photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
The only way for patrons to get to The Memphian Hotel’s Tiger and Peacock rooftop bar is via a special elevator just off the fabulously quirky lobby. But before heading upstairs, I suggest you spend a few minutes acclimating to your new environment. There’s a delightfully funky vibe to this place and you’ll want to immerse yourself slowly.
In one corner of the lobby sits a piano on an oriental rug beneath a large sign that reads “All Drama Must Remain On Stage.” Well, maybe … if you don’t count The Memphian’s decor, which is certainly dramatic, with its leopard-print chairs, inviting leather couches, and large hand-colored photos of Overton Square in its ’70s heyday. Above it all, near the reception desk, hangs a massive chandelier created with hundreds of multicolored fishing bobbers of various sizes. It may not catch fish, but it will catch your eye.
It’s as if Alice in Wonderland fell down the rabbit hole, met Jerry Garcia at the bottom, and they decided to form an interior design team. The look is insane. And insanely fabulous.
photograph by bruce vanwyngarden
Dalton Case, food and beverage manager.
And the visual fun is just beginning. Trust me.
Tiger and Peacock kicks it up several notches. In fact, I’m at a loss to summarize the kaleidoscopic colors, textures, sculptures, bizarre objects, stuffed animals, and glittery lights that abound in Tiger and Peacock. It’s not so much a style as it is a psychedelic statement. It’s as if Alice in Wonderland fell down the rabbit hole, met Jerry Garcia at the bottom, and they decided to form an interior design team. The look is insane. And insanely fabulous. You’ll take pictures, I guarantee it.
But I’m here to have a cocktail, so, as difficult as it is, I turn my eyes from the flamboyant decor to the large and airy bar fronting the west side of the room, where I’m greeted by bartender (and food and beverage manager) Dalton Case.
“What’ll you have,” he asks.
“Give me your favorite drink,” I reply.
Case decides to serve me the “High Horse,” a concoction consisting of St. George Terroir Gin, triple sec orange liqueur, fresh-squeezed orange juice, simple syrup, and an orange peel. Unsurprisingly, it is orange in color.
“This is a drink that we’ll be featuring this spring,” Case says. “It’s light and refreshing and easy to drink.”
The High Horse starts sweet and fruity on the tongue but develops a slight (and pleasing) orange-peel bitterness as it goes down. It is exactly as Case described it — refreshing and very easy to drink, but you can tell this horse has a kick, so take it easy, cowboy.
“I think the key to this drink is the fact that we hand-juice our own oranges,” Case says, “so this is literally as fresh as a cocktail can be.”
And so is the view from the bar, which is toward the setting sun and the Downtown Memphis skyline in the distance. Across the way, on the east side of the room, is an open-air deck that overlooks Playhouse on the Square, Ballet Memphis, the Second Line, and the East End neighborhood beyond. I wander out, scan the treetops, and make a note to return when it’s not a brisk January evening.
It’s early, and I’m ahead of the night crowd, but my wife and I were here a few weeks ago and we marveled at the Tiger and Peacock clientele. They were dressed up, mostly young, very diverse. The ambiance was more of a nightclub than just a “bar.”
Case says the night we were here was typical. “We get a really cool cross-section of Memphis people,” he says. “It’s a young, hip crowd, and they dress up when they come up here. It feels like a fashion show some nights. We play swing-type music and it’s just a great vibe. We also get people from all over the country, and even the world, since it’s a hotel. Everyone loves this place.”
The Memphian Hotel’s Tiger and Peacock is located in Overton Square.
