Bon Appetit magazine’s September 2007 Restaurant issue features three finalists in a list of quintessential versions of six American classics: pizza, steak, tacos, hamburgers, fried chicken, and ribs. Winner will be announced on the Food Network on Aug. 18 (Good Eats with Alton Brown, 6 and 10 pm CDT). The finalists:

PIZZA: Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix; DiFara Pizza, Brooklyn, NY; Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles
STEAK: Peter Luger Steak House, Brooklyn; Cut, Los Angeles; Doe’s Eat Place, Greenville, Miss.
TACOS: Taco Taco Cafe, San Antonio; Taqueria del Sol, Atlanta; South Beach Bar & Grill, Ocean Beach, Calif.
Hamburgers: Bobcate Bite, Santa Fe, NM; Taylor’s Automatic Refresher, St. Helena, Calif; The Meers Store and Restaurant, Lawton, Okla.
FRIED CHICKEN: Willie Mae’s Scotch House, New Orleans; Price’s Chicken Coop, Charlotte, NC; Blackberry Farm, Walland, Tenn.
RIBS: Charles Vergos Rendezvous, Memphis; 17th Street Bar & Grill, Murphysboro, Ill; Jaspers, Plano, Texas.

The magazine also features favorite restaurant recipes, including: Lucia’s in Minneapolis-St. Paul; Eve in Ann Arbor, Mich.; Dali Restaurant & Tapas Bar in Somerville, Mass.; Binkley’s Restaurant in Cave Creek, Ariz.; Kelly Liken Restaurant in Vail, Colo; Pizzeria Mozza in Los Angeles; and Park Kitchen in Portland, Ore. … And the mag also features 12 small restaurants and their recipes, including: The Little Owl, New York City; The Good Fork, Brooklyn; La Laiterie at Farmstead, Providence, RI; Cremant, Seattle; Bonne Soiree, Chapel Hill, N.C.; Hatfield’s, Los Angeles; Canteen, San Francisco; Revolver, Findlay, Ohio; Le Pigeon, Portland, Ore; and Komi, Washington, DC. epicurious.com/bonappetit

IN THE NEWS: The Commercial Appeal’s Jennifer Chandler reports, “Tuscany, the latest restaurant by Glenn and Martha Hays of La Tourelle and Cafe 1912, opened Aug. 9 at 2146 Monroe. Tuscany will serve Northern Italian food at moderate prices, in a casual setting. Open for dinner only Wednesday through Sunday, Tuscany will also offer a Sunday brunch that can be ordered either a la carte or as three courses for $20. … Ciao Bella at 552 S. Mendenhall is still open despite prior reports that it would close at the end of July. Having lost its lease (only one restaurant can be in that strip mall at a time, and a Pei Wei is moving in elsewhere in the strip), Ciao Bella is looking for a new location. However, since Pei Wei has yet to start construction on its restaurant, Ciao Bella owner Judd Tashie has requested to stay in his current location until Pei Wei opens. … Longtime Midtown favorite Marena’s has closed. Chef/owner Morteza Gerani will be opening a new place in Brookhaven Circle with the Marciano Corp. Taking its place will be Roustica. Featuring American Contemporary cuisine, Roustica is the brainchild of chef Kevin Rains, formerly of Equestria Restaurant and EJ’s Brasserie.” … Fredric Koeppel gives two and a half stars to Assaggio (8100 Macon Station, Germantown). commercialappeal.com … After taking a bite out of the Midtown Memphis market, Fresh Slices Sidewalk Cafe and Deli owners Ike Logan and Willie Logan are expanding their concept into Cordova, with plans for three to four more locations, the Memphis Business Journal reports. … The Journal also reports that Lenny’s Sub Shops franchisee group Sublicious LLC has been granted the rights to open two new locations in Fayette County, with the first store opening in Oakland, Tenn., this fall. There are currently 28 Lenny’s Sub Shops in the Memphis area. … Memphis Flyer’s Simone Wilson notes Newk’s Café (3075 East Goodman in Southaven; 3680 South Houston Levee in Collierville; Cordova location on Germantown Parkway opening soon; newkscafe.com). … The Flyer also notes, “Chef Alton Brown got a taste of Memphis recently for his Food Network show Feasting on Asphalt. Brown travels the country on a motorcycle, stopping to check out local off-the-beaten path eateries and food-related memorabilia. In Memphis, Brown noshed on barbecue at Jim Neely’s Interstate BBQ, sucked down old-fashioned cherry shakes at Wiles-Smith Drugs, and dined on chitlins at Melanie’s Soul Food. Brown also stopped in the Memphis Pink Palace Museum to tour the replica of the city’s first Piggly Wiggly store. The show will air on Saturday, August 18 on the Food Network.” memphisflyer.com … DiningWithMonkeys.blogspot.com visits Pho Hoa Binh (1615 Madison Avenue). … DrHooMemphis.blogspot.com stops by Pearl’s Oyster House.

Filed under: Memphis Restaurants | Tags: |