The Arcade Restaurant, Memphis

The Arcade Restaurant is a historic landmark in Memphis. Credited as Memphis' oldest restaurant, Arcade Restaurant was founded in 1919 by Greek immigrant, Speros Zepatos. In the 1950's, it was renovated into the retro diner that it is today by his son, Harry Zepatos. Although the food is not spectacular, Arcade Restaurant is famous for many reasons:

• Elvis ate here often during his lifetime
• Arcade was placed on the National Register of Historic Places (means it is worthy of preservation)
• Arcade has been featured on TV Networks such as The Food Network, and The Travel Channel.
• Arcade has been featured in publications such as Travel, Esquire, Southern Living, and Sports Illustrated
• Scenes from Hollywood movies such as Great Balls of Fire, 21 Grams, and Walk the Line have been filmed at this restaurant.

And, the most important reason:

• The service is impeccable!

I didn't know the true meaning of Southern hospitality until I dined here. The waitresses are constantly ensuring their customers are happy, and they go the extra mile whenever possible.

Arcade restaurant sticks to what they know, and serves four things: breakfast, sandwiches, salads, and pizza.

Old Memphis Photo at Arcade Restaurant

I ordered the sweet potato pancake breakfast. It came with hash brown, sausages, and 2 eggs of choice. I wanted my eggs poached but they were pretty much hard boiled. Luckily, I didn't mind. The menu pointed out that these pancakes were voted as a Food Network favorite. The pancakes were really good: fluffy yet dense at the same time. The sweet potato gave it a really nice flavor.

Sweet Potato Pancake Breakfast

I had never tried grits before, so I ordered it to see what it was like. I was pretty indifferent. I didn't love it, and I didn't hate it.

Grits

CK and his cousin ordered the famous arcade cheeseburger. It was a 100% Angus beef patty served with lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion. The burger also came with fries.

Famous Arcade Cheeseburger

S ordered the regular pancake breakfast with 2 eggs, bacon, and hash brown. Her pancakes were very burnt on the backside, but she didn't bother complaining.

Pancake Breakfast

A ordered the 21 grams sandwich: roasted eggplant, roasted red peppers, feta, and pesto aioli on the side. This came with a side salad and dressing of choice. He enjoyed his sandwich.

21 Grams Sandwich

His cousin, TK, ordered a personally designed 12" pizza. We named it "The Heart Attack Delight". It contained every cheese and every meat available except for pepperoni. On his pizza was mozzarella, brie, feta, ground beef, bacon, and sausage. We all made fun of him for ordering such a health destructive pizza, but a few of us tried it, and enjoyed it way more than we wanted to.

'The Heart Attack Delight' Pizza

TK's pizza took longer than expected to cook, so the waitress apologized, and brought him a salad on the house. His pizza also ended up being free of charge. Gotta love Southern hospitality.

Salad

We also discovered the talented George Hunt on this trip. He is a local artist whose art is deeply influenced by blues music and culture, the Civil Rights movement, and the Southern African-American experience. In 2005, one of his paintings was printed on a US postage stamp as part of the the United Postal Services series, "To Form A More Perfect Nation." To read more about George Hunt, click here. Just a few doors down from Arcade Restaurant is D'Edge Art, a cool art gallery that features Hunt's vibrant work.

If you like burgers, walk across the street from Arcade to Ernestine & Hazel's, and order one of their famous mouth-watering soul burgers. I hear it is the best burger in town.

The Arcade Restaurant
540 South Main Street
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Telephone: 901-526-5757

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Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken, Memphis

My trip to the South wasn't complete until I had tried real fried chicken. I have to admit, Kentucky Fried Chicken was the only fried chicken I had ever tasted, and I made the mistake of comparing that to real Southern fried chicken. I kept telling CK and his cousins that I didn't like fried chicken, but they just kept telling me to give Gus's a chance.

His cousins were right. I had no clue what fried chicken really was until I had tried Gus's. The chicken is deep fried until golden brown & crispy on the outside, and the inside is moist and sweet. The batter is perfectly spiced with a blend of salt and cayenne pepper.

Gus's is a small little joint that serves the one thing they are good at: fried chicken. Your choices are white meat or dark meat. Breast, thigh, leg, or wing. Plain and simple. There is a small selection of sides and desserts, but nothing substantial enough to keep you full.

The interior is dimly lit, and it is decorated with local art and sports memorabilia. There is usually a line up to get a table, and service is not the quickest. In recognition of that, they put a sign up saying that "there will be a $5 charge for whining". It's hard to see in the picture, but there is another sign on the left that says "unattended children will be given a free puppy and chocolate covered espresso beans". That cracked me up.

We were a large group that day, so while you can't call ahead to make a reservation, you can call ahead to let them know that a large group is coming, like we did.

For appetizers, I ordered the fried green tomatoes. They were super crispy on the outside, and gooey on the inside. This was served with a side of ranch dressing. I mixed the dressing with some Louisiana hot sauce, and downed my tomatoes. I really enjoyed them.

Fried Green Tomatoes

CK and I were somewhat health conscious (I use that sentence loosely), so we split the 3 piece white meat plate. This came with two breasts, and one wing. For our sides, we had coleslaw and substituted our beans with fried rice. The fried rice here is awesome! It is stir fried with soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and Louisiana hot sauce..a surprisingly good combination. We also ordered a jalapeno pepper on the side, but it was WAY too spicy for me. All chicken plates come with white bread.

Three Piece White Meat Plate with Fried Rice and Slaw

This is a 2 piece white meat plate with slaw and fries. CK's cousin said that this was the best coleslaw he had ever had! I found it a tad too sweet for my taste buds. The 2 piece white meat plate came with one breast and one wing.

Two Piece White Meat Plate with Fries and Slaw

Here is the 2 piece dark meat plate with the traditional sides: baked beans and slaw. The 2 piece dark meat plate came with a thigh and a leg.

Two Piece Dark Meat Plate with Baked Beans and Slaw

The original Gus's where it all started is in Mason, TN, 45 miles North East of Memphis at 505 Highway 70. Check it out if you get the chance.

When I googled Gus's to find their address, I stumbled upon this article written by Ed Levine attesting to how good Gus's Fried Chicken is.

A really cool thing to do while in Memphis is to check out Al Green's Sunday morning gospel church service. I am a HUGE fan of Al Green, and just being able to see him was an honor for me. His church services are long, but lively and fun. I was dancing, singing, and clapping the whole time, and it reminded me somewhat of a concert. He is not always there, but if you are lucky enough to see him, you will be wowed by his voice. I loved the shrilling and singing in between his preaching. The service was 3 hours in total, and Al Green didn't show up until the second half of the service.

 

Here are videos that people have posted of the experience. I wasn't sure if it was rude to take photos/videos, so I decided to play it safe. Honestly, watching it doesn't even compare to the real experience.

Gus's World Famous Fried Chicken
310 S Front St
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Telephone: 901-527-4877

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Vosges Exotic Caramels + Marshmallow

I thought my love affair with Vosges Haut-Chocolat was over, but clearly, it is not. On my way back from Memphis, I flew through the O'Hare airport, where I bumped into the very familiar Vosges Haut-Chocolat stand.

"I've got an hour and a half", I thought to myself. "Won't hurt to look. I've tried pretty much everything I wanted to."

Boy, was I wrong. Vosges has expanded its product line to offer so much more than chocolate bars, truffles, and hot chocolate mixes. I saw chocolate covered tortilla chips, peanut butter bonbons, chocolate covered mango, caramels, books, and more. I was in awe with all that was offered. I was like a little kid in a candy shop.

Of course, I had to buy something. I wasn't sure what I was going to buy, but I needed to buy something. After much contemplation, I finally decided on the exotic caramels.

I chose the 4-piece Exotic Caramels, which fit nicely into my carry on luggage. These were the 4 flavors + interesting tasting notes that came with the caramels:

Crema: Argentinean dulce de leche + Costa Rican cashews + milk chocolate.
Vosges recommends pairing this with Quilmes mild beer to allow the "sweet caramel flavors of dulce de leche echo through".

Sunshine: Tupelo honey + milk chocolate + bee pollen.This was a very soft caramel with a nice strong, sweet honey taste. If you are feeling adventurous, try eating this chocolate "with spice rubbed corn on the cob between bites."

Maple: Canadian maple sugar + maple syrup + walnuts + dark chocolate.
The walnuts in this semi-soft caramel provided mild hints of bitterness. Vosges recommends eating this one with "steaming Canadian maple-cured bacon."

Tarte: blood orange + Campari® + dark chocolate + hibiscus powder.
This was a refreshing citrusy caramel. Mirror the ingredients in this caramel with a "tall glass of fresh blood orange juice and Campari® on the rocks."

I skipped the recommended pairing notes, and ate these caramels on its own. My favorite of the four? The Bee Pollen + Honey Caramel. I loved the softness of this caramel, and the honey instantly warmed my soul (I work on emotions). With the cold we've been experiencing, it was much needed.

As I was paying for the caramels, I chatted with the clerk, where we then started to compare notes on our favorite Vosges products. She mentioned that her new go-to products were the peanut butter bonbons, and the caramel marshmallows. I instantly knew I had to try one of the two.

I opted for the marshmallow only because it was the most portable. They are sold individually, and it was the smallest of the two.

The marshmallow was a Madagascan vanilla marshmallow, topped with sweet caramel, coated with dark chocolate, and then sprinkled with caramel toffee bits and French Guérande grey sea salt.

Katrina Markoff, you have proven yourself to be a chocolate goddess.
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On a completely separate note, my good friend BB just delivered a healthy, beautiful baby daughter. Look how precious she looks...only 7 days old. Awww.

Check out my other Vosges Haut-Chocolat posts:
Vosges Boutique, Chicago O'Hare Airport
Vosges Haut-Chocolat: Black Pearl Bar and Red Fire Bar

Vosges Haut-Chocolat
O'Hare International Airport, across from Gate B6
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Telephone: 773-894-4613

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The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave

Photo above by Miv Fournier

I was excited when Ian Capstick of MediaStyle sent me an invite to join Caroline and Dave, this past Wednesday, for the launch of their new TV show, The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave.

An evening out celebrating Dave and Caroline’s launch + rubbing shoulders with food enthusiasts? How can I say no! I was extremely exhausted because I had just landed from a long day of travel that day, but this was something I knew I absolutely wanted to support.

The Restaurant Adventures of Caroline and Dave is a 13-episode TV documentary showing the process of opening their vegan restaurant, Zen Kitchen. Caroline and Dave have been busy filming for the last year, and this is a show that hides nothing. Their show documents the entire process from the early stages of business plan development, to seeking finance, to menu construction, and beyond. Dave & Caroline mentioned that this show was somewhat therapeutic for them. Letting their frustrations out in front of the camera allowed them to resolve issues quickly and move on.

The show was produced by Ottawa’s Mountain Road Productions Company, and their creative spin combined with Caroline’s animated character combined with Dave’s wonderful humor has made this a highly entertaining show to watch. If you are an Ottawa resident, you’ll also enjoy the random shots of the city and local establishments.

If you live in Ottawa, tune into The W Network, channel 62, on Wednesdays at 9pm ET. You can check out the promo video here (courtesy of Mountain Road Productions).

Left to Right: Tim Alp, Caroline Ishii, Dave Loan

This event also gave me the opportunity to meet other fellow food bloggers, which was a bonus. It’s funny, I felt like I had known these guys for years but they were in reality, complete strangers. Food bloggers included: Rachelle Eats Food, foodiePrints, The Waffle, and It Ain't Meat, Babe. It was great meeting all of you!

Of course, the awesome Zen Kitchen staff served awesome little bites throughout the evening to keep our appetite satisfied. Here is a snippet of what was served:

A wonderful cauliflower soup with orange blossom oil.

Cauliflower Soup with Orange Blossom Oil

Marinated Eggplant and tomatoes. The eggplant was deliciously flavorful!

Marinated Eggplant and Tomatoes

Caramelized Onion Dumplings.

Caramelized Onion Dumpling

Lemon Pie...seriously, can't believe vegan can be this good.

Lemon Pie

Jantine Van Kregten from Ottawa Tourism posted a short video of the event:


If you want to read more about Zen Kitchen, you can check out my past meal at the restaurant here, and a Spotted Interview with Caroline and Dave here.

Zen Kitchen
634 Somerset Street West
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Telephone: 613-233-6404

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Corky's Ribs & BBQ, Memphis

One thing Memphians pride themselves on is their BBQ. There are countless restaurants that serve good old fashioned Southern BBQ, but one thing I've learned is that every Memphian has their own preference on where to go.

CK and I did some research prior to visiting Memphis, and we narrowed it down to two choices: Central BBQ or the Bar-B-Q Shop. When word got out that we wanted to go for BBQ, the whole family wanted to join us. However, this led to a huge discussion on the best place for BBQ, and no one could agree on anything. "Corky's has the best BBQ" one said, "Why wouldn't you take them to Rendezvous?" another chimed in, "No, go to Central BBQ. That is cousin M's favorite place, and he knows his BBQ". And so on, and so on. The same discussion went on for days.

In the end, it was decided that it should be the guest’s choice, so we decided on Central BBQ. We finally had a plan. Things were good.

The family packed into two cars, and off we went. As we were pulling out of the driveway, the best BBQ argument resurrected, and the debate ACTUALLY continued through open car windows. The two cars had to pull over to the side of the road to discuss which place had the best BBQ. At that point, CK and I gave in, and we decided to satisfy the majority of the folks by going to Corky’s Ribs and BBQ. It was a wildly amusing situation, and I couldn't help but laugh.

Corky’s was packed when we arrived. There was a Liberty Bowl game happening that same weekend, so there were a lot of out of towners visiting Memphis. After waiting patiently for over an hour for our table, it was our turn to chow down.

For appetizers, we ordered the onion loaf. It was basically onion rings shaped into a loaf, and served with a house dipping sauce.

Onion Loaf

Memphis is known for their dry ribs. Memphis style ribs are basted with a thin sauce, and then covered with a generous amount of dry rub, which is then slow cooked until tender. Dry rub spices include paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper.

Most of the people at our tabled shared the slab of ribs for two. I ordered my ribs half wet and half dry so that I could compare the two. Corky's ribs are slow cooked over hickory wood and a charcoal pit fire, creating a nice smoky taste. The dry ribs are covered with their secret blend of dry spices, and the wet ribs are covered with their famous original BBQ sauce.

Slab of Ribs for Two (Wet and Dry)

Of the wet and dry ribs, I was surprised to say that I liked the dry better. Both were good, but there was something in their dry blend that was highly addictive.

The ribs came with baked beans and creamy coleslaw. Both were really good and had just the right amount of sweetness to them.

Baked Beans and Coleslaw

Other dishes that were ordered that evening:

Bar-B-Q Chicken: half-chicken rubbed with special chicken seasoning, carefully basted with Corky’s Bar-B-Q sauce, and then slowly smoked in their custom pit.

BBQ Chicken

Cajun-style Bar-B-Q shrimp: prepared hot and spicy, and served over a bed of pasta. All meals came with homemade rolls that were awesome.

Cajun Style BBQ Shrimp

Jumbo Bar-B-Q Beef Sandwich: Lean, slow-cooked Bar-B-Q beef brisket served with coleslaw. The coleslaw is served in the sandwich unless requested otherwise.

BBQ Beef Sandwich

And here is what my plate looked like when I was done.

Some more pictures of Graceland as promised...
The living room is the first room you see when you walk in.

The Living Room

Elvis' original kitchen. This was actually not open to the public until 1995. Elvis' aunt used this kitchen until her death in 1993.

The Kitchen

He had three TVs in his TV room.

The TV Room

Didn't know the meaning of the word psychedelic until I saw his pool room. The walls were covered with this crazy retro fabric.

The Pool Room

The famous jungle room.

The Jungle Room

Corky's Ribs & BBQ
5259 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Telephone: 901-685-9744

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Soul Fish Cafe, Memphis

Visiting Memphis has been a lot more fun than I imagined. The people here are extremely friendly, and I'm lovin the whole blues & rock n roll vibe. If you are not familiar with Southern food, there are basically two choices: deep fried or BBQ. My heart may disagree, but everything does taste better deep fried.

Our first food stop in Memphis was at the Soul Fish Cafe. CK has been craving catfish ever since we booked our tickets to Memphis, and this is one of the best places in town for it.

I ordered the catfish po boy. This was deep fried catfish with lettuce, tomato, and homemade remoulade served on a New Orleans style roll. The catfish batter was a crispy seasoned cornmeal batter. I couldn't believe how crispy it was.

Catfish Po Boy

My po boy came with a side of choice, so I picked mac n cheese. I expected it to be a KD type of mac n cheese, but it was not my friends. It was made with real gooey cheese, and it rocked.

Catfish Po Boy with Mac n Cheese

I also ordered a separate side of pickled green tomatoes. This was a bit too sweet for me. I was hoping that it would be sour, but it tasted like a sweet relish.

Pickled Green Tomatoes

Everyone else ordered the large catfish basket. Each basket came with 3 pieces of catfish + 3 sides. Regular sides included french fries, hush puppies, and creamy coleslaw.

If you're not familiar with hush puppies, they are a Southern delight which are basically fried pieces of seasoned cornmeal. CK and his cousins couldn't stop talking about hush puppies on our drive to Soul Fish Cafe, and I'd have to agree with them, they are pretty dang good.

One thing to note is their awesome tartar sauce: creamy and packed with flavor.

Catfish Basket with Fries, Coleslaw, and Hush Puppies

One of our cousins, K, ordered his catfish basket with a side of cajun cabbage instead of fries.

Catfish Basket with Coleslaw, Hush Puppies, and Cajun Cabbage

Cajun cabbage is basically stewed cabbage, veggies, and sausage. It is slightly sweet with a dash of Cajun spices.

Cajun Cabbage

Here is a quick preview of Graceland, Elvis' home for 20 years. I'll post more photos when I get a chance.

Elvis Presley Automobile Museum

Graceland

Soul Fish Cafe
862 South Cooper Street
Memphis, Tennessee, USA
Telephone: 901-725-0722

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