Curfew is Fabio Viviani's Union Avenue Memphis restaurant inside Canopy Downtown, with wood-fired steaks, house pastas and one of downtown's later kitchens.
Must order: Wood-fired bone-in ribeye with whatever pasta is on the daily list.
Tip: Kitchen runs to 23:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. The bar takes walk-ins; the dining room books on OpenTable.
Address: 164 Union Ave, Memphis, TN 38103
Char Restaurant in East Memphis on Highland Street runs USDA prime steaks, fresh Gulf seafood and crab cakes in a modern Southern steakhouse with nightly piano.
Order: Prime filet with the crab cake starter.
Tip: Saturday and Sunday brunch from 10:30; the piano bar runs on most weeknight evenings.
Coastal Fish Company sits on Hyde Lake in Shelby Farms Park in Memphis with day-boat oysters, grilled snapper and a long sunset patio over the water. Opened 2019.
Order: Half-dozen oysters and the whole grilled snapper.
Tip: Sunset tables face the lake; reserve a week out on OpenTable for Saturday dinner.
Chez Philippe is the modern American fine-dining room inside the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, with white tablecloths, formality and weekend afternoon tea.
Order: Afternoon tea at 13:00; the prix fixe at dinner.
Tip: Open Thursday to Sunday for dinner; afternoon tea Wednesday to Sunday. Reserve on OpenTable two weeks out.
Erling Jensen's eponymous East Memphis fine-dining room runs Danish-trained, French-leaning tasting plates from a Yates Road bungalow. Open in Memphis since 1996.
Order: Rack of lamb with the daily seasonal tasting starter.
Tip: Reserve on Tock; the bar takes walk-ins. Closed Sundays and Mondays.
Andy Ticer and Michael Hudman's Andrew Michael Italian Kitchen in East Memphis runs Italian rooted in Southern ingredients from Brookhaven Circle since 2008.
Order: Maw Maw's potato gnocchi with red sugo.
Tip: Closed Sundays and Mondays. The bar takes walk-ins; the dining room books on Resy two weeks out.
Catherine and Mary's is Ticer and Hudman's downtown Memphis room pairing Tuscan and Sicilian grandmother cooking with Southern produce in the Chisca on Main.
Order: Whatever pasta they are rolling that night plus the wood-roasted whole fish.
Tip: Walk-in seats at the bar most weeknights; the dining room books on Resy two weeks out.
