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Melvin “Too Tall” Moore, a popular and beloved figure in Memphis hospitality and fine dining, died suddenly Aug. 4. He was 67.
The family man and avid golfer, who worked in the restaurant industry for five decades, built a reputation as a warm host and social anchor.
“He was the life of the party,” said Flora Childres, Moore’s sister. “Any, every party! He took it upon himself to make sure everyone was having a good time.”
Moore was born on May 22, 1959 and moved from rural Collierville to North Memphis with his mother, Annie Moore, and four siblings when he was in grade school. Childres said the family was close-knit.
At age 15, Moore became a busboy at The Four Flames, an upscale restaurant in downtown Memphis, where he learned the service standards required at fine dining establishments. He was promoted to waiter before his 18th birthday. He would spend the rest of his life working in the hospitality industry, honing his craft and eventually becoming a highly sought-after server, host and caterer.
Moore and Childres worked together at The Four Flames, Memphis Country Club and at private parties.
“We started bartending together in our 20s,” Childres remembers. “But the funny thing is, I’d be slammed (with lots of customers) and look up and he’s walking around, talking to people, having a good time.”
That was the gracious host, standing 6 feet, 6 inches tall, many Memphians knew and loved. He captured the hearts of restaurant-goers, country club members and anyone throwing a good party.
Childres, now a retired elementary school principal, found his “life of the party” persona hard to believe at first, because Moore was “too” shy growing up, she said.
“It’s as if his time at The Four Flames ignited something inside of him,” said Childres. “He was really good at what he did.”
Though charming, witty and good looking, Moore relied on his academic training to help advance his career. He earned an associate’s degree in food and beverage operations from Shelby State Community College, now Southwest Tennessee Community College. He accepted a position in 1996 at Erling Jensen, an award-winning, chef-led fine dining restaurant in East Memphis.
“Too Tall worked here for nearly 30 years,” said Jaquila Jensen, of Erling Jensen restaurant. “Most of our guests had a special request for him to be their server. They loved him, and he loved and spoiled his people. His personality was as big as he was tall.”
Erling Jensen, executive chef of the eponymous restaurant, said he would miss the good-natured debates he shared with Moore.
“Too Tall has been here since the beginning,” said Erling Jensen. “Though we’ve had many arguments about him giving the guests whatever they wanted, I wouldn’t trade our time together. It’s a great loss. And this football season, I’ll miss our back-and-forth football banter about the Cowboys and Dolphins, and who’ll finally have a good season.”
Moore, who had catered parties for the late FedEx founder Fred Smith, fashion designer Pat Kerr Tigrett and other prominent Memphians, loved his work in fine dining and enjoyed entertaining those he described as the “upper echelon.”
And though he loved “his people” at work, Moore’s first love was his family.
“My dad was the one constant in my life,” said Moore’s daughter, Meaghan Moore. “He would do anything for us. He just wanted to see us happy.”
The recent college graduate said she and her father shared a love of the Tigers, long before she attended the University of Memphis, adding that he “bled Tiger Blue.”
Moore’s son, also named Melvin Moore, said one of the most important lessons he learned from his father was to “be you” and to be true to himself. Whenever the younger Moore would return home to visit, after moving to Texas in 2012, he and his father would eat at the senior’s favorite Memphis restaurant, Huey’s, where he had worked as a youngster.
“He loved the Grizzlies, the Tigers and Memphis,” said the younger Moore. “I call him the unofficial mayor of Memphis because he really loved his city.”
Golf became another passion of Moore’s life. He was introduced to the game at Memphis Country Club’s Tap Room in the early 1990s.
“I was with him on the golf course down in Pensacola a few weeks ago,” New Orleans resident John “Bomber” Brown said of his longtime golf buddy. “Too Tall was known in New Orleans and all around the golfing circuit. He wasn’t just the life of the party, he was the life of the golf course, too.”
Moore won his first golf tournament earlier this year in Monroe, Louisiana, said Brown.
“I would pick him up from the train station, and the first thing we would do is go get oysters. He loved his oysters,” he said. “He always tipped the service men and women well. He was such a gentleman.”
Moore was a member of the Southern Association of Amateur Golfers and several golf clubs and organizations, including the Irene Golf Course, The Links at Pine Hill, Kinfolk Golf Tour and the Tri-State Golf Tour.
In addition to his son, daughter and sister, Moore is survived by his brother John Moore.
A memorial celebration is set for 1-4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 16, at The Kent, 61 Keel Ave., Memphis. Attendees are encouraged to wear Tiger Blue.
