The Memphis Scene

The long-running and ever-popular Cooper-Young hot spot dish has a new menu of Asian goodies to replace the longtime Mediterranean-themed tapas card. If you're a fan of the fusion style found at other Jimmy Ishii properties like bluefin and Sekisui Pacific Rim, you'll love the new offerings. I checked out a few Saturday as dish sweltered with the crowd from the Cooper-Young Festival. A beef carpaccio brings rolled up medallions of beef wrapped around julienned cucumbers. The edamame hummus is wonderful -- fluffy and perfectly emulsified, sort of a sea-green color, served with fried wontons dripping with oil. Sushi, nigiri and sashimi are also offered -- with some unexpected twists. Vegetarians will find plenty of choices on the new menu as well.

NOTE: the beef carpaccio is wrapped around julienned cucumbers, not carrots. I changed the post to reflect that. No idea what I was thinking.

Paul Ryburn links to a TV report that the Daily Grill in the Westin Hotel will close at the end of September. The report says the restaurant will reopen -- "seamlessly" -- under a name familiar to Memphians. Circa owner and chef John Bragg is quoted extensively in the report, for no apparent reason except that his restaurant hasn't closed, which is saying something in this business climate.

Of note, I stopped in at the Daily Grill a few months ago for a happy-hour drink on my day off, and saw one Memphis Mayor Willie W. Herenton conversing with a constituent or two.

I've got the evening off Thursday, and I'm planning to check out the weekly Tapas on the Terrace happening at the Brooks Museum's Brushmark Restaurant. I've only eaten once at the Brushmark during Chef Wally Joe's tenure -- for lunch -- and I was thoroughly blown away.

Speaking of which, Joe turns up on today's Food section cover, in an Andria Lisle piece on cooking for the hot weather. Recipes abound, from Joe (salmon Nicoise!), Andria (sauteed shrimp!), and Umai Chef Ken Lumpkin (hot beef salad!). Cook and eat them all.

This thread on the Goner board got me thinking about the best patio for dining or lounging in Memphis. Obviously, we've had some nice days and nights for doing so lately.

I'll cast my vote for the new patio out back at Cafe 1912. I didn't even know it was there until our waiter whisked us back there Sunday night. It's a nice secluded place with wicker chairs and sturdy wooden tables, and my girlfriend and I were lucky enough to have the whole place to ourselves.

Cafe 1912 is becoming one of my favorite places in town for a nice dinner. The menu continues to be tweaked for the seasons (I had a nice lamb loin with just-in-season peas and asparagus), and you can't beat the selection of cheap wines-by-the-glass ($6 now instead of $5, but still a deal).

Andria Lisle weighs in on today's M-section cover with a long piece about craft beers, how to drink them, and what to drink them with. (I take mine hoppy as hell, with pizza.) The article includes a few recipes, like Black & Tan Brownies and Copper Flask Carbonade.

I hadn't checked out his blog in a while, but Ryan Jones reported a week and a half ago that Panera Bread will open a dozen cafe/bakeries in the Memphis area. He includes a link to a Memphis Daily News story with more info.

Ryan mentions that there are Paneras all over Missouri; I haven't been back to the Show-Me State since I graduated from college in '99, so I have no first-hand knowledge to pass along. Find out more about the company on its Web site.

I seem to have forgotten to report this when the press releases first came out a month ago, but I am happy to remind all of you that September is National Bourbon Heritage Month, as resolved by the United States Senate. I happened to remember because I stopped by the Uptown liquour shop Wine and Spirits for a bottle of wine earlier tonight and saw on the counter materials from Ridgemont Reserve 1792's bourbon heritage month campaign. I decided to get into the spirit of things by adding an airplane bottle of Woodford Reserve to my order.

Thank Kentucky junior senator and former baseball great Jim Bunning for sponsoring this resolution. Cheers, Senator! For further reading, check this blog entry that mentions recent growth in the super-premium bourbon sector. It's like it's the new vodka or something ...

And I don't mean the Rocky Mountain kind or the prairie kind ...

Downtown has got mad oysters going on these days, even after the closing of longtime happy-hour haunt Sleep Out Louie's.

Flying Fish -- Second near Peabody Place -- features 25-cent raw oysters all day Sunday to go along with mouthwatering fried shrimp and catfish as well as a selection of more healthful grilled fish. Don't sleep on the ceviche or the fish tacos, either. Also, don't wait till too late at night to get in on the oyster special: The place has been known to run out.

Pearl's Oyster House in South Main features a variety of oyster preparations, and the mollusks they use are HUGE. I scarfed down some of the grilled oysters last night, all slathered in greasy parmesan cheese. The menu also offers a variety of other seafood delights, most in a New Orleans vein.

Where else does one find decent oysters around these parts?

They actually have a nationwide contest in Spain for tapas, those appetizer-like bites you munch on along with your wine or beer. An Argentine chef won this year's prize for a concoction of roast peppers, pickled eggplant, horse mackerel and dried leeks. Reading about the competition just made me very hungy.

Be sure to check out today's Food page cover story about New Orleans transplants finding work in and enriching our local restaurant scene. The story has pictures of a few folks I recognize from around town but had no idea were Katrina evacuees.

Stephen Hassinger of the Inn at Hunt Phelan makes a good point near the end of the story: There ain't nowhere to eat a decent meal after midnight in this town. I've always worked nights myself, and I know that after work it's either fast food, diner breakfast or maybe some sandwich-type fare at Young Avenue Deli. That's about all you can find during the week, and weekends aren't much better (though you can probably still get a pizza at Boscos Squared, for instance, when they stay open later on the weekend).

Don't even get me started on IHOP over here on lovely Union Avenue. I stopped by there at about 3:30 a.m. Friday night after working on some beats in the studio. It's what I would imagine the holding pen is like at 201 Poplar. There is an actual armed guard seating people, and every once in a while he physically has to remove some of the trannies and homo thugs acting a fool in the waiting area. Conveniently, there is a cop car right outside the front door to take these clowns to jail. I had enough and walked right out of there without looking back. I went to the McDonald's across the street, which at least was already serving breakfast ...