a career place for them — create an environment where they can get paid, and get paid for a long time.”

at team-fi rst ethos is evident in almost every position at the new Iris. English’s lineup is strong, featuring some of the top names from his restaurant group alongside the newcomers . Larin Culp continues her fine work as corporate beverage director, helping to curate a list of excellent cocktails and fine selections of wine to stock Iris’ fancy new Cruvinet. eeke, whom English

“ ere are plenty of other people making this possible,” says English. “You have team members like Jeannie Boyd, Dirk Meitzler over at Second Line, Aaron Ivory at Pantà, all chipping in. I think the really exciting thing is being able to fold over some of our longtime employees into management positions to take Iris forward.”

For the time being, they’re taking it step by step. “The process to open took longer than we thought,” says English. “But it’s really great to see smiling faces in here. It looks like people are generally happy to be back and see our new take on Iris.”

As we’re finishing our meal, a customer steps through the door and stands under the colorful lighting, gazing around at the new decor, the happy diners, and the staff carrying plates of Casey’s food. “I used to come to the Grove Grill every week,” he says to a bartender. “Now I think I’ve found my new spot.”

Restaurant Iris is located at 4550 Poplar Ave., 590-2828. Iris is open seven days a week with lunch service 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. and bar service 11 a.m. – 10 p.m. Dinner service is available Friday-Saturday 5 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Dinner and brunch service hours will expand

Sweet divinity: Pastry chef Inga Theeke’s flourless chocolate cake combines milk chocolate with white chocolate mousse for a confectioner’s dream.

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Memphis Dining Guide

A Curated Guide to Eating Out

Memphis magazine offers this curated restaurant listing as a service to our readers. Broken down alphabetically by neighborhoods, this directory does not list every restaurant in town. It does, however, include the magazine’s “Top 50” choices of must-try restaurants in Memphis, a group that is updated every August. Establishments open less than a year are not eligible for “Top 50” but are noted as “New.” is guide also includes a representative sampling of other Bluff City eating establishments. No fast-food facilities or cafeterias are listed. Restaurants are included regardless of whether they advertise in Memphis magazine; those that operate in multiple locations are listed under the neighborhood of their original location. is guide is updated regularly, but we recommend that you call ahead to check on hours, prices, or other details. Suggestions from readers are welcome; please contact Samuel X. Cicci at scicci@contemporary-media.com.

DOWNTOWN

117 PRIME—Restaurateurs Craig Blondis and Roger Sapp team up with Chef Ryan Trimm to recreate the traditional American steakhouse. Serving oysters on the half shell and a variety of surf and turf options. 117 Union. 433-9851. L, D, WB, X, $-$$$

ALDO’S PIZZA PIES—Serving gourmet pizzas — including Mr. T Rex — salads, and more. Also 30 beers, bottled or on tap. 100 S. Main. 577-7743; 752 S. Cooper. 725-7437. L, D, X, $-$$

THE ARCADE—Possibly Memphis’ oldest cafe. Specialties include sweet potato pancakes, a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich, and breakfast served all day. 540 S. Main. 526-5757. B, L, D (Thurs.-Sat.), X, MRA, $

AUTOMATIC SLIM’S—Longtime Downtown favorite specializes in contemporary American cuisine emphasizing local ingredients; also extensive martini list. 83 S. Second. 525-7948. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$

BACKLOT SANDWICH SHOP—Big sandwiches, breakfast bowls, and build-your-own-biscuits for breakfast, lunch, and an early supper. 265 S. Front St. 509-8612. B, L, D, $

BARDOG TAVERN—Classic American grill with Italian influence, Bardog offers pasta specialties such as Grandma’s NJ Meatballs, as well as salads, sliders, sandwiches, and daily specials. 73 Monroe. 275-8752. B (Mon.-Fri.), L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$

BEDROCK EATS & SWEETS—Memphis’ only Paleo-centric restaurant, offering such dishes as pot roast, waffles, enchiladas, chicken salad, omelets, and more. Closed for dinner Sun. 327 S. Main. 409-6433. B, L, D, X, $-$$

BELLE TAVERN—Serving elevated bar food, including a butcher board with a variety of meats and cheeses, as well as daily specials. 117 Barboro Alley. 249-6580. L (Sun.), D, MRA, $

BEN YAY’S GUMBO SHOP—Spiritual successor to DejaVu, offering fresh and authentic Creole staples. 51 S. Main St., 779-4125. L, D, X, $-$$

BISHOP—Ticer and Hudman’s newest venture at the Central Station Hotel features upscale dishes in a French brasserie style. 545 S. Main St., 524-5247. L, D, X, $$-$$$

BLEU—This eclectic restaurant features American food with global influences and local ingredients. Among the specialties are a 14-oz. bone-in ribeye and several seafood dishes. 221 S. Third, in the Westin Memphis Beale St. Hotel. 334-5950. B, L, D, WB, X, MRA, $$-$$$

BLUEFIN RESTAURANT & SUSHI LOUNGE—Serves Japanese fusion cuisine featuring seafood and steak, with seasonally changing menu; also a sushi bar. 135 S. Main. 528-1010. L, D, X, $-$$

BRASS DOOR IRISH PUB—Irish and New-American cuisine includes such entrees as fish and chips, burgers, shepherd’s pie, all-day Irish breakfast, and more. 152 Madison. 572-1813. L, D, SB, $-$$

BY THE BREWERY—Breakfast and lunch café, with a focus on Southern-style biscuits, salads, and soups. 496 Tennessee St. 310-4341. B, L, $

CAFE KEOUGH—European-style cafe serving quiche, paninis, salads, and more. 12 S. Main. 509-2469. B, L, D, X, $

CAPRICCIO GRILL ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE—Offers prime steaks, fresh seafood (lobster tails, grouper, mahi mahi), pasta, and several Northern Italian specialties. 149 Union, The Peabody. 529-4199. B, L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$$

CAROLINA WATERSHED—This indoor/outdoor eatery, set around silos, features reimagined down-home classics, including fried green tomatoes with smoked catfish, a buttermilk fried chicken sandwich, burgers, and more. Closed Mon.-Thurs. 141 E. Carolina. 321-5553. L, D, WB, $-$$

CATHERINE & MARY’S—A variety of pastas, grilled quail, pâté, razor clams, and monkfish are among the dishes served at this Italian restaurant in the Chisca. 272 S. Main. 254-8600. D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

CHEF TAM’S UNDERGROUND CAFE—Serves Southern staples with a Cajun twist. Menu items include totchoes, jerk wings, fried chicken, and “muddy” mac and cheese. Closed Sun. and Mon. 668 Union Ave. 207-6182. L, D, $

CHEZ PHILIPPE—Classical/contemporary French cuisine presented in a luxurious atmosphere with a seasonal menu focused on local/regional cuisine. The crown jewel of The Peabody for 35 years. Afternoon tea served Wed.-Sat., 1-3:30 p.m. (reservations required). Closed Sun.-Tues. The Peabody, 149 Union. 529-4188. D, X, MRA, $$$$

SYMBOLS

CIMAS—It’s breakfast tacos, shrimp and grits, chilaquiles verdes, and plenty of other Southern and Latin-American twists at the Hyatt Centric. 33 Beale St. 444-3232. B, L, D, $-$$$

THE CLOVER CLUB Southern fusion and internationally-inspired small plates at Hotel Indigo. 22 N. B.B. King.

COZY CORNER—Serving up ribs, pork sandwiches, chicken, spaghetti, and more; also homemade banana pudding. Closed Mon. 745 N. Parkway and Manassas. 527-9158. L, D, $

CURFEW—An elevated sports bar/American tavern concept by Top Chef contestant Fabio Viviani at the Canopy Memphis Downtown hotel. 164 Union Ave. B, L, D, X, $-$$

EVELYN & OLIVE—Jamaican/Southern fusion cuisine includes such dishes as Kingston stew fish, Rasta Pasta, and jerk rib-eye. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun.-Mon. 630 Madison. 748-5422. L, D, X , $

FAM—Casual Asian restaurant serves sushi rice bowls, noodle bowls, sushi rolls, and spring rolls. Closed Sun. 149 Madison; 521 S. Highland. 701-6666. L, D, X, $

FANCY’S FISH HOUSE—Serving chef-inspired favorites at One Beale, including fresh, daily-caught fish and seafood, a raw bar, and signature dishes from the grill, with fabulous river views from the dining room and patio. 1 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. #1. 589-3474. L, D, $$-$$$$

FEAST & GRAZE—Whipped goat toast, open faced grilled cheese, and other local pantry snacks and charcuterie boards. Closed Sun./Mon. 55 S. Main. 654-5926. L, $

FELICIA SUZANNE’S—Southern cuisine with low-country, Creole, and Delta influences, using regional fresh seafood, local beef, and locally grown foods. Entrees include shrimp and grits. Closed

Sun. and Mon. A Downtown staple at Brinkley Plaza, 383 S. Main. 5230877. L (Fri. only), D, X, MRA, $$-$$$

FERRARO’S PIZZERIA & PUB—Rigatoni and tortellini are among the pasta entrees here, along with pizzas (whole or by the slice) with a variety of toppings. 111 Jackson. 522-2033. L, D, X, $

FISHBOWL AT THE PYRAMID—Burgers, fish dishes, sandwiches, and more served in a unique “underwater” setting. Bass Pro, 1 Bass Pro Drive, 291-8000. B, L, D, X, $-$$

FLIGHT RESTAURANT & WINE BAR—Serves steaks and seafood, along with such specialties as bison ribeye and Muscovy duck, all matched with appropriate wines. 39 S. Main. 521-8005. D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

FLYING FISH—Serves up fried and grilled versions of shrimp, crab, oysters, fish tacos, and catfish; also chicken and burgers. 105 S. Second. 522-8228. L, D, X, $-$$

GOOD FORTUNE CO.—Authentic handcrafted noodles, ramen, and dumplings. 361 S. Main. 561-306-4711. L, D, $-$$

THE GENRE—Burgers, tenders, catfish, and plenty of vegan options made to order at this music-themed restaurant/lounge. 200 Poplar, Suite 105. 410-8169. B, L, D, $-$$

THE GRAY CANARY—The sixth restaurant from chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman, offering small plates and entrees cooked on an open flame. Oysters, octopus, and hearty steaks are among the menu options at this eatery in Old Dominick Distillery. Closed Mon. 301 S. Front. 466-6324. D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$

GRECIAN GOURMET TAVERNA—Serves traditional favorites like spanakopita, pastitso, moussaka, and hand-rolled dolmathes, as well as lamb sliders and pita nachos. Closed Mon. 412 S. Main. 249-6626. L, D, X, $

GUS’S WORLD FAMOUS FRIED CHICKEN—Serves chicken with signature spicy batter, along with homemade beans, slaw, and pies. 310 S. Front. 527-4877; 3100 Forest Hill Irene (Germantown). 853-6005; 2965 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 373-9111; 730 S. Mendenhall. 767-2323; 505 Highway 70 W., Mason, TN. 901-294-2028. L, D, X, MRA, $

HAPPY MEXICAN—Serves quesadillas, burritos, chimichangas, vegetable and seafood dishes, and more. 385 S. Second. 529-9991; 6080 Primacy Pkwy. 683-0000; 7935 Winchester. 751-5353. L, D, X, $

HU. ROOF—Rooftop cocktail bar with superb city views serves toasts with a variety of toppings including beef tartare with cured egg, cognac, and capers or riced cauliflower with yellow curry, currants, and almonds. Also salads, fish tacos, and boiled peanut hummus. 79 Madison. 333-1229. D, $

HUSTLE & DOUGH BAKERY & CAFE—Flaky, baked breakfast goodness every day with fresh pastries, sandwiches, and more at Arrive Hotel. 477 S. Main St., 701-7577. B, L, X, $

INKWELL—Unique craft concoctions, charcuterie plates, flatbreads, and sandwiches at this dope cocktail bar. Closed Mon.-Tue. 631 Madison Ave. 334-9411. D, $-$$

ITTA BENA—Southern and Cajun-American cuisine served here, conveniently located above B.B. King’s Blues Club on Beale St.; specialties are duck and waffles and shrimp and grits, along with steaks, chops, seafood, and pasta. 145 Beale St. 578-3031. D, X, MRA, $$-$$$

KING & UNION BAR GROCERY—Classic Southern favorites including catfish plate, pimento cheese, po-boys, chicken & waffles. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner with cocktails served with flair and favorite Memphis beers. Locally made confections available in the grocery. 185 Union Ave. 523-8500. B, L, D, $-$$

KOOKY CANUCK—Offers prime rib, catfish, and burgers, including the 4-lb. “Kookamonga”; also late-night menu. 87 S. Second. 578-9800; 1250 N. Germantown Pkwy. 1-800-2453 L, D, X, MRA, $-$$$

LITTLE BETTIE—New Haven-style pizzas and snacks from the Andrew-Michael team at Wiseacre’s Downtown location. 398 S. B.B. King Blvd. 334-9411. L, D, $-$$

THE LITTLE TEA SHOP—Downtown institution serves up Southern comfort cooking, including meatloaf and such veggies as turnip greens, yams, okra, and tomatoes. Closed Sat.-Sun. 69 Monroe. 525-6000, L, X, $

LOCAL—Entrees with a focus on locally sourced products include lobster mac-and-cheese and rib-eye patty melt; menu differs by location. 95 S. Main. 473-9573; 2126 Madison. 725-1845. L, D, WB, X, $-$$

LOFLIN YARD—Beer garden and restaurant serves vegetarian fare and smoked-meat dishes, including beef brisket and pork tenderloin, cooked on a custom-made grill. Closed Mon.-Tues. 7 W. Carolina. 249-3046. L (Sat. and Sun.), D, MRA, $-$$

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LONGSHOT—Chef David Todd has something for everyone with a wide variety of international fusion dishes, and a side of shuffleboard. 477 S. Main. D, $-$$

THE LOOKOUT AT THE PYRAMID—Serves seafood and Southern fare, including cornmeal-fried oysters, sweet tea brined chicken, and elk chops. 1 Bass Pro Dr. 620-4600/291-8200. L, D, X, $-$$$

LUCY’S—Hu. Hotel’s downstairs diner serves up breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Start your day with a Hu. breakfast burrito, or Lucy’s Burger for a late-night bite 3 S. Main. 333-1200. B, L, D, X, $-$$

LUNA RESTAURANT & LOUNGE—Serving a limited menu of breakfast and lunch items. Dinner entrees include citrus glaze salmon and Cajun stuffed chicken. 179 Madison (Hotel Napoleon). 526-0002. B, D (Mon.-Sat.), X, $-$$$

MACIEL’S—Entrees include tortas, fried taco plates, quesadillas, chorizo and pastor soft tacos, salads, and more. Downtown closed Sun. 45 S. Main. 526-0037, X, MRA, $

THE MAJESTIC GRILLE—Features aged steaks, fresh seafood, and such specialties as roasted chicken and grilled pork tenderloin; offers a pre-theater menu and classic cocktails. Well-stocked bar. 145 S. Main. 522-8555. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$

McEWEN’S—Southern/American cuisine with international flavors; specialties include steak and seafood, sweet potato-crusted catfish with macaroni and cheese, and more. Closed Sun., Monroe location. 120 Monroe. 527-7085; 1110 Van Buren (Oxford). 662-234-7003. L, D, SB (Oxford only), X, MRA, $$-$$$

MESQUITE CHOP HOUSE—The focus here is on steaks, including prime fillet, rib-eyes, and prime-aged New York strip; also, some seafood options. 5960 Getwell (Southaven). 662-890-2467; 88 Union. 527-5337; 3165 Forest Hill-Irene (Germantown). 249-5661. D, SB (Germantown), X, $$-$$$

MOLLIE FONTAINE LOUNGE—Specializes in tapas (small plates) featuring global cuisine. Closed Sun.-Tues. 679 Adams Ave. 524-1886. D, X, MRA, $

MOMMA’S ROADHOUSE—This diner and dive at Highway 55 serves up hot and crispy fried chicken wings, among other solid bar food options. Temporarily closed. 855 Kentucky. 207-5111. L, D, MRA, $

NEW WING ORDER The award-winning food truck cooks up its signature hot wings at its first physical location, at Ghost River on Beale. Closed Mon/Tue. 341 Beale. L, D, $-$$

THE NINE THAI & SUSHI—Serving authentic Thai dishes, including curries, as well as a variety of sushi rolls. Closed for lunch Sat. and Sun. 121 Union. 208-8347. L, D, X, $-$$

THE PARAMOUNT—Fried green tomato and crab beignet small plates to grilled lamb loin, cowboy ribeye, and an extensive cocktail list. Closed Sun/Mon. 265 S. Front. 410-8169. D, $-$$$$

PAULETTE’S—Presents fine dining with a Continental flair, including such entrees as filet Paulette with butter cream sauce and crabmeat and spinach crepes; also changing daily specials and great views. River Inn. 50 Harbor Town Square. 260-3300. B, L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$

PEARL’S OYSTER HOUSE—Downtown eatery serving seafood, including oysters, crawfish, and stuffed butterfly shrimp, as well as beef, chicken, and pasta dishes. 299 S. Main. 522-9070; 8106 Cordova Center Dr. (Cordova). 425-4797. L, D, SB, X, $-$$$

PONTOTOC LOUNGE—Upscale restaurant and jazz bar serves such starters as alligator filet fritters; entrees include Mississippi pot roast with jalapeño cornbread and tagliatelle with braised beef. 314 S. Main. 207-7576. D, X, $-$$

RAW GIRLS—Raw and hot plant-based food alongside cold-pressed juices made from seasonal, locally grown sources. Closed Sun. 150 Peabody Pl., Suite 118. 207-5463. B, L, D, $-$$

REGINA’S—New Orleans-inspired eatery offering po’boys, Cajun nachos topped with crawfish tails, catfish platters, oysters, and more. Closed Mon. 60 N. Main. 730-0384. B, L, D, SB, X, $-$$

RENDEZVOUS, CHARLES VERGOS’—Menu items include barbecued ribs, cheese plates, skillet shrimp, red beans and rice, and Greek salads. Closed Sun.-Mon. 52 S. Second. 523-2746. L (Fri.Sat.), D, X, $-$$

SABOR CARIBE—Serving up “Caribbean flavors” with dishes from Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. Closed Sunday. 662 Madison. 949-8100. L, D, X, $

SAGE—Restaurant and lounge features daily lunch specials and tapas with such dishes as braised short ribs, teriyaki pulled pork, and the Sage burger made with Angus beef, avocado mash, fried egg, and flash-fried sage. 94 S. Main. 672-7902. L, D, WB, X, $-$$

SILLY GOOSE LOUNGE—Gourmet, wood-fired pizzas and handcrafted cocktails at this Downtown restaurant and lounge. 150 Peabody Place, Suite 111. 435-6915. L, D, X, $

SOUTH MAIN SUSHI & GRILL—Serving sushi, nigiri, and more. 520 S. Main. 249-2194. L, D, X, $

SOB—Elevated gastropub that serves favorites like general Tso’s cauliflower or duck fried rice. 345 S. Main. 526-0388. L, D, WB, X , $-$$

SOUTH POINT GROCERY—Fresh and delicious sandwiches made to order at Downtown’s new grocery market. 136 Webster Ave. B, L, D, $

SUGAR GRITS—Who said breakfast has to be in the morning? The Westmorelands offer grits and other breakfast goodness all day long, in addition to other Southern-style lunch and dinner options. 150 Peabody Pl., Suite 111. 249-5206. B, L, D, $-$$

SUNRISE MEMPHIS—Serves breakfast all day, including house-made biscuits, frittatas, kielbasa or boudin plates, and breakfast platters. 670 Jefferson. 552-3144. B, L, X, MRA, $

SUPPER CLUB ON 2ND—Fine dining and urban bistro styles collide at this snazzy, chic restaurant, featuring gold-encrusted tomahawk steaks, a deep sea lobster dawg, fancy cocktails, and plenty of other elevated goodies. 85 S. 2nd St. 453-6334. D, WB, $$-$$$

TALK SHOP—Southern-style cuisine, a breakfast bar, and plenty of other cool dishes and drinks at the Caption by Hyatt. 245 S. Front St. B, L, D, $-$$

TERRACE—Creative American and Continental cuisine includes such dishes as filet mignon, beef or lamb sliders, chicken satay, and mushroom pizzetta. Rooftop, River Inn of Harbor Town, 50 Harbor Town Square. 260-3366. D, X, MRA, $$

TEXAS DE BRAZIL—Serves beef, pork, lamb, and chicken dishes, and Brazilian sausage; also a salad bar with extensive toppings. 150 Peabody Place, Suite 103. 526-7600. L (Wed.-Fri.), D, SB, X, $$-$$$

TUG’S—Famous for New Orleans gumbo, fabulous burgers, fried thin catfish, and specialty pancakes. Now serving Grisanti Crafted Pizza. 51 Harbor Town Square. 260-3344. B, L, D, WB, X, $$-$$$

THE VAULT—Oysters, shrimp beignets, flatbreads, stuffed cornish hen, and Smash Burger featured on “Late Nite Eats” are among the dishes offered at this Creole/Italian fusion eatery. 124 G.E. Patterson. 591-8000. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$

WAHLBURGERS WILD—Wahlburgers brings its classic menu, but with a few gamey twists at the Bass Pro Pyramid. 1 Bass Pro Drive. B, L, D, $-$$

WESTY’S—Extensive menu includes a variety of wild rice dishes, sandwiches, plate lunches, and hot fudge pie. 346 N. Main. 543-3278.L, D, X, $

MIDTOWN (INCLUDES THE MEDICAL CENTER)

ABNER’S FAMOUS CHICKEN—Fried chicken tenders and dipping sauces galore at this Mid-South staple. 1350 Concourse Ave, Suite 137. 425-2597; (East Memphis) 1591 Poplar Ave. 509-3351; (Cordova) 1100 N. Germantown Pkwy. 754-5355. L, D, $-$$

ABYSSINIA RESTAURANT—Ethiopian/Mediterranean menu includes beef, chicken, lamb, fish entrees, and vegetarian dishes; also a lunch buffet. 2600 Poplar. 321-0082. L, D, X, $-$$

ALCHEMY—Southern fusion, locally grown cuisine features small and large plates; among the offerings are pan-seared hanger steak, quail, and lamb chops; also handcrafted cocktails and local craft beers. 940 S. Cooper. 726-4444. D, SB, X, $-$$

ART BAR—Inventive cocktails feature locally foraged ingredients; snacks include house-cured salt & vinegar potato chips and herb-roasted olives. Closed Mon. 1350 Concourse Avenue #280. 507-8030. D, X, $

BABALU TACOS & TAPAS—This eatery dishes up Spanish-style tapas with Southern flair; also taco and enchilada of the day; specials change daily. 2115 Madison. 274-0100; 6450 Poplar, 410-8909. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$

BACK DO / MI YARD—A revamped patio space behind The Beauty Shop features rotisserie meats and fishes via Brazilian-style outdoor grill. Dinner Wed.-Sat., weather permitting. 966 S. Cooper, 272-7111. D, X, $$

BAIN BARBECUE & BAKERY—Brian Bain’s popular Texasstyle barbecue is back, alongside an assortment of baked goods. 993 S. Cooper. 310-4141. B, L, $-$$

BAR DKDC—Features an ever-changing menu of international “street food,” from Thai to Mexican, Israeli to Indian, along with specialty cocktails. 964 S. Cooper. 272-0830. D, X , MRA, $

BAR KEOUGH—It’s old-school eats and cocktails at the new CooperYoung neighborhood corner bar by Kevin Keough. 247 Cooper St. D, X , $ BAR-B-Q SHOP—Dishes up barbecued ribs, spaghetti, bologna, other classics. Closed Sun. 1782 Madison. 272-1277. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$

BARI RISTORANTE ENOTECA—Authentic Southeastern Italian cuisine (Puglia) emphasizes lighter entrees. Serves fresh fish and beef

dishes and a homemade soup of the day. 524 S. Cooper. 722-2244. D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

BARKSDALE RESTAURANT—Old-school diner serving breakfast and Southern plate lunches. 237 S. Cooper. 722-2193. B, L, D, X, $

BAYOU BAR & GRILL—New Orleans fare at this Overton Square eatery includes jambalaya, gumbo, catfish Acadian, shrimp dishes, red beans and rice, and muffalettas. 2094 Madison. 278-8626. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$

BEAUTY SHOP—Modern American cuisine with international flair served in a former beauty shop. Serves steaks, salads, pasta, and seafood, including pecan-crusted golden sea bass. Perennial “Best Brunch” winner. Closed for dinner Sunday. 966 S. Cooper. 272-7111. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

BELLY ACRES—At this festive Overton Square eatery, milkshakes, floats, and burgers rule. Burgers are updated with contemporary toppings like grilled leeks, braised tomatoes, and sourdough or brioche buns. 2102 Trimble Pl. 529-7017. L, D, X, $

BOSCOS—Tennessee’s first craft brewery serves a variety of freshly brewed beers as well as wood-fired oven pizzas, pasta, seafood, steaks, and sandwiches. 2120 Madison. 432-2222. L, D, SB (with live jazz), X, MRA, $-$$

BOUNTY ON BROAD—Offering family-style dining, Bounty serves small plates and family-sized platters, with such specialties as chicken-fried quail and braised pork shank. 2519 Broad. 410-8131. L (Sat. and Sun.), D (Mon.-Sat.), SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

BROADWAY PIZZA—Serving a variety of pizzas, including the Broadway Special, as well as sandwiches, salads, wings, and soul-food specials. 2581 Broad. 454-7930; 627 S. Mendenhall. 207-1546. L, D, X, $-$$

CAFE 1912—French/American bistro owned by culinary pioneer Glenn Hays serving such seafood entrees as seared sea scallops with charred cauliflower purée and chorizo cumin sauce; also crepes, salads, and onion soup gratinée. 243 S. Cooper. 722-2700. D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

CAFE BROOKS BY CITY & STATE—Serving grab-and-go pastries, as well as lunch items. Menu includes soups, salads, and sandwiches, such as the Modern Reuben and Grown-Up Grilled Cheese. 1934 Poplar (Memphis Brooks Museum of Art). 544-6200. B, L, X, $

CAFE ECLECTIC—Omelets and chicken and waffles are among menu items, along with quesadillas, sandwiches, wraps, and burgers. Menu varies by location. 603 N. McLean. 725-1718; 111 Harbor Town Square. 590-4645. B, L, D, SB, X, MRA, $

CAFE OLÉ—This eatery specializes in authentic Mexican cuisine; one specialty is the build-your-own quesadilla. 959 S. Cooper. 343-0103. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$

CAFE PALLADIO—Serves gourmet salads, soups, sandwiches, and desserts in a tea room inside the antiques shop. Closed Sun. 2169 Central. 278-0129. L, X, $

CAFE SOCIETY—With Belgian and classic French influences, serves Wagyu beef, chicken, and seafood dishes, including bacon-wrapped shrimp, along with daily specials and vegetarian entrees. Closed for lunch Sat.-Sun. 212 N. Evergreen. 722-2177. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$

CAMEO—Three longtime Memphis bartenders join forces for creative cocktails, cheese boards, snacks, and Sunday brunch. 1835 Union Ave., Suite 3. 305-6511. D, SB, $-$$

CELTIC CROSSING—Specializes in Irish and American pub fare. Entrees include shepherd’s pie, shrimp and sausage coddle, and fish and chips. 903 S. Cooper. 274-5151. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$

CENTRAL BBQ—Serves ribs, smoked hot wings, pulled pork sandwiches, chicken, turkey, nachos, and portobello sandwiches. Offers both pork and beef barbecue. 2249 Central Ave. 272-9377; 4375 Summer Ave. 767-4672; 147 E. Butler. 672-7760 ; 6201 Poplar. 4177962. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$

COMPLICATED PILGRIM—Quick serve coffee shop, bar, and restaurant all in one at The Memphian hotel. 21 S. Cooper St. 601-9095820. B, L, D, $-$$

THE COVE—Nautical-themed restaurant and bar serving oysters, pizzas, and more. The Stoner Pie, with tamales and fritos, is a popular dish. 2559 Broad. 730-0719. L, D, $

THE CRAZY NOODLE—Korean noodle dishes range from bibam beef noodle with cabbage, carrots, and other vegetables, to curry chicken noodle; also rice cakes served in a flavorful sauce. Closed for lunch Sat.-Sun. 2015 Madison. 272-0928. L, D, X, $

EAT AT BLACK LODGE—High-end breakfasts, like waffle grilled cheese sandwiches, nacho and tater-tot “tot-chos,” and other entrees like sweet spicy thai pork at the longtime video store. Closed Mon./Tue. 405 N. Cleveland. 672-7905. L, D, $-$$

ECCO—Mediterranean-inspired specialties range from rib-eye steak to seared scallops to housemade pastas and a grilled vegetable plate; also a Saturday brunch. Closed Sun.-Mon. 1585 Overton Park. 410-8200. B, L, D, X, $-$$

FABIOLA’S KITCHEN—Longtime caterer Fabiola Francis serves up burgers, tacos, fish, and much more. 1353 Jackson Ave. B, L, $

FARM BURGER—Serves grass-fed, freshly ground, locally sourced burgers; also available with chicken, pork, or veggie quinoa patties, with such toppings as aged white cheddar, kale coleslaw, and roasted beets. 1350 Concourse Avenue, Suite 175. 800-1851. L, D, X, $

THE FARMER AT RAILGARTEN—Mac Edwards comes out of retirement with classics including pan-seared catfish, gulf shrimp and grits, or a Gibson donut bread pudding. Closed Mon./Tue. 2166 Central. 313-0087. D, $-$$

FINO’S ITALIAN DELI & CATERING—The newly revived Fino’s offers the old favorites such as the Acquisto as well as a new breakfast menu. 1853 Madison. 272-FINO. B, L, D, X, $

FLAME RAMEN—Traditional Japanese ramen restaurant serving up bowls of noodles in Midtown. 1838 Union Ave. 779-8666. D, $-$$

FLIP SIDE—Pinball meets pub in the Crosstown neighborhood, with plenty of games alongside a Caribbean- and Latininspired menu. Closed Mon. 1349 Autumn Ave. L, D, $-$$

FRIDA’S—Mexican cuisine and Tex-Mex standards, including chimichangas, enchiladas, and fajitas; seafood includes shrimp and tilapia. 1718 Madison. 244-6196. L, D, X, $-$$

GLOBAL CAFÉ—This international food hall hosts three immigrant/ refugee food entrepreneurs serving Venezuelan, Sudanese, and Syrian cuisines. Samosas, shawarma, and kabobs are among the menu items. Closed Mon. 1350 Concourse Avenue, Suite 157. L, D, X, MRA, $

GOLDEN INDIA—Northern Indian specialties include tandoori chicken as well as lamb, beef, shrimp, and vegetarian dishes. 2097 Madison. 728-5111. L, D, X, $-$$

GROWLERS—Sports bar and eatery serves standard bar fare in addition to pasta, tacos, chicken and waffles, and light options. 1911 Poplar. 244-7904. L, D, X, $-$$

HATTIE B’S—Fried chicken spot features “hot chicken” with a variety of heat levels; from no heat to “shut the cluck up” sauce. Sides include greens, pimento mac-and-cheese, and black-eyed pea salad. 596 S. Cooper. 424-5900. L, D, X, $

HUEY’S—This family-friendly restaurant offers 13 different burgers, a variety of sandwiches, and delicious soups and salads. 1927 Madison. 726-4372; 1771 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 7543885; 77 S. Second (Downtown). 527-2700; 2130 W. Poplar (Collierville). 854-4455; 7090 Malco Blvd. (Southaven). 662-349-7097; 7825 Winchester. 624-8911; 4872 Poplar. 682-7729; 7677 Farmington Blvd. (Germantown). 318-3030; 8570 Highway 51 N. (Millington). 873-5025. L, D, X, MRA, $

IMAGINE VEGAN CAFE—Dishes at this fully vegan restaurant range from salads and sandwiches to full dinners, including eggplant parmesan and “beef” tips and rice; breakfast all day Sat. and Sun. 2158 Young. 654-3455. L, D, WB, X, $

INDIA PALACE—Tandoori chicken, lamb shish kabobs, and chicken tikka masala are among the entrees; also, vegetarian options and a daily all-you-can-eat lunch buffet. 1720 Poplar. 278-1199. L, D, X, $-$$

INSPIRE COMMUNITY CAFE—Serving breakfast all day, in addition to quesadillas, rice bowls, and more for lunch and dinner. 510 Tillman, Suite 110. 509-8640. B, L, D, X, $

KNIFEBIRD—Neighborhood wine bar boasts plenty of flights, cocktails, and mocktails alongside bruschetta and charcuterie boards. Closed Sun. 2155 Central Ave. 748-5425. D, $-$$$

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM—Serves such Southern cuisine as po’boys, shrimp and grits, and wood-fired pizzas. 2119 Madison. 2075097. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$

LBOE—Gourmet burger joint serves locally sourced ground beef burgers, with options like the Mac-N-Cheese Burger and Caprese. Black bean and turkey patties available. 2021 Madison. 725-0770. L, D, X, $

THE LIQUOR STORE—Renovated liquor store turned diner serves all-day breakfast, sandwiches, and entrees such as Salisbury steak and smothered pork chops. Closed for dinner Sun.-Mon. 2655 Broad. 405-5477. B, L, D, X, $-$$

LITTLE ITALY—Serving New York-style pizza as well as subs and pasta dishes. 1495 Union. 725-0280; L, D, X, $-$$

MAXIMO’S ON BROAD—Serving a tapas menu that features creative fusion cuisine; entrees include veggie paella and fish of the day. Closed Mon. 2617 Broad Ave. 452-1111. D, SB, X, $-$$

MEMPHIS PIZZA CAFE—Homemade pizzas are specialties; also serves sandwiches, calzones, and salads. 2087 Madison. 726-5343;

5061 Park Ave. 684-1306; 7604 W. Farmington (Germantown). 7532218; 797 W. Poplar (Collierville). 861-7800; 5627 Getwell (Southaven). 662-536-1364. L, D, X, $-$$

MEMPHIS WHISTLE—Cocktails, cocktails, and even more delicious cocktails alongside burgers, sandwiches, and other tasty snacks. 2299 Young Ave. Closed Mon.-Tue. 236-7136. D, $-$$

MIDPOINTE FROM EDGE ALLEY—Edge Alley’s sister cafe at the Ballet Memphis headquarters focuses on freshness for its breakfast, lunch, and happy hour tapas. Closed Sun.-Mon. 2144 Madison Ave. 425-2605. B, L, X, $

MOLLY’S LA CASITA—Homemade tamales, fish tacos, a vegetarian combo, and bacon-wrapped shrimp are a few of the specialties. 2006 Madison. 726-1873. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$

PANTÀ—Small, Catalan-inspired plates by Kelly English in the former Restaurant Iris space. 2146 Monroe Ave. Closed Mon.-Wed. 590-2828. L, D, $-$$.

PARISH GROCERY—Shrimp? Roast beef? Oysters? Whatever type of po’boy you want, the New Orleans-themed eatery has got it. Closed Monday. 916 S. Cooper St. 207-4347. L, D, X, $-$$

PAYNE’S BAR-B-QUE—Opened in 1972, this family-owned barbecue joint serves ribs, smoked sausage, and chopped pork sandwiches with a standout mustard slaw and homemade sauce. About as down-to-earth as it gets. 1762 Lamar. 272-1523. L, D, $-$$

PHO BINH—Vietnamese, vegetarian, and Cantonese specialties include lemon tofu and spring rolls. Closed Sunday. 1615 Madison. 276-0006. L, D, $

RED FISH ASIAN BISTRO—In the former Nineteenth Century Club building, serves sushi, teriyaki, and hibachi. Specialties include yuzu filet mignon and Chilean sea bass. 1433 Union. 454-3926; 9915 Highway 64 (Lakeland). 729-7581; 6518 Goodman (Olive Branch). 662-874-5254. L, D, X, $-$$$

ROBATA RAMEN & YAKITORI BAR—Serves ramen noodle bowls and Yakitori skewers as well as rice and noodle dishes. 2116 Madison. 410-8290. L, D, X, $

SABROSURA—Serves Mexican and Cuban fare, including arroz tapada de pollo and steak Mexican. Closed Sun. 782 Washington. 421-8180. L, D, X, $-$$

SALT|SOY—Nick Scott and Brac McCarley team up to provide Southern and Asian-inspired dishes at this Japanese Izakaya. Closed Sunday, Monday. 2583 Broad Ave. 726-4444. D, $$

SALTWATER CRAB—Offers an array of seafood dishes including boils with blue crab, crab legs, lobster tails, and more, and specialty sushi like the Dynamite or Royal King rolls, in addition to signature sangrias and cocktails. 2059 Madison Ave. 922-5202. L, D, X, $$

THE SECOND LINE—Kelly English brings “relaxed Creole cuisine” to his newest eatery; serves a variety of po’boys and such specialties as barbecue shrimp, andouille shrimp, and pimento cheese fries. 2144 Monroe. 590-2829. L, D, WB, X, $-$$

SEKISUI—Japanese fusion cuisine, fresh sushi bar, grilled meats and seafood, California rolls, and vegetarian entrees. Poplar/ Perkins location’s emphasis is on Pacific Rim cuisine. Menu and hours vary at each location. 25 Belvedere. 725-0005; 1884 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 309-8800; 4724 Poplar. 767-7770; 2130 W. Poplar (Collierville). 854-0622; 2990 Kirby-Whitten (Bartlett). 377-2727; 6696 Poplar. 747-0001. L, D, X, $-$$$

SOUL FISH CAFE—Serving Southern-style soul food, tacos, and po’boys, including catfish, crawfish, oyster, shrimp, chicken, and smoked pork tenderloin. 862 S. Cooper. 725-0722; 3160 Village Shops Dr. (Germantown). 755-6988; 4720 Poplar. 590-0323. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$

STICKEM—Brick and mortar location for the popular food truck, which offers grilled meat on a stick. 1788 Madison. Closed Sunday. 474-7214. L, D, X, $

TAMBOLI’S PASTA & PIZZA—Pasta-maker Miles Tamboli whips up Italian soul food with seasonal menus featuring dishes like crispy fried chicken or creamy bucatini with pecorino cheese. Serves dinner Tues.-Sat. 1761 Madison. 410-8866. D, X, $-$$

TAKASHI BISTRO—Fusion restaurant with an open kitchen that lets customers watch chefs prepare a variety of Japanese and Thai cuisine. 1680 Union Ave., Suite 109. 800-2936. L, D, $-$$.

TONICA—Paella and other Spanish-inspired dishes with an Italian touch, alongside an extensive list of gin and tonics. 1545 Overton Park. Closed Mon.-Wed. D, $-$$

TSUNAMI—Features Pacific Rim cuisine (Asia, Australia, South Pacific, etc.); also a changing “small plate” menu. Chef Ben Smith is a Cooper-Young pioneer. Specialties include Asian nachos and roasted sea bass. Closed Sunday. 928 S. Cooper. 274-2556. D, X, MRA, $$-$$$

TUYEN’S ASIAN BISTRO—A variety of Asian dishes from the minds and chefs behind Saigon Le. Closed Sun. 288 N. Cleveland.

L, D, $-$$

ZINNIE’S—Dive bar classic reopens with a makeover and signature Zinnaloni sandwich. 1688 Madison. 726-5004. L, D, X, $

SOUTH MEMPHIS (INCLUDES PARKWAY VILLAGE, FOX MEADOWS, SOUTH MEMPHIS, WINCHESTER, AND WHITEHAVEN)

BALA’S BISTRO—Authentic West African cuisine available to order or by the pound, alongside traditional American dishes and an extensive vegan menu. 4571 Elvis Presley Blvd. 509-3024. L, D, $-$$

COLETTA’S—Longtime eatery serves such specialties as homemade ravioli, lasagna, and pizza with barbecue or traditional toppings. 1063 S. Parkway E. 948-7652; 2850 Appling Rd. (Bartlett). 383-1122. L, D, X, $-$$

CURRY BOWL—Specializes in Southern Indian cuisine, serving Tandoori chicken, biryani, tikka masala, and more. Weekend buffet. 4141 Hacks Cross Rd. 207-6051. L, D, $

DELTA’S KITCHEN—The premier restaurant at The Guest House at Graceland serves Elvis-inspired dishes — like Nutella and Peanut Butter Crepes for breakfast — and upscale Southern cuisine — including lamb chops and shrimp and grits — for dinner. 3600 Elvis Presley Blvd. 443-3000. B, D, X, $-$$$

DWJ KOREAN BARBECUE—This authentic Korean eatery serves kimbap, barbecued beef short ribs, rice and noodles dishes, and hot pots and stews. 3750 Hacks Cross Rd., Suite 101. 746-8057; 2156 Young. 207-6204. L, D, $-$$

FABULOUS FLAVORS & FRIENDS ”The Candy Lady” Precious Thompson Jones comes up with a little bit of everything: omelettes, quesadillas, t-bones and waffles, and plenty of soul food. 2063 E. Brooks Rd. 314-0735. L, D, $

THE FOUR WAY—Legendary soul-food establishment dishing up such entrees as fried and baked catfish, chicken, and turkey and dressing, along with a host of vegetables and desserts. Around the corner from the legendary Stax Studio. Closed Mon. 998 Mississippi Blvd. 507-1519. L, D, $

HERNANDO’S HIDEAWAY–No one cares how late it gets; not at Hernando’s Hideaway. Live music, killer happy hour, and plenty of bar fare at this South Memphis hang. 3210 Old Hernando Rd. 917-982-1829. L, D, $

INTERSTATE BAR-B-Q—Specialties include chopped pork-shoulder sandwiches, ribs, hot wings, spaghetti, chicken, and turkey. 2265 S. Third. 775-2304; 150 W. Stateline Rd. (Southaven). 662-393-5699. L, D, X, $-$$

JIM & SAMELLA’S—It’s a revolving menu of soul food delight from Chef Talbert Fleming, with anything from Southern ribs to fried tamales. 841 Bullington Ave. 265-8761. L, D, X, $

LEONARD’S—Serves wet and dry ribs, barbecue sandwiches, spaghetti, catfish, homemade onion rings, and lemon icebox pie; also a lunch buffet. 5465 Fox Plaza. 360-1963. L, X, $-$$

MARLOWE’S—In addition to its signature barbecue and ribs, Marlowe’s serves Southern-style steaks, chops, lasagna, and more. 4381 Elvis Presley Blvd. 332-4159. D, X, MRA, $-$$

UNCLE LOU’S FRIED CHICKEN—Featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives for good reason: fried chicken (mild, hot, or home-style); jumbo burgers four patties high; strawberry shortcake, and assorted fruit pies. 3633 Millbranch. 332-2367. L, D, X, MRA, $

SUMMER/BERCLAIR/ RALEIGH/BARTLETT

ASIAN PALACE—Chinese eatery serves seafood, vegetarian items, dim sum, and more. 5266 Summer Ave. 766-0831. L, D, X, $-$$

BISCUITS & JAMS—Biscuits, waffles, French toast, and plenty of sharables at this Bartlett breakfast spot. Closed Mon./Tue. 5806 Stage Rd. 672-7905. B, L, $

CEVICHERIA AND GRILL CHILEMON—Ceviche, of course, but also plenty of other postres, aperitivos, and mixed grilled meat and seafood feasts. Closed Sun. 4509 Summer Ave. 672-7905. L, D, $

ELWOOD’S SHACK—Casual comfort food includes tacos, pizza, and sandwiches. Specialties include meats smoked in-house (chicken, turkey, brisket, pork), barbecue pizza, and steelhead trout tacos. 4523 Summer. 761-9898. B, L, D, X, $

EXLINES’ BEST PIZZA—Serves pizza, Italian dinners, sandwiches, and salads. 6250 Stage Rd. 382-3433; 2935 Austin Peay. 388-4711; 2801 Kirby Parkway. 754-0202; 7730 Wolf River Blvd. (Germantown). 753-4545; 531 W. Stateline Rd. 662-342-4544. L, D, X , MRA, $

LA TAQUERIA GUADALUPANA—Fajitas and quesadillas are just a few of the authentic Mexican entrees offered here. A bonafide Memphis institution. 4818 Summer. 685-6857; 5848 Winchester. 365-4992. L, D, $

LOTUS—Authentic Vietnamese-Asian fare, including lemon-grass chicken and shrimp, egg rolls, Pho soup, and spicy Vietnamese vermicelli. 4970 Summer. 682-1151. D, X, $

MORTIMER’S—Contemporary American entrees include trout almondine, chicken dishes, and hand-cut steaks; also sandwiches, salads, and daily/nightly specials. A Memphis landmark since the Knickerbocker closed. Closed for lunch Sat.-Sun. 590 N. Perkins. 7619321. L, D, X, $-$$

NAGASAKI INN—Chicken, steak, and lobster are among the main courses; meal is cooked at your table. 3951 Summer. 454-0320. D, X, $$

NAM KING—General Tso’s chicken, hot and sour soup, and homemade chicken wings are back at the longtime Raleigh Chinese eatery. 3624 Austin Peay Highway, #3. 373-4411. L, D, $-$$

PANDA GARDEN—Sesame chicken and broccoli beef are among the Mandarin and Cantonese entrees; also seafood specials and fried rice. Closed for lunch Saturday. 3735 Summer. 323-4819. L, D, X, $-$$

QUEEN OF SHEBA—Featuring Middle Eastern favorites and Yemeni dishes such as lamb haneeth and saltah. 4792 Summer. 207-4174. L, D, $

SIDE PORCH STEAK HOUSE—In addition to steak, the menu includes chicken, pork chops, and fish entrees; homemade rolls are a specialty. Closed Sun./Mon. 5689 Stage Rd. 377-2484. D, X, $-$$

TORTILLERIA LA UNICA—Individual helping of Mexican street food, including hefty tamales, burritos, tortas, and sopes. 5015 Summer Ave. 685-0097. B, L, D, X, $

UNIVERSITY NEIGHBORHOOD DISTRICT (INCLUDES CHICKASAW GARDENS AND HIGHLAND STRIP)

A-TAN—Serves Chinese and Japanese hibachi cuisine, complete with sushi bar. A specialty is Four Treasures with garlic sauce. 3445 Poplar, Suite 17, University Center. 452-4477. L, D, X, $-$$$

THE BLUFF—New Orleans-inspired menu includes alligator bites, nachos topped with crawfish and andouille, gumbo, po’boys, and fried seafood platters. 535 S. Highland. 454-7771. L, D, X, $-$$

BROTHER JUNIPER’S—This little cottage is a breakfast mecca, offering specialty omelets, including the open-faced San Diegan omelet; also daily specials, and homemade breads and pastries. Closed Mon. 3519 Walker. 324-0144. B, X, $

CHAR RESTAURANT—Specializing in modern Southern cuisine, this eatery offers homestyle sides, charbroiled steaks, and fresh seafood. 431 S. Highland, Suite 120. 249-3533. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$

DERAE RESTAURANT Ethiopian and Mediterranean fare includes fuul, or fava beans in spices and yogurt, goat meat and rice, and garlic chicken over basmati rice with cilantro chutney; also salmon and tilapia. Closed Monday. 923 S. Highland. 552-3992. B, L, D, $-$$

EL PORTON—Fajitas, quesadillas, and steak ranchero are just a few of the menu items. 2095 Merchants Row (Germantown). 754-4268; 8361 Highway 64. 380-7877; 3448 Poplar (Poplar Plaza). 452-7330; 1805 N. Germantown Parkway (Cordova). 624-9358; 1016 W. Poplar (Collierville). 854-5770. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$

MEDALLION—Offers steaks, seafood, chicken, and pasta entrees. Closed for dinner Sunday. 3700 Central, Holiday Inn (Kemmons Wilson School of Hospitality). 678-1030. B, L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

OPEN FLAME—This authentic Persian and Mediterranean eatery specializes in shish kebabs as well as kosher and halal fare. 3445 Poplar. 207-4995. L, D, X, $

PLANT BASED HEAT All of your favorite Southern-style recipes, but deliciously transformed into a vegan format. Specialties include the spicy fye junt burger, or the chopped ‘n’ smoked bbq jackfruit sandwich. Closed Sun. 669 S. Highland St. L, D, $

SAM’S DELI—Everything from sandwiches to bibimbap bowls at this local favorite. Closed Mon./Tue. 643 S. Highland St. 454-5582. L, D, $

EAST MEMPHIS (INCLUDES POPLAR/I-240)

ACRE—Features seasonal modern American cuisine in an avantegarde setting using locally sourced products; also small plates and enclosed garden patio. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun. 690 S. Perkins. 818-2273. L, D, X, $$-$$$

AGAVOS COCINA & TEQUILA—Camaron de Tequila, tamales, kabobs, and burgers made with a blend of beef and chorizo are among the

offerings at this tequila-centric restaurant and bar. 2924 Walnut Grove. 433-9345. L, D, X, $-$$

AMERIGO—Traditional and contemporary Italian cuisine includes pasta, wood-fired pizza, steaks, and cedarwood-roasted fish. 1239 Ridgeway, Park Place Mall. 761-4000. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

ANDALUSIA— Authentic Moroccan cuisine, including tagines, brochettes, and briouates. 5101 Sanderlin Ave., Suite 103. 236-7784.

L, D, $-$$

ANDREW MICHAEL ITALIAN KITCHEN—Traditional Italian cuisine with a menu from two of the city’s top chefs that changes seasonally with such entrees as Maw Maw’s ravioli. Closed Sun.-Mon. 712 W. Brookhaven Circle. 347-3569. D, X, MRA, $$-$$$

ANOTHER BROKEN EGG CAFE—Offering several varieties of eggs Benedict, waffles, omelets, pancakes, beignets, and other breakfast fare; also burgers, sandwiches, and salads. 6063 Park Ave. 729-7020; 65 S. Highland. 623-7122. B, L, WB, X, $

ANTIGUA MEXICAN BAR & GRILL—Tortas, tacos, and other authentic Mexican cuisine alongside freshly-made salsa, guacamole, and white queso dip. 717 N. White Station Rd. 761-1374. L, D, $-$$

BANGKOK ALLEY—Thai fusion cuisine includes noodle and curry dishes, chef-specialty sushi rolls, coconut soup, and duck and seafood entrees. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun. at Brookhaven location; call for hours. 715 W. Brookhaven Circle. 590-2585; 2150 W. Poplar at Houston Levee (Collierville). 854-8748. L, D, X, $-$$

BENIHANA—This Japanese steakhouse serves beef, chicken, and seafood grilled at the table; some menu items change monthly; sushi bar also featured. 912 Ridge Lake Blvd. 767-8980. L, D, X, $$-$$$

BIG BAD BREAKFAST—Fresh biscuits, house-made cured meats, jams, jellies, and more for the most important meal of the day. 6450 Poplar. 881-3346. B, L, $-$$

BROOKLYN BRIDGE ITALIAN RESTAURANT—Specializing in such homemade entrees as spinach lasagna and lobster ravioli; a seafood specialty is horseradish-crusted salmon. Closed Sun. 1779 Kirby Pkwy. 755-7413. D, X, $-$$$

BRYANT’S BREAKFAST—Three-egg omelets, pancakes, and The Sampler Platter are among the popular entrees here. Possibly the best biscuits in town. Closed Mon. and Tues. 3965 Summer. 324-7494. B, L, X, $

BUCKLEY’S FINE FILET GRILL—Specializes in steaks, seafood, and pasta. (Lunchbox serves entree salads, burgers, and more.) 5355 Poplar. 683-4538; 919 S. Yates (Buckley’s Lunchbox), 682-0570. L (Yates only, M-F), D, X, $-$$

CAPITAL GRILLE—Known for its dry-aged, hand-carved steaks; among the specialties are bone-in sirloin, and porcini-rubbed Delmonico; also seafood entrees and seasonal lunch plates. Closed for lunch Sat.Sun. Crescent Center, 6065 Poplar. 683-9291. L, D, X, $$$-$$$$

CASABLANCA—Lamb shawarma is one of the fresh, homemade specialties served at this Mediterranean/Moroccan restaurant; fish entrees and vegetarian options also available. 5030 Poplar. 725-8557 ; 7609 Poplar Pike (Germantown). 425-5908; 1707 Madison. 421-6949. L, D, X, $-$$

CIAO BELLA—Among the Italian and Greek specialties are lasagna, seafood pasta, gourmet pizzas, and vegetarian options. Closed for lunch Sat.-Sun. 565 Erin Dr., Erin Way Shopping Center. 205-2500. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$$

CITY SILO TABLE + PANTRY—With a focus on clean eating, this establishment offers fresh juices, as well as comfort foods re-imagined with wholesome ingredients. 5101 Sanderlin. 729-7687. Germantown: 7605 W. Farmington Blvd., Suite 2. 236-7223. B, L, D, X, $

COASTAL FISH COMPANY—Upscale offerings of international fish varieties utilizing styles ranging from Carribbean, East Coast, West Coast, Chinese, to Filipino, and more. 415 Great View Dr. E., Suite 101. 266-9000. D, X, $$-$$$

CORKY’S—Popular barbecue emporium offers both wet and dry ribs, plus a full menu of other barbecue entrees. Wed. lunch buffets, Cordova and Collierville. 5259 Poplar. 685-9744; 1740 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 737-1911; 743 W. Poplar (Collierville). 405-4999; 6434 Goodman Rd., Olive Branch. 662-893-3663. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$

DAN MCGUINNESS PUB—Serves fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, burgers, and other Irish and American fare; also lunch and dinner specials. 4694 Spottswood. 761-3711; 3964 Goodman Rd. 662-8907611. L, D, X, $

DORY—Chef David Krog whips up Southern specialties with classic French techniques and locally sourced ingredients. Current specialties include pork tenderloin, beef bourguignon, or cocoa-dusted chocolate truffles, with new weekly additions. 716 W. Brookhaven Circle. 310-4290. L, D, X, $$-$$$

ERLING JENSEN—For decades, has presented “globally inspired” cuisine to die for. Specialties are rack of lamb, big game entrees, and fresh fish dishes. 1044 S. Yates. 763-3700. D, X, MRA, $$-$$$

ERLING JENSEN SMALL BITES—Enjoy Erling Jensen’s specialty dishes in a sharable, small plate format alongside TopGolf Swing suites. 5069 Sanderlin Ave. 587-9464. L, D, X, $-$$$

FLEMING’S PRIME STEAKHOUSE—Serves wet-aged and dry-aged steaks, prime beef, chops, and seafood, including salmon, Australian lobster tails, and a catch of the day. 6245 Poplar. 761-6200. D, X, MRA, $$$-$$$$

FOLK’S FOLLY ORIGINAL PRIME STEAK HOUSE Specializes in prime steaks, as well as lobster, grilled Scottish salmon, Alaskan king crab legs, rack of lamb, and weekly specials. 551 S. Mendenhall. 762-8200. D, X, MRA, $$$-$$$$

FORMOSA—Offers Mandarin cuisine, including broccoli beef, hot-andsour soup, and spring rolls. Closed Mon. 6685 Quince. 753-9898. L, D, X, $-$$

FOX RIDGE PIZZA & GRILL—Pizzas, calzones, sub sandwiches, burgers, and meat-and-two plate lunches are among the dishes served at this eatery, which opened in 1979. 711 W. Brookhaven Circle. 758-6500. L, D, X, $

FRATELLI’S—Serves hot and cold sandwiches, salads, soups, and desserts, all with an Italian/Mediterranean flair. Closed Sun. 750 Cherry Rd., Memphis Botanic Garden. 766-9900. L, X, $

FRANK GRISANTI’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT—Northern Italian favorites include pasta with jumbo shrimp and mushrooms; also seafood, filet mignon, and daily lunch specials. Closed for lunch Sun. Embassy Suites Hotel, 1022 S. Shady Grove. 761-9462. L, D, X, $-$$$

HALF SHELL—Specializes in seafood, such as king crab legs; also serves steaks, chicken, pastas, salads, sandwiches, a ”voodoo menu”; oyster bar at Winchester location. 688 S. Mendenhall. 682-3966; 7825 Winchester. 737-6755. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$

HEN HOUSE—Hybrid wine/cocktail bar and tasting room with plenty of cosmopolitan eats. Closed Sun. 679 S. Mendenhall. 499-5436. D, $-$$$

HIGH POINT PIZZA—Serves a variety of pizzas, subs, salads, and sides. Closed Mon. A neighborhood fixture. 477 High Point Terrace. 452-3339. L, D, X, $-$$

HOG & HOMINY—The casual sister to Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen serves brick-oven-baked pizzas, including the Red-Eye with pork belly, and small plates with everything from meatballs to beef and cheddar hot dogs; and local veggies. And with a few surprises this time around. Closed for lunch Mon. 707 W. Brookhaven Cir. 207-7396. L, D, SB, X, MRA. $-$$$

HOUSTON’S—Serves steaks, seafood, pork chops, chicken dishes, sandwiches, salads, and Chicago-style spinach dip. Famous for first-class service. 5000 Poplar. 683-0915. L, D, X $-$$$

LA BAGUETTE—An almond croissant and chicken salad are among specialties at this French-style bistro. Closed for dinner Sun. 3088 Poplar. 458-0900. B, L, D (closes at 7), X, MRA, $

LAS DELICIAS—Popular for its guacamole, house-made tortilla chips, and margaritas, this restaurant draws diners with its chicken enchiladas, meat-stuffed flautas, and Cuban torta with spicy pork. Closed Sun. 4002 Park Ave. 458-9264; 5689 Quince. 800-2873. L, D, X, $

LIBRO AT LAURELWOOD—Bookstore eatery features a variety of sandwiches, salads, and homemade pasta dishes, with Italian-inspired options such as carbonara and potato gnocchi. Closed for dinner Sun. 387 Perkins Ext. (Novel). 800-2656. B, L, D, SB, X, $-$$

LOST PIZZA—Offering pizzas (with dough made from scratch), pasta, salads, sandwiches, tamales, and more. 2855 Poplar. 572-1803; 5960 Getwell (Southaven). 662-892-8684. L, D, X, $-$$

LYNCHBURG LEGENDS—This restaurant with a Jack Daniels’ theme and Southern cuisine serves such entrees as Bourbon Street salmon, buttermilk-fried chicken, and grilled steak and wild mushroom salad. DoubleTree Hotel, 5069 Sanderlin. 969-7777. B, L, D, X, $-$$$

MAGNOLIA & MAY—The family behind Grove Grill cooks up Southern-inspired casual dining at this country brasserie, with popular menu items like peach gazpacho, low country shrimp n’ grits, and plenty of weekend brunch options. Closed Mon. 718 Mt. Moriah Rd. 676-8100. D, SB, MRA. $$-$$$.

MAHOGANY MEMPHIS—Upscale Southern restaurant offers such dishes as coffee-rubbed lamb chops and baked Cajun Cornish hen. Closed for dinner Sun. and all day Mon.-Tues. 3092 Poplar, Suite 11. 623-7977. L, D, SB, X, $-$$$

MARCIANO MEDITERRANEAN AND ITALIAN CUISINE—Veal Saltimbocca with angel-hair pasta and white wine sauce is among the entrees; also steaks, seafood, and gourmet pizza. 780 E. Brookhaven Cir. 682-1660. D, X, $-$$

MAYURI INDIAN CUISINE—Serves tandoori chicken, masala dosa, tikka masala, as well as lamb and shrimp entrees; also a daily lunch buffet, and dinner buffet on Fri.-Sat. 6524 Quince Rd. 753-8755. L, D, X, $-$$

MELLOW MUSHROOM—Large menu includes assortment of pizzas, salads, calzones, hoagies, vegetarian options, and 50 beers on tap. 5138 Park Ave. 562-1211; 9155 Poplar, Shops of Forest Hill (Germantown). 907-0243. L, D, X, $-$$

MOSA ASIAN BISTRO—Specialties include sesame chicken, Thai calamari, rainbow panang curry with grouper fish, and other Pan Asian/ fusion entrees. Closed Mon. 850 S. White Station Rd. 683-8889. L, D, X, MRA, $

NAM KING—Offers luncheon and dinner buffets, dim sum, and such specialties as fried dumplings, pepper steak, and orange chicken. 4594 Yale. 373-4411. L, D, X, $

NAPA CAFE—Among the specialties are miso-marinated salmon over black rice with garlic spinach and shiitake mushrooms. Closed Sun. 5101 Sanderlin, Suite 122. 683-0441. L, D, X, MRA, $$-$$$

NEW HUNAN—Chinese eatery with more than 80 entrees; also lunch/ dinner buffets. 5052 Park. 766-1622. L, D, X, $

ONE & ONLY BBQ—On the menu are pork barbecue sandwiches, platters, wet and dry ribs, smoked chicken and turkey platters, a smoked meat salad, barbecue quesadillas, Brunswick Stew, and Millie’s homemade desserts. 1779 Kirby Pkwy. 751-3615; 567 Perkins Extd. 249-4227. L, D, X, $

ONO POKÉ—This eatery specializes in poké — a Hawaiian dish of fresh fish salad served over rice. Menu includes a variety of poké bowls, like the Kimchi Tuna bowl, or customers can build their own by choosing a base, protein, veggies, and toppings. 3145 Poplar. 618-2955. L, D, X , $

OWEN BRENNAN’S—New Orleans-style menu of beef, chicken, pasta, and seafood; jambalaya, shrimp and grits, and crawfish etouffee are specialties. Closed for dinner Sun. The Regalia, 6150 Poplar. 761-0990. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

PARK + CHERRY—The Dixon offers casual dining within the museum. Seasonal menu features sandwiches, like rustic chicken salad on croissant, as well as salads, snacks, and sweets. Closed for breakfast Sun. and all day Mon. 4339 Park (Dixon Gallery and Gardens). 761-5250. L, X, $

PATRICK’S—Serves barbecue nachos, burgers, and entrees such as fish and chips; also plate lunches and daily specials. 4972 Park. 682-2852. L, D, X, MRA, $

PETE & SAM’S—Serving Memphis for 60-plus years; offers steaks, seafood, and traditional Italian dishes, including homemade ravioli, lasagna, and chicken marsala. 3886 Park. 458-0694. D, X, $-$$$

PF CHANG’S CHINA BISTRO—Specialties are orange peel shrimp, Mongolian beef, and chicken in lettuce wraps; also vegetarian dishes, including spicy eggplant. 1181 Ridgeway Rd., Park Place Centre. 8183889. L, D, X, $-$$

PHO SAIGON—Vietnamese fare includes beef teriyaki, roasted quail, curry ginger chicken, vegetarian options, and a variety of soups. 2946 Poplar. 458-1644. L, D, $

PIMENTO’S KITCHEN + MARKET—Fresh sandwiches, soups, salads, and plenty of pimento cheese at this family-owned restaurant. 6540 Poplar Ave. 602-5488 (Collierville: 3751 S. Houston Levee. 453-6283). L, D, X, $

PYRO’S FIRE-FRESH PIZZA—Serving gourmet pizzas cooked in an open-fire oven, wide choice of toppings, and large local and craft beer selection. 1199 Ridgeway. 379-8294; 2035 Union Ave. 208-8857; 2286 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 207-1198; 3592 S. Houston Levee (Collierville). 221-8109. L, D, X, MRA, $

RED HOOK CAJUN SEAFOOD & BAR—Cajun-style array of seafood including shrimp, mussels, clams, crawfish, and oysters. 3295 Poplar. 207-1960. L, D, X, $-$$

RED KOI—Classic Japanese cuisine offered at this family-run restaurant; hibachi steaks, sushi, seafood, chicken, and vegetables. 5847 Poplar. 767-3456. L, D, X $-$$

RED PIER CAJUN SEAFOOD & BAR—Owners of Red Hook bring more cajun-style seafood dishes. 5901 Poplar Ave. 5125923. L, D, $-$$$

RESTAURANT IRIS—French Creole-inspired classics, such as Gulf shrimp and rice grits congee served with lap chong sausage and boiled peanuts, are served at this newly remodeled restaurant owned by Chef Kelly English, a Food and Wine “Top Ten.” Opening soon at 4550 Poplar. 590-2828. D, X, $$-$$$

RIVER OAKS—Chef Jose Gutierrez’s French-style bistro serves seafood and steaks, with an emphasis on fresh local ingredients. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun. 5871 Poplar Ave. 683-9305. L, D, X, $$$

RONNIE GRISANTI’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT— This Memphis institution serves some family classics such as Elfo’s Special and handmade ravioli, along with house-made pizza and fresh oysters. Closed Sun. 6150 Poplar, Suite 122. 850-0191. D, X, $-$$$

ROTOLO’S CRAFT & CRUST—Louisiana-based pizza company’s first Memphis location, whipping up pizza pies with homemade sauces and fresh ingredients, pasta, wings, and other shareables. 681 S. White Station. 454-3352. L, D, $-$$

RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE—Offers prime steaks cut and aged in-house, as well as lamb, chicken, and fresh seafood, including lobster. 6120 Poplar. 761-0055. D, X, $$$-$$$$

SALSA—Mexican-Southern California specialties include carnitas, enchiladas verde, and fajitas; also Southwestern seafood dishes such as snapper verde. Closed Sun. Regalia Shopping Center, 6150 Poplar, Suite 129. 683-6325. L, D, X, $-$$

SAUCY CHICKEN—Specializes in antibiotic-free chicken dishes with locally sourced ingredients, with such items as hot wings and the Crosstown Chicken Sandwich, and a variety of house-made dipping sauces; also, seafood, salads, and daily specials. Closed Sun. 4715 Poplar. 907-0741. L, D, $

SEASONS 52—This elegant fresh grill and wine bar offers a seasonally changing menu using fresh ingredients, wood-fire grilling, and brick-oven cooking; also a large international wine list and nightly piano bar. Crescent Center, 6085 Poplar. 682-9952. L, D, X, $$-$$$

SOBEAST—Eastern branch of the popular South of Beale, featuring the restaurant’s traditional staples, as well as rotating special menu items. 5040 Sanderlin. 818-0821. L, D, SB, X, $-$$.

STAKS—Offering pancakes, including birthday cake and lemon ricotta. Menu includes other breakfast items such as beignets and French toast, as well as soups and sandwiches for lunch. 4615 Poplar. 509-2367; 7704 Poplar (Germantown). 800-1951; 2902 May Blvd. (Southaven). B, L, WB, X, $

SWANKY’S TACO SHOP—Taco-centric eatery offers tortas, flatbreads, quesadillas, chimichangas, burgers, and more. 4770 Poplar. 730-0763; 6641 Poplar (Germantown). 737-2088; 272 S. Main. 7793499. L, D, X, $

THREE LITTLE PIGS—Pork-shoulder-style barbecue with tangy mild or hot sauce, freshly made coleslaw, and baked beans. 5145 Quince Rd. 685-7094. B, L, D, X, $

TOPS BAR-B-Q—Specializes in pork barbecue sandwiches and sandwich plates with beans and slaw; also serves ribs, beef brisket, and burgers. 1286 Union. 725-7527; 4183 Summer. 324-4325; 5391 Winchester. 794-7936; 3970 Rhodes. 323-9865; 6130 Macon. 3710580. For more locations, go online. L, D, X, $

TORCHY’S TACOS—Plenty of Tex-Mex variety, with creative monthly special tacos. 719 S. Mendenhall. 343-8880. B, L, D, $

VENICE KITCHEN—Specializes in “eclectic Italian” and Southern Creole, from pastas, including the “Godfather,” to hand-tossed pizzas, including the “John Wayne”; choose from 50 toppings. 368 Perkins Ext. 767-6872. L, D, SB, X, $-$$

WANG’S MANDARIN HOUSE—Offers Mandarin, Cantonese, Szechuan, and spicy Hunan entrees, including the golden-sesame chicken; next door is East Tapas, serving small plates with an Asian twist. 6065 Park Ave., Park Place Mall. 763-0676. L, D, X, $-$$

WASABI—Serving traditional Japanese offerings, hibachi, sashimi, and sushi. The Sweet Heart roll, wrapped — in the shape of a heart — with tuna and filled with spicy salmon, yellowtail, and avocado, is a specialty. 5101 Sanderlin Rd., Suite 105. 421-6399. L, D, X, $-$$

WOMAN’S EXCHANGE TEA ROOM—Chicken-salad plate, beef tenderloin, soups-and-sandwiches, and vegetable plates are specialties; meal includes drink and dessert. Closed Sat.-Sun. 88 Racine. 327-5681. L, X, $

ZAYDE’S AT THE J—Kosher options at the Memphis Jewish Community Center cafe include traditional New York-style dishes and Israeli fusion. 6560 Poplar Ave. 208-3495. L, D, $-$$

CORDOVA

BOMBAY HOUSE—Indian fare includes lamb korma and chicken tikka; also, a daily luncheon buffet. 1727 N. Germantown Pkwy. 755-4114. L, D, X, $-$$

THE BUTCHER SHOP—Serves steaks ranging from 8-oz. filets to a 20-oz. porterhouse; also chicken, pork chops, fresh seafood. 107 S. Germantown Rd. 757-4244. L (Fri. and Sun.), D, X, $$-$$$

GREEN BAMBOO—Pineapple tilapia, pork vermicelli, and the soft egg noodle combo are Vietnamese specialties here. 990 N. Germantown Parkway, Suite 104. 753-5488. L, D, $-$$

JIM ’N NICK’S BAR-B-Q—Serves barbecued pork, ribs, chicken, brisket, and fish, along with other homemade Southern specialties. 2359 N. Germantown Pkwy. 388-0998. L, D, X, $-$$

EL MERO TACO—This food truck turned restaurant serves up Mexican and Southern-style fusion dishes, including fried chicken tacos, chorizo con papas tacos, and brisket quesadillas. 8100 Macon Station, Suite 102. 308-1661. Closed Sun.-Mon. L, D, WB, X, $

POKÉ WORLD—Serves up Hawaiian poké bowls filled with rice and diced, raw fish. Also offers Taiwanese bubble tea and rolled ice cream for dessert. 1605 N. Germantown Pkwy., Suite 111. 623-7986. East Memphis: 575 Erin Dr. 779-4971. L, D, $

SHOGUN JAPANESE RESTAURANT—Entrees include tempura, teriyaki, and sushi, as well as grilled fish and chicken entrees. 2324 N. Germantown Pkwy. 384-4122. L, D, X, $-$$

TANNOOR GRILL—Brazilian-style steakhouse with skewers served tableside, along with Middle Eastern specialties; vegetarian options also available. 830 N. Germantown Pkwy. 443-5222. L, D, X, $-$$$

GERMANTOWN

BLUE HONEY BISTRO—Entrees at this upscale eatery include brown butter scallops served with Mississippi blue rice and herbcrusted beef tenderloin with vegetables and truffle butter. Closed Sun. 9155 Poplar, Suite 17. 552-3041. D, X, $-$$$

FOREST HILL GRILL—A variety of standard pub fare and a selection of mac-and-cheese dishes are featured on the menu. Specialties include Chicken Newport and a barbecue salmon BLT. 9102 Poplar Pike. 6246001. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$

GERMANTOWN COMMISSARY—Serves barbecue sandwiches, sliders, ribs, shrimp, and nachos, as well as smoked barbecued bologna sandwiches; Mon.-night all-you-can-eat ribs. 2290 S. Germantown Rd. S. 754-5540. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$

LAS TORTUGAS DELI MEXICANA—Authentic Mexican food prepared from local food sources; specializes in tortugas — grilled bread scooped out to hold such powerfully popular fillings as brisket, pork, and shrimp; also tingas, tostados. Closed Sun. 1215 S. Germantown Rd. 751-1200; 6300 Poplar. 623-3882. L, D, X, $-$$

MOONDANCE GRILL—From the owners of Itta Bena and Lafayette’s. Serves steak cooked sous vide and seafood dishes including Abita-barbecued shrimp and pan-seared sand dab, in addition to an extensive wine and cocktail list. 1730 S. Germantown Road, Suite 117. 755-1471. L, D, X, $$-$$$

NOODLES ASIAN BISTRO—Serves a variety of traditional Asian cuisine, with emphasis on noodle dishes, such as Singapore Street Noodles and Hong Kong Chow Fun. 7850 Poplar, Suite 12. 755-1117. L, D, X, $

PETRA CAFÉ—Serves Greek, Italian, and Middle Eastern sandwiches, gyros, and entrees. Hours vary; call. 6641 Poplar. 754-4440; 547 S. Highland. 323-3050. L, D, X, $-$$

ROCK’N DOUGH PIZZA CO.—Specialty and custom pizzas made from fresh ingredients; wide variety of toppings. 7850 Poplar, Suite 6. 779-2008. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $$

ROYAL PANDA—Hunan fish, Peking duck, Royal Panda chicken and shrimp, and a seafood combo are among the specialties. 3120 Village Shops Dr. 756-9697. L, D, X, $-$$

SAKURA—Sushi, tempura, and teriyaki are Japanese specialties here. 2060 West St. 758-8181; 4840 Poplar. 572-1002; 255 New Byhalia Rd. 316-5638. L, D, X, $-$$

SOUTHERN SOCIAL—Shrimp and grits, stuffed quail, and Aunt Thelma’s Fried Chicken are among the dishes served at this upscale Southern establishment. 2285 S. Germantown Rd. 754-5555. D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$

TAZIKI’S—Mediterranean-inspired dishes all made from scratch. 7850 Poplar Ave., Suite 26. 612-2713. East Memphis: 540 S. Mendenhall Rd. 290-1091. Bartlett: 7974 US-64. 203-0083. L, D, $

THE TOASTED YOLK CAFE—Churro donuts, signature Eggs Benedict, and plenty other boozy brunch options at this franchise’s first Tennessee location. 9087 Poplar Ave., Ste. 11. B, L, $-$$

UNCLE GOYO’S—More than 30 dishes with a focus on authentic Mexican cuisine, from the brains behind TacoNganas. 1730 S. Germantown Rd. L, D, $-$$

WEST STREET DINER—This home-style eatery offers breakfast, burgers, po’boys, and more. 2076 West St. 757-2191. B, L, D (Mon.-Fri.), X, $

ZEN JAPANESE FINE CUISINE—A full sushi bar and plenty of authentic Japanese dishes, like Hibachi or Wagyu beef. 1730 S. Germantown Rd. 779-2796. L, D, X, X, $-$$$

COLLIERVILLE

CAFE EUROPE—From Italian chef Michele D’oto, the French, Spanish, and Italian fusion cuisine includes a variety of dishes like Rosette al Forno, fish ceviche, and sole meuniere. Closed Sun. 4610 Merchants Park Circle, Suite 571. 286-4199. L, D, X, $$-$$$$

CAFE PIAZZA BY PAT LUCCHESI—Specializes in gourmet pizzas (including create-your-own), panini sandwiches, and pasta. Closed Sun. 139 S. Rowlett St. 861-1999. L, D, X, $-$$

CIAO BABY—Specializing in Neapolitan-style pizza made in a woodfired oven. Also serves house-made mozzarella, pasta, appetizers, and salads. 890 W. Poplar, Suite 1. 457-7457. L, D, X, $

COLLIERVILLE COMMISSARY—Serves barbecue sandwiches, sliders, ribs, shrimp, and nachos, as well as smoked barbecued bologna sandwiches. 3573 S. Houston Levee Rd. 979-5540. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$

COLLIERVILLE PIZZA COMPANY—Family-friendly and locally owned pizza company featuring live music and other events. 144 US 72. L, D, $-$$

DAVID GRISANTI’S—Serving Northern Italian cuisine and traditional family recipes, like the Elfo Special, shrimp sauteed in garlic and butter, tossed with white button mushrooms and white pepper, and served over vermicelli with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Closed Sun. 684 W. Poplar (Sheffield Antiques Mall). 861-1777. L, D (Thurs.-Sat.), X, $-$$$

EL MEZCAL—Serves burritos, chimichangas, fajitas, and other Mexican cuisine, as well as shrimp dinners and steak. 9947 Wolf River, 853-7922; 402 Perkins Extd. 761-7710; 694 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 755-1447; 1492 Union. 274-4264; 11615 Airline Rd. (Arlington). 867-1883; 9045 Highway 64 (Lakeland). 383-4219; 7164 Hacks Cross Rd. (Olive Branch). 662-890-3337; 8834 Hwy. 51 N. (Millington). 872-3220; 7424 Highway 64 (Bartlett). 417-6026. L, D, X, $

EMERALD THAI RESTAURANT—Spicy shrimp, pad khing, lemongrass chicken, and several noodle, rice, and vegetarian dishes are offered at this family restaurant. Closed Sunday. 8950 Highway 64 (Lakeland, TN). 384-0540. L, D, X, $-$$

FIREBIRDS—Specialties are hand-cut steaks, slow-roasted prime rib, and wood-grilled salmon and other seafood, as well as seasonal entrees. 4600 Merchants Circle, Carriage Crossing. 850-1637; 8470 Highway 64 (Bartlett). 379-1300. L, D, X, $-$$$

JIM’S PLACE GRILLE—Features American, Greek, and Continental cuisine. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun. 3660 Houston Levee. 861-5000. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$$

MULAN ASIAN BISTRO—Hunan Chicken, tofu dishes, and orange beef served here; sushi and Thai food, too. 2059 Houston Levee. 850-5288; 2149 Young. 347-3965; 4698 Spottswood. 609-8680. L, D, X, $-$$

OSAKA JAPANESE CUISINE—Featuring an extensive sushi menu as well as traditional Japanese and hibachi dining. Hours vary for lunch; call. 3670 Houston Levee. 861-4309; 3402 Poplar. 249-4690; 7164 Hacks Cross (Olive Branch). 662-890-9312; 2200 N. Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 425-4901. L, D, X, $-$$$

RAVEN & LILY—Eatery offers innovative Southern-inspired cuisine with such dishes as crispy shrimp and cauliflower salad, spiced lamb sausage and parmesan risotto, and bananas foster pain perdu. Closed Mon. 120 E. Mulberry. 286-4575. L, D, SB, X, $-$$

STIX—Hibachi steakhouse with Asian cuisine features steak, chicken, and a fillet and lobster combination, also sushi. A specialty is Dynamite Chicken with fried rice. 4680 Merchants Park Circle, Avenue Carriage Crossing. 854-3399. 150 Peabody Place, Suite 115 (Downtown). 207-7638 L, D, X, $-$$

WOLF RIVER BRISKET CO.—From the owners of Pyro’s Fire Fresh Pizza, highlights include house-smoked meats: prime beef brisket, chicken, and salmon. Closed Sun. 9947 Wolf River Boulevard, Suite 101. 316-5590; 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 165. 791-4389 L, D, X, $-$$

ZOPITA’S ON THE SQUARE—Cafe offers sandwiches, including smoked salmon and pork tenderloin, as well as salads and desserts. Closed Sun. 114 N. Main. 457-7526. L, D, X, $

OUT-OF-TOWN

BOZO’S HOT PIT BAR-B-Q—Barbecue, burgers, sandwiches, and subs. 342 Highway 70 (Mason, TN). 901-294-3400. L, D, $-$$

CATFISH BLUES—Serving Delta-raised catfish and Cajun- and Southern-inspired dishes, including gumbo and fried green tomatoes. 210 E. Commerce (Hernando, MS). 662-298-3814. L, D, $

CITY GROCERY—Southern eclectic cuisine; shrimp and grits is a specialty. Closed for dinner Sun. 152 Courthouse Square (Oxford, MS). 662-232-8080. L, D, SB, X, $$-$$$

COMO STEAKHOUSE—Steaks cooked on a hickory charcoal grill are a specialty here. Upstairs is an oyster bar. Closed Sun. 203 Main St. (Como, MS). 662-526-9529. D, X, $-$$$

ELFO GRISANTI’S NORTHERN ITALIAN CUISINE—Grisanti family classics like lasagna, homemade ravioli, garlic bread, and Northern Italian pizza. Closed Sun. 5627 Getwell Rd. (Southaven, MS). 662-4704497. L, D, X, $-$$

LONG ROAD CIDER CO.—Specializes in hard apple ciders made with traditional methods. Cafe-style entrees include black-eyed peas with cornbread and greens, chicken Gorgonzola pockets, cider-steamed sausage, and housemade ice creams. Closed Sun.-Wed. 9053 Barret Road. (Barretville, TN). 352-0962. D, X, $

MANILA FILIPINO RESTAURANT—Entrees include pork belly cutlet with lechon sauce, and shrimp and vegetables in tamarind broth; also daily combos, rice dishes, and chef specials. Closed Sun.-Mon. 7849 Rockford (Millington, TN). 209-8525. L, D, X, $

CASINO TABLES

CHICAGO STEAKHOUSE AT THE GOLDSTRIKE—1010 Casino Center Dr., Robinsonville, MS, 1-888-24KSTAY /662-357-1225

FAIRBANKS AT THE HOLLYWOOD—1150 Casino Strip Blvd., Robinsonville, MS, 1-800-871-0711

IGNITE STEAKHOUSE AT SOUTHLAND CASINO RACING—1550 N. Ingram Blvd., West Memphis, AR, 1-800-467-6182

JACK BINION’S STEAK HOUSE AT HORSESHOE—1021 Casino Center Drive, Robinsonville, MS, 1-800-303-SHOE

LUCKY 8 ASIAN BISTRO AT HORSESHOE—1021 Casino Center Drive, Robinsonville, MS, 1-800-303-SHOE

SOUTHLAND CASINO HOTEL'S THE KITCHENS—1550 N. Ingram Blvd., West Memphis, AR, 1-800-467-6182

THE STEAKHOUSE AT THE FITZ—711 Lucky Ln., Robinsonville, MS, 1-888-766-LUCK, ext 8213

TWAIN’S STEAKHOUSE AT SAM’S TOWN TUNICA—1477 Casino Strip Resorts Boulevard, Robinsonville, MS, 1-800-456-0711

MARSHALL STEAKHOUSE—Rustic steakhouse serves premium Angus beef steaks, seafood dishes, rack of lamb, and more. 2379 Highway 178 (Holly Springs, MS). 628-3556. B, L, D, X, $-$$$

MEMPHIS BARBECUE COMPANY—Offers spare ribs, baby backs, and pulled pork and brisket. 709 Desoto Cove (Horn Lake, MS). 662-536-3762. L, D, X, $-$$

NAGOYA—Offers traditional Japanese cuisine and sushi bar; specialties are teriyaki and tempura dishes. 7075 Malco Blvd., Suite 101 (Southaven, MS). 662-349-8788. L, D, X, $-$$$

PIG-N-WHISTLE—Offers pork shoulder sandwiches, wet and dry ribs, catfish, nachos, and stuffed barbecue potatoes. 6084 Kerr-Rosemark Rd. (Millington, TN). 872-2455. L, D, X, $

RAVINE—Serves contemporary Southern cuisine with an emphasis on fresh, locally grown foods and a menu that changes weekly. Closed Mon.-Tues. 53 Pea Ridge/County Rd. 321 (Oxford, MS). 662-234-4555. D, SB, X, $$-$$$

SAINT LEO’S—Offering sophisticated pizzas, pastas, sandwiches, and salads. A James Beard nominee for Best New Restaurant in 2017. 1101 Jackson (Oxford, MS). 662-234-4555. D, L, WB, $-$$

SNACKBAR—An intriguing mix of “French Bistro with North Mississippi Cafe.” Serving a confit duck Croque Monsieur, watermelon-cucumber chaat, pan-fried quail, plus a daily plate special and a raw bar. 721 N. Lamar (Oxford, MS). 662-236-6363. D, $-$$$

TEKILA MODERN MEXICAN—Modern interpretations of classic dishes from all over Mexico. 6343 Getwell Rd. (Southaven, MS). 662-510-5734. B, L, D, $-$$

WILSON CAFE— An impressive culinary destination in the heart of the Arkansas Delta. Serving jambalaya, Waygu flatiron, butternut ravioli, swordfish & shrimp kabobs, burgers. 2 N. Jefferson (Wilson, AR). 870-655-0222. L, D, WB, $-$$$

Raleigh Inn

At one time, this was — quite simply — the place to be.

BY VANCE LAUDERDALE

In the early 1800s a family traveling the old stagecoach road near present-day Raleigh stopped overnight because their baby had fallen ill. ey found several natural springs in the woods, bathed the child in the cool water, and the next day the child recovered.

So the legend began, and Raleigh Springs became a magnet for Memphis society, who journeyed out into the country to “take the waters.”

In 1842, Raleigh businessman David Coleman built a hotel at the springs, and in 1866 another

hotel owner persuaded a St. Louis doctor to testify that the water did indeed have medicinal value.

Events changed dramatically in 1892 when the tobacco-rich Duke family of North Carolina erected a grand hotel in the deep woods north of James Road. Costing more than $100,000 — an astonishing sum at the time — the Raleigh Inn was four stories tall, with turrets and balconies, and visitors proclaimed it the most beautiful hotel in the land. Graceful gazebos enhanced the springs, orchestras played on

weekends, dancers flocked to the inn’s grand ballroom, and Raleigh became the place to be. e Memphis Transit Authority even extended a special streetcar line to the hotel.

en it all came to an end. e water table dropped, and the springs dried up. e big hotel closed and new owners converted it into the Maddox Seminary for Young Ladies, and

a few years later turned that into the James Sanitarium. On the night of May 14, 1912, a patient smoking in bed set the place on fire, and the former hotel burned to the ground. e ending was rather ironic, considering that treatment at the sanitarium included battling addiction to tobacco — and the hotel itself had been constructed with Duke tobacco money.

If you know where to look — and I don’t suggest you try, since it’s private property — the crumbling ruins of the old springhouses still dot the dense woods, but almost nothing remains of the Raleigh Inn.