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Last week, I talked about how food is an extension of the amazing art available throughout Memphis, only to learn that Chef Kelly English has been so inspired by the work of hyper-realist painter Calida Rawles that he curated an entire dinner based upon her work.

“I was immediately struck by the exhibit,” English said of the work currently showing at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. “Both through the visuality that you can’t deny and the kind of reasoning of time and place that she uses in her work.”

English took that inspiration and created “Nourishing Waters: A Dinner by Chef Kelly English Celebrating ‘Away with the Tides.’”

The four-course meal will be held at the Brooks on Saturday, Aug. 23, in the gallery where Rawles’ exhibition is currently on loan to the museum through Thursday, Sept. 7. During the dinner, English will pay tribute to six Black female chefs who helped to pioneer American cuisine with a meal inspired by Rawles’ work.

“The idea here was to honor the people who built what Southern food is and follow all of their recipes for dinner,” he told me of the decision not to reinterpret or add his own signature to the dishes.

If you don’t know, allow me to be the one to tell you that Chef Kelly English is a white man from Louisiana. And it’s not every day that white guys from the Big Easy publicly declare they found inspiration from Black female artists or decide to pay homage to said artists through the food of Black female chefs.

I had to know why.

“My journey from New Orleans to Memphis has made my understanding of where our food comes from grow,” English said. “Growing up, it was fed to us that ‘everything from New Orleans was French and Spanish.’ We don’t talk about the fact that the word ‘gumbo’ means ‘okra’ or that okra was smuggled into this country as seeds hidden in people’s hair who had been kidnapped.”

Naturally, he’s presenting a gumbo z’herbes — sometimes called a “green” gumbo — at the dinner. That recipe was created by chef Leah Chase, who was known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine.

And he’s chosen to share more of that knowledge through these chefs’ food as well as storytelling from Charles McKinney, English’s friend and chair of Rhodes’ Africana Studies Department.

“Kelly English called me up, and when Kelly calls, you just say, ‘Yes,’” McKinney said when I asked what made him decide to lend his knowledge and expertise to the event. “When he talked to me about pairing a meal using the recipes of Black women across time, that was too good to pass up.”

English even approached the Brooks’ Black Art Collective to ensure it was clear he intended to celebrate and not “colonize” the artists’ work with the presentation of his own. 

His enthusiasm for the event and, more specifically, the culinary canon of these chefs is contagious.

“When you get to the American South,” English said, “when you ask someone what the most Southern food is ... we don’t talk about the fact that some of the most Southern foods are the foods that landowners considered trash and left to people to figure out.”

English and McKinney plan to take diners on a journey through the history of Southern cuisine. Each course will have a liquid element, and McKinney will tell stories that weave together the fabric of art, history and cuisine that make up the overall culture.

According to English, the four courses will include a foie amuse-bouche and three subsequent courses, including dessert.

I’ve been to dinners that were intentionally curated and paired with wine or spirits (this event is partnering with Black Girl Wine for its pairings). And — of course — I’ve been to art exhibitions. But I can’t ever say I’ve been to anything that combined the two experiences before. It’s an interesting table that will certainly create conversation.

English’s dinner, “Nourishing Waters,” is Saturday, Aug. 23, at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online.

This week on the Memphis food scene

Spice Lyfe, a supercharged line of spice blends, is the brainchild of Memphian Omi Blu. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Eating intentionally to reduce inflammation or lower blood sugar seems like a major chore, but one Memphis mom and entrepreneur has created “functional food” spice blends that make it easy. 

Holly Whitfield and I had an absolute gab session on the latest edition of her podcast, Sound Bites. If you’ve been curious to learn a little more about me, check it out.

The Fiesta Sauce from Oh Grate! will be available in the deli departments of area Kroger stores beginning July 21. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian)

A beloved Collierville market will have one of its popular products in local Kroger stores. The dip is reminiscent of an old Memphis restaurant favorite from Pancho’s. 

I checked out Ciao Bella in East Memphis for lunch recently and I have a great suggestion for what to order the next time you’re there.

And in Food Files, Jody Callahan filled in for Sophia Surrett and updated us on the fate of Harbor Town’s Kinfolk, the brick-and-mortar future of a local food truck, and the latest Tops Bar-B-Q to recover from a recent fire.

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