“It’ll be a way to see some of your favorite restaurants in a new
light,” says Debra Hall, director of development and marketing for the
Memphis Literacy Council. “It’ll be like having a few nights out
— all in one night — too,” she adds. “And it’ll definitely
be the place to see and be seen.”
Hall’s referring to the “Taste of Cooper-Young” fund-raiser on
Tuesday, August 18th. It’s a chance to not only support the valuable
programs offered by the Memphis Literacy Council but to visit some of
your old (and new) restaurant favorites in the Cooper-Young
neighborhood: Beauty Shop, Blue Fish, Cafe Ole, Celtic Crossing,
Central BBQ, Do Sushi, Fork It Over, Lou’s Pizza, Otherlands, Soul
Fish, and Tsunami. Here’s how the evening works:
Ticket-buyers schedule one of three “seatings” — meaning, you
show up at 6, 6:45, or 7:30 p.m. at the literacy council at 902 S.
Cooper, enjoy a “Literatini,” then walk to the restaurants in the area
to sample the dishes specially prepared. (There’s food on the council’s
premises too. Go for it.) Participants then return to the council to
enjoy a glass of wine, coffee, and music headed by Jim Petit of the
Drum Shop. You can bid on items in a silent auction as well.
Sounds fun, and what’s more, it’s for a good cause: funding the
programs, all of them freely offered, by the nonprofit Memphis Literacy
Council. Those programs include literacy instruction for adults,
conversational classes for adults learning English as a second
language, and the distribution of good-quality books to low-income
Memphis families. What else do you want? How about affordable?
The entire evening — the “Literatini,” the restaurant
tastings, the coffee, the wine, the music — goes for $50 per
person. But act now. Reservations are limited. “Taste of Cooper-Young”
has 220 tickets to sell.