Tom Douglas

Halloween Pics/ by Crasta Duggan, Maitre d, Serious Pie Virginia

Here are some photos of Serious Pie Virgina staff in Halloween costumes.  The devil, complete with tail, is Jack Shaughnessey.

The Dia de los Muertos senorita is Shannon Fadness.

I am the Serious Pie-rate.  I commandeered a dough hook from the pastry kitchen for my hook-hand.

November 2nd, 2011 | No Comments »

Memphis/ by Shelley Lance, Blog Editor

We flew in to Memphis for the 14th annual  Southern Foodways Alliance (SFA) Symposium last week.  The Symposium takes place in Oxford, Mississippi, but since you can’t fly into Oxford, you fly to Memphis and rent a car.  Memphis has its own attractions- including great BBQ, so we spent a little time there as well.  My top priority in Memphis was getting to the National Civil Rights Museum. I’m going to quote my husband, Frank, here because he said it better than I can:

“I was on my way over to the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee, which, chillingly, is at the site of the Lorraine Motel, where Martin Luther King was assassinated.  I am not a fan of politically correct but empty gestures by those seeking merely to assuage their sense of guilt.  But to my absolute delight, the Museum is an historically accurate, well-designed, and moving portrayal of a struggle that has spanned hundreds of years.  (I was reminded at a time when I needed reminding about just how long and agonizing the struggle has been.) If you go to Memphis, set aside an entire morning or afternoon for the Museum.  It is that good.”

After the Museum, we headed to Payne’s BBQ, following our mapquest step by step to a decidedly non-touristy neighborhood on Lamar Avenue, to meet food writer, Leslie Kelly, for lunch.  Leslie, who used to live in Memphis and write for the newspaper there, is a Memphis BBQ expert (she is even certified as a judge for the annual Memphis BBQ Championship!), and she told me she considers the Payne’s pork sandwich iconic for Memphis BBQ.  We went to the counter to  pick up our sandwiches with sides of beans plus cans of soda and bags of chips.  The sandwiches were spectacular: soft, rich, lush meat piled on a  squishy soft bun and smothered in a bright yellow slaw bright with vinegar.  Surely this is the best pork sandwich I have ever eaten, and the beans, generously studded with fragments of pork, were pretty spectacular as well.

On the way back from the Symposium we spent another afternoon and evening in Memphis, staying again at the Peabody Hotel. It is said that “the  Mississippi Delta starts in the lobby of the Peabody Hotel,” and it is certainly an endlessly amusing scene, especially if you are lucky enough, as we were, to sip a drink while watching the Peabody ducks parade in or out of the lobby fountain along a red carpet lined with adorable children squealing with happiness.

Our last meal in Memphis was at Central BBQ. We got there early, at 6pm, which was a good call since the line snaked far out the door into the parking lot by the time we left: families with little kids, teenagers, couples on dates- it seems that everyone heads to Central BBQ for Sunday supper.  I got the rack of ribs, half wet (sauce) and half dry (seasoned), ultra tender and super meaty, a tasty and satisfying ending to our visit to Memphis.

November 1st, 2011 | No Comments »

Brad Parsons at Dahlia for Bitters Book Event/ by Robyn Wolfe, Marketing

Brad Parsons is coming to the Dahlia Private Dining room on November 17 for an event featuring his new book, Bitters, any  mixologist’s or cocktail lover’s dream!

Editor’s Note: I saw Brad last week at the Southern Foodways Alliance Symposium in Oxford, Mississippi, where he was selling the very first copies of  Bitters, a beautiful and fascinating book.  You will want to see Brad and snap up a signed copy of Bitters, so contact Robyn and sign up for this event!!

November 1st, 2011 | No Comments »