May 2021

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WEDDINGS | BE ACHES | HABITATS | NURSES | PE T GUIDE

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Memphis • THE CITY MAGAZINE • W W W.MEMPHISMAGAZINE.COM

MAGAZINE

VOL XLVI NO 2 | M A Y 2 0 2 1

USA $4.99

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DISPLAY UNTIL JUNE 10, 2021

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Celebrating National Nurses Week May 6-12, 2020

baptistonline.org

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Extraordinary times call for extraordinary people.

Nurses have always been at the front lines when competent, compassionate, skillful care is needed most with love, commitment and sacrifice. Extraordinary indeed. To all of our nurses at Baptist, thank you for all you do.

Get Better.

4/16/21 2:55 AM

The Collierville Chamber of Commerce & Boyle Insurance Agency Presents

Excellence in

BUSINESS

AWARDS 2020

Introducing the Exellence in Business Awards 2020 Winners

Person of the Year Mark Hansen

Health Care Provider of the Year Collierville Schools Nurses Baptist Memorial Hospital – Collierville

Nonprofit of the Year Collierville Rotary Club

Presented by:

Spirit of Collierville Landmark Community Bank

Entrepreneur of the Year Buff City Soap

Bridging the Gap YMCA at Schilling Farms

Sponsored by:

Boyle Insurance Agency, Inc. Ron Gant, Agent

Thomas Meat & Seafood Market & Catering

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CARING FOR THOSE WHO CARED FOR US

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UP FRONT 10 I N T H E B E G I N N I N G ~ b y a n n a t r a v e r s e f o g l e 12 P A G E S ~ b y j e s s e d a v i s 14 C L A S S I C D I N I N G ~ b y m i c h a e l d o n a h u e 16 C I T Y S C E N E ~ b y j o n w . s p a r k s

VOL XLVI NO2 | MAY 2021 ON THE COVER The 2016 Memphis in May Beale Street Music Festival poster.

PAINTING BY GEORGE HUNT

FEATURES 23 Mid-South Weddings Love in the time of covid-19. ~

34

by jane schneider

HABITATS

Casting a Spell

Rick and Sandy Spell, who traded banking for Babalu, have transformed their East Memphis home. ~ b y c h r i s m c c o y

40

PET GUIDE

Dog Days

Learning to speak dog. ~

by a n n a t r av e r s e f o g l e

49 Bedside Angels, One Year Later

Four nurses talk about their front-line experiences with the covid-19 pandemic — then and now. ~ b y m i c h a e l f i n g e r

58

ROAD TRIP

Ready to Get Away?

South Walton’s white sands and emerald water beckon. ~

12

16

68 A S K

by s a m u e l x . c i c c i

VANCE

The House of Happiness

Our history expert solves local mysteries of who, what, when, where, why, and why not. ~ by va n c e l au d e r da l e

70

DINING OUT

Where Southern Meets Latin

Chefs Keith Potter and Garron Sanchez bring a bit of Latin flair to the new Hyatt Centric, at CIMAS. ~ b y s a m u e l x . c i c c i

72

CITY DINING

80

LAST STAND

The city’s most extensive dining listings.

The Great Time Slip

The pandemic affected the way we feel the passage of time. ~

40

by c h r i s m c c oy

14 49 23

80

Memphis (ISSN 1622-820x) is published monthly for $18 per year by Contemporary Media, Inc., 65 Union Avenue, 2nd Floor, Memphis, TN 38103 © 2021. Telephone: 901-521-9000. For subscription info, please call 901-521-9000. Subscription customer service mailing address is Memphis magazine, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101. All rights reserved. • Periodicals Postage Paid at Memphis, TN. Postmasters: send address changes to Memphis, P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101.

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Memphis

Memphis Magazine’s

THE 2021

FACE

THE CI T Y M AGAZI N E

OF

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Gossett Porsche 1875 Covington Pike Memphis, TN 38128 901-388-8989 www.gossett.porschedealer.com

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B E G I N N I N G | BY ANNA TR AVERSE FOGLE

At Last, the Sun

A

nother cluster of cars processes up the ramp and files into orderly lanes. We can fit about a dozen per lane, per cluster. We volunteers have pre-filled stacks of vaccination record cards with certain basic information: our location (Pipkin), the vaccine being administered that day (Pfizer) and its lot number, today’s date, and the date folks ought to return for their second shot.

Once the drivers have glided their vehicles to a halt, we approach each one, first making sure the cars are in park and the engines off (we don’t need them slamming into us or each other, and we don’t need any extra exhaust fumes). Then, if a car contains multiple folks, we ascertain who’s getting vaccinated today, and begin filling out more paperwork, completing their vaccine cards, checking to see what questions they may have, asking which arm they would like to present for the injection. Each car brings its own atmosphere. Some people are here in groups, with spouses or children or siblings, and it feels like a party.

Others, solo, are businesslike, or nervous, or chatty. Most everyone seems very, very glad to be here.

At the end of the shift, someone says we’ve vaccinated about 1,200 people that day. My feet are sore from standing on concrete, and I’ve worked only a half-day, from 1:00 until about 5:45. The nurse who has been leading the station I’ve worked this afternoon has dropped all of her syringe caps, all day long, into her white lab coat’s deep pockets. She flips her pockets out onto a folding table and begins to count. She does this count every day, she tells me. She likes to keep track. Like so many of the people who have been working to keep the rest of us safer, she spends most of her time focused on what needs doing right now. But alongside the immediate needs is an awareness that these days will be imprinted in our memories for a long, long time. Toward the end of the afternoon, someone asks if I would like to get vaccinated myself. Absolutely I would. I drive home elated.

Three weeks later, I’m back at the Pipkin Building, this time entering the queue of cars myself to receive my second dose. Oversized electronic signs on East Parkway say to be in the line an hour early, but, unaware, I’m arriving just 20 minutes before my 9:00 appointment, and briefly panic that I’ll be turned away — but everything goes smoothly. (After the past 14 months, the concept of

“everything going smoothly” feels implausible, unfamiliar.) Seeing the process from within my own vehicle (off and in park, thank you) is humbling, awe-inspiring. After a nurse has jabbed a hypodermic needle into my arm and I’ve been directed to drive outside for a 15-minute waiting period, I realize I’m weeping and grinning behind the wheel of my car. Hope and relief and exhaustion, a heady mix, combine and flood my consciousness all at once. I’m very, very glad to be here; it’s been a very, very long year.

In 38 of the 50 states, including Tennessee, everyone aged 16 and above is eligible to receive the vaccine. For nearly everyone, there is no reason not to get a shot. These vaccines are the result of rigorous, thorough science, but to me, they feel as much like miracles as anything. They’re safe. They’re available in mass quantities.

And they work. The Pipkin Building is now a federally run facility, offering even more doses each day.

Pandemic time has been tough to track (Chris McCoy talks more about that haziness in his essay at the end of this magazine).

Spinning in a weird temporal vortex, where March 2020 seemed to persist for about 11 months, it can be easy to lose sight of how far we’ve come. But we have come so far, with so much thanks owed to so many. The proof is in the syringes. As of this writing, nearly 60 percent of the folks who work at Contemporary Media, which publishes this magazine, are fully vaccinated, and another 20 percent have received first doses and are awaiting their second. We get to interact as real, live humans again, not just disembodied heads bobbing around on Zoom screens.

When the night has been very dark, we sometimes doubt the dawn, when it comes.

Could that really be the sun, or merely another shade of gray? We’ve been in a disorienting darkness for some time now, but our eyes are not playing tricks on us: Yes, the brightness on the horizon is real.

PHOTOGRAPH BY CDC / UNSPLASH

Reliable data, tools, support and training in an MLS that works for you.

T H E

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PAG E S

Roll on, Mississippi

W. Ralph Eubanks considers the literature, landscape, and legacy of the Magnolia State in A Place Like Mississippi.

BY JESSE DAVIS

“On these Mississippi roads, the past and the present exist side by side. The past is there for all to see, yet perhaps is only noticeable to those who still remember it. Perhaps it is not the past Mississippi is losing on this landscape. Instead we are witnessing how the past and future are slowly becoming knitted together into one seamless garment.”

— W. R A L PH EU B A N K S , A P L A C E L I K E M I S S I S S I P P I

F

above left: W. Ralph Eubanks PHOTOGRAPH BY ED CROOM

above right: Powell Drug Store and a Mississippi field.

PHOTOGRAPHS BY W. RALPH EUBANKS

rom a Yazoo City cemetery to Rowan Oak, on the banks of the Mississippi River and in the shade-dappled heart of Piney Woods, on the paper-scented shelves of Square Books and the sun-blasted dirt of the Delta, author W. Ralph Eubanks has searched for — and found — Mississippi. The author has confronted its myths and its most mundane realities, sought out its soul in story and song. The result of his work is a beautiful collection of musings on the Hospitality State as viewed through the lens of its literature, A Place Like Mississippi: A Journey Through a Real and Imagined Literary Landscape (Timber Press).

ONE WRITER’S BEGINNINGS

A

native of Mount Olive, Mississippi, a small town in the Piney Woods region, author, editor, and professor W. Ralph Eubanks’ life has long been tangled up with letters.

“When I was a kid, one of the things that I looked forward to most was the arrival of the bookmobile.

I lived on a blacktop highway in the middle of rural Mississippi,” Eubanks recalls. “Libraries at that time weren’t open to Black kids, but the bookmobile was, largely because they received federal funds.”

Eubanks remembers biweekly visits from the bookmobile, the freshness of the memory illustrating his long-lived love of stories. As a kid, he used to make his own magazines and books, he says, “so it would fit that eventually I would end up writing

and working in book publishing for many years as well, and editing a literary magazine.”

If not for the intervention of one of his professors at the University of Mississippi, where Eubanks now teaches, the writer may have taken a different path entirely. He was on a pre-med track, studying psychology, until an essay he wrote on the subject of English Romantic poet John Keats prompted a professor to steer the young student toward literature.

In the time since, Eubanks has held many roles — he has written for and been editor of the Virginia Quarterly Review, written the books Ever Is a Long Time and The House at the End of the Road, and worked alongside archivists at the Library of Congress. And of course, there’s his experience as a professor of English and Southern studies. It’s a professional c.v. that, along with his personal history as a Mississippian, ideally situates him to write about writing.

“I like to joke that I’ve worked both sides of the desk, being the writer and the editor,” he says.

“There were probably two things that were crucial to my path as a writer. Not only that work as a copy editor, but also my years of working for the Library of Congress, where I had to do a lot of research.

Years of doing research with them and working alongside them in archival collections has really inf luenced the writer that I’ve become, because I’m a writer who is very much a researcher as well.”

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CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER

I

n one chapter, Eubanks remembers interviewing author Jesmyn Ward, whose award-winning novels Salvage the Bones and Sing, Unburied, Sing mark her as one of the South’s preeminent voices.

Ward took Eubanks to one of her favorite spots, a grove of live oaks overlooking the bayou in DeLisle. Their conversation touched on the intermingling of different cultures — French, Spanish, Indigenous, African — along the Gulf Coast, an example that seems perfectly representative of the American ideal of the melting pot. They spoke of history and geography, and of how those things can shape a life. It’s a quiet moment, but one that speaks volumes about the way the literature and landscape of Mississippi resonate with two of its contemporary stars.

The author’s own history intersects with that of the civil rights movement and with several Mississippi writers when he visits the Jackson, Mississippi, neighborhood of novelist Angie Thomas.

On a trip to the Medgar Evers Home Museum, the site of the

murder of civil rights activist Medgar Evers, Eubanks realized he had a personal connection to the neighborhood.

“I thought I was going to a new part of Jackson that I had not been to before,” he remembers, but “I learned that I had played across the street. I knew the family who lived across the street, and all the time of being a kid on that street, I never knew what happened in the house we walked past when we were playing our games.”

Evers’ murder in 1963 prompted Eudora Welty to confront the racism of her fellow white Mississippians, and to write the short story “Where Is the Voice Coming From?” Margaret Walker, who knew Evers and even lived on the same street, wrote two poems, “Micha” and “Medgar Evers, 1925-1963: Arlington Cemetery,” about him. Angie Thomas and author Kiese Laymon also have connections to that neighborhood, and Eubanks also mentions investigative journalist Jerry Mitchell, whose 2020 book Race Against Time tells the story of his dogged reporting on civil rights-era cold cases — reporting that eventually led to the conviction of Evers’ murderer, Byron De La Beckwith. Eubanks writes that he “collided with my own past and how it can sometimes be caught between memory and forgetting.”

Though the silence of the adults on that street served to keep the young Eubanks and his friends from worrying about racial violence, it also denied them an understanding of the way the past inhabits and informs the present. “To understand Mississippi, you must probe the silences, because it is in the things people are reluctant to discuss that the truth lies,” Eubanks writes.

THE OUTSIDER

A

fter seeing early drafts of the book, Eubanks’ editor told him he was keeping himself out of the narrative entirely too much, a problem that the author rectified to good result

in the final version of the text. In A Place Like Mississippi, Eubanks uses archival and literary sources, the landscape itself, and his own lived experience to triangulate the true Mississippi. It is an act of discovery, one that utilizes all the tools at the author’s disposal, and his own narrative, interwoven with Mississippi literature of other eras, becomes a powerful tool for creating understanding.

“Reading Faulkner does take me back; it’s closer to the South of my youth,” Eubanks muses. “We like to think that his narrative tool was stream of consciousness, but it was really memory.” At the intersection of his own memory, the present, and the trapped-in-amber moments recorded in literature, Eubanks seeks out truths about his home state — and the rest of the world. “If you can find the past in the present on the landscape of Mississippi,” he says, “there’s so much it can tell you about the world.”

The author says he often reminds his Ole Miss students that they walk Oxford streets memorialized in fiction, and that contrasting their experience to that of the characters in the text can yield new perspectives. “Walking down Jackson Avenue — that’s the Joe Christmas walk,” Eubanks tells his students, referencing William Faulkner’s Light in August. “Jackson Avenue is historically the dividing line between Black and white Oxford, and to have Joe Christmas walk down that street is of tremendous significance because he’s divided between Black and white. He doesn’t know what he is.”

One question makes clear the motive for A Place Like Mississippi: “What does the South tell us about the rest of the country?”

In answering that question, Eubanks explains that he hopes people will see the connections between their place and this specific place. “I wanted to write a book that took you into the literary world of Mississippi through a lens of truth rather than mythology,” he says. “While at the same time, what I’d hoped we would begin to think about with respect to Mississippi is not seeing Mississippi as this place in itself, but as a representation of America.”

“What does the South tell us about the rest of the country?”

ON THE COME UP

L

ike the state it describes, A P l a c e L i k e M i s s i s s i pp i is a complex and layered thing, and it may be that I have only hinted at its borders here. There is much more I would have liked to include here if not for the restrictions of word count — Richard Wright and the long reach of Memphis for starters. Of course, to grasp the full picture, one must read the book.

The landscape is well-represented in Eubanks’ book, not just in written descriptions, but in many beautifully rendered photographs.

The distinctions between geographic regions are easily apprehended when viewed in full-color images. The photo of Oxford-based authors, taken by Langdon Clay, is a treat to view. There are moss-draped live oaks and beautiful Mississippi River sunsets. The photos, like Eubanks’ written word, are a testament to the variety in the landscape, underlining the author’s point that so much of the American landscape, both literal and figurative, can be seen in Mississippi.

“So often, we’re going through the motions and not paying attention,” Eubanks tells me, explaining that he wants his book to encourage readers to be intentional about the pieces of the past they carry with them into the future. “I want to understand the realities of this place, rather than a false idea of it that I may have created in my memory.”

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C L AS S I C

D I N I N G

The Bar-B-Q Shop

From its mouth-watering barbecue served on Texas toast to its awardwinning ribs, this Midtown eating spot is legendary.

BY MICHAEL DONAHUE

I

f you’ve ever wondered why The Bar-B-Q Shop sandwich is served on Texas toast, it’s because white bread was too soggy.

That was one of Frank Vernon’s innovations after he and his wife, Hazel, took over the old Brady & Lil’s Bar-B-Q Restaurant in 1981. Former owner Brady Vincent served his barbecue on white bread.

In the late 1970s, Vernon, who always wanted to own a restaurant, bought one of the old Harlem House restaurants at Broad Avenue and Scott Street and renamed it “Frank’s Restaurant,” says Frank’s son, Eric Vernon, general manager and part owner of The Bar-B-Q Shop.

His next restaurant venture was buying Brady & Lil’s in South Memphis. “Mr. Brady [Vincent] taught my father and mother how to prepare everything. They literally came in every day and learned how to cook and make everything from scratch.”

In 1984, Frank Vernon moved

Brady & Lil’s out east, but his son says, “We realized that we had gotten too far away from our South Memphis crowd.”

In 1987, they moved to their current Midtown location and changed the name. “We only do barbecue,” he says. “Like you have a barber shop. You have a smoke shop. This is what we do.”

In the beginning, business was slow. “We had about 10 families that kept us afloat,” he says.

“And, literally, word of mouth got around.”

Vernon once told his dad, “If you have a restaurant, you’ve got to have faith. And if you do not

have faith, you will not be able to run your restaurant.”

The Vernons, who were so involved in making their business succeed, realized they needed to return to their church roots.

Business picked up. “We were just blessed. People would call and say, ‘I want to come in.’”

Then they got a call from the Food Network’s Bobby Flay. “He just said he heard about us and wanted to come through.”

Since then, The Bar-B-Q Shop has been featured on TV “probably, nationally, 10 different times.”

Around 2017, the Food Network named their ribs the “number-one ribs in America.”

Frank Vernon made The BarB-Q Shop what it is today, Eric says. In addition to the Texas toast, he added beef brisket, baked beans, turkey, and half a chicken. “And he came up with the most important thing: the ‘Half and Half’ — half wet and half dry.”

Eric’s mom, Hazel , who is heavily involved in the business, was instrumental in bottling their Dancing Pigs barbecue sauce, which came from the original Brady & Lil’s recipe. They’ve since added hot and mild sauce and the dry seasoning, which his dad came up with. “Hopefully, we’ll be adding the barbecue glaze to the Dancing Pigs lineup,” says Vernon.

Their Dancing Pigs products are now sold in Kroger stores in five states.

The Bar-B-Q Shop is at 1782 Madison.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL DONAHUE

Hazel, Eric, and Frank Vernon at The Bar-B-Q Shop.

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C I T Y

S C E N E

George Hunt Painted the Blues The artist, best known for his Memphis in May posters, embraced the city’s culture.

BY JON W. SPARKS

W

hen George Hunt was in his tent at the Beale Street Music Festival, he was in heaven.

For years, until his death in late 2020, he painted musicand Memphis-themed canvases that would become the annual posters for the Memphis in May event. His works were popular from the get-go in the early 1990s, and it didn’t take long for those posters to become collectors’ treasures. Jim Holt, president and CEO of the Memphis in May International Festival, says there’s always been a demand for the posters and some of them from the early years are scarce.

But most years are still available and a few years ago, Holt thought it would be a good idea to have an “Art of George Hunt” tent at the BSMF. “We would sell the current year’s poster and the back-stock of many of the prior years,” he says. “People enjoyed that; maybe they had once attended the festival with their future wife, or they wanted a poster to commemorate the year James Brown played.”

But more than just an opportunity to move some merchandise, Holt wanted to get Hunt in on the action.

“I talked to George about coming down to the tent for a few hours and do signings,” he says. “He liked the idea right: George Hunt was the official artist for every MIM BSMF poster between 1992 and 2019. In 1994, when Côte d’Ivoire was the honored MIM country, Hunt’s art also graced the festival’s annual fine art poster. opposite page: Hunt’s artwork for the 2019 BSMF poster.

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and it turned out to be a very popular feature.”

People would come into the tent and peruse the posters hanging there. If they bought one, they’d stand in line to have Hunt autograph it. And there might be a bit of a wait because the artist was so friendly and accommodating that he’d chat with everybody about his art, about the music, about the festival, about Memphis.

“He wanted to be there all the time,” Holt says. “I told him we had people there to handle the sales, but he loved being there. We’d open the gates on Saturday at 1 p.m. and he’d be there about 2 and wouldn’t leave till 10 or 11.”

And that was after he’d been there Friday and would come back on Sunday.

“I couldn’t get him to cut back the hours, and it kind of wore him out,” Holt says, “but it also exhilarated him because there was such great respect among the fans of the festivals. They wanted him to personalize it and they would share their stories with him about attending and how much they enjoyed his art.”

But Hunt would occasionally break away and slip into the Blues Tent to see one or two of his favorite performers. Because, after all, the art was all about the music.

ALL IMAGES COURTESY MEMPHIS IN MAY INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL AND GEORGEHUNTART.COM

4/13/21 1:28 PM

Hunt’s posters speak to Memphis’ heritage as a blues capital, depicting characters he has seen in clubs or juke joints over the years.

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C I T Y

S C E N E

“Musicians have come a long way, but we’ve still got the blues. It’s about a means of improvising. The blues is about being down,

Memphis in May Beale Street Music Festival lineups were an essential part of Hunt’s posters. Concertgoers would share stories with Hunt about attending past shows and how much they enjoyed his art. above: 1997 top right: 1996 bottom right: 1999

H

unt was born in a sugar cane field in Louisiana and grew up listening to the blues playing on an aunt’s old phonograph. He never played an instrument or sang, but he fell in love with the sound and the culture of the blues.

His depictions of blues musicians and their milieu didn’t get going until later in his career. He told the Memphis Flyer in 2003: “These kinds of blues images were taboo in the Black community. You were supposed to create images that would uplift in a way, like motherand-child pieces. I did those for a long time before I started coming to these images in the back of my mind

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,

but, hey, I’m not going to be down always. The sun’s going to shine in my back door some day.” — which had been with me since childhood.”

Holt credits Davis Tillman, the former program director for Memphis in May, with coming up with the idea of having Hunt’s art be part of the festival in the early 1990s. At the time, Holt was working with Mid-South Concerts, which did sponsor support and bookings for the Beale Street Music Festival.

Tillman and Holt thought initially they might have Hunt do the poster for three years and then rotate artists, but his work was so instantly popular and became so quickly identifiable with the festival, that it became a recurring gig.

Holt took the reins of MIM in 1998, and seeing how popular Hunt’s works had become, decided to acquire the original paintings that would become the posters.

That includes the artist’s final painting that he had produced for the 2020 festival. Since the festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021, the artwork will be used for the 2022 event. Hunt, who had been in poor health, died December 4, 2020, at age 85.

GEORGE HUNT

right: The 1997 painting America Cares depicting the Little Rock Nine, the first African-American students to attend Central High School in Little Rock, was issued as a 2005 USPS stamp as part of a series titled “To Form a More Perfect Union.” below: BSMF art from 2002

H

unt taught art education at Carver High School and coached football and track for three decades before working on his art full-time. He garnered plenty of recognition for his work outside of the posters.

In 2003, he was the featured artist in the U.S. Senate’s designated “Year of the Blues,” which included a national tour of his works. His title piece, High Cotton Tour, examines the evolution of sound and an expansion of the blues to other cultures. Hunt said, “Musicians have come a long way, but we’ve still got the blues. It’s about a means of improvising. The blues is about being down, but, hey, I’m not going to be down always. The sun’s going to shine in my back door some day.”

His work was on a postage stamp issued in 2005 as part of a series titled “To Form a More Perfect Union,” which recognized the struggle for equality during the civil rights movement. The 1997 painting America Cares depicts the Little Rock Nine, the first African-American students to attend Central High School in Little Rock.

David Simmons, head of LongRiver Entertainment Group, represented Hunt as business manager, art agent, publisher, and broker for many years. Simmons says the painting that ended up on the stamp was done to be part of the Central High School Interpretive Center in Little Rock. President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton were at the groundbreaking ceremony that also unveiled Hunt’s artwork. “Hillary was so taken by the painting that she asked to take it back with her to the White House, where it hung for five years until it was returned to its permanent home,” Simmons says.

Hunt’s appeal as an artist was clearly in the vivid colors and lively images that evokes the feel of music.

His posters speak to Memphis’ heritage as a blues capital. Less obvious are some of the details in his works.

“People always enjoy the interesting little elements that he will include in the paintings,” Holt says. “Many of them are characters that he has seen in clubs or juke joints over the years, and there are stories behind a lot of those characters.”

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C I T Y

S C E N E

Hunt was so self-effacing that people didn’t know who he was even when he was surrounded by his art.

left: BSMF art from 2005

The artist, for all the acclaim he received, never let it go to his head. “He stayed humble,” Simmons says.

Sometimes he was so self-effacing that people didn’t know who he was even when he was surrounded by his art.

The consensus is that he was simply nice, although Simmons says he enjoyed telling stories that may not have been entirely true. “He never did it to change a

business deal or out of meanness,” he says. “It was a recreational game. I still don’t know the sequence of his life between high school and when he got married.”

Various tales had Hunt in the Navy, or in Chicago, or the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. “The pieces of the puzzle don’t always quite fit,” Simmons says. “If I ever write his biography, it’ll have to include Option One and Option Two in several places.”

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LOVE I N T H E TIM E OF COVID M A Y 2 0 2 1 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • 23

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L OV E I N T H E T I M E OF COV I D

BY JANE SCHNEIDER

I

^6

f 2020 is remembered for anything beyond the heartbreak of covid-19, it will be for the many ways in which we were challenged to recalibrate, to improvise, to discover our

resilience as we muscled through a most turbulent year. It turns out those traits were particularly crucial for couples who decided to fly in the face of convention and marry during the pandemic.

Brides with gauzy vision boards faced hurdles galore, from an everchanging landscape of health and safety regulations to the shuttering of bake shops and reception venues. Wedding plans changed — and changed again. Guests lists that had swelled to 200 before the virus got winnowed down, lavish receptions gave way to more intimate affairs, and Facebook Live watch parties and Zoom meetings became the new way of uniting family and friends.

Through it all, however, a silver lining emerged: The resulting ceremonies became far more cozy and meaningful and a year of significant ups and downs proved the perfect path to learning just what partnership is really all about.

Maddie and Michael Robinson held an outdoor wedding with a fully masked wedding party.

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PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY THE ROBINSONS

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L OV E I N T H E T I M E OF COV I D

MARTEA AND JOE JACKSON

MARIEL AND GARRETT BOURDON

Martea: Assistant Store Manager, Starbucks Joe: Lead Logistics Analyst-Supply Chain, AT&T

M

^6

artea Jackson had long dreamed of getting married in her favorite city, New Orleans. She spent months meticulously planning her April 11th wedding, where friends and family would gather as her father proudly walked her down the aisle.

Then March blew in.

“Have you been watching the news recently?” asked her mother. “I think the virus is about to get very bad.”

“Of course, I was in denial,” Martea admits. “I thought Mom had just been watching too much news.”

New Orleans had some of the worst covid cases early in the pandemic. The city’s shutdown was swift. Several days later, Martea received a call from the hotel — the Jackson ceremony would have to be canceled.

“I was devastated,” says Martea. “The day of our wedding, I cried all day long.” Joe understood his fiancée’s grief, but he gently reminded her, “It’s not about the wedding, this day is about us.” She saw how calm he remained under pressure. “He kept bringing to light that we have each other.”

As the pandemic raged on, Martea lost her job. Now a wedding seemed impractical. In late summer, the couple decided instead to marry at the Shelby County Courthouse. But the Justice of the Peace office was so busy, the first available date wasn’t until September 9th.

“I thought, hmm, 9/9/2020 — that’s a date my husband will remember!” Martea says with a laugh.

When their wedding day finally arrived, Joe met his bride at the courthouse during his lunch break and the two exchanged vows, their year-old son bearing witness to their love.

Martea firmly believes there’s always a rainbow at the end of the storm. “I got to be the wife I’d envisioned,” she says. “I got the prize I’d always hoped for. It just wasn’t in the way I’d expected!”

Now, the couple plans to have a vow renewal ceremony on their anniversary, when Martea will finally wear her beautiful wedding gown and her father will give her away to Joe, the man of her dreams.

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Mariel: Marketing Consultant Garrett: Senior Analyst

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^6

ariel and Garrett considered eloping during their engagement in Iceland, but Garrett knew he wanted his grandmother present for their ceremony, so the couple set their sights on May 2020. But as the lockdown closed businesses and ratcheted up safety concerns, their original plan to gather at his aunt’s lake house crumbled.

They decided to push the date to late November and chose to marry at Cloudland Canyon State Park, a beautiful setting near Chattanooga.

But even then, the virus kept everyone guessing. “It was six to eight months of people not knowing what was going on or what was safe,” says Mariel. “It was so unclear for so long.”

Luckily, her original wedding date did not pass unnoticed. Her sister, Monika, edited together a collection of videos she’d received from their 75 guests. The montage arrived on what would have been their wedding day.

“That made me feel so special,” says Mariel.

Their November date wasn’t immune to cancellations, however.

A week before the wedding, 10 guests dropped out. “That was pretty heartbreaking,” she says, but her spirits were buoyed when their wedding weekend finally arrived and Mariel’s girlfriends bunked together in a cabin at the park. They surprised her with an hourlong presentation of photos and testimonials that celebrated their friendships. The wedding site itself, with a breathtaking canyon as a backdrop, proved to be the perfect outdoorsy setting the couple had hoped for.

Through it all, Garrett’s focus on keeping the family safe gave Mariel comfort. “He is always going to look out for those who matter most and put [their needs] above material goods.” For Garrett, it was learning “to give me space to react,” allowing her heart to respond before her head.

As for their wedding day? It was picture perfect, one that surrounded them with love and support. “It was still an amazing day,” she says, “and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY THE JACKSONS AND THE BOURDONS

4/16/21 11:09 AM

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L OV E I N T H E T I M E OF COV I D

LINDSEY AND SHANE PIEROTTI

MADDIE AND MICHAEL ROBINSON

Lindsey: Cardiac Sonographer, Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital Shane: Sales Manager, IMC Supply

Maddie: Optician, Eclectic Eye Michael: Audio Technician, Shea Clinic

W

^6

e didn’t know if it would get better or worse,” says Shane, “but waiting wasn’t in the plan.” That’s how Shane summarizes the couple’s decision to marry during the pandemic, just nine months after their engagement in August 2019. Both in their early 30s, the couple believed 2020 was their year.

So they set their sights on April 25th at St. Louis Catholic Church.

Then the pandemic struck and their vision of a big church wedding got steadily downsized as safety guidelines dictating gathering numbers dropped — from 100 to 50 to 10.

“In our minds, we’d invited 350, but we realized as the date got closer that people wouldn’t be able to travel,” says Lindsey. With movement restricted and businesses closed, she had to bid farewell to her 14 bridesmaids.

When their priest got sick, “we had to scramble to find another,” says Shane. “At two-and-a-half weeks before the wedding we decided we couldn’t have the reception.” (In fact, the couple never had one as Lindsey became pregnant a month later.)

In spite of the setbacks, “We came together as a team easily,” says Lindsey. “We went with it, we rolled with the punches, and became more spontaneous in our decision-making.”

When their wedding day finally arrived and everyone was safely gathered and masked, they stated their vows before their immediate family with Lindsey’s sister as maid of honor and Shane’s father as best man. A Facebook Live watch party aired for guests.

Ultimately, the intimate affair was a blessing. “We didn’t have any distractions,” says Shane. “We were focused on the moment and the meaning of marriage.”

After the church ceremony, friends surprised them with a driveby parade, their cars festooned with crepe paper and congratulatory signs. A mini-reception at Shane’s cousin’s home on the river proved the perfect place to finally relax.

Through the process, “We found more in common than we knew before and we learned how we deal with hard situations,” notes Shane. “When we look back on it now, it’s the best thing that could have happened,” adds Lindsey. “There was just no stress and it was very meaningful.”

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^6

addie had previously worked at The Dixon Gallery and Gardens, so she knew she wanted that beautiful setting for her wedding. When the couple got engaged in May 2019, they chose May 2, 2020, for their nuptials.

They immediately began planning but ten months later, the unthinkable happened. “I was in Arkansas [for his bachelor party],” remembers Michael, “and I was thinking, ‘It’s the swine flu, it’ll be over in a week,’ ” Instead, the CDC announced an eight-week shutdown. With their wedding date falling on week seven, the news left the couple reeling.

“I had no idea what we were going to do,” admits Maddie. “A year of planning went down the drain. … I remember thinking, ‘We’re not getting married, or at least not the way I thought we might.’”

They pushed the bigger reception celebration to July at the Dixon but decided to keep their May wedding date, “because our parents had been such rocks through the process,” says Maddie. “We wanted to make sure they were there.”

The couple’s wedding became an intimate backyard affair with the immediate family. The two exchanged vows with Maddie wearing a simple dress she’d ordered online two days before. A Zoom session allowed the bridal party and family to watch virtually.

“All I saw in Maddie was pure strength and durability,” Michael says proudly. “It would be easy for some girls to wait and want the big party. It meant a lot to me that she wanted to marry me without the celebration. I think she chose me and not the limelight.”

On July 17, 2020, Maddie did (finally) get to wear her formal wedding gown and walked down the aisle to where her groom and dear friends, safely masked, awaited. The garden was beautiful, just as she hoped, and those who meant the most were there.

“I felt guilty about celebrating and wondered whether people should be coming out,” she says. “It was very scary but my photographer said, ‘It will be okay, don’t feel guilty, we’ll make the most of it.’ And we did.”

Through a year of travails, Maddie found “Michael was a constant.

When I was having countless breakdowns, he’d remind me it wasn’t the end of the world, that we’d figure this out together — that we’re in it together — forever.”

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY THE ROBINSONS AND THE PIEROTTIS

4/16/21 11:09 AM

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THE 2021

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M

^6

any of the city’s most popular wedding venues went dark during part or all of 2020. The spring lockdown halted business, which furloughed some of their staff, and many employees worked from home, stretching for months after the May reopening. As the city of Memphis gradually came to grips with health regulations and learned to maneuver to keep people safe, stringent safety protocols followed.

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While wedding business fell off by 50 percent at the Memphis Pink Palace Museum, David Branch, the special projects manager, found ways to adapt. The museum reopened in June 2020 on a limited basis, offering to reschedule or give full refunds to bridal parties that were on the books for 2020.

“Some couples left to go to another city or state with fewer restrictions, but the majority rescheduled,” he says. The biggest challenge was keeping up with the Shelby County Health Department’s safety restrictions and communicating the rules swiftly. Branch’s vast knowledge of the facility enabled him to produce room layouts that provided adequate social distancing. “Managing client

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above: While dark during the pandemic, the Levitt Shell is becoming a popular wedding venue.

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THE 2021

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top: Outdoor venues like The Dixon Gallery and Gardens and Memphis Botanic Garden proved to be excellent locations for fresh air and socially distanced gatherings.

PIZZA

expectations — that was the biggest challenge,” he says.

The Dixon Gallery and Gardens hosts 25 to 40 wedding ceremonies a year in their two garden and pavilion locales. During 2020, however, that number shrank to 10 as brides scrambled to reschedule. Since the museum is considered an attraction by the city, their status further complicated matters.

“There was a lot of uncertainty about how weddings could happen, how many people TOP PHOTOGRAPH BY MENGZHANG / DREAMSTIME

4/16/21 11:09 AM

you could have,” says Sarah Catmur, venue rental coordinator.

To keep updated, Catmur routinely pored over Health Department notices. She also kept abreast of how other venues were handing safety concerns by logging onto a Facebook wedding vendors page where strategies were shared. Bridal parties also got creative. One couple handed out color-coded wrist bands allowing guests to signal how willing they were to mingle with others. Several others created personalized masks for their guests.

This year looks more promising. “We’re still following directives and city guidelines per masking and social distancing,” says Catmur.

And now that couples know how many guests have been vaccinated, “that’s making things more helpful. There’s less anxiety.”

Nicholas Janysek, director of sales, events, and marketing for the Hyatt Centric Beale Street, says being vigilant about enforcing health regulations is critical, especially given the constant presence of social media. No one wants a picture leaked of 150 people on the dance floor with everyone unmasked.

“You have to think about what that image

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does to your revenue going forward,” he says.

“It’s not just about breaking the rules but how that image might tarnish your reputation.

Nobody wants to be responsible for the next super-spreader event.”

The hotel had customized cards printed up that could be included in wedding announcements outlining their safety protocol.

Other vendors used technology to their advantage. Ashley Lang Events, an events planning business, relied heavily on Zoom meetings to discuss plans with brides and vendors. Says co-owner Mallory Lester, “We still have brides we haven’t met yet. There have been lots of Zoom meetings, we’ve booked vendors and held budget meetings, but we’ve not met some in person yet.”

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H A B I TAT S

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N G I T S C A

A

L L E S P

Rick and Sandy Spell, who traded banking for Babalu, have transformed their East Memphis home.

B Y C H R I S M c C O Y

The first thing you need to know about Rick and Sandy Spell is that they were high school sweethearts.

“I was a Navy brat,” says Rick. He was born in base housing at the China Lake Naval Weapons Air Station in California, and, growing up, moved frequently. When he was a teenager, his father was transferred to the Millington Naval Air Station. Sandy is a lifelong Memphian. She says Rick caught her eye one day while she was walking home from Kingsbury High School.

Rick deepened his Memphis roots when he attended the University of Memphis. “I was your classic commuter student,” he says. “I went two and a half years, then dropped out, got married, and had a child. Then I went back when I was 27 and graduated in three semesters. So I was very motivated, but not motivated early. I was educated as an accountant, and was a CPA with Ernst & Whinney.

From there, I gravitated towards investment banking.”

Except for a short period in 1990, when Rick was assigned to open a new operation for investment bank Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida, the couple have made Memphis their home.

“She was from Memphis, and preferred to be here,” he says. “So I came back with Morgan Keegan.

Then Morgan Keegan was bought

by Raymond James.”

They travel frequently and have maintained households in several different places, including Hacienda Kukulkan, a spectacular beachside property on the Yucatan

PHOTOGRAPHS BY JOHN PICKLE

left: The furniture in Rick and Sandy Spell’s living room is all from the Kreiss collection, the company known for originating the California casual look.

The rug came from La Jolla, California, where Sandy saw a similar one hanging in a shop window and had this one custom made for the space. The painting over the couch is by Memphis artist Terry Panitz.

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above: A series of French doors in the den and living room open into the backyard, creating what Rick Spell calls “a total indoor outdoor feel. In the right weather, it has the feeling of a California or even Hawaiian home.” The antler chandelier is from Art de Mexico. right: Built in the late 1990s, the house was originally decorated in a French provincial style. Sandy repurposed a breakfast nook, with easy

access to the kitchen and foyer, into a comfortable den, which she says is now the most popular room in the house. above right: The massive dining room table, also from Kreiss, required six strong men to move into position. far right: The Spells completely transformed this backyard space when they bought the home, adding extensive hardscaping and this towering fountain.

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peninsula just south of Cancun, Mexico, which they recently sold.

But their home base for the past 21 years has been in East Memphis.

“Memphis has a certain comfort to it that people don’t realize until they get here,” says Rick. “What’s really interesting is, when you see people who move here from, like, New Jersey that have never been in the South, they don’t really get it.

They act like they don’t want to be here — then after a while, it’s very difficult for them to leave. It’s a very comfortable lifestyle. For example, when I was working, I would get off at 4:30. I was heavily involved in competitive water skiing, and I could go skiing two or three days a week after work. Whereas to somebody from New Jersey, that’s just a foreign concept.

“I’m not a guy that sits around and complains about things in Memphis,” he continues. “We

don’t want to live someplace where everybody’s the same. So for us, the diversity of the city is good. Does our city have problems? Yes, it does. But, you know, there’s a lot of problems in a lot of different places.”

“For me, it’s home,” says Sandy.

“I have an older sister I take care of. She’s in assisted living, and I’m happy to do that. And, of course, we’re huge Tiger fans — we just absolutely love all the Tiger sports!

I’ve lived here all my life. I can go anywhere in the city and run into friends.”

This is the Spells’ third home in the Bluff City. It was originally constructed in the late 1990s by builder Jim Greene. When Rick and Sandy had outgrown their home of 12 years, which was also in East Memphis, a friend told them Greene was thinking about selling.

“He built the rest of the homes on the street,” says Sandy. “His wife designed it, and they lived here for two years. It was not on the market when we bought it.”

“We were also considered remodeling our other home,” says Rick. “It was time to do something, and this became a compromise home that I think has worked out really well.”

The home was originally created in the French Provincial style and featured recovered wood beams for the rustic look. Sandy wanted a clean slate. “In the previous home, we had a designer,” she says “And while I liked the house and the fin-

ished product, it wasn’t me. And so I asked Rick to let me do it. It’ll take me longer, because I don’t have the resources, but I’ll find them.

When the Spells sold the other house, they got rid of everything. “I let friends come and take what they wanted,” says Sandy. “I had quite a few things left. When the gentleman came who was going to move us — just a mattress to sleep on, my refrigerator, and a washer and dryer — I told him he could have the rest. Well, come to find out, he was a young fellow who had just bought a new home with his wife. He was thrilled! So he brought some people over, and they packed up everything — dishes, pots, pans. So we came here and we had no furniture. We had two little chairs to sit on. I think they were even lawn chairs.”

The Spells moved their mattress into an upstairs bedroom and got to work creating a new household.

The first item on the agenda was building a new bedroom suite on the north side of the house. The biggest requirement of the new bathroom was a great tub, inspired by their Yucatan home, Hacienda Kukulkan. “That tub was so big, people who visited would pile in and take pictures, three or four at a time,” says Sandy.

This tub is more practical, but still lovely. It is surrounded by columns, and features a stained- glass installation on the ceiling which was inspired by the ocean views of Rick’s native California. Beyond the bathroom is the home’s unique feature: a custom-designed, walk-in M A Y 2 0 2 1 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • 37

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right: This columned tub is based on a design from the Spell’s Yucatan home, Hacienda Kukulkan. The stained glass above the tub depicts a California beach scene. below left: This custom closet is Sandy’s favorite room in the house. below right: The bed in this guest room is from Lexington’s Tommy Bahama Collection. The fan, with palms etched into its glass light globe and bamboopatterned blades, extends the tropical feel.

closet. “How many people say their closet is their favorite room in the house?” laughs Sandy.

Sandy found the custom closet company in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The construction of the space took three days, including dedicated shoe shelves, glass-fronted wardrobes, and a central island dresser. “It’s successful, because I’m very messy, but this keeps me neat,” says Rick.

The home’s spacious front room is decked out in furniture from the Kreiss Collection. The 75-yearold family business is famous for creating the “California casual” look. Loren Kreiss, who relaunched

the brand in 2017, defined the look to the Los Angeles Times as “natural materials, varied textures, generously proportioned items, and things that are not aggressively designed.”

“When I walked in the Kreiss store [in West Hollywood, California], I loved everything. I had a hard time choosing,” says Sandy.

“It is inviting and comfortable.

I want people to feel at home when they visit.”

The dining room table is also from Kreiss. It is a massive chunk of marble that took six former football players to move into the house.

The floor had to be reinforced

to keep it from collapsing into the crawl space.

The Spells transformed the previous owners’ breakfast nook into a comfy den. “They had a little dinette table in here,” Sandy recalls. “I said, ‘No, this is perfect. It’s cozy. It’s close to the kitchen.”

Rick says this is the room that gets the most use. “Every home becomes an apartment. So the question is what is our apartment?

This is the room where we sit to just chill out, do nothing, and watch television.”

A line of doors opens to the meticulously landscaped backyard.

“What we have here is, in the right

weather, a very indoor-outdoor home,” says Rick. “It has the feeling of a California, or even a Hawaiian, home. That’s actually what we were shooting for.”

The centerpiece of the back yard is a giant fountain, surrounded by azalea bushes and dogwood trees.

Opening the doors makes a great space for parties — although the lightly colored Kreiss furniture is “not red wine friendly.”

The couple say they haven’t done much entertaining since Rick retired from the investment banking business — except, don’t call it that.

“Retirement’s a really vulgar word to

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me,” says Rick. “I left my investment banking job because it was time for me to leave. I had trained some superstars, and I’m just not a believer in staying around forever. So, I fired myself, and they’ve done great — and that’s how it’s supposed to be.”

“He knew he couldn’t retire,” says Sandy. “He was constantly looking for businesses, because he knew he wanted to continue to work.”

“What I tell people is, I buy cash flows,” says Rick. “I really don’t care what type they are, as long as they’re legal. That was my training — being able to evaluate the risk/ reward. So when I started buying restaurants, the president of Morgan Keegan, was like, ‘Rick, are you okay? Is there something wrong?

Why are you doing this?’ Because it’s so risky.”

When Rick bought Brookhaven Pub and Grill, he unexpectedly found a new passion. “We’ve done really well with it, because so much of doing well with it is how you

purchase it,” he says. “Now, having said that, owning restaurants as people that don’t cook is, um, unique. You have to rely on management and people. We like to think that we have great managers, and we let them do what they do.

We’re good at business. They’re good at restaurants. I think the thing that was surprising to us, that we never thought about, was how much we’ve enjoyed the people.”

The Spell Restaurant Group expanded to Florida’s Gulf Coast with the purchase of George’s, a popular seaside eatery in Alys Beach. The couple’s daughter, Christy Spell Terry, moved to the coast and transformed the nearby La Cocina into LaCo, a chef-driven Latin coastal eatery. The Spell Group owns two restaurants in Rosemary Beach: Edwards, which offers fine dining with vacation casual attire; and La Crema, where you can get tapas or dessert. The Saltwater Grill in Panama City is built around a 25,000-gallon

saltwater aquarium.

In 2019, the Spell Restaurant Group rescued the struggling Babalu chain. They made the Overton Square store in Memphis the group’s flagship, where a painting from the Spells’ Mexican home now hangs behind the hostess stand.

“Babalu in Memphis was such a great fit, culturally, because all the people there were so good,” says Rick. “They had gone through a bankruptcy and they had no idea it was happening. Suddenly, they read in the paper that they’re bankrupt. I was scared to death about what I might lose, but in the discussions I had with the people, everybody I dealt with was just phenomenal — very motivated, great people. We’ve kept virtually everyone on there. So I don’t call myself a restaurateur, because if you throw me in the kitchen, I’m lost. But I manage the business, provide capital, and allow the experts to do what they do.”

Far from retirement, the Spells

above: The biggest addition to the house is this main bedroom, which the Spells built when they bought the house in the early 2000s. The former bedroom became the walk-in closet and main bathroom. The room features art by Sedona, Arizona, artist Wolfgang Vaatz.

have embraced the fast-paced camaraderie of the restaurant world. “I recognize it’s a tough industry, but it’s also rewarding,” says Sandy. “It warms my heart when I see all the seats filled, and people having fun, making special memories at our stores.

In fact, our slogan has become, ‘We sell fun!’”

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PE T

G U I D E

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Learning to speak dog.

BY ANNA TRAVERSE FOGLE

F

or 15,000 years, humans and dogs have bonded together.

And for many people, that bond has intensified over the past year, as we’ve spent more time in our homes, with the animals who share them.

According to a recent article in the journal Nature, more than 63 million U.S. households include a dog — more than any other companion animal. Dog adoption only increased during the covid-19 pandemic, thanks in part to misleading media reports of dog abandonment, and in part to the fact that dog ownership confers benefits for one’s mental, physical, and emotional health.

LEFT:

Lee Phelan is the in-house trainer at the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County.

Last year, Memphis magazine let our annual Pet Guide go to the dogs — literally. And the cats. We invited a dog (Lily Bear, who lives with me) and a cat (Ampersand, who resides chez Jesse Davis) to author the articles for us.

Each told the story of how they came to be rescued, and showed quite a bit of personality in the process.

Lily and Ampersand let us know that they were too busy this year, so we’re turning the focus instead on a topic that may be more im-

mediately useful to readers: animal behavior. I sat down with Lee Phelan, CPDT-KA, PMCT, the in-house trainer at the Humane Society of Memphis and Shelby County, to talk about his work. I was chiefly curious to hear Phelan’s advice for pet owners as we transition back to something more like normal life. Of course, Lily Bear managed to play a role in this conversation, too.

The following discussion has been edited for clarity and concision.

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS — LEFT: COURTESY HUMANE SOCIET Y OF MEMPHIS AND SHELBY COUNT Y | ALL OTHERS BY A DOGS LIFE PHOTO / DREAMSTIME

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ANNA TRAVERSE FOGLE: My dog, Lily Bear, is actually in here with me, so hopefully no trucks will drive by. You would know better than I do, but my theory is that, to my dog, a very large diesel truck is basically an apex predator.

LEE PHELAN: Dogs are socialized to things when they’re very young, up to about 16 weeks. If they don’t get that positive exposure, they can retain fear of novel things, like a noisy truck. If you ever want to figure that out, just ask what’s the function of all that barking? What does it look like? Is she scared? Is she tucking her tail or is she ferocious and charging at the walls? Mostly, it’s fear-based. Most aggressive behavior is, and so you can help her with that, with what we call basic counter-conditioning skills.

I often joke that you will never see counter-conditioning desensitization work on television. If it’s done well, it’s the most boring thing you will ever see. It is so slow, so methodical, that it doesn’t grab your attention, unless you’re a dog trainer like me.

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ATF: I wanted to start out by asking just where you’re from and what led you to working with animals.

LP: I’m from here, from Memphis, and I’ve done a lot of different things here. I was a lawyer for 20 years. I had a bed-and-breakfast in Key West for about three-and-a-half years. I did a lot of construction, a lot of renovation in Memphis, especially in Midtown. And then, I got a real estate license, after I stopped doing those other things.

This was in 2014 and the market was pretty bad. I decided to volunteer, and I went on a Tennessee volunteer opportunities website.

The Humane Society popped up as an opportunity. I came here to volunteer and just fell in love with it.

The kind of training that I do, that Karen Pryor helped introduce back in the ’80s, with her famous book Don’t Shoot the Dog, was a mostly positive-based training philosophy and methodology. You teach behaviors by reinforcing the ones you want and ignoring the ones you don’t want.

This job had opened up, and I got called because they knew me here, because I’d been a volunteer. As I told them, this was the only job I would’ve taken.

We don’t ever move dogs on because of time or space. We will work with them until we can’t work with them or find them homes.

[Lily Bear barks in the background.]

ATF: Her ears are always up, but when she’s barking at a truck or something, they go more towards the center like this.

LP: Yeah. Okay, so that’s fear-based.

ATF: That’s what I thought.

LP: She never got socialized to that, so she’s fearful of it, and so she does what dogs do, she does aggressive behavior. That behavior’s about 98 percent fear-based anyway.

But what happens is, the truck goes away. It works, right?

ATF: Yes! I’ve actually said that before. I’m like, “She thinks that she’s yelling at the trucks and then they leave.”

LP: Absolutely. And from her perspective, that behavior of barking at that thing she’s afraid of made it go away.

ATF: Totally.

LP: Now Pavlov’s on the left-shoulder and Skinner’s on the right, because there’s an association to that truck, but then there’s

ATF: There’s a truck. There’s a very large truck. Sorry.

LP: But there was a high state of arousal there, the tail went up. I couldn’t really see the ears, but — ATF: Ears are up.

LP: Do they stay up like that?

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this operant principle happening, that this behavior — barking really loudly — makes it go away, which is what I wanted in the first place, so I’m going to keep barking, because that makes it go away. That’s a job for, I would say, counter-conditioning and desensitization. A lot of times, for that, we use sounds of trucks on your phone.

ATF: We did that with a corgi that I had growing up. She was petrified of thunder, so we played cassette tapes (this was the early ‘90s) of thunderstorms, and it helped some.

LP: Well, so it’s more structured than that.

So what you would do is play that low at first, at a level where she notices the sound of the truck, but she’s not terrified of it. Meanwhile, start feeding her. I use baby food, like Gerber’s baby food that comes in the little jar.

And then, you turn it off and the food goes away. You turn it back on, pause one second, here comes the food, noise goes off, food goes away.

What’s happening is that noise of trucks is starting to predict something good is going to happen, so instead of having a fear-based response to that, she starts to anticipate it, look for it, want it. You’ve changed an emotional response to a stimulus, and that’s the coolest thing you can do. Because by working like that, you can take her fear away, and I don’t think you can do anything better than that, for a person or a dog, than to take their fear away.

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ATF: One thing that I wonder about is, as people begin to return more to their offices, to in-person school, to all of these things, what should people do to help make sure that their animals don’t freak out, have separation anxiety, that sort of thing?

LP: That’s a great question, and a lot of us that work with animal behavior started thinking about this early on. Oddly enough, the first thing I started thinking of was what are dogs going to do seeing all those humans with this on, right? [Phelan gestures at his face mask.] That hasn’t really affected them;

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we don’t have any dogs here that are fearful of anyone in masks. They’re really good at reading our gestures, but they seem to get what they need from the eyes.

But your question is even more important. Yes, you’re going to have a problem. If you’re with your dog 24/7 and then, all of a sudden, you expect to be away eight to 10 hours and have them hang by themselves.

I wouldn’t think separation anxiety would be a probable outcome of that. You can have what’s called isolation distress. They’re really just points on a spectrum, and at the worst end of it is the separation anxiety.

What I’m recommending to people is to start a systematic desensitization program to being left alone. That is, leave your house, leave your dog for five minutes, go walk around the block or whatever you do for five minutes, but get out of there, because your dog is oftentimes aware if you’re in the vicinity. Just go away for a while and gradually, over time, start to increase that duration where you’re away from your dog. Start, also, getting them used to some types of enrichment, sometimes called puzzle toys, the kind of things that can engage a dog for a while.

Those include things like Kongs. Most dog owners know what Kongs are. You could stuff them with food and you can put them in the freezer. I like to use their kibble, parts of their meal, a peanut butter plug to hold it in, or bits of cheese, something like that, and put the Kong in the freezer.

Sometimes they get frustrated, because it’s frozen solid. But once they get used to it, that will give them up to an hour where they’re having to work, which can engage their mind, make them more tired, and help them get through that period of time when you’re gone. I love the YouTube channel, Relax My Dog. Some of the recordings are 15 hours long, and it’s just this music that is so boring that I can’t listen to it.

ATF: Mine likes public radio.

LP: Yeah, the sound of people talking.

ATF: Just people talking, at a relatively low volume.

LP: There’s tons of stuff, including CBD oil and things like that. You might try some of those, but the most important thing is to get

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them used to being alone and that might mean you have to leave for half the day by the time you get through this, so you start out with five minutes to 10, maybe then go back.

We like to use what’s called a variable rate, so it’s not like they start predicting when you’re going to be back.

A lot of people recommend that you confuse your departure cues. Every time you leave your house, you do a bunch of things the same. Your dog picks up on that: “Mom’s leaving.” Sometimes the anxiety can start then. What we recommend is that you do those things, but then go sit down and watch television, so that it’s not predictive.

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ATF: Yeah. So maybe instead of cross the street, step off the curb. I live in a relatively quiet neighborhood, so I could step off the curb and into the street. Going back into your work with the Humane Society, but still carrying the threat of covid-19, how has the pandemic affected your work on a daily basis?

LP: When I first came here, we were still pretty much on lockdown. We had limited staff, limited dogs, and most of our dogs were in foster. When it happened we sort of shut down, right? Now, I wasn’t here then — I started in July. But in March and April, they put a lot of dogs in foster and the facility had pretty limited access. Volunteers were not allowed because of covid. We started them back in August, and the change was remarkable. It’s one of the really interesting things about shelters, and I don’t think people really understand it unless they actually work in it. When I volunteered, and I volunteered in several shelters, I never understood it.

Volunteers are not an adjunct to what we do; they’re a necessity.

ATF: This has been fascinating. Thank you so much for sharing your time with me.

LP: Well, because I’m a huge dog nerd and I love this whole area of conversation, I could talk about it forever.

WINDOW ROCK

ATF: I clearly could, too. Thanks again.

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Bedside Angels ONE YEAR LATER FOUR NURSES TALK ABOUT THEIR FRONT-LINE EXPERIENCES WITH THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC — THEN AND NOW.

BY MICHAEL FINGER

L

ast May, we asked four local nursing professionals to share their distinctive perspectives on what then already felt traumatic: a worldwide pandemic caused by the outbreak of covid-19. We now consider covid an all-

too-familiar disease, one that will join the likes of smallpox and polio in the history books

MASK-ANGEL ILLUSTRATION BY DAILA JANSONE / DREAMSTIME

of medical villainy.

Now, 12 months later, we have asked the same front-line heroes to update and expand on their perspectives on the continuing fight. Vaccinations are here, entering thousands of arms each day in Memphis. Variants of the virus have arrived, too, adding new layers of complication and anxiety even as reasons for optimism increase. With sympathy for the too-many lives lost and for all those grieving, and with inspiration from covid-19 survivors and those who have cared for them, we share these views with hope for a healthier tomorrow.

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Bedside Angels ONE YEAR LATER

were infected and some who died. As everything shut down and food and supplies became scarce along with schools going virtual and folks losing jobs, I could see the stress and anxiety on nurses’ faces. We didn’t know what was going to happen and we were afraid for each other, our patients, and our families.

We tried to remain optimistic by providing encouragement and appreciation through frequent communication. Folks needed information and honesty. Our leadership team worked very hard to make sure our employees, patients, and families had the most up-to-date information available.

Honest, transparent, and frequent communication ultimately was helpful even though it was ever-changing and quite fluid.

Robin Mutz, MPPM, BSN, RNC, NEA-BC CHIEF NURSE EXECUTIVE AND SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT

T

S T. J U D E C H I L D R E N ’ S R E S E A R C H H O S P I TA L

ennessee native Robin Mutz earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of North Carolina and her master’s from Birmingham Southern College. She began her 41-year career at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, served as executive director of nursing at the Medical University of South Carolina, and joined St. Jude in 2018.

Last year, she told us, “Our profession instills us with a lion’s courage and a servant’s heart. We carry this unique skill set with us at home, at work, and in our community.”

How are you? This past year has been difficult for most everyone, but frontline workers like you have witnessed the effects of COVID-19 on a daily basis. How do you take care of yourself while also taking care of others?

St. Jude Nursing has done a lot of work to support the resiliency of our staff. It has been a very difficult year as nurses have juggled patient care responsibilities along with family responsibilities. We encourage our nurses to take respite breaks, and we offer small comfort items of herbal tea, aromatherapy for their masks, and sweet treats on a cart they can keep in their unit. When rounding, I ask nurses how they are doing, and the usual response is: “It depends.”

Because the pandemic has lasted so long, I believe we have all adjusted and surprised ourselves with our adaptability

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Many people are still skeptical of COVID-19, preferring to think that another disease has caused the loss of a loved one. Have you encountered patients with this attitude, and if so, what do you tell them?

I haven’t talked to patients specifically about this, but we have spent a lot of time talking to staff, patients, and families about the facts related to covid-19 and what the science is telling us. People have encountered lots of information (some of it false) and we have spent many hours dispelling rumors and false information. It’s easy to see how folks can become confused.

to the “new normal.” I find that just listening is helpful. We have conducted listening sessions for our nurses, with myself, our CEO, Dr. Jim Downing, and Janet Sellers from our Resilience Center attending. We have a Healthy Work Environment Council that works on this as well. The listening sessions are recorded and posted internally on our website for those who can’t tune into the live stream. We have received positive feedback that these sessions reassure our staff that leadership hears them.

With the vaccine rollout, we are hopeful that we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. When do you think we can return to normal life again?

Life will return to normal when enough people are vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. Getting vaccinated is the only way we can return to so many of the activities we love. I believe we have learned many lessons through the pandemic and some things don’t need to return to the way they were. I think we will see a “new normal” and move on from there. For now, we should continue to be vigilant with masking, hand washing, and social distancing. Please get the vaccine when you are eligible.

Worst-case scenarios predicted a death toll in this country of 250,000 from COVID-19. Instead, the coronavirus has claimed more than half a million lives.

What were your thoughts as the number of cases steadily rose?

It was actually terrifying. We heard about friends, relatives, and staff members who

What impact do you think the pandemic has had on the nursing profession? Will it discourage people from becoming nurses, or inspire them because they see the leading role that nurses have played?

From my perspective, I truly believe the nursing profession has been highlighted as one group of heroes during the pandemic.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY ST. JUDE CHILDREN’S RESEARCH HOSPITAL

4/14/21 2:58 PM

Nurses are smart, resourceful, energetic, compassionate, and great team players. I see all the wonderful stories about nurses, and I believe it will inspire others to join the profession.

home remodeling has never been easier!

We asked this a year ago, and now we ask it again: What lessons have you learned from this pandemic?

Never take a single day for granted.

Embrace the simple pleasures of life, especially being with others. Nurses are smarter and more resilient than they thought they were, and when we come together, we can do amazing things.

Show appreciation and never underestimate the power of human touch.

How has the pandemic changed the average “day in the life” of a nurse?

I believe it has encouraged nurses to think more intentionally. Because the virus was so widespread and silent, nurses had to be overly vigilant about their everyday tasks. Focusing on doing everything to keep patients safe has always been the utmost priority but we are now always on high alert.

Wearing personal protective equipment (masks, gloves, gowns, etc.) has become the everyday norm, and nurses put them on and take them off hundreds of times per day. We all have become more obsessive about hand washing and keeping everything as clean as possible. I believe the pandemic has mandated that nurses use all their critical thinking skills in overdrive.

What will you tell your children or grandchildren about your role in the events of 2020-2021?

I will tell them that leading through the pandemic was one of the greatest privileges and challenges of my career. I was so frightened for everyone around me and for myself. Remaining positive and trying to calm fears while being scared and tired myself required a lot of inner strength. Being intentional in my behavior and daily choices helped me appreciate the small joys of each day. I tried to be aware of all the blessings and encouraged others to renew themselves by appreciating life’s small pleasures. Sunshine, f lowers, and a new puppy helped keep me grounded and centered.

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Bedside Angels ONE YEAR LATER

of covid-positive patients, though, was especially tough. I remember each patient I treated, some who lost their lives to covid. As the pandemic intensified, we saw success in new treatment options and our PPE supply remained steady. Those small wins kept us going.

Amanda (Mandy) Holder, BSN INTENSIVE CARE UNIT NURSE, MEDICAL RESPONSE TEAM NURSE, AND PATIENT COORDINATOR M E T H O D I S T L E B O N H E U R H E A LT H C A R E / M E T H O D I S T H O S P I TA L N O R T H

F

rom Halls, Tennessee, Amanda Holder attended UT-Knoxville and earned her nursing degree from the University of Memphis. She interned at Methodist Hospital – North and joined their nursing staff in 2016. A year ago, she told us, “It’s an amazing feeling when you make connections with patients and their families, and you see them through. We play a short part in their lives, but our impact can be profound. I’m proud to be a nurse.”

How are you? This past year has been difficult for most everyone, but frontline workers like you have witnessed the effects of COVID-19 on a daily basis. How do you take care of yourself while also taking care of others?

I think most healthcare workers would agree when I say that we are tired.

This past year has been one of the most difficult many of us have experienced in our careers. Across the country, nurses are working twice as hard with limited staffing resources. Nursing, however, remains our calling. We will still care for our patients and we’ll continue to serve our community — because that’s the call we answered.

To be honest, we probably haven’t taken care of ourselves to the extent that we should. Our focus has been to take care of others and we’ve put ourselves last. Mentally recharging is one of the best things we can do for ourselves. Personally, I spend time outside especially on pretty

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days, just enjoying nature. Having the vaccine broadly available now gives us added hope that we’ll soon be able to enjoy a vacation and spend time with loved ones again.

The outpouring of community support has also really been encouraging.

We’ve received goodies and snacks to help refuel our bodies and our minds.

The appreciation shown to healthcare workers has been something that has refreshed us all — no matter how big or small the token of gratitude.

Worst-case scenarios predicted a death toll in this country of 250,000 from COVID-19. Instead, the coronavirus has claimed more than half a million lives.

What were your thoughts as the number of cases steadily rose?

My initial thought was, will this ever end?

At the beginning, it was hard to see the light. Healthcare systems were treating so many sick patients and not all were covid-related. Seeing the daily increase

Many people are still skeptical of COVID-19, preferring to think that another disease has caused the loss of a loved one. Have you encountered patients with this attitude, and if so, what do you tell them?

I’m familiar with this perspective and offer this as an example: If a patient with known heart failure was hospitalized and was diagnosed with pneumonia then later passed away — would you say they died from pneumonia or heart failure? The answer is both. Because the heart was impaired, it was not able to compensate for the infection in the lungs, which also put additional stress on the heart. I think it’s fair to say that it’s similar for covid-19. Underlying health issues, coupled with covid, only complicate issues for patients and can have a devastating impact.

With the vaccine rollout, we are hopeful that we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. When do you think we can return to normal life again?

There is certainly more light visible now and it’s encouraging to see a decrease in the number of covid cases. I’m hopeful that masking and social-distancing guidelines will ease by the end of the year. I also think it’ll continue to be important to follow standard precautions like proper hand washing and respiratory etiquette. But as more people become vaccinated and we gain a better scientific understanding of what has happened within this last year, we will be able to adapt and return to a new normal. I have to believe that.

What impact do you think the pandemic has had on the nursing profession? Will it discourage people from becoming nurses, or inspire them because they see the leading role that nurses have played?

Nurses are more valuable now than ever. A hospital cannot function without its nursing staff and the nursing shortage became very evident during the pandemic. Unfortunately, I do anticipate the nursing shortage will

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY METHODIST LE BONHEUR HEALTHCARE

4/14/21 2:58 PM

continue and maybe worsen. Last year, I mentioned that nursing is a calling, and it is. However, the pandemic has taken a huge toll on nurses physically and mentally. But I also know that during this pandemic, someone’s life was touched by a nurse. And because of this — that someone will want to be a nurse, too.

How has the pandemic changed the average “day in the life” of a nurse?

During the height of the pandemic, we suited up much like a soldier prepares for the battlefield. We faced many unknowns and had many questions — how many patients would we see today, what will their conditions be, will any lives be lost, would co-workers fall ill, would we have enough PPE, blood products, and other supplies. It was intense and I’m not sure that any amount of training or education could fully prepare us for what we encountered every day.

Only those of us who have braved the frontline will completely understand the day-to-day challenges we faced. We focused on providing a safe environment, which meant limiting visitation and navigation throughout the hospitals. Limited visitors meant more phones ringing as anxious family members and friends called for updates on their loved ones. Nurses not only provided care to patients, they were also providing comfort to family members.

Before the pandemic, most of us could leave our work at work. But this was different. The weight of the pandemic went home with all of us. From the patients we lost to the patients still hanging on that we wanted so badly to save. Pre-pandemic — even in the ICU — we saw good days. We saw so many patients recover and we saw the difference we were making. This pandemic had us wondering what difference we were making. Sometimes it was hard to tell.

But in the midst of all of that, we innovated. We collaborated with other colleagues and other disciplines like never before. The nursing teams paired up with respiratory therapists to find ways to increase oxygenation. Nurses partnered with physical therapists and mental health technicians, and nurses began working even more closely with physicians to strengthen communication between the medical teams.

Routines changed and the way we provide care has changed; but, the heart of a nurse and a nurse’s role remains the same — we always put the patient first.

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Bedside Angels ONE YEAR LATER

We supported each other on the roughest of days. We are a stronger team for it!

With the vaccine rollout, we are hopeful that we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel. When do you think we can return to normal life again?

Just like this time last year, I don’t consider myself an expert on timing of this virus or when we will be “normal” again, so I can’t really answer that. I do think everyone has to weigh the best options for himself/herself and decide what normal looks like to you. However, I was first in line to get my vaccine!

Kristin Quinn, BSN CARDIOVASCULAR INTENSIVE CARE UNIT NURSE MANAGER

A

B A P T IS T ME MOR I A L HO SP I TA L – ME MP HIS

native Memphian, Kristin Quinn earned her bachelor’s degree in nursing from the University of Memphis. She has been with the cardiovascular ICU at Baptist since 2008. Early in the covid-19 pandemic, she told us, “This is something we will take with us for the rest of our lives, whether that be in our nursing career or our personal lives. I have learned that, when push comes to shove, I wouldn’t want to be cared for by anybody else in the world.”

How are you? This past year has been difficult for most everyone, but frontline workers like you have witnessed the effects of COVID-19 on a daily basis. How do you take care of yourself while also taking care of others?

We made it this far! My team in the hospital has been absolutely incredible, compassionate, and brave this year.

Having these people to lead has made my year move seamlessly even when we thought we could not give any more.

Now that things are a little more open, I have made sure to take time to enjoy my family, my friends, and myself for self-care. A dinner or day just to unwind with other people going through the same things has made it easier on me.

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When we talked one year ago, worstcase scenarios predicted a death toll in this country of 250,000 from COVID-19.

Instead, the coronavirus has claimed more than half a million lives. What were your thoughts as the number of cases steadily rose?

I cannot lie. We were scared. We were sad.

We were mad. We continued to come to work every day and work hard, care for the sickest of the sick, and then leave to hear people saying they did not “believe the hype.” We saw “the hype” with our own eyes but could not put into words sometimes what we were seeing without every emotion coming out. We wept with families as they lost loved ones. We celebrated with those who beat the virus and went home!

What impact do you think the pandemic has had on the nursing profession? Will it discourage people from becoming nurses, or inspire them because they see the leading role that nurses have played?

Nursing is forever changed. I have seen nurses do things we never thought we would see in our lifetime. The appreciation in the community for what nurses actually do has also increased. Many people have thanked our team for the hard work we have put in this past year.

I have also seen the incredible need for qualified nurses all across this country. Nurses have been given the opportunity to move to places they have always dreamed of to take their nursing careers to the next level. I think many nurses will continue to travel and move around where the need arises. Nursing has definitely changed in that aspect.

We asked this a year ago, and now we ask it again: What lessons have you learned from this pandemic?

Oh, the things we have all learned this year!

I think the biggest lesson I have learned is just how thankful I am. I am incredibly thankful to have my family, my friends, and my team! My family and friends have endured my long hours at work to make sure my team is taken care of. My Baptist cardiovascular ICU team — how can I ever put into words how grateful I am for them? They have lifted each other up in what has absolutely been the toughest year in our lives. They have worked tirelessly, continued to make connections

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY BAPTIST MEMORIAL HOSPITAL — MEMPHIS

4/14/21 2:58 PM

with patients and families (even when we knew the end outcome was going to be the worst), and they have given every ounce of themselves to take care of people.

I will never forget each and every person on my team and the impact they have had on our patients. Their compassion for patients and families at the very worst of times makes all the difference in the way our unit operates. We are truly a family.

They are truly the “bedside angels” we should all hope for if we are ever sick.

How has the pandemic changed the average “day in the life” of a nurse?

The biggest changes we have had are in regards to the protective equipment needed to care for patients, limited visitation, and just overall stress. We have to wear masks all the time now but also protective eyewear, gowns, or specialty masks when needed to care for certain patients. With limited or no visitation in the hospital, nurses have really had to step in to be a patient’s comfort and familiar face when they can’t see their loved ones. Nurses have been the last face some patients ever see as they take their last breath.

When nurses go home now, the stress of the pandemic doesn’t stay at the hospital. It is carried over into their families’ lives as well. As nurses help patients and their families cope with the stress of the pandemic, they also go home and have to help their own families deal with their own stressors of the pandemic.

Someday, what will you tell your children or grandchildren about your role in the events of 2020-2021?

Lucky for me, my children have gotten to witness what I’ve gone through every step of the way this year. I hope they always remember how hard my friends and I have worked this year to keep our teams, our patients, and their families safe. I hope one day my children and grandchildren are proud that I had even a small role to play in this pandemic. They can be proud to say “my mom was a nurse during covid-19!” I hope they remember the innovative things we, as nurses, have done this year. Most of all I hope they remember the impact that even just one person can have in such an important time.

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Bedside Angels ONE YEAR LATER

Charles E. Lapsley Jr., MSN, RN DIRECTOR OF NURSING

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R E G I O N A L O N E H E A LT H

orn in Miami, Charles Lapsley earned his nursing degree from Florida State University and his master’s from Walden University. A registered nurse for 22 years, he began his career in several hospitals in Florida and joined Regional One after moving to Memphis in 2009. After a stint at Methodist, he assumed his present position in 2014.

“Nursing is a profession that is dynamic, innovative, fulfilling, and built on a simple principle of compassion,” he told us last year. What helped him get through the challenges he encountered in 2020? “I am a man of faith,” he said, “and I believe that is the only way doubt and fear can be managed in my world.”

How are you? This past year has been difficult for most everyone, but front-line workers like you have witnessed the effects of COVID-19 on a daily basis. How do you take care of yourself while also taking care of others?

I have been blessed! Over this past year I can truly say that being able to spend more quality time with my family proved to be therapeutic. The connections with my wife (“My Rock”) and boys during their formidable years have strengthened. As a family, we make more of a conscious effort to take a “tech time-out” and spend more time interacting through prayer, long walks, bike rides, and meal planning. And we have been able to remain connected to our church, Anointed Temple of Praise, through a virtual platform allowing us to remain spiritually grounded in our faith.

When we talked one year ago, worstcase scenarios predicted a death toll in this country of 250,000 from COVID-19.

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Instead, the coronavirus has claimed more than half a million lives. What were your thoughts as the number of cases steadily rose?

During the early months I didn’t know what to think. Without evidence-based practice and the necessary tools to guide the medical profession through this pandemic, it was difficult for anyone to predict the outcome.

We all relied heavily on the media and the guidance of the CDC, which proved to be a very fluid process, changing daily as different narratives were introduced. Witnessing the deadly effects of the virus had a major impact on our mental stability and tested our resiliency to no end. In the initial stages we realized the urgency of this pandemic and we quickly stepped our game up, but I do not think anyone anticipated nor were we truly prepared for what we endured in our healthcare system nationwide.

Many people are still skeptical of COVID-19, preferring to think that another

disease has caused the loss of a loved one.

Have you encountered patients with this attitude, and if so, what do you tell them?

Fortunately, I have not encountered people with this mindset [but] I would utilize the facts to provide them with the truth. covid-19 affects individuals differently and several patients never fully recover. Those with pre-existing comorbidities that involve congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and chronic renal failure usually have a more difficult time. This may be the reason they think another disease may have been the cause of death. We were able to tackle some of those myths through a live recorded forum focused on race and covid earlier this year.

With the vaccine rollout, we are hopeful that we are seeing light at the end of the tunnel When do you think we can return to normal life again?

What we consider normal is no longer normal.

I said previously we will embark on a new way of life that is different from the past. If your definition of normal translates to not being mandated to wear a mask or limit occupancy in a said location, that has occurred in several states already, but a large percentage of individuals are still wearing masks without regulatory enforcement. This alone speaks volumes to what is now normal. Several members of the community no longer shop in public and utilize delivery and curb pickup options. This is one of many things that are now normal.

Ultimately, we will get back to a space where travel restrictions or requirements may lessen along with all things covid-19 related, but I am suspicious that our new normal will continue to keep us on our toes in anticipation that there may be something else out there that we need to protect ourselves from.

What impact do you think the pandemic has had on the nursing profession? Will it discourage people from becoming nurses, or inspire them because they see the leading role that nurses have played?

The nursing profession historically was already dealing with a shortage that the pandemic intensified. All of a sudden nurses were being incentivized with astronomical salaries to leave their home hospitals and travel across the nation to hotspots. This left several hospitals severely understaffed and forced systems to come up with innovative solutions to mitigate the shortages or open up their checkbooks and hand out blank checks to staffing agencies.

Another impact was the heavy psychological trauma nurses were left with. Nurses are in the business of saving lives and unfortunately some nurses experienced multiple deaths that quadrupled what they would normally experience.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY REGIONAL ONE HEALTH

4/14/21 2:58 PM

On a positive note, the pandemic allowed the most trusted profession to also be viewed in a different light. Nurses and healthcare workers were now superheroes and the world had a newfound respect for what we do every day. Ultimately, I feel inspiration wins over discouragement. I’ve always felt strongly that this profession requires a calling, and if a dollar is your motivation, nursing is not for you. The pandemic highlighted the dangers and the risk that is endured daily in the profession and that your heart and compassion must be the key driver.

We asked this a year ago, and now we ask it again: What lessons have you learned from this pandemic?

My most impactful lesson was that we must live each day to the fullest. This pandemic exposed our false sense of security as it relates to life. We were told that people we know would die as a result of covid-19 and that came to fruition. Professionally, we learned that collaborating across the organization and the formation of teams were key to problem solving and addressing chaotic situations.

How has the pandemic changed the average “day in the life” of a nurse?

The most heartfelt change for nurses involves resiliency and their ability to cope with stress and burnout. Burnout is when a nurse struggles to cope with caring for patients.

Many causative agents exist; however, the most frequent contributor in this case was death, spreading the virus to our loved ones at home, and the fear of the unknown. Nurses have always been strong and we learn to deal with tough situations, but I am most fearful for the newest nurses that have entered the profession during a time of chaos. Most were thrown into the fire without proper knowledge, skills, and equipment yet were still expected to perform and save lives. I want them to know there is hope, there is love, and there is respect in this profession and when the smoke clears the world will revere the courage and tenacity of our profession.

Someday, what will you tell your children or grandchildren about your role in the events of 2020-2021?

I would simply tell them that Grandpa was a healthcare veteran that was involved in the war against covid-19. I would add my specific role during that time involved leading a service-line of healthcare workers through a crisis that lasted for years. I would also emphasize how this period of time also allowed Grandpa and Grandma the opportunity to slow down and appreciate what God has done and how he kept our family safe from harm during these tumultuous times.

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R OA D

T R I P

READY TO GET AWAY?

It’s swimming, sunsets, and seafood galore at the many beaches of South Walton.

TOP RIGHT PHOTOGRAPH BY NICCOLO PONTIGIA / DREAMSTIME ALL OTHER PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY

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VISIT SOUTH WALTON / WORD OF MOUTH RESTAURANT GROUP

4/15/21 3:20 PM

SOUTH WALTON’S WHITE SAND AND EMERALD WATER BECKON.

A

BY SAMUEL X. CICCI

s more folks get vaccinated each day, travel plans may be moving from your daydreams and onto your calendar. Luckily, paradise isn’t too far away. An eight-hour drive from Memphis leads straight to South Walton, Florida, a bustling hive of beach resort communities that has grown exponentially over the last couple of decades, and has proven to be a haven for Southern tourists seeking some fun in the sun. But sun, sand, and seafood just scratch the surface of what South Walton has to offer visitors and residents alike.

Grayton Beach, in particular, has made waves withTravel plans have been all over the map during the pandemic. Tourism in general is down, international in the past year thanks to a prestigious beach-ranktravel remains mostly halted, and destination hotspots ing publication. Geoscientist and coastal ecologist have had to get creative to drum up business. But try Dr. Stephen Leatherman — known by his nickname, telling that to South Walton. While other locales have Dr. Beach — reviews and evaluates beaches around been struggling, the stretch of beaches along state road the country through a set of strict criteria and com30A has seen a huge bump in traffic. Who knew that piles them into an annual top-ten ranking. For 2020, wide, sunlit beaches — spread out so far that they’re Dr. Beach selected Grayton Beach State Park as his ideal for social distancing — would be the perfect number-one destination. In his summary, he wrote: solution for a quick, yet safe, getaway?

“This beach boasts of its sugar-white sand and emerFor David Demarest, director of ald-green water where development “This beach boasts of communications for Visit South Walhas been restrained so big sand dunes its sugar-white sand and ton, the area’s amenities, plus an elustill dominate the landscape. At the sive feeling of normalcy, made it many same time, all the amenities of great emerald-green water where people’s first choice for pandemic restaurants and accommodations are development has been travel. “With the pandemic, people close by in the old town of Grayton were not going on cruises, or going Beach or Seaside.” restrained so big sand to Europe, or going to the CaribbeWhite sand and emerald water aside, dunes still dominate the an,” he explains. “They wanted a place Grayton Beach has managed to hold landscape. At the same that was more drivable and where they on to its identity over the past couple could get a little more of a relaxed exof decades, despite a heavy influx of time, all the amenities perience with social distancing. While tourists as 30A grew in popularity. of great restaurants and a lot of Florida this year has really been “It grew up kind of as a hippie artist hurting in terms of empty accommocolony-slash-fishing village,” laughs accommodations are dations, we’ve stayed busy. And you’ve Demarest. “So it’s always been a very close by in the old town of seen almost an approximation of norfunky, very artistic town. And a lot of that is still there.” Some big names in mal life, where people are out riding Grayton Beach or Seaside.” their bikes, playing in the parks, and Grayton’s art scene are former South — Dr. Beach everything’s set up in a way where they Walton artists of the year, Andy can feel safe doing so.”

Saczynski and Mary Hong. Each owns a gallery in South Walton has been a sought-after destination for town, while Hong’s Shard Shop holds interactive art a couple of decades now. So what’s the secret for the classes on a regular basis. area’s continued success? Visitors are spoiled for choice, If visitors find themselves in Grayton, the trip with 16 unique beachfront communities. Readers of won’t be complete without a visit to the Red Bar, an Memphis should be familiar with a couple of them, from iconic restaurant that’s been around since before Jesse Davis’ dive into the arts scene of Alys Beach (SepSouth Walton went through its development boom. tember 2019), to Chris McCoy’s journey to the fantasy Run by Belgian-born owner Oli Petit, the Red Bar land of Rosemary Beach (January 2021). has been around more than 25 years, and is a staple for both tourists and locals. There’s plenty of fresh “Seaside, Rosemary, Alys, Grayton, Sandestin, and Miramar are probably the ones that pop into people’s seafood to go around — think blackened grouper, minds first,” says Demarest. “Those are the classics, shrimp and crawfish, or the uber-popular crab cakes within the eastern inlet of the beach, and they’re grow(Friday and Saturday only) — but a key draw is the ing quickly. But you’ve also got places like Dune Allen, Red Bar Jazz Band, which plays Tuesday through probably the quietest of the little towns, and then Gulf Saturday nights. The building burned down last year, Place, which is the center for entertainment.” but was rebuilt to the exact same specs.

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E

above: Lifeguards are constantly on duty at the many beaches of 30A to ensure visitors can have fun in safety.

societal or business obligations.

The allure of the outdoors in summer is what initially kickstarted South Walton’s development and attracted more visitors, businesses, and hotels. But before that, it was just stretches of water and sand.

“I moved here when I was about 6 years old,” says Demarest, “and sure, there was some development, but when I arrived, there was no Alys Beach, no Rosemary Beach. There was nobody around in those days. Any restaurants would only be open in the summer months, and then they were shuttered for the rest of the year.

“Now, everything has changed. We’ve got so many people coming during the summer months. Our goal now is to let people know how nice the area is during the fall and winter, too. People are starting to realize that now, and because of the increased traffic, we’ve got some of the best restaurants around.”

O

ne restaurateur who has been around since the early days is Jim Richard, who arrived in South Walton in 2002 as the latest stop on his culinary journey, and now runs the popular Stinky’s Fish Camp.

The area’s transformation from sleepy seaside towns to a tourist hotspot still surprises him sometimes. “There was a time during the offseason in 30A where we used to laugh,” he muses, “because you could lie down in the middle of the road and not get hit. No cars would come by. For restaurants and the hospitality industry, you’d do 75 percent of your volume for the year in about six months. So workers would work through the summer, but then a lot of people would get laid off during the winter. That’s changed, and you’re seeing businesses be intentional about retaining their staff. Now you’ve got a lot of people coming down from Nashville, Atlanta, many parts of the Southeast.”

Richard, an avid sailor and frequent beachgoer, says South Walton provides plenty of benefits for full-time residents. And a huge draw, setting the area apart from some other tourism hotbeds, is the communal feel. “You BOTTOM RIGHT PHOTOGRAPH BY DREAMSTIME / ALL OTHER PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY VISIT SOUTH WALTON

below: With 40 percent of the land preserved, there's plenty of room to walk through nature, and also a good chance of running into some local wildlife out stretching its wings.

ach beachside town has its own distinctive charm, so there’s no wrong choice when it comes to picking a place to stay. But settling on one destination doesn’t mean visitors have to miss out on the others. Every spot along 30A rests upon the same 28-mile stretch, so a quick car ride can yield plenty of new sights. Plus, when in Florida, do as the Floridians do: South Walton boasts 200 total miles of bike trails that connect each community. “We’ve got two trails in particular that have just about everything covered,” says Demarest.

First is the Timpochee Trail — named for influential Euchee tribe chief Timpoochee Kinnard — that runs parallel to Scenic Highway 30A. “A paved trail covers a lot of the state parks and crosses a lot of coastal dune lakes,” says Demarest. The 19-mile trail links 12 of the beachfront communities, but doesn’t reach the four easternmost towns. That might seem like a lot of mileage, but it can be done. Take it from this writer, who made the sun-soaked pilgrimage some 15 years ago, as a teenager.

The path, for the most part, is flat, making it a smooth ride from end to end, with plenty of shops and cafes to stop at along the way, too. I remember grabbing an iced coffee and sitting on a bench overlooking the ocean, all the while soaking up the sunlight before resuming the journey. Meanwhile, folks staying in Miramar Beach can tackle the much shorter three-mile Scenic Highway 98 Trail.

The bike trails offer entry to the region’s natural splendor, and also serve as a reminder of the area’s history, before its big development boom. Some 40 percent of the land of South Walton is preserved, encompassing three beachfront state parks, an inland state park, and the 15,000-acre Point Washington State Forest.

To maintain the natural feel of the area, South Walton imposed a building height restriction. The absence of highrises means unimpeded views wherever the trail leads, and a chance to disconnect from reminders of

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know, we’ve got the 50-foot moratorium on buildings,” explains Richard. “So besides big hotels, families are very likely to rent a house in one of our neighborhoods.” For travelers, that means a very family-oriented experience, with many staying for a week or two at a time.

It’s easy to run into other vacationers and strike up a bond. While parents sip cocktails on the patio, kids out for a bike ride might encounter other kids to play with and really hit it off. Close-knit bonds are easy to forge in South Walton because, well, it feels like you’re living there.

Those relationships are one of the main reasons Richard enjoys living in South Walton. As a restaurant owner, he sees plenty of

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people come and go. But many people also come back, summer after summer. And over time, those friendships grow.

“I see a lot of people having a great time in our community,” he says. “For me, being in this place for so long, or for others who visit frequently, you meet people, you meet their kids. Then everybody grows up, they get married, and then they bring their kids along with them. And it’s a gift to get to know families that much. They might only come back one week every year, but they come back and you’re excited to see them. I’ve made great friends that I only see once a year.”

Beyond visitors, Richard has seen plenty of people move to South Walton full-time, especially during the pandemic. That includes people who want to work remotely, or even those who wanted to get their kids back into school (Florida’s schools have mostly been open during the pandemic). And that continues to feed into the growth of the communities, with an abundance of art festivals, wine festivals, and other events that delight both residents and visitors alike.

PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY VISIT SOUTH WALTON

In the distance, the Timpoochee Trail crosses West Lake in Grayton Beach.

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memphis area master gardeners

“through our garden gates” — p r e s e n t —

Saturday, June 5 from 9 AM – 4 PM.

To be held rain or shine.

• Free tour — open to the public, all ages welcome.

• This is the “DYI” tour. All six wonderful gardens, differing in design, style, size and features, were designed by the home gardener who also did the majority of the installation themselves.

You will not be intimidated but will be inspired to know you can create your own garden oasis.

• Plant lists, labeled plants, educational displays and garden docents will enhance your visit.

• Garden experts on hand to answer any gardening question.

• Plein Air artists creating original works of art in each garden.

• For your safety Covid 19 protocols in place. Masks and social distancing required.

For more information, including directions, visit

MemphisAreaMasterGardeners.org 901-752-1207

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ut a trip to the beach, of course, wouldn’t be complete without thinking about what’s for dinner. And Stinky’s Fish Camp in Santa Rosa Beach (named for an inside joke from Richard’s days as a sous chef), which regularly has huge lines of customers, provides a perfect snapshot of what the area has to offer.

“Like my peers, I wanted to design a restaurant that really fits in with the area,” says Richard. “So Stinky’s focuses on a fresh local fish program, making good use of the resources we have here. All year round we have five options, plus different fresh local fish on our board. And it’s all stuff that comes from the gulf. So rather than farm to table, think gulf to table.”

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Stinky’s Stew served next to the oyster log special.

Stinky’s Stew is an amalgam of seafood, mixing fresh fish, shrimp, oysters, and mussels together into a mouthwatering broth alongside roasted corn, roasted potatoes, and tomatoes. The dish also includes a pressed crabmeat po’boy, which Richard encourages diners to dunk into the broth. From the family playbook, Richard calls upon his grandfather’s old recipes to whip up a catfish meunière, served with smoked tomato tartar.

Diners shouldn’t miss out on Stinky’s excellent oyster selections. There’s the raw bar, but Richard prepares oysters six other ways, all of them either baked or broiled in the oven. And if deciding proves challenging, Stinky’s has a solution. “When we were initially setting up a taste test in our early days, one of my chefs grabbed literally a piece of pecky cypress for the presentation,” laughs Richard. “And it stuck. So we serve our oyster log, which includes all of our varieties. We also throw on some fried oysters, and some fried frog legs, too. You’ll see people out there, even for lunch, enjoying the oyster log and sipping on champagne.”

While fish composes a big part of Stinky’s menu, Richard wants fishing to be part of his diners’ vacation experience as well. The main restaurant is connected by a dock to Stinky’s Bait Shack, which sells bait and tackle. “We want people to have something to do while

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they’re waiting, so we’ve got live shrimp and frozen bait,” says Richard. “We specialize in surf fishing, which is fishing from the beach, or bay fishing, which is normally done by boat. People will primarily catch speckled trout and red fish in this area.” Meanwhile, kids can feed sea turtles just off the dock, and it’s likely that a band will be playing live music.

Stinky’s also hosts two fishing tournaments per year. Spring’s Pompano tournament is great for beginners, usually requiring only one catch for participants to place. The fall brings the Beach to Bay Grand Slam, a test for more serious anglers that requires winners to catch a speckled trout, a red fish, and a flounder.

With so much to do in South Walton, it might be hard to leave.

If it weren’t for the pandemic, Richard would have started a barbecue and boil event at the restaurant. That harkens back to his Louisiana roots: crawfish, crabs, shrimp, andouille sausage, brisket, and pork butt. Stinky’s menu offers plenty of variety, but that’s just part of the South Walton experience.

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hile South Walton has seen heavy development over the years, Richard still thinks visitors will find plenty of surprises off the beaten path. “The South County does really well with the beaches, but we’ve got a lot more to do,” he says. “There are the trails, the large national forest, national rivers, the Bay, and even the North County that doesn’t get a lot of use by tourists.”

So while lounging on the beach is a perfectly fine way to spend a vacation, you’d be remiss not to get the full Walton experience.

And with so much to do, it might be hard to leave. “I love the water, being outdoors,” says Demarest. “You can paddleboard, scuba dive, swim. I spend as much time in the water as I can. The white sand underwater makes it look like a desert when you’re snorkeling.

We’ve got these great offshore reefs in the shape of animals while you’re snorkeling or scuba diving, and there’s also the Underwater Museum of Art, which is an underwater sculpture garden. It’s a mile offshore, and it was the first of its kind in the country.

“It’s all great,” he continues, “but my wife is a foodie, and she’s into the excellent restaurant scene we have around here. So South Walton is a happy compromise for us,” he laughs. “Once you get used to the weather, the water — really everything about this part of the country — it’s hard to be anywhere else.”

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AS K

VA N C E

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

DEAR VANCE: I recently came across a reference to a home in Midtown called “The House of Happiness.” Where was this place, and what was so happy about it?

— H.D., MEMPHIS.

above: An old Commercial Appeal clipping showed the “House of Happiness” under construction in 1935.

But perhaps he sensed this particular home was ahead of its time. Architect Brantley Ellzey, in fact, recently mentioned it on Facebook, noting that, “The ‘House of Happiness,’ in spite of its mild-mannered demeanor, is one of the most influential houses ever built in this city.”

Why is that, exactly? Well, Harrison based his design on homes one might find across New England.

In fact, the front entrance is a copy of an eighteenth-century cottage in Massachusetts. Ellzey observed that 705 University “marked a turning point in domestic architecture in Memphis, when developers turned down the more highly detailed styles of the 1920s and ’30s in favor of the more pared-down Colonial style, one of the most popular designs for houses in Memphis to this day.”

It certainly stands out from the rows of bungalows in the Vollintine-Evergreen neighborhood, the Tudor Revival homes nearby, or the Gothic Revival campus of Rhodes College.

But aside from its design, why were “Ted and Sally” so happy to live there? For one thing, it was spacious. The DE AR H.D.: In September and October of 1935, single-story home originally had three large bedrooms, Memphians could tune their radio dials to WMC and two full baths, a dining room and separate breakfast listen to a program called House of Happiness. According room, and a roomy kitchen, with a pantry, full baseto The Commercial Appeal, the half-hour show featured ment, and unfinished attic. “the trials and tribulations of Ted and Sally, and the Other details made even the most critical visitors, ways they can be aided by prominent Memphis firms well, happy. In October 1935, members of the Better in completing their House of Happiness.”

Housing Committee, a national organization, toured The newspaper helpfully explained, “Although Ted the home and shared their opinions with local reportand Sally are a mythical couple, the home ers. Mrs. Merrill Hudson, committee chairman, observed, “With so much and the business firms involved in the Ted chimed in: “What program are realities.” cabinet space and plenty of room, such The “House of Happiness” — so named a kitchen would lend itself to the happiI like is the way I can ness of any housewife.” because every feature was designed to always get pure, tastemake the home owner very happy — Another member liked that the archiwas constructed at 705 University, across tect included plans for converting the free ice cubes in five attic into a playroom. “Children love to the street from what is now Rhodes minutes. It’s Coolerator play,” she said, “and the attic shuts them College. The house served as a special for me, every time!” off to themselves without bothering othcross-promotion of The Commercial Appeal, er members of the family.” the WMC radio station, and the Federal Other committee members seemed obHousing Administration to encourage sessed with the many closets — admittedly a problem people to buy new homes. If they already owned a in homes from that period — with one noting, “Every house, the property served as a showroom for Memphis housewife has a collection of things she likes to keep, yet companies who supplied the appliances, furniture, not in full view. The generous closet space of the ‘House curtains, tile, bathroom fixtures, lighting — everything of Happiness’ is one of its most attractive features.” a home owner could possibly need.

The women liked “the large fireplace in the living I was surprised to discover the architect chosen room” (without providing any details about it), along for this project. E.L. Harrison created such Art Deco with the “spaciousness of the breakfast room with landmarks as Fairview Junior High School and the its built-in cabinet, and the house’s window arrangeFarnsworth Building (now 88 Union Center), along with ment, which provides plenty of light and sun in every the Memphis Steam Laundry (since demolished), the room during certain hours of the day.” latter built in a truly bizarre Venetian Gothic style. An They also told reporters that “the large backyard is architect who specialized in such stunning monuments suitable for a most attractive vegetable or f lower garwouldn’t seem a likely choice for a “normal” residence.

PRESENT-DAY PHOTO BY VANCE LAUDERDALE / NEWSPAPER CLIPPING COURTESY MEMPHIS AND SHELBY COUNT Y ROOM, BENJAMIN L. HOOKS CENTRAL LIBRARY

BY VANCE L AUDERDALE

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den, and the spacious front yard can be landscaped to any family’s delight.”

Still, most of their praise was directed at the housewife. Did you notice? Was there nothing here for the lazy husband, who (presumably) rarely helped with the cooking or other chores around the house? Well, that fellow would smile when he ventured out back to the single-car garage, because the “House of Happiness” — a “completely planned and finished home” — even came with a brand-new Chevrolet.

Yes, but what did Ted and Sally have to say about all this? “Although they have had to budget the cost of their home because of their moderate average income,” said the newspaper, “they have insisted on A-1 materials and workmanship.” So, every Saturday night, Ted and Sally invited friends to their new home, with everyone chatting for precisely one-half hour about the local companies who provided those A-1 materials: Fischer Heating and Plumbing, DeSoto Hardware, Dawkins Electric, and Carruthers Lumber, among a dozen others.

Ted and Sally were unusually excited about their newfangled “Coolerator” (the “air-conditioned refrigerator”), provided by a local company called Serv-ICE. One night, Sally told her friends (and radio listeners), “It’s beautiful! And to think, we’ll never have tasteless or dried-out foods again.” Ted chimed in: “What I like is the way I can always get pure, taste-free ice cubes in five minutes. It’s Coolerator for me, every time!”

Although most episodes of House of Happiness featured these two talking endlessly about their appliances, light fixtures, or furnace, one special episode involved considerably more drama. Here’s how the CA summed it up: “While attending a fraternity dance at a nearby home, the two newlyweds and their friends are startled with the appearance of a fire in the area in which their house is situated.”

Now, this was a radio show, remember. Reproducing the sound effects of a dance party and a house fire must have challenged the WMC sound crew. Why go to all that trouble? I bet one of the sponsors provided fire extinguishers — or homeowner’s insurance.

I found it rather amusing that the show presented, as one newspaper put it, “the many humorous difficulties that confront the home builder.” As anyone who has ever watched Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House (1948) with Clark Gable and Myrna Loy, or more recently The Money Pit (1986) with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, home owners who encounter those “home-building difficulties” rarely consider them “humorous.”

Of course, most of us don’t get too excited about our “air-conditioned” refrigerators, either.

The “House of Happiness” was completed in 1936.

During and after its construction, it was open every day for tours. My pal Wayne Dowdy, general manager of the history department at the Benjamin L. Hooks Central

Library, turned up a photo (too grainy to reproduce here — sorry!) showing the front yard jammed with people waiting to venture inside.

So, after everything was finished, what lucky Memphian got the keys to such a famous home? Well, I uncovered a minor mystery about that. City directories don’t list the property for several years after 1936, which is curious. Even if the house stood vacant — or was still serving as a model home — that address should have been listed.

At any rate, in 1940 the home found a buyer, and it was a rather prominent Memphian. Merrill Kremer, president of one of this city’s largest advertising agencies, moved in, with his wife, Sylvia. If they had children who took advantage of that attic playroom, I don’t know about them.

Drive by today, and from University the house looks unchanged since it opened more than 80 years ago.

Only a close look reveals the original wood clapboard façade has been sheathed in siding. A side view along Lyndale, however, shows that later owners added a two-car garage that matches the house, linked to it by a nice sunroom and deck.

Inside, the general layout remains basically the same, and the nicely carved fireplace and bathroom tiles are original. The “Coolerator” has been replaced with modern appliances, bathroom fixtures have been updated, and the attic is now a fourth bedroom (with bath).

Quite a few people have occupied this fine home over the years. I could name them all, but I’ll respect their privacy. Still, I’ll share this much: It’s a real shame that the “House of Happiness” never had any owners named Ted or Sally.

More than 80 years later, the “House of Happiness” looks remarkably unchanged.

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

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D I N I N G

O U T

Where Southern Meets Latin Chefs Keith Potter and Garron Sanchez bring a bit of Latin flair to the new Hyatt Centric, at CIMAS.

BY SAMUEL X. CICCI

D

owntown’s One Beale has long been under public scrutiny, with construction setbacks and a lengthy hiatus moving the plan through several iterations since the early 2000s. But the project’s Hyatt Centric opened its doors to the public last month, marking the successful completion of Phase 2.

The owners of Downtown’s newest hotel, occupying a prime location on Beale Street, knew they wanted something special to stand out from the crowd of other nearby attractions. But rather than look to its Southern peers, the chefs behind Hyatt’s CIMAS restaurant (pronounced see-mas) turned to South and Central America for inspiration.

“Memphis is brimming with wonderfully renowned barbecue and Southern restaurants,” says Troy Dixon, Hyatt Centric’s director of operations. “So, instead of competing with that, we wanted to instead offer something different, but still reflect the culture and city of Memphis. Latin American cuisine is incredibly authentic to its agricultural roots, and being part of the Mississippi alluvial plain, we pulled from that to create a playful yet authentic parallel.”

The kitchen at CIMAS (Spanish for “peaks’’ or “summits”) is led by executive chef Keith Potter and chef de cuisine Garron Sanchez. Both did several stints in Chicago before first working together at Ventana Big Sur, a luxury coastal resort in California near Monterey.

A peek at the resort’s mission, which emphasizes tastes native to California, hints at the pair’s commitment to mixing fresh ideas with local flavor when moving to the Mid-South. Neither had worked in Memphis before, but they jumped at the chance to bring something new to Beale Street’s first hotel.

“When I heard that the hotel wanted to bring a different culinary experience to the table, that got me excited,” says Potter. “One of the favorite parts of my job is being able to get creative with different ingredients and techniques, blending ideas and methods to create something new. That’s what the hotel was looking for, so it felt like a genuine match both ways.”

Diners can expect to see a synthesis of both Latin and Southern cooking ideas, with ingredients mainly gathered from nearby farms. Sanchez, who has Cuban

PHOTOGRAPHS COURTESY HYATT CENTRIC

Hyatt Centric Beale Street

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American heritage, has always had a were integrated into the design preference for Latin American cuiof the building so that locals can sine. But while California food trends seamlessly enter and go straight pushed him towards a narrower wininto CIMAS, bypassing the lobby dow of healthy offerings, CIMAS alwith out-of-towners.” lows for much more flexibility.

But it’s impossible to mention “As we began to write the menus CIMAS without talking about for CIMAS, it quickly became clear Beck & Call, the accompanying how Southern and Latin American rooftop bar at the Hyatt Centric.

Keith Potter, executive chef The two entities are designed to ingredients can be paired together to create bold flavors and beautiful precomplement one another, while “One of the favorite parts of my sentations,” he says. “My time spent providing their own standalone job is being able to get creative in Chicago saw little restrictions to experiences too. The bar is what types of food we could create, themed around a whiskey prowith different ingredients and and I am excited to get back to that gram, since Memphis is close to techniques, blending ideas and unrestricted freedom to just create so many distilleries. “Going with a whiskey theme was a no-braintasty, good-looking food.” methods to create something CIMAS will offer plenty of oper,” says Dixon. “We wanted our new. That’s what the hotel was tions for breakfast, lunch, and dinmenus to reflect the rich history looking for, so it felt like a ner. Early risers can look forward to and craft of America’s bourbon classic shrimp paired with Anson and whiskey legends.” Other segenuine match both ways.”

Mills artisanal grits, or chilaquiles lections include craft beer from verdes. Breakfast tacos make an appearance too, Wiseacre, and several spirits from Old Dominick just up the road. with chorizo placed atop soft tortillas garnished As for food, Beck & Call stands on its own when it generously with cilantro and onions, street-style. comes to the menu, and hews closer to a more convenLunch options include a blackened shrimp caesar tional Southern influence that matches with the whissalad, or carne asada tacos, which are combined with spicy homemade pickled jalapeños, salsa verde, and key and cocktails. “Some ideas we’re playing around lime, plus cilantro and onions. Meanwhile, a conwith include a shaved country ham with rhubarb beer ventional catfish milanese po’boy is given a shakejam and milk bread,” says Potter, “as well as Carolina up and served as a catfish torta. “It’s the perfect gold rice tempura fried broccoli with pickled pepper example of Southern food filtered through a Latin aioli and torn basil.”

American lens,” says Sanchez.

Beck & Call will also incorporate a raw component Dinner continues the fusion trend. One exciting with oysters on the half shell. For that, Potter whips up option is the vegan Bluff City mushroom tostada. his own take on mignonette sauce that utilizes Lindera The locally grown fungus is ground up into the Farms vinegar and smoked peppercorns. Another of his textured style of a chorizo sausage and served atop favorites is a country-fried pork tenderloin sandwich, a toasted tortilla. Partnering with a local grower placed on thick-cut toast with red pepper jelly and was a big part of Potter and Sanchez’s ethos when shaved cabbage. Guests are in luck, as the hotel offers crafting the menu.

24-hour room service all week.

“The majority of the ingredients at CIMAS are goWhile independent, Dixon thinks that both estabing to be from local farms and companies,” says Sanlishments can tick every box for a night out. “Beck chez, “as we want to partner with and support as many & Call is going to be a major hotspot for happy hour local providers as possible. Perhaps a few ingredients — especially with its vantage point for the nightly will be fetched from further corners of the globe, Mighty Lights show,” he says, referring to the colorbut the majority will be locally based.” Meanwhile, a ful lighting of the Hernando DeSoto Bridge. “You’ll scallops entree comes with creamy elotes — grilled head up there to kick off the night, sip on a specialty Mexican street corn — chorizo, and okra. And those bourbon, order some tapas, and soak in the views of the river and city. Then, you’ll flow down to CIMAS with a red meat craving can simply order the dry-aged for a rock-star dinner.”

New York strip steak.

At CIMAS, the Hyatt is hoping to attract both hotel guests and full-time Memphis residents. “Locals are a CIMAS and Beck & Call are located at the Hyatt major focus for us, as we want to be a property that’s a Centric Beale Street at 33 Beale St. CIMAS is open daily from 7 a.m. to midnight; Beck & Call is open daily from part of the community, not just in the community,” says 3 p.m. to midnight.

Dixon. “In fact, a separate service entrance and elevator

Breakfast tacos

Carnitas breakfast hash

Cornflake crusted French toast

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TH E M E M P H I S D I N I N G G U I D E

A Curated Guide to Eating Out

M

emphis 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.” This 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. Suggestions from readers are welcome; please contact Samuel X. Cicci at scicci@contemporary-media.com

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, $-$$$ FLYING FISH—Serves up fried and grilled versions of shrimp, crab, oysters, fish tacos, and catfish; also chicken and burgers. 105 S. Second. 522-8228. L, D, X, $-$$ 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. 4666324. D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$ GRECIAN GOURMET TAVERNA—Serves traditional editor’s note: As Memphis continues to navigate covid-19, some restaurants are open for socially favorites like spanakopita, pastitso, moussaka, and hand-rolled dolmathes, as well as lamb sliders and pita nachos. Closed Mon. distanced dine-in, while others are focusing on takeout and delivery. Please call ahead to confirm 412 S. Main. 249-6626. L, D, X, $ hours, adjusted menus, and available services.

GUS’S WORLD FAMOUS FRIED CHICKEN—Serves chicken with signature spicy batter, pasta, and several Northern Italian specialties. 149 Union, The along with homemade beans, slaw, and pies. 310 S. DOWNTOWN Peabody. 529-4199. B, L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$$ Front. 527-4877; 215 S. Center St. (Collierville). 853-6005; 2965 N. CAROLINA WATERSHED—This indoor/outdoor 117 PRIME—Restaurateurs Craig Blondis and Roger Sapp team Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 373-9111; 730 S. Mendenhall. 767eatery, set around silos, features reimagined down-home up with Chef Ryan Trimm to recreate the traditional American 2323; 505 Highway 70 W., Mason, TN. 901-294-2028. L, D, X, MRA, $ classics, including fried green tomatoes with smoked catfish, a steakhouse. Serving oysters on the half shell and a variety of surf HAPPY MEXICAN—Serves quesadillas, burritos, chimibuttermilk fried chicken sandwich, burgers, and more.

Closed and turf options. 117 Union. 433-9851. L, D, WB, X, $-$$$ changas, vegetable and seafood dishes, and more. 385 S. Second.

Mon.-Thurs.

141 E. Carolina.

321-5553.

L, D, WB, $-$$ ALDO’S PIZZA PIES—Serving gourmet pizzas 529-9991; 6080 Primacy Pkwy. 683-0000; 7935 Winchester.

CATHERINE & MARY’S—A variety of pastas, — including Mr. T Rex — salads, and more. Also 30 beers, 751-5353. L, D, X, $ grilled quail, pâté, razor clams, and monkfish are bottled or on tap. 100 S. Main. 577-7743; 752 S. Cooper.

HU. DINER—An extension of Hu. Hotel, diner serves such among the dishes served at this Italian restaurant in 725-7437. L, D, X, $-$$ dishes as country-fried cauliflower, cornflake-fried chicken, and the Chisca.

272 S. Main.

254-8600.

D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$$ THE ARCADE—Possibly Memphis’ oldest cafe. octopus and grits. 3 S. Main. 333-1224. L, D, X, $-$$ CHEF TAM’S UNDERGROUND CAFE—Serves Specialties include sweet potato pancakes, a fried peaHU. ROOF—Rooftop cocktail bar with superb city views serves Southern staples with a Cajun twist.

Menu items include nut butter and banana sandwich, and breakfast served toasts with a variety of toppings including beef tartare with cured totchoes, jerk wings, fried chicken, and “muddy” mac and all day. 540 S. Main. 526-5757. B, L, D (Thurs.-Sat.), X, MRA, $ egg, cognac, and capers or riced cauliflower with yellow curry, cheese.

Closed Sun. and Mon. 668 Union Ave. 207-6182.

L, D, $ AUTOMATIC SLIM’S—Longtime Downtown favorite currants, and almonds. Also salads, fish tacos, and boiled peanut CHEZ PHILIPPE—Classical/contemporary French specializes in contemporary American cuisine emphasizing local hummus. 79 Madison. 333-1229. D, $ cuisine presented in a luxurious atmosphere with a ingredients; also extensive martini list. 83 S. Second. 525-7948. L, HUEY’S—This family-friendly restaurant offers 13 seasonal menu focused on local/regional cuisine.

The D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$ different burgers, a variety of sandwiches, and delicious crown jewel of The Peabody for 35 years.

Afternoon tea served BARDOG TAVERN—Classic American grill with Italian soups and salads. 1927 Madison. 726-4372; 1771 N. Wed.-Sat., 1-3:30 p.m. (reservations required). Closed Sun.influence, Bardog offers pasta specialties such as Grandma’s Germantown Pkwy. (Cordova). 754-3885; 77 S. Second. 527-2700; Tues.

The Peabody, 149 Union.

529-4188.

D, X, MRA, $$$$ NJ Meatballs, as well as salads, sliders, sandwiches, and daily 2130 W. Poplar (Collierville). 854-4455; 7090 Malco Blvd.

COZY CORNER—Serving up ribs, pork sandspecials. 73 Monroe. 275-8752. B (Mon.-Fri.), L, D, WB, X, MRA, (Southaven). 662-349-7097; 7825 Winchester. 624-8911; 4872 wiches, chicken, spaghetti, and more; also homemade $-$$ Poplar. 682-7729; 7677 Farmington Blvd. (Germantown). 318-3030; banana pudding.

Closed Mon. 745 N. Parkway and BEDROCK EATS & SWEETS—Memphis’ only Paleo8570 Highway 51 N. (Millington). 873-5025. L, D, X, MRA, $ Manassas.

527-9158.

L, D, $ centric restaurant, offering such dishes as pot roast, waffles, HUSTLE & DOUGH BAKERY & CAFE—Flaky, baked CURFEW—An elevated sports bar/American tavern enchiladas, chicken salad, omelets, and more. Closed for dinner breakfast goodness every day with fresh pastries, sandwiches, and concept by Top Chef contestant Fabio Viviani at the Sun. 327 S. Main. 409-6433. B, L, D, X, $-$$ more at Arrive Hotel. 477 S. Main St., 701-7577. B, L, X, $ Canopy Memphis Downtown BELLE TAVERN—Serving elevated bar food, including a ITTA BENA—Southern and CajunDINING SYMBOLS hotel.

164 Union Ave. B, L, D, X, $-$$ butcher board with a variety of meats and cheeses, as well as American cuisine served here; specialties EVELYN & OLIVE—Jamaican/ daily specials. 117 Barboro Alley. 249-6580. L (Sun.), D, MRA, $ are duck and waffles and shrimp and B — breakfast Southern fusion cuisine includes such BEN YAY’S GUMBO SHOP—Spiritual successor to grits, along with steaks, chops, seafood, dishes as Kingston stew fi sh, Rasta L — lunch DejaVu, offering fresh and authentic Creole staples. 51 S. Main St., and pasta. 145 Beale St. 578-3031. D, X, Pasta, and jerk rib-eye.

Closed for D — dinner 779-4125. L, D, X, $-$$ MRA, $$-$$$ lunch Sat. and all day Sun.-Mon. 630 SB — Sunday brunch BISHOP—Ticer and Hudman’s newest venture at the Central KING & UNION BAR Madison.

748-5422.

L, D, X, $ Station Hotel features upscale dishes in a French brasserie style.

WB — weekend brunch FAM—Casual Asian restaurant serves GROCERY—Classic Southern 545 S. Main St., 524-5247. L, D, X, $$-$$$ X— wheelchair accessible sushi rice bowls, noodle bowls, sushi favorites including catfish plate, BLEU—This eclectic restaurant features American food with MRA — member, Memphis rolls, and spring rolls.

Closed Sun. 149 pimento cheese, po-boys, chicken & global influences and local ingredients. Among the specialties are Restaurant Association Madison; 521 S. Highland. 701-6666. L, waffles. Open for breakfast, lunch, and a 14-oz. bone-in rib-eye and several seafood dishes. 221 S. Third, D, X, $ $ — under $15 per person without dinner with cocktails served with flair and in the Westin Memphis Beale St. Hotel. 334-5950. B, L, D, WB, X, favorite Memphis beers. Locally made FELICIA SUZANNE’S— drinks or desserts MRA, $$-$$$ confections available in the grocery. 185 Southern cuisine with $$ — under $25 BLUEFIN RESTAURANT & SUSHI LOUNGE— Union Ave. 523-8500. B, L, D, $-$$ low-country, Creole, and Delta $$$ — $26-$50 Serves Japanese fusion cuisine featuring seafood and steak, influences, using regional fresh seafood, KOOKY CANUCK—Offers prime rib, with seasonally changing menu; also a sushi bar. 135 S. Main. $$$$ — over $50 local beef, and locally grown foods. catfish, and burgers, including the 4-lb.

528-1010. L, D, X, $-$$ Entrees include shrimp and grits. Closed “Kookamonga”; also late-night menu. 87 BRASS DOOR IRISH PUB—Irish and New-American Sun. and Mon. A Downtown staple at Brinkley Plaza, 80 S. Second. 578-9800; 1250 N. Germantown Pkwy. 1-800-2453 L, D, cuisine includes such entrees as fish and chips, burgers, Monroe, Suite L1. 523-0877. L (Fri. only), D, X, MRA, $$-$$$ X, MRA, $-$$$ shepherd’s pie, all-day Irish breakfast, and more. 152 Madison.

FERRARO’S PIZZERIA & PUB—Rigatoni and THE LITTLE TEA SHOP—Downtown institution 572-1813. L, D, SB, $-$$ tortellini are among the pasta entrees here, along with pizzas serves up Southern comfort cooking, including meatloaf

BY THE BREWERY—Breakfast and lunch café, (whole or by the slice) with a variety of toppings. 111 Jackson. and such veggies as turnip greens, yams, okra, and tomawith a focus on Southern-style biscuits, salads, and 522-2033. L, D, X, $ toes. Closed Sat.-Sun. 69 Monroe. 525-6000, L, X, $ soups. 496 Tennessee St. 310-4341. B, L, $ FISHBOWL AT THE PYRAMID—Burgers, LOCAL—Entrees with a focus on locally sourced products include CAFE KEOUGH—European-style cafe serving quiche, fish dishes, sandwiches, and more served in a unique lobster mac-and-cheese and rib-eye patty melt; menu differs by paninis, salads, and more. 12 S. Main. 509-2469. B, L, D, X, $ “underwater” setting. Bass Pro, 1 Bass Pro Drive, 291location. 95 S. Main. 473-9573; 2126 Madison. 725-1845. L, D, WB, CAPRICCIO GRILL ITALIAN STEAKHOUSE—Offers 8000. B, L, D, X, $-$$ X, $-$$ prime steaks, fresh seafood (lobster tails, grouper, mahi mahi),

We celebrate our city’s community table and the people who grow, cook, and eat the best Memphis food at M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M / F O O D 72 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • M A Y 2 0 2 1

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(This guide, compiled by our editors, includes editorial picks and advertisers.)

4/7/21 1:07 PM

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, $-$$ THE LOOKOUT AT THE PYRAMID—Serves seafood and Southern fare, including cornmeal-fried oysters, sweet tea brined chicken, and elk chops. 1 Bass Pro Dr. 620-4600/291-8200. L, D, X, $-$$$ 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, DBA COCOZZA—It’s red sauce, all the time in the Majestic Grille space on Main.

Variety of Italian dishes for curbside and takeout orders.

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). 662-8902467; 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. 855 Kentucky. 207-5111. L, D, MRA, $ 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, $-$$ PAULETTE’S—Presents fine dining with a Continental flair, including such entrees as filet Paulette with butter cream sauce and crabmeat and spinach crepes; also changing daily specials and great views. River Inn. 50 Harbor Town Square. 260-3300. B, L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$ 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, $-$$$ PONTOTOC LOUNGE—Upscale restaurant and jazz bar serves such starters as alligator filet fritters; entrees include Mississippi pot roast with jalapeño cornbread and tagliatelle with braised beef. 314 S. Main. 207-7576. D, X, $-$$ PUCK FOOD HALL—Food hall featuring a variety of vendors serving everything from bagels and beer to comfort food and healthy cuisine. 409 S. Main. 341-3838. $-$$ REGINA’S—New Orleans-inspired eatery offering po’boys, Cajun nachos topped with crawfish tails, catfish platters, oysters, and more. Closed Mon. 60 N. Main. 730-0384. B, L, D, SB, X, $-$$ 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, $-$$ RIZZO’S DINER—Chorizo meatloaf, lobster pronto puff, and lamb belly tacos are menu items at this upscale diner. Michael Patrick is among the city’s best chefs. 492 S. Main. 304-6985. L (Fri.-Sat.), D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$ 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 hand-crafted cocktails at this Downtown restaurant and lounge.

150 Peabody Place, Suite 111. 435-6915. L, D, X, $ SLEEP OUT LOUIE’S—Oyster bar with such specialties as chargrilled Roquefort oysters and gulf oysters on the half shell with

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Prosecco mignonette; also serves flatbread pizzas and a variety of sandwiches. 150 Peabody Place, Suite 111. 707-7180. 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. 361 S. Main. 526-0388. L, D, WB, X, $-$$ SPINDINI—Italian fusion cuisine with such entrees as woodfired pizzas, Gorgonzola-stuffed filet, and fresh seafood; large domestic whiskey selection. 383 S. Main. 578-2767. D, X, $$-$$ SUGAR GRITS— Who said breakfast has to be in the morning? The Westmorelands offer grits and other breakfast goodness all day long, in addition to other Southern-style lunch and dinner options. 150 Peabody Pl., Suite 111. 249-5206. B, L, D, $-$$ SUNRISE MEMPHIS—From the owners of Sweet Grass and Central BBQ. Serves breakfast all day, including house-made biscuits, frittatas, kielbasa or boudin plates, and breakfast platters. 670 Jefferson. 552-3144. B, L, X, MRA, $ 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, $$ TEXAS DE BRAZIL—Serves beef, pork, lamb, and chicken dishes, and Brazilian sausage; also a salad bar with extensive toppings. 150 Peabody Place, Suite 103. 526-7600. L (Wed.-Fri.), D, SB, X, $$-$$$ TUG’S—Famous for New Orleans gumbo, fabulous burgers, fried thin catfish, and specialty pancakes. Now serving Grisanti Crafted Pizza. 51 Harbor Town Square. 260-3344. B, L, D, WB, X, $$-$$$ THE VAULT—Oysters, shrimp beignets, flatbreads, stuffed cornish hen, and Smash Burger featured on “Late Nite Eats” are among the dishes offered at this Creole/Italian fusion eatery. 124 G.E. Patterson. 591-8000. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$ 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) 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, $-$$ BACK DO / MI YARD—A revamped patio space behind The Beauty Shop features rotisserie meats and fishes via Brazilian-style outdoor grill. Dinner Wednesday-Saturday, weather permitting. 966 S. Cooper, 272-7111. D, X, $$ 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 Cooper-Young neighborhood corner bar by Kevin Keough. 247 Cooper St. D, X, $ BAR-B-Q SHOP—Dishes up barbecued ribs, spaghetti, bologna; also pulled pork shoulder, Texas toast barbecue sandwich, chicken sandwich, and salads. 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. 22 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, $-$$$ BELLY ACRES—At this festive Overton Square eatery, milkshakes, floats, and burgers rule. Burgers are updated with contemporary toppings like grilled leeks, braised tomatoes, and sourdough or brioche buns. 2102 Trimble Pl. 529-7017. L, D, X, $ BHAN THAI—Authentic Thai cuisine includes curries, pad Thai noodles, and vegetarian dishes, as well as seafood, pork, and duck entrees. Closed for lunch Sat.-Sun. and all day Mon. 1324 Peabody. 272-1538. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ 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, $-$$ CELTIC CROSSING—Specializes in Irish and American pub fare. Entrees include shepherd’s pie, shrimp and sausage coddle, and fish and chips. 903 S. Cooper. 274-5151. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$ 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. 7674672; 147 E. Butler. 672-7760 ; 6201 Poplar. 417-7962. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ 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, $ THE DOGHOUZZ—It’s both bark and bite at the Doghouzz, which pairs a variety of gourmet hot dogs alongside local craft beer and one of the city’s most extensive whiskey selections.

Open for lunch, dinner, and late-night. Closed Sunday. 1349 Autumn Ave. 207-7770. L, D, X, $

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. L, D, X, $-$$ FARM BURGER—Serves grass-fed, freshly ground, locally sourced burgers; also available with chicken, pork, or veggie quinoa patties, with such toppings as aged white cheddar, kale coleslaw, and roasted beets. 1350 Concourse Avenue, Suite 175. 800-1851. L, D, X, $ FINO’S ITALIAN DELI & CATERING—The newly revived Fino’s offers the old favorites such as the Acquisto as well as a new breakfast menu. 1853 Madison. 272-FINO. B, L, D, X, $ FRIDA’S—Mexican cuisine and Tex-Mex standards, including chimichangas, enchiladas, and fajitas; seafood includes shrimp and tilapia. 1718 Madison. 244-6196. L, D, X, $-$$ 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, $ HAZEL’S LUCKY DICE DELICATESSEN— Jewish deli venture by Karen Carrier, serving up all manner of New York-style and kosher sandwiches. Takeout only.

964 Cooper St. 272-0830. L, $ HM DESSERT LOUNGE—Serving cake, pie, and other desserts, as well as a selection of savory dishes, including meatloaf and mashed potato “cupcakes.” Closed Monday. 1586 Madison.

290-2099. L, D, X, $ 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, $ LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM—Serves such Southern cuisine as po’boys, shrimp and grits, and wood-fired pizzas. 2119 Madison.

207-5097. 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, $-$$ LITTLE ITALY—Serving New York-style pizza as well as subs and pasta dishes. 1495 Union. 725-0280; L, D, X, $-$$ MARDI GRAS MEMPHIS—Fast-casual establishment serving Cajun fare, including an etouffee-stuffed po’boy. Closed Mon.-Tues.

496 N. Watkins. 530-6767. 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. 7265343; 5061 Park Ave. 684-1306; 7604 W. Farmington (Germantown).

753-2218; 797 W. Poplar (Collierville). 861-7800; 5627 Getwell (Southaven). 662-536-1364. L, D, X, $-$$ 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 Sunday-Monday.

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, $-$$

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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, $-$$ PARISH GROCERY—Shrimp? Roast beef? Oysters?

Whatever type of po’boy you want, the New Orleansthemed eatery has got it. Closed Monday. 1545 Overton Park Ave. 207-4347. L, D, X, $-$$ PIZZERIA TRASIMENO—Small pizzas baked in wood-fired clay ovens along with a selection of small salads. Menu is soon to include desserts, local beer on tap, and Umbrian wine. 1350 Concourse Ave., Suite 181. 308-1113. L, D. $ PHO BINH—Vietnamese, vegetarian, and Cantonese specialties include lemon tofu and spring rolls. Closed Sunday. 1615 Madison.

276-0006. L, D, $ RAILGARTEN—Located in a former rail station space, this eatery offers breakfast items, a variety of salads and sandwiches, and such entrees as short rib mac-and-cheese and fish tacos.

Also serves shakes, malts, floats, and cream sodas. 2166 Central.

231-5043. B, L, D, $-$$ RED FISH ASIAN BISTRO—In the former Nineteenth Century Club building, serves sushi, teriyaki, and hibachi. Specialties include yuzu filet mignon and Chilean sea bass. 1433 Union. 4543926; 9915 Highway 64 (Lakeland). 729-7581; 6518 Goodman (Olive Branch). 662-874-5254. L, D, X, $-$$$ 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.” 2146 Monroe. 590-2828. 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. 9225202. L, D, X, $$ SAUCY CHICKEN—Specializes in antibiotic-free chicken dishes with locally sourced ingredients, with such items as hot wings and the Crosstown Chicken Sandwich, and a variety of house-made dipping sauces; also, seafood, salads, and daily specials. 1350 Concourse, Suite 137. 203-3838. L, D (Mon.-Fri.), $ THE SECOND LINE—Kelly English brings “relaxed Creole cuisine” to his newest eatery; serves a variety of po’boys and such specialties as barbecue shrimp, andouille shrimp, and pimento cheese fries. 2144 Monroe. 590-2829. L, D, WB, X, $-$$ 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 KirbyWhitten (Bartlett). 377-2727; 6696 Poplar. 747-0001. L, D, X, $-$$$ STICKEM—Brick and mortar location for the popular food truck, which offers grilled meat on a stick. 1788 Madison. Closed Sunday. 474-7214. L, D, X, $ STONE SOUP CAFE—Cooper-Young eatery serving soups, salads, quiche, meat-and-two specials; and daily specials such as Italian roast beef. Closed Monday. 993 S. Cooper. 922-5314. B, L, SB, X, $ SOUL FISH CAFE—Serving Southern-style soul food, tacos, and po’boys, including catfish, crawfish, oyster, shrimp, chicken, and smoked pork tenderloin. 862 S. Cooper. 725-0722; 3160 Village Shops Dr. (Germantown). 755-6988; 4720 Poplar. 590-0323. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ SWEET GRASS—Chef Ryan Trimm takes Southern cuisine to a new level. Low-country coastal cuisine includes such specialties as shrimp and grits. Closed Mon. Restaurant’s “sister,” Sweet Grass Next Door, open nightly, serves lunch Sat.-Sun. 937 S. Cooper. 278-0278. D, SB, 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 Tuesday-Saturday. Pizza only menu after 9pm. 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, $-$$.

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, $$-$$$ 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)

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, $-$$ 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 Monday. 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, $-$$ 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 (check online for additional locations). L, D, X, MRA, $ LA TAQUERIA GUADALUPANA—Fajitas and quesadillas are just a few of the authentic Mexican entrees offered here. A bona-fide 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. 761-9321. 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, $$ PANDA GARDEN—Sesame chicken and broccoli beef are among the Mandarin and Cantonese entrees; also seafood specials and fried rice. Closed for lunch Saturday. 3735 Summer. 323-4819. L, D, X, $-$$ 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, $-$$ JOES’ ON HIGHLAND—Specializes in fried chicken and comfort sides such as warm okra/green tomato salad and turnip greens. Entrees include salmon patties and chicken-fried steak. Closed Mon. 262 S. Highland. 337-7003. L, D, X, $ 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, $

EAST MEMPHIS

(INCLUDES POPLAR/ I-240) ACRE—Features seasonal modern American cuisine in an avante-garde 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, $$-$$$ M A Y 2 0 2 1 • M E M P H I S M A G A Z I N E . C O M • 75

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ANDALUSIA— Authentic Moroccan cuisine, including tagines, brochettes, and briouates. 5101 Sanderlin Ave., Suite 103. 236-7784. L, D, $-$$ AGAVOS COCINA & TEQUILA—Camaron de Tequila, tamales, kabobs, and burgers made with a blend of beef and chorizo are among the offerings at this tequila-centric restaurant and bar. 2924 Walnut Grove. 433-9345. L, D, X, $-$$ 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, $-$$$ ANDREW MICHAEL ITALIAN KITCHEN— Traditional Italian cuisine with a menu from two of the city’s top chefs that changes seasonally with such entrees as Maw Maw’s ravioli. Closed Sun.-Mon. 712 W. Brookhaven Circle. 347-3569. D, X, MRA, $$-$$$ 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, $ 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, $$-$$$ BLUE PLATE CAFÉ—For breakfast, the café’s serves old-fashioned buttermilk pancakes (it’s a secret recipe!), country ham and eggs, and waffles with fresh strawberries and cream.

For lunch, the café specializes in country cooking. 5469 Poplar.

761-9696; 113 S. Court. 523-2050. B, L, X, $ 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). 4255908; 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, $.

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. 662893-3663. 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. 662-890-7611. 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 over 20 years, 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, $$-$$$ 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, $$$-$$$$ FOLK’S FOLLY ORIGINAL PRIME STEAK HOUSE—Specializes in prime steaks, as well as lobster, grilled Scottish salmon, Alaskan king crab legs, rack of lamb, and weekly specials. 551 S. Mendenhall. 762-8200. D, X, MRA, $$$-$$$$ FORMOSA—Offers Mandarin cuisine, including broccoli beef, hot-and-sour soup, and spring rolls. Closed Monday. 6685 Quince. 753-9898. L, D, X, $-$$ 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 Sunday. 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 Sunday. Embassy Suites Hotel, 1022 S. Shady Grove. 761-9462. L, D, X, $-$$$ HALF SHELL—Specializes in seafood, such as king crab legs; also serves steaks, chicken, pastas, salads, sandwiches, a ”voodoo menu”; oyster bar at Winchester location. 688 S. Mendenhall. 682-3966; 7825 Winchester. 737-6755. L, D, WB, X, MRA, $-$$$ HIGH POINT PIZZA—Serves a variety of pizzas, subs, salads, and sides. Closed Monday. A neighborhood fixture. 477 High Point Terrace. 452-3339. L, D, X, $-$$ 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 Sunday. 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, $-$$$ MAGNOLIA & MAY—The family behind Grove Grill cooks up Southern-inspired casual dining at this country brasserie, with popular menu items like peach gazpacho and low country shrimp n’ grits. 718 Mt. Moriah Rd. 676-8100. D, $$-$$$.

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, $-$$$ MARCIANO MEDITERRANEAN AND ITALIAN CUISINE—Veal Saltimbocca with angel-hair pasta and white wine sauce is among the entrees; also steaks, seafood, and gourmet pizza. 780 Brookhaven Circle. 682-1660. D, X, $-$$ 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 Sunday. 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, $-$$$ PF CHANG’S CHINA BISTRO—Specialties are orange peel shrimp, Mongolian beef, and chicken in lettuce wraps; also vegetarian dishes, including spicy eggplant. 1181 Ridgeway Rd., Park Place Centre. 818-3889. L, D, X, $-$$ 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 $-$$ RIVER OAKS—Chef Jose Gutierrez’s French-style bistro serves seafood and steaks, with an emphasis on fresh local ingredients. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Sun. 5871 Poplar Ave. 683-9305. L, D, X, $$$ 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, $-$$$ RUTH’S CHRIS STEAK HOUSE—Offers prime steaks cut and aged in-house, as well as lamb, chicken, and fresh seafood, including lobster. 6120 Poplar. 761-0055. D, X, $$$-$$$$ SALSA—Mexican-Southern California specialties include carnitas, enchiladas verde, and fajitas; also Southwestern seafood dishes such as snapper verde. Closed Sun. Regalia Shopping Center, 6150 Poplar, Suite 129. 683-6325. L, D, X, $-$$

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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, $-$$.

SOUTHALL CAFE—Locally sourced ingredients bolster a chef-driven menu offering breakfast and lunch classics. 669 S. Mendenhall. 646-5698. B, L, WB, 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. B, L, WB, X, $ SUSHI JIMMI—This food truck turned restaurant serves a variety of sushi rolls, fusion dishes — such as kimchi fries — and sushi burritos. Closed for lunch Sat. and all day Mon. 2895 Poplar.

729-6985. L, D, 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. 779-3499. 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. 3244325; 5391 Winchester. 794-7936; 3970 Rhodes. 323-9865; 6130 Macon. 371-0580. For more locations, go online. L, D, X, $ 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, $-$$ WASABI—Serving traditional Japanese offerings, hibachi, sashimi, and sushi. The Sweet Heart roll, wrapped — in the shape of a heart — with tuna and filled with spicy salmon, yellowtail, and avocado, is a specialty. 5101 Sanderlin Rd., Suite 105. 4216399. L, D, X, $-$$ 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, $

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, $-$$ THE BUTCHER SHOP—Serves steaks ranging from 8-oz. filets to a 20-oz. porterhouse; also chicken, pork chops, fresh seafood. 107 S. Germantown Rd. 757-4244. L (Fri. and Sun.), D, X, $$-$$$ COASTAL FISH COMPANY—Upscale offerings of international fish varieties utilizing styles ranging from Carribbean, East Coast, West Coast, Chinese, to Filipino, and more. 415 Great View Dr. E., Suite 101. 266-9000. D, X, $$-$$$ GREEN BAMBOO—Pineapple tilapia, pork vermicelli, and the soft egg noodle combo are Vietnamese specialties here. 990 N. Germantown Parkway, Suite 104. 753-5488. L, D, $-$$ KING JERRY LAWLER’S MEMPHIS BBQ COMPANY—Offers a variety of barbecue dishes, including brisket, ribs, nachos topped with smoked pork, and a selection of barbecue “Slamwiches.” 465 N. Germantown Pkwy., Suite 116.

509-2360. L, D, X, $ 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 herb-crusted 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. 624-6001. L, D, SB, X, MRA, $-$$ GERMANTOWN COMMISSARY—Serves barbecue sandwiches, sliders, ribs, shrimp, and nachos, as well as smoked barbecued bologna sandwiches; Mon.-night all-you-can-eat ribs. 2290 S. Germantown Rd. S. 754-5540. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ KOHESIAN SOKO STYLE EATERY—KoreanAmerican eatery serves up fusion-style dishes like bibimbap burgers or gochujang marinated loaded spicy pork nachos. 1730 S. Germantown Rd. 308-0223. L, D, X, $$ LAS TORTUGAS DELI MEXICANA— Authentic Mexican food prepared from local food sources; specializes in tortugas — grilled bread scooped out to hold such powerfully popular fillings as brisket, pork, and shrimp; also tingas, tostados. Closed Sunday. 1215 S. Germantown Rd. 751-1200; 6300 Poplar. 623-3882. L, D, X, $-$$ 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, $$ ROYAL PANDA—Hunan fish, Peking duck, Royal Panda chicken and shrimp, and a seafood combo are among the specialties. 3120 Village Shops Dr. 756-9697. L, D, X, $-$$ RUSSO’S NEW YORK PIZZERIA AND WINE BAR—Serves gourmet pizzas, calzones, and pasta, including lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo, scampi, and more. 9087 Poplar, Suite 111. 755-0092. L, D, WB, X, $-$$ SAKURA—Sushi, tempura, and teriyaki are Japanese specialties here. 2060 West St. 758-8181; 4840 Poplar. 572-1002.

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, $ 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, $

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,

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 wood-fired 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. 9795540. L, D, X, MRA, $-$$ 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, $-$$ FIREBIRDS—Specialties are hand-cut steaks, slow-roasted prime rib, and wood-grilled salmon and other seafood, as well as seasonal entrees. 4600 Merchants Circle, Carriage Crossing. 8501637; 8470 Highway 64 (Bartlett). 379-1300. L, D, X, $-$$$ 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, $-$$$ RAVEN & LILY—Eatery offers innovative Southerninspired cuisine with such dishes as crispy shrimp and cauliflower salad, spiced lamb sausage and parmesan risotto, and bananas foster pain perdu. Closed Monday. 120 E. Mulberry. 286-4575. L, D, SB, X, $-$$ 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, $-$$ WOLF RIVER BRISKET CO.—From the owners of Pyro’s Fire Fresh Pizza, highlights include house-smoked meats: prime beef brisket, chicken, and salmon. Closed Sun. 9947 Wolf River Boulevard, Suite 101. 316-5590. L, D, X, $-$$ 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 Hwy. 70 (Mason, TN). 901-294-3400.

L, D, $-$$ CATFISH BLUES—Serving Delta-raised catfish and Cajunand Southern-inspired dishes, including gumbo and fried green tomatoes. 210 E. Commerce (Hernando, MS). 662-298-3814. L, D, $

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CITY GROCERY—Southern eclectic cuisine; shrimp and grits is a specialty. Closed for dinner Sunday. 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). 662-470-4497. 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, $ CASINO TABLES BOURBON STREET STEAKHOUSE & GRILL AT SOUTHLAND CASINO RACING—1550 Ingram Blvd., West Memphis, AR, 1-800-467-6182 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 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 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 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, $ 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, $-$$$ PANCHO’S—Serves up a variety of Mexican standards, including tacos, enchiladas, and mix-and-match platters. 3600 E. Broadway (West Memphis, AR). 870-735-6466. 717 N. White Station. 685-5404. L, D, X, MRA, $ 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—Billed as 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, $-$$$ WILSON CAFE—Serving elevated home-cooking, with such dishes as deviled eggs with cilantro and jalapeño, scampi and grits, and doughnut bread pudding. 2 N. Jefferson (Wilson, AR).

870-655-0222. L, D (Wed. through Sat. only), X, $-$$$

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L AS T

S TA N D

The covid-19 pandemic affected the way we feel the passage of time.

BY CHRIS MCCOY

H

ow long has the pandemic lasted?

Does it seem like the summer of lockdown, masking, and the civil protests happened years ago?

Was it only yesterday you heard that Tom Hanks caught the coronavirus, and the NBA season was canceled? How long has it been since your last haircut? If you’re having trouble pinning it down, you’re not alone. One of the many things covid-19 has upended is our sense of time.

Time is a slippery concept.

Civilization’s finest thinkers have applied their brainpower to the problem, but all they were able to do is create a variable to plug into the equations that describe the world. What that variable actually refers to is still anybody’s guess.

Albert Einstein taught us that time is fundamentally inseparable from space. We can’t talk about one without talking about the other. How far is it to Jackson? It’s about an hour, depending on traffic.

Time and space are bound together by light, which sets the

cosmic speed limit at 186,000 miles per second. The distance to planets and stars is measured not in miles, but in light minutes, and light years. When NASA’s Perseverance rover landed on Mars, commentators were fond of saying that, by the time Mission Control got confirmation the spacecraft had touched down safely, it had already been on the ground for 12 minutes.

But that’s not, strictly speaking, true. Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity tells us there is no great ticking clock keeping track of the universal “now.”

Your experience of time’s flow

depends on your reference frame. remotely in your dining room It didn’t just take 12 minutes for while helping your child set up Perseverance’s signal to reach us for online learning in their bed— Earth shared a “now” with our room. Or applying for unemployemissary 12 light-minutes away. ment through a poorly designed It was the “now” that moved. As state website while obsessively Shakespeare wrote, “Time travchecking your temperature. Or els in diverse places, with diverse restocking a grocery shelf while persons.” wondering if the maskless person Adding to the temporal conwalking toward you will be the fusion is the human brain. Reone who infects you. search suggests that, thanks to To make things even worse, our circadian rhythms, we’re time periods filled with lots of pretty good at estimating how information for your brain to long a day is, but when it comes to process seem to move faster than minutes and seconds, time where there’s not much going on we’re all over the Time perception place. We organize — but also seem to researchers found our memories by inlast longer. The panthat a period is tensity of experience. demic experience Think about sitting in judged longer if it is has been one of alternating periods the dentist’s chair for a painful procedure. “intense, complex, and of frantic activity (stock up on toilet Then think about a segmented.” Those lazy spring afternoon paper!) and crushing factors certainly spent sharing a now boredom, punctuatwith the sun, nine ed by moments of applied to 2020. light minutes away. sheer terror (why am The unpleasantness can stretch I running a fever?) and months on, but the pleasure flies by. It of grief and suffering. After all, seems like only yesterday the kids for far too many Americans, 2020 were in diapers, but that awful will be remembered as the year movie lasted eons. they planned funerals for loved Which brings us to March ones.

2020, which felt like the longest With our usual distractions gone, we were forced to conmonth in recorded history. As Lenin said, “There are decades front our world in real time. We where nothing happens, and examined our now and found it there are weeks where decades wanting. It’s no coincidence that happen.” When the WHO desports, movies, and restaurants clared covid-19 a worldwide disappeared in mid-March, and pandemic on March 11, 2020, America had a mass civil uprisit signaled decades’ worth of ing in June.

Our poor brains never stood a change in a matter of days. Time perception researchers found chance. Christmas 2019 seems a that a period is judged longer if decade ago, but it’s almost like it is “intense, complex, and seg2020 never happened. Yet we mented.” Those factors certainly are the lucky ones. More than a applied to 2020. half million Americans — and All of our usual time markcounting — didn’t live to see the ers — from sports seasons and pandemic’s end. The rest of us graduations to daily commutes must try to put the world back and weekends — disappeared, together, and hope time soon to be replaced with new, irregmakes sense again. In the future, ular rhythms. Time periods are when they ask us how it felt to judged less accurately when peolive through the apocalypse, we ple are performing different tasks will tell them it went by fast, simultaneously — like working but seemed to take forever.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY HEORHIY FEDOTOV (TOP) & ROLFFIMAGES (BOTTOM) / DREAMSTIME

The Great Time Slip

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