New chef, new menu: More changes afoot at The Brass Door
There are more changes at The Brass Door as Demitrie Phillips takes over in the kitchen and new menus are unveiled. You might remember that Patrick and Deni Reilly of The Majestic Grille got involved and reopened the Irish pub in November, and now Patrick Reilly has worked with Phillips to bring some significant changes to the menu.
Some new items include John’s Lane Shrimp, roasted vegetable balti, new appetizers and dinner specials. But — thankfully — there are still great handcut fries.
Phillips worked with Tsunami chef Ben Smith and the late Thomas Boggs of Huey’s to lead the kitchen at Meditrina some years ago. Since then, he’s been at Bar Dog and Cafe Keough. After a culinary sabbatical in San Francisco, Phillips came back to Memphis to lend a hand at Curb Market, where he served as culinary adviser and chef. And now he’s at The Brass Door, 152 Madison, which is open 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.-11 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday; the restaurant serves breakfast on weekends.
Happy Hour is 3-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and includes $4 bar snacks. On Monday night, it’s $1 oysters, raw or chargrilled.
Barbecue recipes
This is the last column of April and you know what May means: barbecue, from the Memphis in May World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest to ribs on the grill on Memorial Day. Let’s get a nice collection of recipes to take us into the month. Please send me your favorites, from barbecue sauces to baked beans to slaw to potato salad to whatever it is you like to serve with your pork. If you have a fabulous recipe for ribs or shoulder, it might just make its way in, too, but I’m mainly looking for sides. Share your favorites by emailing them to me at biggs@commercialappeal.com.
CA Lunch Bunch
As chicken has been the talk of the town lately, I decided to book our next CA Lunch Bunch at Joes’ on Highland. First, I love the place, and second, these guys are just fun. It’s a family-style lunch, similar to what they already do on Sundays but with more food. For $20, we’ll get fried chicken, fried catfish, chicken fried steak, all the sides, plus a choice of banana pudding or bread pudding for dessert and a soft drink. You can order wine if you want it, and I can tell you now that fried chicken is superb with bubbly. But Joe Spotts, one of the Joes, tells me they have three housemade sangrias that also pair well. I expect we’ll have appetizers too, but what I know we’ll have is plenty of food. Make reservations by going to calunchbunch.commercialappeal.com and clicking on May 11. We’re pushing this lunch back a week so that our May lunches don’t conflict with Beale Street Music Fest or MIMWCBC mid-month. Hope to see you there.
Something different
This isn’t really food, but it’s sort of fun. On Saturday and Sunday, Memphis Mineral, Fossil, Jewelry Show at Agricenter will feature a “rock banquet,” which is a table full of rocks that look like real food. The show is 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Sunday and includes fun stuff for kids to do and is the largest show of its kind in the
RECIPE OF THE WEEK
Mid-South. Adult tickets are $5 for one day and $8 for a two-day pass; tickets for children 12 and younger are $2, and Scouts in uniform are admitted free. Call 901-490-3575 for more information.
Coming up
On Saturday, enjoy Breakfast for Dinner (who doesn’t?) at First Congregational Church, 1000 S. Cooper, 6-9 p.m. You can get traditional pancakes, specialty pancakes, breakfast casseroles, pastries and so on, plus bloody marys and mimosas will be available. All proceeds from the event benefit Room in Sort of to honor Breakfast for Dinner and also because I’ve been trying out new things for breakfast, here’s a savory porridge. I love a soft-boiled egg and tried this, using plain old quinoa instead of red, as that’s what I had. I kept it in the fridge for the week and it was when I reheated it (see the Do Ahead tip in the directions). I’m a big believer of the six-minute egg, by the way, which is what convinced me to try the recipe. And I used baby arugula instead of pea shoots, which I don’t keep on hand and because unlike everyone else I know, I don’t like ‘em. Use any tender green you like. And kick it up with a little sriracha or a splash of soy sauce when you serve if you want. the Inn, a network of Memphis churches that serves people who are homeless. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children, and are available through eventbrite.com; you also can access the link from roomintheinn-memphis.org.
Whoa! The Midsouth Food Truck Festival has grown and 49 trucks are expected at Tiger Lane on Saturday. Every truck will have its regular menu and offer a $5 sample menu. There will be music, crafts vendors, games and the DeAngelo Williams Foundation Thrown for a Cure Cornhole Tournament. Tickets are available at the gate or you can pre-purchase at brownpapertickets.com for a discounted rate ($8 vs. $5 for adults and so on). You also can purchase a City Tasting Tour for $45 in advance that will get you a guided tour, meet and greet with some of the chefs and items from the $5 menu from participating food trucks. Go to brownpapertickets.com and type the event name in the search field.
Contact Jennifer Biggs at 901-5295223 or biggs@commercialappeal.com. Friend her on Facebook at facebook.com/jennifer.biggs.100, and follow her on Instagram and Twitter @jenniferbiggs1.