Okra (Fayetteville, Tn)

The Town Square
 
If you visit a small town, most of the time you'll find one common denominator. A courthouse and square right at its heart that is not only historic and beautiful but is (or was) often the center of the towns universe. Butchers, bakeries, mercantile, and other various and sundry businesses lined the square and was where locals would do their shopping. Often the movie theatre is there as well. So common is this setting that Universal Studios has a permanent set dedicated to the “Archetypical American” town. The set has been seen in such movies as To Kill a Mockingbird and Back to the Future and TV shows like Leave it to Beaver and Night Rider.

Sadly, the advent of mega malls and grocery stores saw a lot of these businesses surrounding the courthouse fail. Due to the proximity of the courts they are quite often, sadly taken over by law firms. Some towns that haven't suffered from recessions still have a variety of merchants offering antiques, books and souvenirs. And rest assured, there will be restaurants.
 
Such is the case with Fayetteville, Tn. A wonderful courthouse square is surrounded by some of the afore mentioned establishments. That's where you'll find Okra Restaurant. The latest offering from artist Toby Penney and her husband Chef Michael Bradley. Local restaurant veterans, one time operators of the famous Mrs. Mary Bobo's in nearby Lynchburg and owners of Amazing Gracie’s BBQ.

Combining a love of art and food Okra serves as restaurant and art gallery. Not to mention the upstairs apartment serves as living quarters and studio.

You have your choice of ordering off the menu or the white board. Toby advised me that the only thing that comes in a can is the ketchup refill. Other than that, everything is made from scratch. So lets get a look.

Both Mrs. Sippi and Madame Butterfly opted for Fried Catfish Blue Plate Specials with a variety of sides. I ordered off the menu.

Breaded Catfish: Nothing earth shattering here. It was straight up, cornmeal breaded on the outside and flaky yet creamy inside. It was just solid. Fried catfish 101
Fried Okra: As good as it gets. Not the crusty balls of slime you get in some places but lightly battered, fresh tasting and just cooked. Mrs. Sippi hailed it as some of the best.
Mac n Cheese: Your typical old school creamy mac n cheese executed very well. As I said to Toby, mac n cheese doesn't have to have 4 cheeses I've never heard of to be good. It just has to be good.
Pinto Beans: These are great. Nice rich gravy with earthy beans. Sadly, there was no pepper sauce on the table to kick them up a notch. Not that the NEEDED it.
Turnip Greens: A nice example that had a touch of sweetness followed with a peppery finish. Thoroughly enjoyable.
Squash: Mrs. Sippi had mixed emotions about this. She was disappointed in that it wasn't what she thought she was getting when she ordered it. That said, it was still fantastic.

'Mento Cristo: This play on the famous Monte Cristo (which is a fancy way of saying grilled ham and cheese sandwich) is made with Pimento Cheese rather than cheddar. The sour dough was basically made French toast style, complete with cinnamon sugar which I didn't care for (nor did the lady sitting at the table next to us) and easily dusted off. This sandwich however after the fine tuning was an absolute home run. The lady beside me agreed.
Fresh Cut Fries: Another item that needed some fine tuning in my mind. They needed to be more well done. As I said, that's just a personal preference. Outside of that, these are fantastic. Great potato taste and seasoned with Fleur de Sel which was a very nice touch. Fries like this would easily fetch north of $10 at a fancy steak house if you simply named them "Pomme Frites."

Apple Bread Pudding: There was a significant difference of opinion here. While the other two thought it was only okay, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Much like Mrs. Sippi and the squash, this wasn't exactly as I expected but decided I liked it for what it was not for what it wasn't. Most notably, I was hoping for a nice apple cinnamon flavour. The caramel sauce on top was really nice but not (in a good way) over the top rich. It came with a nice fluffy whipped cream.

So there you have it folks, some terrific southern fare in a lovely little town.

You can find Okra at 113 Main Ave. S. in Fayetteville, Tn.

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You can also find them on the web and facebook.


Well that's all for now folks, see ya next time in the food court.

Nina's Taste of Tennessee (Lynchburg, Tn)

Put Some South in your Mouth

It would be very easy to say that the only reason to visit Lynchburg  is Jack Daniels. The large distillery almost literally being the life support system for the tiny town in Middle Tennessee. It's basically a given that if the distillery wasn't there perhaps the entire town wouldn't exist. However, to say that JD is the only thing worth visiting in Lynchburg is simply not true. A number of small businesses, particularly in and around the courthouse square offer a wonderful way to spend a couple hours shopping and eating. Purveyors offering things such as antiques, JD collectables as well as snacks and full restaurants.
 
I've even blogged about one of them.There are a few full restaurants but if you're feeling a bit peckish, there are a few places offering snacks and/or sweets. One such place is Nina's Taste of Tennessee. Named after Linda Ward who's lovingly known as Nina by her grand children this little store sells home made confections as well as other food related items and seasonal bric-a-brac. All made in the long thin state. While you can pick up items like Lodge cookware, various sauces,  Jim Shore collectables and other nick-nacks hand crafted in the "Volunteer State" it's the sweets coming out of Nina's kitchen that brings people in the door.

 Out front you'll find Johnny manning the counter, greeting people with that southern hospitality and charm. All the while Linda whisks away in the kitchen.

So let's get a look at what she's got cookin' in that there kitchen.
 
There are plenty of things to sample and among them are some fudges. I was able to sample the Chocolate, Whiskey, and Peanut Butter Fudges along with some straight and Whiskey Caramel Syrups. I'll deal with the fudges in a second but as for the syrups they're really good. They come from a local purveyor which also has other offerings. The addition of a little JD in syrup really adds some depth. You don't get that "Boozy" taste that can often times happen when alcohol is used but a nice, well rounded flavour. It has much more going on than the virgin syrup.
 
One thing that really caught my eye was the chocolate dipped Oreos. Now, some will say you shouldn't mess with perfection and in principal, I agree. Citing Oreos as perfect the way they are. There's no getting around the fact that on their own, in their original incarnation, Oreos are possibly the king of the grocery store bagged cookies. These original types, dipped and then drizzled with the opposite colour chocolate are simply incredible. I wouldn't say better than plain but different. No better and certainly no worse. They come in white and dark chocolate and if you're like me and can't decided which one to chose, get both. I cut both in half and split them with Madame Butterfly. Even after all that, I couldn't decide which cookie was better.
 
The star of the show and what got us in the door is the house made Whiskey Fudge. Being able to compare the regular version with the whiskey version it was clear, much like with the caramel sauce, the JD makes a difference. It just has more body. There's not so much that a non whiskey person would be turned off, enough you can tell there's some in there and certainly enough to push it over the edge as far as fudges go. As with most places selling fudge, it's sold by weight so you can pretty much buy as much as you like.
Incidentally, the Peanut Butter Fudge was absolutely amazing.

So there you go folks, some excellent goodies to satisfy anyone's sweet tooth.

You can find Nina's Taste of Tennessee at 14 Short St on the north side of Lynchburg Square in Lynchburg, Tn.

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You can also find them on the web.



Well that's all for this time. We'll see ya again in the food court.

Rotiers Restaurant (Nashville, Tn)

The Old Carriage House

In the early 40’s John and Evelyn Rotier (Ro-Tear) were operating a gas station in the Belmont neighbourhood of Nashville. After returning from the war, John, wanting to be in the restaurant business, took over a small space that was once the carriage house for the Elliston Mansion. With that, Rotier's Restaurant, a Nashville, if not American legend was born.
If nothing else, Rotier's is a family business. The odd twist here is, it’s in many ways, a two family business. There’s the Rotier/Crouse family that are children and grand children of Evelyn and John. However, if you head into the kitchen you’ll see a fleet of workers that, more or less are all related.  These young men and women are brothers, sisters, cousins, second cousins, etc. Though not related to the owners they treat the kitchen like they do own the place.
Students from the local university round out the staff.


Location, location, location. When the restaurant opened and for many years after Rotier's was, more or less, the only game in town. In that part of Nashville there were only 2 other restaurants and neither of those served beer. John had the market cornered. If that wasn’t enough to keep ‘em coming back the hamburger would. Those two things and gambling were the lifeblood of Rotier's in the early days. The restaurant went more “Full service” after the abolition of gambling in the state of Tennessee.

It was the book Hamburger America by George Motz (Moat-s) that put Rotier's on my radar. He’s since featured it in the Tennessee episode of his new show, Burger Land. It consistently wins “Best burger” in the local Nashville magazines. It’s ranked as one of the 10 best cheeseburgers in Jimmy Buffett’s Parrot Head Handbook and the French Bread version is #27 on the list of 40 Things Every Tennesseean Should Try.

The cut stone building sits right at the road on the edge of Vanderbilt University. The original doors have been replaced and now serve as the entrance and windows.
The interior is pretty tight. There isn’t a lot of space or tables and business is usually brisk. Maximizing space is paramount and it has the feel of an old saloon. There is, as is the case with many legendary places, news article after magazine article after award lining the dining room walls that “horseshoes” around the bar and kitchen.

So let’s get a look at what’s coming out of that kitchen.



I opened with a bowl of Chili. While not the greatest bowl of Red I've ever had, this is one solid dish none the less. Tasting mostly of chili powder and very mildly like cumin it was just tasty. As you could see by the picture it came piping hot but not however spicy hot. Not to worry, there's a bottle of hot sauce on the table. A few drops to add a bit of heat really rounded this out for me. The acid in the hot sauce also brightened up the flavours. Quite meaty with very few beans in a broth somewhere in between rich and delicate.

We had decided to split a Pimento Cheese Sandwich but Mrs. Sippi needed to make a few modifications. It comes toasted with mayo, lettuce and tomato. All those modifiers needed to go and we got it straight up on plain white bread. I took a few bites and thought it was excellent. Mrs. Sippi loved, loved, loved it. Proclaimed it the best PC sandwich she'd ever had. I gave her the other half of my half.

She could not resist the Gizzard Dinner. It comes with Fries (frozen but very good) and a salad (it's salad) with home made dressing. I'm no gizzard expert and as such, didn't get much out of them. Mrs. Sippi thought they were good. She then put some hot sauce on a plate and started dipping. That was the "Ah ha" moment for her. She gobbled them down and thoroughly enjoyed them. One of the kitchen staff came out and was talking with her and said that with gravy is the best way. Sean suggested his favourite was was with their home made Blue Cheese dressing. Next time she says she'll try both ways.

Now, the legendary burger. Lemmie tell ya, it's "All that." Simple in nature in that it's just ground beef (not some special blend of cuts), brought in fresh every morning, simply seasoned and done on a flat top. It comes on a simple bun and I added cheese of course. It's just delicious. The classic American cheeseburger completely done to perfection. I skipped the house specialty served on French bread. I dislike sandwich innards squishing out the back when you bite in and suspected this would be the case. Our waitress confirmed my suspicions. There’s also an option to have it on “Grill bread” which means the patty is jammed into a grilled cheese sandwich. I wanted to try the classic preparation on this trip.

For dessert they have a number of options but being the chocolate fiend I am, I couldn't resist the Hershey's Chocolate Cake. Not really what I was expecting, however it was great. First of all, I love the decadent, uber rich cakes you get sometimes. This isn't it. This is the cake equivalent of taking a mouthful of Hershey's chocolate chips and eating them. Very choclately but not sweet and with a nice, ever so slight bitterness. It was nicely frosted and the chocolate sauce on top was just a bonus.

So there you have it folks. One of America's great burgers (not to mention other fantastic options) in a Nashville institution.

You can find Rotier's at 2413 Elliston Pl, Nashville, Tn.

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You can also find them on the web, facebook and Twitter.



Well that's all for now folks, catch ya later in the food court.

Nashville Institution

You’ve probably heard me mention George Motz and his book, Hamburger America. A must read for any and all hamburger aficionados BTW. Around Christmas time I bought the eBook version for the iPad and I’m glad I did. We were heading home from the in-laws a few days after New Years and thought a burger for lunch was a good plan. But where in Nashville should we go?? Well, pull out the iPad, check the eBook and see where George had been. We found Brown’s Diner both convenient and well recommended. Plot a course on the GPS and away we go.

Some may scoff at all the newfangled technology that inundates us these days but these hi tech gadgets led us to one of the most low tech of places I've seen. Brown’s is easily the antithesis of the iPad. It’s as basic as basic can be. It's "Oldfangled." It’s what’s so great about it.

In 1927 Charlie Brown (no not that one) parked a mule drawn carriage that was part of the old Nashville trolley system on a corner in Nashville and opened a restaurant. He got what is now Nashville’s oldest beer license and sold hamburgers as well. Over the years Brown's has changed hands but little else has. It's still locally owned. Musicians, both struggling and renown still play. The beer is still as cold as ever and “New” owner Jim Love (he bought it in ’72) still cranks out what is often cited as Nashville’s best hamburger.

Since I’ve started writing this blog I’ve been in some really nice places. I’ve been in some dime a dozen places. I’ve been in some, “Bless their hearts”, dumps. The latter I mean with a great deal of respect. As I’ve said before, they ooze charm, ambience and credibility as far as I'm concerned. Browns falls squarely in that latter, dishevelled category. Much like the other places I’ve mentioned and seen on Triple D, it wears the “Dive” title with pride.

Brown’s original rail car sits prominently on a grassy knoll in the south end of town. Approaching from the south it almost looks like someone’s home. There's a patio with wrought iron fencing and an awning above a "front door." Save for the Browns Diner name, on first glance you'd swear someone lived there.

The parking lot is around the side and back and reveals a second trailer of some sort as well as a more conventional addition. It’s pale grey colour with black trim are again as basic as basic can be. It’s just portends what’s inside.

The more conventional part and where the door from the parking lot is, is the main dining room. There's a seating for a few dozen or so. Regulars really just see this as “the room you walk through to go to the bathroom” as Love once remarked. All the action is up front in the bar area housed in the old rail car. At any given time you can find a cast of characters laughing, joking and talking football (or whatever) with Jim or one of the other staff members. A place like this has so many long time regulars they almost become part of the furniture. Definitely a part of the experience. There are a few TV's scattered about for patrons to keep up to date with the Titans, Predators, Commodores or whoever they may cheer. The kitchen and storage areas are basically housed in the old trailer.

So let’s have a look at what’s coming out of that kitchen.

The Frito Chili Pie posed an interesting conundrum for me. Do I like it because it tasted really good or dislike it because it absolutely is not Frito Chili Pie?? Heck, it doesn’t even have Frito's in it. (Though I understand there once was). FCP is quite simply a pile of corn chips topped with chili topped with grated cheddar. Garnish with minced onion if you like but that’s it.
Anyway, what we have here is Nachos. As Nachos go, these are really good. I’d like more cheese on them but this is a tasty way to start.
As an aside, the chili is a house specialty as well and it’s quite good. Very heavily chili flavoured and quite rich.

The Cheeseburger is great. It’s as simple as it can get and that’s absolutely what I like about it. Quality ground meat, hand formed, simply seasoned and done on a flat top (ding). It’s not over thought. It’s not trying to be anything more than it oughta be. It's how I remember my mom making them in a fry pan during the winter months. It's just a simple thing of beauty.
The fries were from a bag and good enough. I'm not a french fry snob so I'm okay with that. As was Mrs. Sippi.

So there you have it folks. One of the best burgers Nashville has ever produced. Served up in a legendary place.

You can find Browns at 2102 Blair Blvd. in Nashville, Tn.

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You can also find them on the web and facebook.



Well that's all for now folks, see ya next time in the food court.

Pizza and Grits

In 1976 in Columbia, Tn. Glenn Truelove's dream started taking shape. While working at his best friend's parents pizza restaurant, Pizza Maker, Glenn would learn the pizza business and fantasize of owning his own place. He later went on to University and managed restaurants in Alabama before returning home to work as a Funeral Director. The restaurant business was always in his heart though and in 2008 he started crafting a business plan for his own place. He'd had his eye on a local bar he knew would be closing up shop. One day after the doors closed for good he was in a bank pitching his small business idea.
Glenn was lucky to have met (and fallen for) a veteran of the restaurant business, Kathy McIntyre. Together they opened Trueloves Pizza and Grits in October of 2011. "He's a little bit pizza and I'm a little bit grits" Kathy claims. A philosophy that serves them well both in business and real life. The rest of the staff has been rounded out with Glenn's brother and his twin daughters. A real family affair.

Truelove's is really all about family meals. There's a sense of informality about the place. There's no wait staff. You go to the counter, order and wait for your food at your table. You may have to go get your goodies or they may be brought to you. Drinks are self serve and patrons are encouraged to mix and mingle. Most people there when we visited were very friendly.

The restaurant sits atop a hill in what looks like an old Pizza Hut. The bright yellow building with red trim has a big sign so you can't miss it. There's plenty of parking as well.
Inside is a nice spacious dining room with a small bar area near the order counter. There's seating for a few dozen.
Truelove's is very community conscious. Desserts are catered by legendary bakery, Pie Sensations and various local charities benefit from their generosity.
  
Glenn and Kathy make everything from scratch with the exception of the desserts. So let's take a look shall we.
 
We opted for the “Regular” grits which were anything but. Basically, these are Ro-Tel grits. For those not familiar, in the south, Rotel means two things. Canned tomatoes and Queso Dip. Just think ground corn mixed with the latter. The recipe was developed by Glenn and Kathy. It’s creamy, cheesy and spicy with a little bit of tomato and chili flavour in there. Just all ‘round fabulous. Even Mrs. Sippi who’s first impression of Rotel and grits was “Blasphemy” loved them. You can also get them plain, with chicken or the Low Country classic, Shrimp and Grits.
The Pizza is top notch. We went with the True Meat Lovers and it was a hit with both of us. First off, they make the pizza dough themselves and it’s right up there. Simply fabulous. The toppings were very good as well. My only complaints, and this would just be fine tuning to me personally, I’d like the sausage dialed back a bit and a bit more sauce. Like I said, that’s just me personally. That’s not to say that the next guy in the door thought that the amount of sausage was what made the pizza.

The Turtle Pie took first place at the Tennessee State Fair. It’s very easy to see why. Nice crust, chocolaty, caramelly, pecanny. It’s like a slice of Turtles. And “I love Turtles.” While not over the top decadent it is more than enough to please those who worship at the chocolate altar.

So there you have it. A unique combination of tastes that could only exist in the south.

You can find Truelove's at 1144 Riverside Dr. Columbia, Tn.
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You can also find them on the web, facebook and Twitter.

 


That's all for now folks, see ya next time in the food court.

Davwud

Revenge is a Dish best Served Cold

Thornton Prince of Nashville, Tennessee was a noted womanizer. Back in the 40’s and 50’s he was known to stay out all hours of the night philandering. After one particular night out gallivanting around town he returned home to his girlfriend. Fed up, she figured she’d fix his little red wagon. She whipped up a breakfast consisting of his favourite dish, fried chicken. There was however a little surprise. She’d laced it with cayenne pepper. Unfortunately the joke ended up on her. Prince loved it so much he tinkered with it and started selling it in his restaurant. A local legend was born. Everyone has now heard of Prince Thornton and no one knows his girlfriend’s name.
While there is no way to verify this anecdote the simple fact is, it’s way too good a story and as far as I’m concerned, can now be considered the genesis of Nashville Hot Chicken. A subsection of fried chicken. Though they say the current incarnation only dates back to the 70’s, Thornton's idea of incinerating peoples mouths with fried chicken still remains.

There are no less than a half dozen places that serve only hot chicken and a number of others who have it as a menu option. Of course, every restaurant will make it a bit different but the basics are pretty much the same. As you can well imagine, recipes are guarded like state secrets. A couple things you can be sure of are that the chicken is marinated in a molten liquid and finished with a fiery paste. It’s served on white bread and topped with pickles. The word is that Prince’s puts cayenne in just about every step of the process. From the dredges right down to the cooking oil. The specimens at Prince’s are fried up in a cast iron skillet.

Stories of this fiery chicken are the stuff of legend. "Some guy came in here once and ordered the extra hot chicken. He said it filled him up, cleared his sinuses, and killed his Athlete's Foot." Another story sees one man not showing up for work for 2 days after consuming the Extra Hot version. Supposedly there's no shortage of people who, um, bite off more than they can chew as it were and have to make a mad dash outside to, shall we say, divest themselves of their meal. I read that one customer brings a half gallon of chocolate milk with him. Ya, it's freakin' hot.

Prince’s is located in a strip mall about a mile off I 65 in the Brooklyn Heights neighbourhood. Their hours are mostly geared towards the late night, after the bars close crowd. Word is, it can get pretty crazy by the time they wind things down around 4am. Thornton himself is long gone but his great niece, Andre Prince Jefferies now runs it. Soon, it’ll be passed along to her daughter.

There’s seating for about two dozen and a number of chairs for those who are taking away to wait. You go up to the window behind the Cake Lady and place your order. Then you wait. And wait. It’s so busy they just crank it out piece after piece after piece. Every piece of chicken they serve is fresh cooked. Mostly because it’s all they can do to keep up with demand.
When I first started this little blog I began searching for places to visit. Prince’s immediately turned up and went to the top of the list. Sadly, it took me almost 4 years to finally make it. Well, let me tell ya, I’m sorry I didn’t make it sooner. It was well worth the wait. Let’s have a look.

There are a few different sides from which to choose. Mrs. Sippi decided she wanted beans. Pretty much your standard pork and beans done very nicely. We can’t decide if they were doctored, canned beans or made from scratch. I asked and just got a smile. Whatever their pedigree, they were very good. The gravy was a little thinner than usual and a little sweeter.

The chicken comes in 4 different heat levels. Mild, Medium, Hot and Extra Hot. It also comes in quarters, halves or whole. We ordered 3 hind quarters in the mild, medium and hot heat levels. Each comes pinned, with some pickles, to some white bread by a tooth pick. The pickles were quite good and I didn’t bother with the bread. (cw from bottom right: mild, medium, hot)
The chicken is rather salty but definitely in a good way. The heat isn’t just in that crispy coating but all the way through. If you could eat the bones I’m sure you’d find them spicy too. Honestly, this stuff really isn’t for the timid. It’s all about fire so caveat emptor.
What most wing places would parade out as medium, Prince’s calls mild. Easily hot enough to discourage those not into the spicy stuff. At this level the saltiness in the spice blend really stood out. All in all, really good but this chicken was too mild.
The hot was absolutely Blazing. While I’ve eaten hotter things, this was close. Way hotter than what you might expect. At this heat level I found the spicing and chicken flavour were overpowered by the heat. This chicken was too hot.
The medium was the perfect balance of heat, spice and chicken. This chicken was juuuuust right.

I suggest making sure there’s room for dessert. The Cake Lady (Irene. That’s her daughter in the picture) makes several varieties and if the two samples we had were any indication, they’re all good. The thing is, I dove into a piece of cake and by the time I surfaced the raging inferno in my mouth was gone. The cake had put the fire out. So let’s have a look at what we had.
The Cream Cheese Chess Square is basically a chess pie made into a sheet cake and cut into squares. The cream cheese added a bit of flavour and some structure. It wasn’t as custardy as the Chess Pie I make but it was mighty tasty.
The Mississippi Mud Cake was phenomenal. A nice chocolate, almost brownie like, cake topped with fluff and covered in a rich chocolate icing. There were a few pecans on top that I let Mrs. Sippi have. Being a chocoholic I absolutely loved it.

Well there you have it folks. The dish that put Nashville on the fired chicken map.

You can find Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack at 123 Ewing Dr in Nashville, Tn.

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You can also find them on facebook.



Well that’s all for now folks, see ya next time in the food court. Now where’s that Alka-Seltzer?? 

Davwud