Memphis food writer Jennifer Biggs remembered as 'a bright shining light'

Jennifer Biggs began her career at The Commercial Appeal in 1991. She wrote about property fraud in Somerville, wife murder in Tallahatchie County and "Pinocchio" at Circuit Playhouse. But it was not until 2007 that she found a journalistic identity she could really sink her teeth into, when she penned her first dining review.

The restaurant was the then-new Jim's Place Grille in Collierville, and the review began with these words: "A strip mall seems an unlikely spot to eat perhaps the best calamari I've ever tasted..." Biggs described the strip mall as "a stretch of concrete and asphalt, nestled next to the train tracks, snug under the American flag..." Observations about the "smoky turnip greens" and "pineapple rum delight" were similarly tangy or tart, as required.

As she demonstrated from her first bites, Biggs wasn't there — here — just for the food. As a food writer and later food editor at The Commercial Appeal for 11 years and then as the food and dining writer at The Daily Memphian, Biggs was as interested in building community as she was in critiquing the contents of her plate.

Through her columns, her reviews, her recipes, her organized public luncheons, her podcasts and her frequent radio appearances on WYXR-FM 91.7 FM and on various sports/talk programs (notably, "The Geoff Calkins Show" on WMFS-92.9 FM), Biggs promoted Memphis food culture as a shared experience and as a source of pride and identity.

Tireless, joyful, prolific (she wrote literally thousands of stories), endlessly upbeat (albeit often acerbic) and at times even slaphappy (nobody better appreciated a pratfall), she put real heartbeat into what newspapers call "the food beat." In her writing, she searched for the precise bon mot; but in her life as in her dining, her motto might have been "Bon appetit!" — a sincere hope that you, her reader or guest, would enjoy this world as much as she did.

Biggs, 60, died Aug. 16 while in hospice care at her East Memphis home, close to nine weeks after she was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. The rapid progress of the disease, even after surgery, was a shock to those who knew her as a dervish of energy, a pillar of confidence, and a source of sound practical advice in newsrooms populated by money mismanagers and math-class dropouts. (For years, a sign with the legend "WWJD" — "What Would Jennifer Do" — was posted in the features department of The Commercial Appeal.)

Biggs' illness was no secret. Biggs — a lifelong Memphian who attended Raleigh-Egypt High School and the University of Memphis — posted about her diagnosis on Facebook in June. About a week later, Geoff Calkins reported Biggs' struggle in a Daily Memphian column, writing of his colleague: "She has connected us to holes-in-the-wall and to sumptuous new restaurants and to the city that we call home." (Formerly with The Commercial Appeal, both Calkins and Biggs joined the Daily Memphian for its launch in 2018; Biggs was the chief food and dining writer at the online newspaper until her death.)

Megan Biggs, Jennifer's daughter, announced the sad news about her mother in a Facebook post late Wednesday night.

"I'm absolutely heartbroken to say this. It's hard and it feels like make believe," she wrote. "My mother, Jennifer Biggs, died tonight. She was fierce, she was stubborn, and she fought hard. Tonight was the time for her to let go. On her behalf, my family's, and straight from me — we thank you and we're so grateful for the thoughts, the prayers, the check ins, and all the well wishes you sent our way. They've meant the world to us and they've helped make this fight a little easier."

The response to the news was immediate, with friends, food professionals and readers — lots of readers — taking to social media to express their grief and share happy memories.

"She was a larger-than-life woman on a quest," said chef/restaurant owner Karen Carrier, in an interview. "It was almost like she came out of nowhere when she took the job at the CA and she surprised us all. In this crazy food world of ours, writing, cooking, cleaning, managing or serving, you have got to love people, and to Jennifer, this was always a labor of love.

"Food is an art form for me, and for Jennifer experiencing all cuisines was her holy grail," added Carrier, whose enterprises include Another Roadside Attraction, a catering company, and The Beauty Shop Restaurant in Cooper-Young, to name a few. "When she started in Memphis was when the culinary landscape was changing, exploding. We rode that wave together. Her love of all cuisines was inspirational."

Eric Vernon, co-owner of The Bar-B-Q Shop at 1782 Madison, said in an interview that when he first learned about Biggs’ illness, “all that day I was really distraught. We talk to people all the time, people who interview us about food, but I was really distraught because I knew who she was as a person. She allowed you to see that part of her. She would have these moments, and you could feel the closeness in whatever she was talking about.”

Vernon said Biggs was a zealous Memphis enthusiast. “She did not like it when some food list came out nationally and Memphis was not on it. She would always try to make sure we got the acclaim that we deserved. I always felt the passion when she got into that mode."

The Commercial Appeal's food reporter, Jennifer Chandler, said she has known Jennifer Biggs about 20 years. She said the two Jennifers (their identical first names sometimes caused confusion on the food beat) were friends before Chandler joined the newspaper staff as a freelancer about 15 years ago, at which time Biggs was her editor. (When Biggs began writing about food for The Commercial Appeal, she shared duties with then-lead reviewer Fredric Koeppel, who left the newspaper in 2008.)

"I learned a lot from Jennifer when I first started writing," Chandler said. "I was a food person. I'd been a restaurateur, a chef, but I had not been a writer. She pushed me when she was my editor. She pushed me the same way when we were in competing roles when she went to The Daily Memphian. Her drive was infectious and contagious, and it made me want to be a better writer and a better advocate for the Memphis restaurant community."

In a 2017 column in The Commercial Appeal, Biggs assessed her first 10 years as a food writer. She marveled at the increasing diversity and quality of food in Memphis and the "Greater Memphis" region. "You can find food from Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Taiwan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Iran, China Korea, India," she wrote. "That's a long way from Pancho's and Joy Young," she added, name-checking the two restaurants that during Biggs' childhood defined "foreign" food in Memphis.

Said Vernon: "She cared about the food, she cared about doing her job, and, on the flip side, she cared about the people she was talking to."

"She was a gem, a bright shining light," Carrier said. "She would walk into a room and people would gravitate. Her personality was beyond huge… Jen made you feel comfortable. All of a sudden you found yourself telling her stories you probably shouldn't have!"

In addition to her daughter, Biggs leaves grandchildren, upon whom their "gammy" doted: Jackson Oliver Brooks Kendall and Chloe Grace Kendall, of Memphis; and Julie Ann Kuhn and Roberta Ruby Kuhn, of Austin, Texas. Also, two stepchildren, Patrick Brooks of Memphis and Wendy Brooks Kuhn of Austin.

A service will be held at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Memorial Park Funeral Home, 5668 Poplar, with visitation starting at 9 a.m.

Commercial Appeal reporter Lucas Finton contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Jennifer Biggs, Memphis writer, remembered as 'a bright shining light'