I arrived at Barista Parlor around 8:30am, walked in, and was told they not opening until 9am because of the ice. This made me laugh, of course, but I guess Tennessee isn't as used to waking up to snow and ice as Minnesotans are. I hung out and listened to Gilmore Guys, and at 9am myself and a group of other patrons walked in.
The space at Barista Parlor is beautiful. An open layout, I believe it used to be a transmission shop. I bet in the warmer months it is a really cool place to hang out. I checked out the menu, and decided on a couple of specials.
For coffee: The Irish Whisker. This drink is coffee, orange, anise and cream. Served in a highball glass, it was delicious and decadent. The only bummer was that the cream was kinda lukewarm, which I find to be the worst.
For food I went with the BP Sausage Biscuit. Sage sausage, a fresh biscuit, housemade cherry jam and an egg. This was divine. The jam was especially fantastic, and it took a while as the biscuits were fresh out of the oven. Fantastic.
In Summation: A lovely space to get some work done and some fancy coffee. Downfall: the baristas were pretty snooty. The back of house staff who delivered the breakfast were full of good service. Maybe they should talk.
I then made the trek to Memphis, which took a little longer than expected because of the weather. When I arrived, I was starving. I ran across a vintage shop: Red Velvet Vintage. One of the owners, Vera, gave me the recommendation to hit up Central BBQ for the Memphis style ribs. I will always go where the locals tell me, so off I went!
Central BBQ has been around since 2003, with 3 locations in Memphis. I was told to get the ribs, and I am not one to go against a local recommendation. I went with the dry ribs, as I knew I could dip in sauces that they had available to customers. I ordered a rib plate with 2 sides: Mac and Cheese (obvs) and turnip greens.
This is fantastic. The ribs were smokey, fall of the bone perfect. I tried both the hot and mild BBQ sauces, I am into the mild which seems odd, but it had a depth of flavor that was beautiful. The turnip greens, also smokey and lovely, went well with the spicy vinegar they had available. The Mac and Cheese, again, noodles over cooked but still tasty. The funniest part of it: they had lowery's season salt on top of the Mac and Cheese, which made me laugh and also made me feel 10 again.
In Summation: Can't wait to go back to Memphis and try the pulled pork from Central BBQ.
I wanted something sweet: so I drove around downtown Memphis and found myself an adorable little bakery. I came across the Cake Gallery Baketique, and had to find out more.
OH MAN. This is my kind of joint. Big, beautiful cakes with fun flavors like key lime and the cake I got: Memphis Mayhem.
Layers of dark chocolate, red velvet, and white cake with chocolate and vanilla frosting. I AM IN. A giant slab of cake for $3.95. It took me 3 hours to eat this piece of cake, and it was worth every delectable bite. I was talking to to the owner baker of the baketique, and let her know I was just passing through. She gave me a dozen cake balls on the house for the road. Love that!
In Summation: MORE CAKE PLEASE.
Next up: everything is bigger in Texas.
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