Lunch at The Beauty Shop

The Beauty Shop is one of the rare places in Memphis where good food meets good design.  The barrel vault ceiling, custom-made shimmering wall covering, and rustic with classic furniture mix create a place I can brag about to fellow architects and designers coming from the hip, more urban cities. Some of the integrated seats and mirrors are actually a few throwbacks to the original beauty shop. It was quite fitting I had a lunch meeting there to discuss the upcoming AIA Memphis design awards with the committee chairs / designers.

As always, I ordered the sugar and cayenne dusted frites. A strange combination to some but absolutely addictive to me. I then ordered for the first time the day's crepe special stuffed with roast beef and gruyere cheese. The simple sweetness of the crepe made the biggest impact overall.  I'm not sure what other fillings they offer as specials during the week but I'm determined to try as many lunch and dessert crepes there as I can. Owner Karen Carrier also runs Another Roadside Attraction, the catering company providing the food for the upcoming design awards gala.  We're all looking forward for incredible food there as well.  / Thanks Josh and Myra for being fantastic lunch company.    

The Beauty Shop
Cooper Young
966 S Cooper St
Memphis, TN 38104
ph +1.901.272.7111

Photos by Sophorn. Mental note: I'm going to retry that mirror shot on my next visit with the smaller serving container.

Chocistry at Soup Sunday

I had a great time photographing Chocistry's table, which from what I could tell was the most popular table at the VIP section of Youth Village's Soup Sunday event.  Everybody who tried the handmade truffles came back raving. They were wiped clean of about 400 truffles an hour before it was over. / Chocistry will have a launch party during the March trolley tour.  See you then, probably with the camera in hand. Thanks Phillip and Courtney for having me.

Photos by Sophorn. Look for more photos later on the Chocistry website.

Figuring Out My Memphis Style

My style tends to lean towards the architecture stereotype of all black, although I must defend that it's because I focus more on the form, silhouette, details and construction.  I also lovingly relate the outfits from Morrison above with a New York or urban look, then I wondered what looks relate to Memphis.  I'm still figuring it out but the more daring outfits below from Gorman are ones I would immediately try out from the inspiration I've seen at music shows and festivals in Memphis including the South Main Trolley tour which is happening for this month tonight.  It has become a place to be seen, as essentially you are adding your own creativity to the art scene through your fashion, and just like the art, the outfits play with plenty of color and patterns. I might see you there.

Side Notes

~ Make sure to stop by the AIA Memphis office tonight at 511 South Main for an opening reception featuring photo realistic drawings by U of M Architecture students.

~ Speaking of mixing colors and patterns, U of M Architecture Professor Kara Pegg has passionately documented her quest to be anti-all black in her fashion blog Unusual Form.

Found via of paper and things and all the mountains.

Tasted ~ Caritas Village

We would have never eaten at Caritas Village if we had not received so many strong recommendations to try it out.  The community center and cafe/restaurant is located in a part of town we've never been and in a brick box building that I was almost unconvinced was the right place if it hadn't been for the sign. After reading their mission statement of breaking barriers between races and the rich and poor by providing a place they could break bread together, it was clear the location choice was an admirable one. 

After going through a small entrance corridor, the dining and lounge became much more open and welcoming.  Finding the menu and ordering counter was the first priority but soon after Atticus found the kid's play area with a variety of toys, puzzles and books.  Although the wait for our food wasn't long, it was nice to keep him occupied as I took photos, especially of the 60's style hot pink chairs. 

Here's what we tasted below with our favorites with an asterick*.
~ {Christopher} California Panini, a popular menu item, with soup of the day and hot tea.
~ {Sophorn} Southwestern Burger* with chips and Chai Latte*
~ {Atticus} PB & J with chips and chocolate chip cookie*

While Atticus made new friends at the kid's play table, Christopher and I enjoyed the hot tea and chai latte on the couch within view of Atticus.  Before we knew it, two hours had passed plus ten or so minutes trying to convince Atticus to leave.  Part of the negotiation was promising him we'd be back soon, which was by no means a lie.

Caritas Village
Binghampton
2509 Harvard Ave
Memphis, TN 38112
ph 1.901.327.5246

Photos by Sophorn.

To Crave ~ Grilled Chicken Pita at Parkway Grill







The grill tucked inside the corner convenient store on East Parkway and Central offers so many great menu items, but their grilled chicken pita calls me every time. The pita bread is grilled to a buttery crisp to hold the dressings such as lettuce and tomato, but yes, it's the seasoned grilled chicken that makes the sandwich irresistable.

Parkway Grill

711 E Parkway S

Memphis, TN 38104
ph+1.901.552.3690

Film photos by Sophorn 

MemphIS Busy

Ahh, busy. Such a welcoming word.  A few things have kept me busy the past week. First, I'm photo documenting urban art projects for the Urban Art Commission along with other great Memphis photographers. The first photo of Tom Lee Memorial will probably not be used in the Urban Art Commission website but the little girl "hanging on" to that piece of history was perfect for the MemphIS presentation I created for the AIA TN convention.  The next few images are the actual slides from the presentation that represent best the image we are trying to convey. The final MemphIS logo is shown over Memphian Sean Davis' photo of karaoke night at the P&H.

Thanks to Sean Davis for lending use of the photo and others in the slideshow (Thanks to Amanda Raney and Amy Dale for contributing as well).  The aerial photo whose source I'm still tracking down is the very photo that lured me to move to Memphis eight years ago.

Atticus' Bedhead Series ~ Hairstyle Inspirations?

Atticus' long winter hair plus what new combination of pillow contact he has during the night created some pretty awesome styles he even wanted to show off at school. Well out came the camera, and I would say the hair got a little camera shy and Atticus by day 4 of the project lost enthusiasm.  He now wants me to cut his hair into a mohawk, "like a pizza cutter."  Well maybe the hairstyles in the mug shots above, that Atticus creatively named himself, can inspire other hairstyles.

Film photos by Sophorn

amydale photography logo / Progress Snapshot

Here are the musts that Memphis wedding photographer Amy Dale (or amydale) wanted for her new logo ~ her signature blue from her previous logo, custom-made letters, her name with no separation so she's not confused with any other Amy, all lowercase, and possessing the same fun personality as her and her work.  Wow, her specifics made it much easier, but catching the personality still gave me plenty to explore.  After studying her cursive handwriting a bit, I created a cursive font with a broad brush tool, making sure the letters didn't look exactly the same and the groundline wasn't exactly straight.  We're still trying to go through whether the ever-important 'y' should extend and exactly where and how 'photography' is placed, but it was especially neat to hear that the look of the script font brought back warm memories of her childhood ~ creating her name through ribbon dancing. I love that.

Make sure to check out her blog for her latest work capturing romance with an equal pairing of laughter. 

Pick-Up Line Love Letter

To Christopher

From Sophorn

Sorry Atticus has been making you feel self-conscious about your "winter pot belly" all over his twitter account recently. Well, I hope this simple pick-up line I made into a love letter helps it lose the cheese. It made me laugh so I'm hoping it'll be a good start to your day. xoxo

Sunday Morning Pancake Art

Some people wonder if Atticus gets tired of me taking pictures but he actually requests that I take pictures of almost everything. This morning it was his breakfast plate with pancake shapes he chose ~ the letter "A" for "Atticus," "K" for "Kid," a heart he ate before the photo, and a butterfly, his favorite.

Enjoy your Sunday!

Delicious Snow

We enjoyed eating the snow much more than playing with it yesterday.  We could not make a decent snowball or snowman with the soft, dry snow but it sure made for creamy snow cones. Leftover from Christopher's hotdog cart days, the cherry and blue raspberry syrup came in really handy.

Photos by Sophorn except top two by Christopher.

Foodie Memphis at South of Beale {Sneak Peek}

The entire dinner at South of Beale was incredible, but my surprise favorite was the roasted shiitake mushrooms in the mushroom salad. I thought I didn't like shiitake mushrooms but I guess that's the test of the chef's talent to bring out the best in all ingredients.  Those attending the February 22nd gathering at South of Beale are in for a treat.* Thanks Christopher for organizing another great Foodie Memphis gathering. 

*Check out Foodie Memphis on facebook to RSVP and catch the full review later on the Foodie Memphis blog.

Photo by Sophorn. Forgive me I'm learning flash photography.

Follow my blog with bloglovin

To Crave ~ Muddy's Bake Shop Cupcakes

Although this was our first time eating Muddy's cupcakes inside Muddy's bakery, we've sampled their cupcakes several times during special birthdays and parties where it was always noted, "these cupcakes are from Muddy's."  Could it be the new Memphis tradition?  It certainly seemed that way, so when Christopher's birthday rolled around last week, Atticus and I didn't want him to miss out on this special honor. We ordered the cupcakes with sprinkles, of course, then threw in a ginger kip bar and pistachio cookie for the variety. Atticus, after one and a half cupcakes, tamed his sugar high pretty well, limiting his bursts of energy just to the length of the booth seat. It was their clever stash of kids' books that finally calmed him down. Thank you Muddy's! We hope to come back and try the sandwiches soon.

The first image shows a graphic logo I'm testing over the Muddy's photo for the AIA Tennessee convention happening in Memphis this year. The chosen theme is "MemphIS" or read "Memphis IS." The general phrase is "Memphis IS Tennessee" but in developing graphics and marketing material it will be many other specific things like music, the Blues, commerce, design, and so forth.  The overlay on this image is supposed to look like a sticker label with a color gradient from blue to brown. The state shape also looks like a hand pointing to the cupcake.  Although there are many other variations I have for the committee to choose from though I still need to adjust the dots, the one shown works well with the Muddy's vibe. 

Hope you had a happy birthday Christopher! 

Muddy's Bake Shop
5101 Sanderlin Ave Ste 114
Memphis, TN 38117
ph +1.901.683.8844


Photos/graphics by Sophorn. Note: Thomas, I have been conscious of making the logo NOT seem a copycat of your Eat Local Memphis blog graphic. i.e. No star.