Driving south on Cooper, a leaping, neon Tiger is on the horizon. That’s just one of the many creatures who have come to party at Tiger and Peacock, the new rooftop bar at The Memphian Hotel.
Who lives here? Because it feels like a dwelling instead of a bar. Maybe your rich aunt who grew up in a French circus or a Wes Anderson movie? Or is Elvis really alive, and this is what he actually wanted in a modern day, sophisticated Graceland?
Where else do you source a 6-foot-tall giraffe sconce? Italy, of course. A taxidermy peacock? Well, that’s a secret! A ceiling of the night sky with hand-painted astrological constellations? Memphis artist, Jennifer Church.
No matter. For the night, it’s your living room. Tiger and Peacock has a true sense of place–and is the perfect backdrop for a night out. You’ll meet lots of guests in the décor. Local artists Brennan Brown and Pam McDonnell altered antique art and frames. See if you can find the horse painted with Cheetah spots, the sunflowers with singing faces or the wise old man wearing half an owl face.
Tiger and Peacock was a very personal project for Glennys Cowles Bryant, lead designer and founder of GCD Interiors.
“My family has lived in Memphis for many generations. I have always been proud of our people, humbled by our history and honored to embrace our culture. What it is to be from Memphis is to live other places and to come home and realize that Memphis is the accumulation of your history,” she shares.
“Memphis has so many layers, so much history. There is no place like it. I can’t put my finger directly on what is Memphis, but people that come here choose to come back because they have to get it! Memphis has a soul about it. Not just music–not just theater–nothing specific.”
Bryant adds, “As a Memphis designer, it meant so much to be involved in a hotel that is iconically Memphis, and I couldn’t be prouder to help Mary and Bob Loeb make a hotel in their favorite city. The place we call home, the hotel named for our city, The Memphian.”
You can see more of Glennys and team’s restaurant work at Memphis favorites like Ancient Grounds at the Memphis Zoo, Memphis Pizza Café, and Staks Pancake Kitchen. And if you are lucky enough to be a guest in one of the many homes she has touched. Not all of them include spirit animals but all take on the personality of the inhabitants.
