I’m sitting at home with my tie loosened and my sport coat thrown over a chair as I attempt a rapid recovery from round 1 of the K&T Thanksgiving Double. Round one saw a grand buffet at the club, and I’m prepping myself for round two over at K’s dad’s house. I always joke with people about how many places K and I will go on holidays, since we are both Memphians with big families. But really, no joke, it is awesome. We have awesome people to spend quality time with, and with the cooking skills in both families, we have awesome meals to do it over.

On that note, while I am thankful for the blessings of good friends and family to spend my time with, I’ll wax nostalgic a little about the blog. It has been awesome writing this thing. I’ve gotten to meet new people, try new food, and in my own way, support a lot of cool people and my city at the same time. With that, I’ll look back on 10 meals that I was especially thankful for in the last year in no particular order... Read More

When I was in school back in the day, our headmaster would rhetorically ask, “is this a great school, or what?” That will always stand out as a memory, and thankfully, a question that I answered (then and now) with a “yes!” Well, I’d like to steal a page from his playbook and ask, “is this a great time of year, or what?”

For those of us that enjoy going out, trying new things to eat, and seeing good people put their skills to the test, the answer is a resounding YES. Although I haven’t been to all of the places that have recently opened, I’ve been getting good reports, and I can say I’m excited about the Winter Rookie Class of 2011.

Rizzo

First up on the rookie tour is Chef Michael Patrick’s new place, Rizzo’s Diner. Since word travels pretty fast around our little town masquerading as a big city, I found out very quickly that Rizzo’s would serve a LOBSTER PRONTO PUP. I shouldn’t have to tell you this, but I immediately stopped listening/reading/thinking about anything else, and started plotting my first trip. To explain, part of my year is spent in wait of the Cooper Young Festival, so that I can get a pronto pup. Pronto pups fall into the “never gets old” category of things that I like... Read More

A week ago a friend of mine told me about a place that she’d heard of over on the corner of Jackson and Dunlap just off the Northish edge of Downtown called the Corned Beef House. She had heard that they serve corned beef (naturally), barbecue, and breakfast all day. Obviously, I had to go. We pulled a lunch group together and made the trip over there... Read More