Get ready for appetizing adventure with The CA’s new food writer
If you like to eat, you and I are going to get along beautifully.
Memphis is a great town with so many culinary gems, and I can’t wait to introduce you to all the delicious eats our city has to offer.
First, a little about me. My love of good food has led me down an interesting road. After a life-changing year in Paris attending Le Cordon Bleu culinary school, I cut my teeth in the food biz with a stint at a Washington, D.C., restaurant group as well as working in the pastry shop at one of the East Coast’s top caterers.
After moving back home, I briefly considered getting a 9-to-5 career but soon found myself dreaming of the kitchen. For several years, I owned a prepared foods market in East Memphis called Cheffie’s Market and More. With the birth of my second child, though, I decided to turn my food career into a more family-friendly one and — because I couldn’t leave the business altogether — started food writing.
Over the years, I have created a portfolio of businesses that I jokingly call “playing with food for a living.” I have written for magazines both locally and nationally and even had a freelance column, Dinner Tonight, in The CA for several years. I host a radio segment on WKNO-FM. I have styled food for both print and film projects as well as developed recipes for corporate clients. As a restaurant consultant, I designed and helped restaurants open and improve their businesses. I have also been blessed to write four nationally distributed cookbooks, all geared to help my readers easily put a meal on the table.
It’s been a tasty journey, and I am excited about this new path as The Commercial Appeal’s food and dining reporter.
Food is a lens into the soul of the community. And as we all know, Memphis is a town full of soul. A good meal made with love and care not only nourishes you, but it can provide insight into the people behind the recipe. I am looking forward to introducing you to the talented and passionate chefs, restaurateurs and artisans behind all the good eats in our hometown. And I have to tell you, we have a lot to discover.
The culinary landscape in Memphis has exploded in the past decade. I love barbecue and that is a food that will forever be iconic for Memphis, but the Memphis restaurant scene is about so much more than barbecue. Southern cuisine is being given a twist with chefs using classic ingredients in recipes inspired by their various heritages. We now have restaurants serving authentic dishes from cuisines from around the world. Beloved soul food dishes such as fried chicken are putting Memphis on the culinary map. There is a lot to taste and, whereas each bite may be different, each is equally as delicious.
Good food can be found in some of the most unexpected places. Together, we will discover delectable dishes all across the Mid-South as we check out new restaurants, revisit Memphis institutions, dress up for fine dining and head to the casual corner favorite.
So, here’s to an appetizing adventure as together we explore and experience all the delicious food Memphis has to offer.
Happy hour just got ‘happier’
On Monday, Napa Café, 5101 Sanderlin Ave., introduced its new happy hour menu and hours.
“I’m calling it Happier Hour because I have added an extra hour starting it at 4 p.m. every day,” Napa Café owner Glenda Hastings said.
The Happier Hour includes a small plate bar menu with complimentary light hors d’oeuvres and specialty drinks.
For its first bar menu, Napa Café chose to feature flavors from around the
world. Zen guacamole — a flavorful guac with an Asian flair thanks to the additions of sesame oil, a little soy and fresh ginger — is served with taro root chips; Firecracker shrimp tacos are crispy, sweet and spicy all in each bite; and a perfectly seared sea scallop over a creamy bed of melted leeks and fresh peas are a few of the numerous small plate options.
Happier Hour specials run until 7 nightly.
New burger spot in East Memphis
Hopdoddy Burger Bar is opening its second location in Memphis on Aug. 13 at Poplar Commons, 4584 Poplar Ave. The new location will feature the popular burgers, fries and hand-spun shakes served at the Midtown location. And as the name suggests, hop lovers can expect to find a wide selection of beers, many of them local, on tap.
For the opening, Hopdoddy has partnered with Soulsville Foundation’s Stax Music Academy through its “Goodnight for a Cause” charitable giving program. Through the Goodnight program, Stax Music Academy will receive a portion of proceeds from every Goodnight Burger sold at the new location.
Hours of operation will be 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday-Saturday.
Contact Jennifer Chandler at jennifer.chandler@commercialappeal.com. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @cookwjennifer.