Sound Bites: Kinfolk’s Sunday pop-ups and plans for Gussied Up
A few days after recording this week’s Sound Bites episode, Kinfolk owner Cole Jeanes received an email from the Michelin Guide team.
He didn’t know if it was real, so Jeanes reached out to Michelin. They confirmed the email’s legitimacy and said the Memphis breakfast restaurant is under consideration for inclusion in Michelin’s new dining guide on the American South.
Jeanes believes it’s unlikely Kinfolk will receive a rare Michelin star, but a guide listing or a Bib Gourmand designation could be possible.
“For me, I (could) die happy. That’s fine with me, I’ll take that all day long,” he said. “A lot of people were very happy and they think it’s great that (the Michelin guide) is coming to the city, and coming to the South.”
Kinfolk, Hard Times owners talk new Memphis Edge District bar plans
Jeanes and fellow chef Harrison Downing are the guests on this week’s podcast episode, where we discuss Kinfolk, Hard Times Deli and Gussied Up. The latter is a bar that Jeanes, Downing and Schuyler O’Brien plan to open in the Edge District next year.
A possible exterior design for the Gussied Up bar is shown in this rendering. The bar will share a kitchen with Hard Times Deli. (Courtesy Cnct. design)
The three co-own Hard Times Deli at 655 Madison Ave., known for its eye-catching, giant deli sandwiches. These days, it’s also home to a weekly Kinfolk pop-up, while the brick-and-mortar breakfast restaurant in Harbor Town undergoes repairs from water damage. We talked about the pop-up’s name, Sunday’s, on the podcast. It’s intentionally possessive.
That’s a lot of names and restaurants and co-owners, I know, but that’s just the way that Jeanes, Downing and Schuyler roll these days.
We talked about plenty of food and drinks on the podcast, which include, but aren’t limited to, a buffalo chicken Caesar sandwich, a “McGwiddle” breakfast, Kinfolk’s staple chicken biscuit and an espresso margarita from another Edge District bar.
Kinfolk’s “Sunday’s” pop-up at Hard Times Deli allows experimentation with limited-edition items, like a biscuit sandwich special (left) in addition to menu staples like the chicken biscuit (right). The Spicy Italian sandwich (center) is a top-seller at Hard Times Deli according to the owners. (Courtesy Kinfolk and Hard Times Deli)
I also quizzed the two about the quasi-controversy over early reports that they plan for Gussied Up to be a dive bar. Because what is really a dive bar, anyway?
In the interview, we discuss the answer to that question using input from locals, Daily Memphian staffers and Jeanes and Downing, who have since refined their descriptions of the bar’s plans.
“We understand that a dive bar, it takes time ... It has to be lived in,” Downing said on the podcast. “It has to be smoked in ... some beer on the floor. Tons of crazy stories ... a fight or two. We know that we literally can’t create it.”
Harrison Downing (left) and Cole Jeanes and Schuyler O’Brien pose at Hard Times Deli Feb. 11, 2025. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)
The two spoke fondly of their time spent at Memphis dives like the Buccaneer Lounge (RIP) and Earnestine & Hazel’s, and their desire to build a welcoming, neighborhood joint for “funny” and simple, not fancy, drinks and good food.
“And eventually, maybe it’ll become that 15 years from now,” Jeanes said. “If it’s still hanging out in the Edge District, maybe it could be everyone’s (new) favorite. We’re staying away from the word dive.”
Listen to the full interview below. You can also listen to Downing’s first appearance on Sound Bites with business partner Schuyler O’Brian in this January episode.
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