In the early 20th century, 409 South Main was a purveyor of Puck brand products.
Photographs by Justin Fox Burks.
What are you in the mood for? A happy-hour cocktails after work? Some vegetarian tacos? Perhaps a large bowl of fried rice strikes your fancy. Or maybe you’re craving some prime cuts of Italian deli meat to take home for sandwiches or charcuterie plates. Whatever your culinary need, Puck Food Hall has you covered.
While Puck, the mischievous imp from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, may be emblazoned above 409 South Main’s entrance, there are no tricks to be found here. Formerly known as South Main Market, the venue rebranded to Puck Food Hall at the end of May. The market’s layout also was changed to include customized stations for ten locally owned food and beverage concepts and more community seating. The ownership group — Inconceivable, Inc. and nonprofit collaborative 275 Food Project — encourages vendors to use locally sourced ingredients (30 percent of their stock by the one-year anniversary mark).
The lobby hosts cocktails and desserts, while the main food vendors are farther back. The new Puck Food Hall holds a total of 10 dining possibilities. With so many options to choose from 409’s brand-new lineup, here are three of our favorites, who are also veterans of the 409 South Main space.
CITY BLOCK SALUMERIA
City Block Salumeria moved to 409 at the end of July after its previous residence at the former Porcellino’s space in Brookhaven Circle. Puck Food Hall culinary director and City Block head butcher Brad McCarley trained under French master butcher Marc Pauvert and has previous experience at Porcellino’s and Curb Market. He purchased the craft butcher shop from chefs Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman before moving Downtown.
Having been in the space for almost a year, the salumeria has drawn enough attention to gather a bevy of regular customers. “A lot of people consistently come in on the same day every week,” says City Block chef de cuisine Lindsay Chaisson. “It’s to the point where if they don’t show up, we start to worry about them.”
City Block’s allure stems from its quality products and multipurpose functionality. The butcher shop specializes in an extensive assortment of European-style cured meats and sausages.
“We do a full range of charcuterie, deli meats, and offer steak cuts and pork cuts from local farmers,” says Chaisson. “We make everything in-house: It’s cut, cooked, cured, and cased by us. We’ve got different types of sausages, we offer charcuterie boards, roast our own turkey, roast beef, mortadella, the works.”
With so many different options, there’s one City Block sandwich customers need to try to get the full experience. The salumeria’s Spicy Italian sandwich whisks diners away to the Mediterranean coast, stuffing five different varieties of deli cuts into one offering. The mortadella, capicola, soppressata, and city ham are all delicious, but what ties the sandwich together is the puma di n’duja, a spicy salumi spread. Historically based on French andouille, the spread combines with the pepperoncini and provolone cheese to accentuate an extra spice kick. It truly is a fine representative of the taste of Italy.
Beyond the signature dish, City Block incorporates other traditional options on the menu. “A lot of our sandwiches are takes on classics,” says Chaisson. “Our muffaletta is classic New Orleans; I’m from south Louisiana myself, so that one is special to me. For others, like the Cuban, or the Reuben, we try to make really high-quality sandwiches and put good meat on them.”
WOK’N IN MEMPHIS
Spencer Coplan didn’t always plan on being a chef. As a 14-year-old in Seattle, he just wanted to rent a movie, but his mom told him to get a job instead. One thing led to another, and he found himself fully immersed in the restaurant industry. After working long shifts at fine-dining establishments, late-night Chinese restaurants became his go-to source of food after work.
After his fiancée transferred to Memphis through Teach for America, Coplan worked at Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen for a year and a half. “While I was there, I would make staff meals and test out various Asian dishes,” says Coplan. “I started experimenting with General Tso’s sauces and different types of noodles. Then I thought, ‘Why don’t I do this on my own?’”
Coplan did pop-ups at locations like Porcellino’s, Wiseacre, and The Cove before settling at 409, where he combines American Chinese-style cuisine with his fine-dining background. Having a permanent location has given him more license to experiment. While there are several staples on the menu, Coplan likes to put twists on conventional American Chinese dishes. “We did a St. Patrick’s Day special where we took green dumplings, stuffed them with corned beef and cabbage, and added Chinese mustard,” Coplan explains.
One of Wok’n’s more popular dishes has proven to be the breakfast egg roll, which contains hash browns and scrambled eggs.
Coplan lets nothing go to waste in his kitchen. The fried rice dish incorporates steamed rice from the day before, and after being tossed in Chinese cooking wine, soy sauce, peas, carrots, and eggs, tastes delicious when paired with shrimp, chicken, or some of City Block’s Chinese sausage.
For a common dish like General Tso’s chicken, Coplan believes it needs to stand out. “It can’t just be regular General Tso’s,” says Coplan. “If that’s all it is, you can just go get it at Panda Express or P.F. Chang’s.” He uses a mix of hoisin sauce, oyster sauce, ketchup, rice wine, sugar, and ginger to flavor the fried chicken. As an accompaniment, order the vegetarian egg rolls filled with cabbage, black fungus mushrooms, and carrots.
DEE’LIGHTFUL BLISS BAKERY
Da’Livya Gordon used to hate baking. “I did not like anything about the kitchen,” she says. “My mom always tells people that I wouldn’t even want to boil a pot of water.” Now, her former phobias are impossible to ascertain when one surveys all the baked goods lining her shop windows at 409.
A play on her childhood nickname, Dee’lightful Bliss Bakery is meant to reflect how personal the new bakery is to Gordon. She started out producing sweet goods like flavored funnel cakes before expanding into doing events, and from there, her business flourished. With now more than 15 years of experience under her belt, Gordon brought her skills to 409 about a month and a half ago and draws customers in with a dazzling display of bright confections.
It’s impossible to choose where to begin with Gordon’s sweets. The cheesecake cupcakes are in such demand that they were completely sold out on my first few visits to the market. When finally available, it came down to a tough choice between the Oreo, chocolate, peanut butter, and traditional styles. Each perfectly blends in a distinct style but never detracts from the original cheesecake base. By the time we’d finished, my companion and I frantically searched the foil for any crumbs that we missed.
In the mood for something a little less rich? Gordon’s daily fresh-baked gooey cookies, macaroons, and regular cupcakes are right on the mark. Beyond the daily offerings, she also bakes a full range of custom cakes. When wedding season rolls around, she’s fully booked trying to keep up with demand. And if there needed to be a fi nal selling point, Trolley Night customers routinely buy up her entire stock of sweet treats.
“I’m still amazed,” marvels Gordon, “that baking is the thing I wanted to do most.”
Her enthusiasm remains strong, with several new additions to the menu planned going forward. “I just introduced peach cobbler,” she says. “We’ve got some banana pudding. I’m adding things gradually to see what works out. Some of my ideas may just end up as seasonal items. It can be overwhelming with a just a one- or two-person band, but there’s really no limit to what we want to do here.”
PUCK FOOD HALL
409 South Main
Open Tuesday-Sunday (hours vary per establishment)
HERE’S THE FULL LIST OF PUCK FOOD HALL ESTABLISHMENTS:
◗ Bar409 (craft cocktails & bar)
◗ City Block Salumeria (butcher + deli)
◗ Dee’lightful Bliss Bakery (desserts)
◗ DoughJo (pizza)
◗ Dr. Bean’s Coffee & Tea
◗ Pasta 409
◗ radical. (organic, locally sourced salads)
◗ Sweet Magnolia Gelato Company
◗ Venga (Mexican)
◗ Wok’n in Memphis (American Chinese)
1 of 3
Venga.
2 of 3
Sweet Magnolia.
3 of 3
Civil Pour.
