This popular lunchtime spot offers an "oasis of wonderfulness."

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photograph by michael donahue

Woman"s Exchange president Barbara McKinnon with "Rev" Bailey.

Diners at most restaurants usually pass a reception desk or a bar on the way to their table. At the Woman's Exchange Tea Room, they walk by quilts, children's clothing, coffee mugs, books, along with Humpty Dumpty, Raggedy Ann, Andy, and other dolls before sitting down.

And after they eat, some return to the front to buy one or two of those colorful, handcrafted items displayed from floor to ceiling.

"It's an oasis of wonderfulness in a cold, cruel world," says Barbara McKinnon, president of the Woman's Exchange of Memphis, where "everything is delicious. Everyone is nice."

Established here in 1885, the national women's organization once boasted 72 branches, of which only 15 remain. "We're one of the survivors," she says.

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photograph by michael donahue

Louise Bailey

The Tea Room, where lunch is served between 11:30 a.m. and 1:45 p.m. Monday through Friday, has been part of the wonderfulness of the Woman's Exchange of Memphis since 1935.

The organization began as a way for women to earn a living by making and selling their wares, McKinnon says. "Back in those days they all knew how to embroider and sew, but it was not proper for women to work outside of the home."

The Memphis branch had many locations over the years, including the Peabody Hotel lobby, before moving into a former residence at 88 Racine Street in 1962.

The mission is the same as when it began: "To sell handmade things for people who need to make an income from selling their handmade things."

Some 250 active members of the Exchange go to women's homes and pick up various arts and crafts items -- artwork, quilts, toys, clothing, kitchenware, and more -- and bring them to the shop to sell. That gives women more time to create work in their homes or studios, McKinnon says, and selling at the shop is better than "sitting in a hot tent" at a crafts fair or flea market.

"We are a woman-owned, woman-created business and always have been," she says. "We work with other women's businesses that make the inventory. It's just a great thing."

One of the most popular days is Thursday, when head chef Emanuel "Rev" Bailey serves his famous beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes, a garden salad, and home-cooked rolls.

The Tea Room, where Woman's Exchange volunteers are the servers, features "home-cooked, honest food," McKinnon says. "The turnip greens are really turnip greens, hand-picked. Everything is made fresh. It's just good cooking from a talented chef and a talented staff."

And, she adds, "People love it and come back."

The menu includes soup (vegetable soup every day except Thursday, which is corn soup), sandwiches (chicken salad, egg salad, and a club sandwich), and a vegetable plate. Desserts also are available daily. "Every day has its own specials," she says.

One of the most popular days is Thursday, when head chef Emanuel "Rev" Bailey serves his famous beef tenderloin with mashed potatoes, a garden salad, and home-cooked rolls.

Bailey started working at the Woman's Exchange 22 years ago, after learning his kitchen skills at home. "My mother taught us to cook," he says. "The basic rice, fried chicken, greens."

His professional kitchen career began as a dishwasher at the University Club of Memphis, where he later became a cook, mastering chateaubriand, lobster tail, and more. Not to mention the lamb chops, New York strip steak, and po-boy sandwiches "with shrimp and oyster and seafood sauce."

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photograph by KATHY MCLALLEN

Mr. Donahue

Beef tenderloin became his specialty after he got the job at the Woman's Exchange, Bailey says. They already were serving that, but he told them to start using the "IVP grain-fed cow. They were the best. They were the most tender."

Bailey was told to do whatever he wished "to build up this place and make the lunch better." And he succeeded. "Usually we didn't have but about 40 to 45 people here on Thursday. But once I got here, we went all the way up to 100 and more on Thursday."

In addition to the different kind of beef, what makes his tenderloin special? "I come up with my own seasonings," he says. "I'll tell you one: Lawry's seasoning salt. But the other one, I don't tell." Asked how he got the name "Rev," Bailey explains that he's a pastor in West Memphis.

Another important member of the Woman's Exchange culinary team is pastry chef Louise Bailey, who makes the chess pie and other pies, as well as rolls, biscuits, cornbread, muffins, and cakes.

She learned to cook while growing up in the country, she says. Louise also worked at the University Club before moving to the Woman's Exchange.

Asked how many rolls she's made in her 33 years at the Women's Exchange, Louise says, "Oh, Lord. Thousands and thousands and thousands."

The Woman's Exchange Tea Room is located at 88 Racine Street.