Now the aroma of the panini press wafts up to those old beams and the fragrant coffee warms the belly.Ĭafé Keough is a beautiful place with a simple café design that honors the existing architecture by using the original granite, recreating the Corinthian capitals and repurposing the old Commerce Title Building sign as community table tops. He worked alongside the contractors and tradesmen to tease the whispers out of the historic walls of the 100 year old Commerce Title Building. Kevin’s fingerprint is literal, honed into the plaster of the ceiling and the paint on the kitchen floors. The atmosphere of the Café reflects Kevin’s desire to create an old Memphis café from scratch using bits and pieces of remembered images from trips around Nice, Prague, New York and New Orleans – crystalizing that wonderful sense of being in a special place. It occupies part of the ground floor in an upscale residential tower known as “10 South Main”.Īt about 3,000 square feet, the mood of Café Keough undulates throughout the day from lively breakfast to quiet work/study time, exploding at noon in a bustling lunch crowd and settling into the evening wind down with drinks and tapas. Situated on Main Street between the fourth and fifth presidential streets, Madison and Monroe, the Café is around the corner from the University of Memphis law school and down the street from the historic Peabody Hotel. Kevin opened Café Keough at the tail end of 2013. The two partnered up in 2005 to create The Beauty Shop Restaurant, a highly successful and award winning restaurant anchoring the City’s vibrant Cooper-Young District. He next created a synergy with Karen Carrier’s culinary originality and design to make Automatic Slims the Downtown Memphis scene of the 1990s.
Kevin Keough’s restaurant experience began in gritty Memphis blues joints tracking down the wandering musicians on Beale Street so they could finish the next set. The Café is open throughout the week and mid-day Sunday for brunch. The general manager is Terry Jenkins and Brent McAfee is the chef de cuisine. The Germans say it’s Vienna and I just smile and say welcome to Memphis.Ĭafé Keough is owned by Kevin Keough and his investment partners. The Brazilian interpreter says this place is Buenos Aries. And then the lawyers - can't seem to get away from them.
The newspaper publisher comes in to hash out river city politics. Soon enough the banker ambles around the corner for a chat. At this time of day jazz wafts from the speakers, jiving with the light tap dance of the law school laptops. In the afternoon around three, as the low sun floats in, Café Keough takes on a soft glow.
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