Voting starts January 17 in Edible Memphis’s Instagram stories. Let’s make “Dry January” #SpiritedAF with a friendly mocktail competition. After the holidays, many bars and restaurants experience a dip in business. So we want to give our readers and community a reason to continue supporting their favorite cocktail spots—even while participating in Dry January or sticking to a New Year’s resolution to drink less.  Enter the second annual Edible Memphis ChampionSip: Mocktails, brought to you by Spirited AF, a movement inspired to infuse AF—“alcohol free”—on menus, on shelves, and at the tab ..read more

Spend a day on Memphis’s favorite street for international flavor Calling all foodies, challenge seekers, and Summer Avenue lovers! It’s time to try new foods and experience the world without ever leaving Memphis. It’s the Summer Avenue Challenge! With classics like Bryant’s Breakfast and Central BBQ, Summer Avenue restaurants have been a staple in Memphians’ diets for many years. But Summer Avenue is also home to cultural dishes and drinks that can take you all around the world and back again.The seven stops in the Summer Avenue Challenge will take you from breakfast through dinner and desser ..read more

Andalusia serves up maximum flavor and treats you like family Photography by Kaeyla Willis Nestled in the Sanderlin Center is a restaurant like no other in Memphis. Here, food is served in tagines and flavored with many herbs and spices. The dishes are the kind you might find around a family table, made with love and served with a smile. But these dishes aren’t native to America. No, this is a Moroccan affair. Meet Andalusia, where you’ll find nothing but authentic Moroccan cuisine.  Owners—and husband-wife team—Jamal Romani and Hanan Boukhari opened Andalusia in March 2021. Ever since c ..read more

An Asian-fusion weekend in Nashville   Photography by Stacey Greenberg   One of the perks of being the editor of this publication is that I often get invited to sneak peeks, special events, and whatnot. A PR firm in Nashville invited me to enjoy a meal at The Hart, an izakaya restaurant with a Hawaiian twist; to try the coffee at LA-born No Free Coffee (NFC); and to stay the weekend in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood at BentoLiving, an apartment-style hotel that houses The Hart and NFC. It was pretty hard to say no. I decided to run with an Asian-fusion theme to help plan out a full ..read more

Bala’s Bistro is Built on Friendship and an Appreciation for Good Food Photography by Brian Manning Déjà vu. That's the experience many first-time guests describe having at Bala's Bistro in Whitehaven. They've never been there before, but it all feels so perfectly familiar.  Inside Bala’s Bistro, everything from the decor to the food is bright and vibrant. Owner Bala Tounkara says some people find his dishes strange, but “culturally unique” feels more correct. Specializing in traditional West African dishes, Bala cooks meals from his childhood in Mali.  He beams with pride as he lis ..read more

Catching up with Tuyen Le of Tuyen’s Asian Bistro Photography by Chip Chockley As a child I loved Mary Poppins. Let me clarify: not the movie starring Julie Andrews, but the series of books by P.L. Travers. In these stories, Mary Poppins is full of magic, but never overly sentimental or chatty like some other fictional nannies. She dazzles her young charges—not with bedtime stories but with statues brought to life or gingerbread stars that are hung in the sky with ladders. My recent trip to Tuyen’s Asian Bistro reminded me of this version of Mary Poppins. The magic was in the kitchen and on t ..read more

Let’s spend our holiday dollars at home! Invest in our community this holiday season. Use this guide to find the perfect gift for everyone on your list, and you’ll be supporting local makers at the same time. We’ve also got a few holiday experiences, catering options, and event venues for you. 17 Berkshire   Afternoon Tea Afternoon tea at 17B! For the person on your list who has everything, give them the experience of afternoon tea. Each tea includes tea sandwiches, scones, and assorted petit pastries. A pot of tea per couple is served. An abbreviated children's tea is offered too, and ho ..read more

Four Hmong generations live and work together in Middleton, Tennessee Photography by Lucy Garrett Nao Her Lor’s statements were translated from Hmong to English by his daughter-in-law, Maya Vue. On a Tuesday morning in the middle of August, you can find 98-year-old Nao Her Lor doing what he’s been doing many mornings for almost 50 years—harvesting crops on his farm in Middleton, Tennessee. He works with his wife, Yia Cha, who’s 87 years old. The two married in 2021 after they each lost their first spouses. Poke around the 53-acre Middleton farm—or the 52 acres they own in Grand Junction, Tenn ..read more

Combining the past and present for a hot wing fusion dumpling   Photographs by Morgan Springer   When I think of my Polish grandmother, this is what comes to mind: I walk into her kitchen and am greeted with the smell of savory butter and onions. I hear the sound of crackling butter in a skillet. And I see hundreds of pierogi (‘puh-row-gee’) sitting on the counter waiting to be cooked. I’m a little girl, right at eye-level with the countertop. When the pierogi are ready, I search for my favorite pierog (‘puh-row-guh’)—one filled with farmer’s cheese. Once I find one, I sink my teeth ..read more

Oxford’s James Beard winner has a new cookbook and a message for Memphians Photographs by Sierra Dexter Just down the road from Memphis in Oxford, Mississippi, you’ll find a strip mall. And toward one end of that strip mall, you’ll find a restaurant called Snackbar. It’s an unassuming location and an unassuming name. But inside you’ll find some of the finest food the South offers, cooked up by Vishwesh Bhatt, winner of the 2019 James Beard Award for Best Chef: South and author of the recently released I Am From Here: Stories and Recipes from a Southern Chef. Though he grew up in Ahmedabad, Gu ..read more