The elves in The Peabody Memphis’ pastry department are serious about the hotel’s lobby holiday gingerbread display.

Each year, The Peabody pastry staff are busy for months leading up to the holidays designing, ordering supplies and baking up a storm. 

“I start thinking about the lobby gingerbread display around Mother’s Day and have the whole pastry team write down ideas,” Peabody Executive Pastry Chef Konrad Spitzbart said. “By the end of June, we narrow down and have the final theme.”

Peabody Chef Konrad Spitzbart lead the efforts to create the hotel’s gingerbread display. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

“As it has gotten bigger over all those years, we pretty much start with the templates in August. Engineering then builds the base and brings it to us the first week of September. Then construction starts,” Spitzbart said. 

The display — this year’s theme is traditional Gingerbread Village — is worth seeing. 

And the amount of ingredients The Peabody bakers use is staggering. This year, 100 pounds of royal icing, 110 pounds of flour, 4 gallons of molasses, 3 gallons of egg whites and 15 pounds of candy were used to create the annual holiday masterpiece.

It also took 11 members of the pastry team 260 “elf” hours to bake, assemble and decorate the display.

Visitors to the hotel will find the 16-foot-by-7-foot village by the valet-parking entrance, and trust me, a gingerbread creation this large is hard to miss!

The elves in The Peabody Memphis’ pastry department are serious about the hotel’s lobby holiday gingerbread display. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Since The Peabody’s Grand Lobby is beautifully decorated for the season, one might also want to sit and enjoy a seasonal drink, cocktails for the adults or hot chocolate for the kids, at the hotel after checking out the gingerbread display.

Pro tip: Time your visit to 11 a.m. or 5 p.m. for the daily Duck March and a classic Downtown Memphis experience.

Holiday and other upcoming food events

Mary’s B.O.T.E. is hosting a “Surfin Santa” tiki Christmas pop-up all month long. The bar is all decked out and the special menu features festive libations such as the “Mele Kalikimaka” (a rum cocktail with Liba Terrativo, pineapple, cinnamon, macadamia orgeat and lime) and the “Sugar Plum Fairy” (an Old Dominick vodka drink with plum, falernum, orgeat, lemon, cranberry and strawberry). The holiday pop-up runs through Tuesday, Dec. 31.

This Week on Memphis’ restaurant scene

Mobile coffee trailer Byway Coffee Co. launched its first-ever signature coffee blend earlier this month. Created in partnership with Memphis-based roastery Comeback Coffee, Byway Blend is a carefully crafted blend of rich Colombian and Brazilian beans and delivers a smooth but robust experience. In addition to being served fresh from the Byway Coffee trailer, retail bags and elegantly designed coffee tins will be available for purchase in the coming weeks, allowing customers to bring a taste of Byway Blend home.

A dish from The Lobbyist has made The New York Times’ list of “The 26 Best Dishes We Ate Across the U.S. in 2024.” I reported on why The New York Times chose Chef Jimmy Gentry’s Corn Mash and the history behind this signature menu item.

Public Bistro's pork chop comes on top of creamy sweet potato and steamed green beans. (Joshua Carlucci/Special to The Daily Memphian)

Knifebird Wine Bar closed last Saturday; its sister restaurant The Public Bistro closes Friday. Owner Kate Ashby discussed the reason behind the closure of both her two popular Cooper-Young restaurants.

Julia Baker reported on the new Roxie’s Market near the Greenlaw Community Center. The marketplace has taken root in a beloved landmark in the Uptown community — Roxie’s Grocery, a former corner store well-known for its burgers. 

Sophia Surrett got a sneak peek of the new Bud & Brews restaurant in the Broad Avenue Arts District. Here’s what to expect at this new eatery with cannabis-infused fare.

And in this week’s Food Files, Surrett reported City Silo has opened at its new location in East Memphis and Crosstown Concourse’s Farm Burger Memphis has changed ownership from the Atlanta-based company to Global Café’s Sabine Langer. In that same article, Surrett reports The Sift Bakery has closed its Bartlett retail shop. 

Surrett also brought us the news that the owners of the Tekila restaurants have purchased the former Carrabba’s building in East Memphis. The new concept could be an upscale steakhouse similar to the Tekila Mexican Cuisine location at the Nineteenth Century Building in Midtown.

Ragin' Cajun Seafood & Po'Boys’ Who Dat Catfish plate served in Bartlett. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian)

Last week, Louisiana-native Mason Jambon opened Ragin‘ Cajun Seafood and Po’Boys. The new Bartlett eatery features authentic South Louisiana fare such as etouffee, gumbo and — as the name suggests — po’boys.

It’s all about the season at Germantown’s Limelight where General Manager and Executive Chef DJ Pitts curates a menu that changes quarterly. I shared my favorite dishes from a recent visit in the most recent “What to Order” column.

The Liquor Store on Broad Avenue is hosting its annual Miracle holiday pop-up. In last week’s “Sound Bites” podcast, SOB Hospitality co-owner Brittany Cabigao and the restaurant group’s beverage manager Ben Wiley talked about what to expect at this year’s holiday cocktail-bar extravaganza. Wiley also shared his recipe for a chai simple-syrup recipe and gave us two drinks to make with it. 

For this week’s $10 Deal, Joshua Carlucci recommends the rotisserie chicken at El Pollo Latino. He characterized the pollo asado — the restaurant’s firewood-smoked rotisserie chicken that’s tender, juicy and steeped in a subtle smokiness.

Thanks for joining me for this week’s Table Talk. Be sure to look for this column weekly for all the latest food news in Memphis.

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