Top 3 by Three: Memphis Edition

Every time the Three explore a new city, we want to bring you our list of our favorite food and drink experiences.  Welcome to the Memphis edition.  Feel free to comment and add suggestions to the list – we can’t wait to sample your cravings when we return again!

Imbibe:

The Three only had a day and a half to explore Memphis, so this is a limited list.  Nevertheless, if you try any of these, you won’t be disappointed!

In Oaxaca Valley @ Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen:

Vida mezcal, cappelletti, branca menta, apricot, thyme, lemon bitters, sparkling.  I have absolutely no idea what cappelletti and branca menta are, but the combination of these ingredients together won the prize for best drink in Memphis for this trip.  The mezcal provides a nice smoky taste, while the apricot brings a freshness and sweetness to the drink.  There are hints of springtime with the thyme, bitters and splash of sparkling water.  All in all, this was an extremely refreshing and complex drink.  I will definitely Uber the next time I come here – this drink demands that you have more!

100 oz. Mimosa @ Automatic Slim’s:

This drink wins just because of sheer volume and cockiness.  Was it the best mimosa I’ve ever had?  No.  Was it good though?  Yes.  Was the presentation impressive enough to draw looks of admiration and respect.  Absolutely.  For that reason alone, this drink earned it’s place onto our top 3 by Three.  Sometimes it pays off to live life with complete confidence.  When you have the ego of a 100 oz. mimosa, that’s not hard to do.  Cheers!

Bloody Mary @ Automatic Slim’s:

This might just be the best bloody mary I’ve ever had.  The ratio of bloody mary mix to vodka was perfect, the balance of spice and celery was amazing, and the season salted rim took things over the top.  Add in a couple of olives for good measure, and we have a winner!  I know that bloody marys are not everyone’s cup of tea, but if you like them, run quickly to Automatic Slim’s and get the $2.50 special on the weekend.  You heard that right.  At that price, after you run there you will end up stumbling back out hours later.  Remember – after the Three,  Uber and Lyft are your next best friends.  You’re welcome.

Devour:

Once again, in such a short visit, the Three had to maximize our culinary experiences, but we think you will be pleased by our offerings to your palate.  In fact, our Top 3 dishes unexpectedly turned into the Top 4 due to an amazing meal at Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen.  More to come on that later!

Charcuterie Plate @ Flight Restaurant and Wine Bar:

To be honest, we had a hard time narrowing down our favorite dishes at Flight.  The food was THAT good.  We had a tossup between the crab cake, lobster ravioli, elk chop, short rib and the charcuterie plate.  Needless to say, it’s amazing that a simple charcuterie plate could edge out the aforementioned dishes.  Sometimes, letting superior ingredients speak for themselves in their simplest state is the best expression of gastronomic love.  This was certainly the case here.  We were served a platter filled with chicken & Newman Farms pork sausages, house made Muscovy duck prosciutto, brie, Beemster goat cheese and blueberry Stilton cheese, homemade pickles and fresh fruit.  It didn’t matter what combination of ingredients we chose to put together.  Each bite that we put together was a symphony of flavor and brought joy to our senses.  Wow.  Just wow.

Apple Walnut Cobbler @ Flight Restaurant and Wine Bar:

By the end of our meal, we were completely stuffed… until the dessert menu came along.  Hey, there’s a separate stomach for dessert, right?  The apple walnut cobbler was a reminder that childhood memories can be elevated to a luxurious level by using superior ingredients.  That apple cobbler that you remember eating on a red plastic plate with a scoop of Mayfield vanilla ice cream at the holiday picnic?  Imagine all of those great memories flooding back, but this time paired with homemade vanilla gelato, caramel infused apples, and sweet walnut crumble.  I’ll be expecting a handwritten thank you card in the mail after you take this trip down memory lane.

Sopresine @Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen:

Fresh homemade pasta at an Italian place.  Can you get any better than that?  Apparently you can with the wonderful sporesine dish.  Open edge tortellini with arugula based pesto, asparagus, green garlic, crab. This sounds rather simple, but Vivaldi himself couldn’t have crafted a better ode to spring and the seasons. The open edges of the tortellini are creatively engineered to grab a hold of more of the pesto.  And let’s talk about the pesto!  The base of the pesto is arugula – who knew that you could make pesto out of arugula?!?   A trifecta of nuts – hazlenut, pine nut, almonds, blended perfectly into the arugula to make the brightest, freshest pesto dish that I have ever tasted.  If you close your eyes, your taste buds will weave a tale of the spring harvest in your mouth and you will long for simpler times.  Yeah – it’s that good 🙂

Duck @Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen:

Let me be honest here and let you all know that I’m not the biggest fan of duck.  For a duck dish to make it onto our list is nothing short of a miracle.  Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen managed to do the near impossible.  This duck came in two larger chunks (rather than thinly sliced) perched upon a bed of kale, turnips, sweet potatoes, sunchokes and fois gras.  A Dutch farm in Pennsylvania was responsible for raising the duck and whatever they did to them resulted in pure taste.  There was almost no gaminess, and the tender meat was perfectly spiced and was counterbalanced by a tangy mint and pistachio sauce.  I can’t believe I’m saying it, but this was the best dish of the trip!

Remember to live the life that you CRAVE.  Feel free to provide comments and suggestions for our next trip.  If you want to check out our gallery of photos, join our other social media feeds here:

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Crave on,

Three