Something about BBQ

I promise to finish Milan, but I had to get this little blog typed up.

I love the South!  I really, really love the South.  I love the sights, the sounds, and the smells of the South.  I love the genuine quality of the people, their warm and welcoming nature, their hospitality, their traditions, their stories, and their food!  Maybe I'm biased having been born in the South and being raised with Southern values and mannerisms.  I could go on and on about the South, but as I say in most of my writings, this is about the food.

One thing that Southerners know, is BBQ.  I've had my share in the various places I've visited, and most of my experiences have been great!  I've even found a few places here in Illinois that have been able to pull off a good BBQ.  My first foray into Illinois BBQ was when I left for college in Champaign.  There I was introduced to Li'l Porgy's, and as I type this I can smell it.  Hickory smoked BBQ was their game.  This was a place that had no white table clothes and silver ware.  Nope, this was BBQ, serious BBQ.  The rib tips were fall apart tender, with half and half sauce, and served over a bed of french fries!  This did not suck at all!  And the staff were fall down friendly and always had jokes.  I know, what does Champaign, IL have to do with Southerners?  I'm getting there, be patient!  Here in Chicago, with the influx of Southerners coming north, and chefs experimenting with BBQ, we have our share of great places here as well.  Of course, some are a little more "upscale" than others, but that does nothing to the taste, most are all on the level and fantastic.  And the one thing you notice about people that own BBQ restaurants, they are all happy.  I think that's the Southern influence.  So, here in Chicago, my first experience was at Fat Willy's Rib Shack.  Now, sadly, I don't remember what I had, because it's been a few years and it was prior to my photographing everything that I eat, everything that I want to remember anyway.  I do remember it being a great experience and always wanting to go back, but not having the chance.  The other memorable experience with Chicago BBQ was recently, in Bucktown at a new place called Lillie's Q.  The smells that came into the dining area were mild and pleasant, not an overpowering smokey smell, which is nice.  You don't walk out of Lillie's smelling like you were the one in the smoker.  Chef Charlie McKenna is a BBQ award winning chef, that was taught proper Southern cooking at his Grandmother's home in Greenville, South Carolina.  With that little tidbit of info, I will just leave you with a few photos and my advice.  You come to Chicago, you go to Lillie's Q!  Hop on the Blue line to Bucktown, take a cab to Bucktown, and if need be walk, run, or crawl to Bucktown because the combination of BBQ, their great selection of craft beer, and their mason jar cocktails will make you want to stay all day and well into the night!  Now, enjoy some photos of house made hushpuppies, Virginia style pulled pork sandwich, and banana pudding.

My next stop for BBQ is Tuscaloosa, Alabama.  First off, I have to tell you I love Alabama!  The people that I've met from Tuscaloosa, Eoline, and Centreville have been incredible!!!  Working with Rebuild Tuscaloosa and the founders has been a soul soothing experience.  And it was one person from Rebuild that introduced me to Dreamland BBQ!  I had photos and I can't find them and that makes me sad.  The spread we had was overwhelming.  I think we had almost everything from the menu, down to the banana pudding.  Do you see a trend with banana pudding here?  The service, hospitality, and the food here will make you weep.  In fact, you will weep BBQ sauce!  The Sweet Tea, for the love of everything holy will make you run outside, stop traffic, pull people out of their cars, and drag them inside.  John "Big Daddy" Bishop knew what he was doing, and his chair still holds his spirit and that flows through the restaurant and you can feel it when you walk in.  I do wish I had photos, but all I have are memories and I can still taste that BBQ!  Thank you Linda!!

My final stop on this quick BBQ adventure, Nashville!  I've been to a few places in Nashville that have good BBQ, all with their own style.  Hog Heaven and their White BBQ sauce and outdoor seating and Zapps chips.  Judge Bean's with their everything smoked menu.  And I mean everything.  Their food had a unique smokey flavor.  Everything from their Brisket, down to their Hamburger, Guacamole, and Salsa!  I've never been disappointed walking into Judge Beans.  And my most recent BBQ stop in Nashville was Edley's BBQ!  Once again, walking into Edley's, you are not smoked out by that intense interior smoker.  It's a pleasant and warm atmosphere, friendly staff, and great food.  The great thing, they are also using seasonal ingredients in the mix.  Fortunately, when we went, Peaches, being in season were also being used in various forms, and that did not suck!  We started out with spicy Bloody Mary's, after all, it was brunch time.  The bartender, I wish I could remember her name was imaginative and chatty and that makes for a great bartender!  She whipped up a couple of spicy bloodies and had made her own spice mix to rim the glass with.  Perfect!  And for the table we ordered the BBQ Nachos, one with Brisket and the other with chicken, first two photos.  Awesome!!!  Served on house made chips, with tomato, cilantro, sour cream, and what tasted like a peach based BBQ sauce.  Those were meals in themselves!  Then I ordered the Georgia Sweet Brown, final photo.  A smoked, pulled pork sandwich, topped with sliced fresh peaches.  The peaches were fresh and so, so sweet!  One thing did make me wonder though.  If the peaches had a touch of the grill on them, how much would that flavor profile change?  It was a good sandwich, but, I would consider the grilling process for the peaches, just to concentrate the sugars and keep the sandwich hot.  But, keep that thinking up, using seasonal ingredients in the mix, because that really keeps a place like Edley's on the map!!!

Now go, find your own BBQ haven and tell me about it!  Please, then visit one of or all of the places I've suggested, you'll never want to leave!

Ciao Ciao!!

The New South.

Let’s talk about food! I know, shocker, to be discussing food on this blog. Not just any food though, let’s talk about food in the South.

Of course when I mention Southern cooking, you automatically think fried chicken, greens, cornbread, chitterlings, catfish, hush puppies, fried corn, fried green tomatoes, and Red Velvet cake, just to name a few. Now don’t get me wrong, no one can do it like the South when it comes to good ole Southern comfort food. My Grandma, from Louisiana made a killer sweet potato pie. My Uncle Jessie and Aunt Dwena could fry up some catfish, hush puppies, and fries like no one else. The banana pudding was second to none and the BBQ would make you wanna smack your momma. It was, has been and will continue to be the best, however the times they are a changin. Gentrification is consuming even small town Southern USA and along with the gentrification comes a change in dining options. It’s not a bad thing as long as the original cuisine of the area is not forgotten and put by the wayside.

Now, I’m not well traveled in the Southern US, but I’ve put enough miles on my vehicle between Chicago to Nashville, TN to Tuscaloosa, AL to be aware of the changes. I’ve taken highways and back roads in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Alabama to see the people of these states. I’ve had the chance to eat at every kind of restaurant offered along these roads, and I’ve seen the changes over the years of traveling these roads, and I have to say it’s a pretty exciting change.

I will use Nashville as an example. Music City USA, the home of honky tonks, The Grand Ole Opry, The Opryland Hotel, Music Row, and former and current musicians of all genres. Nashville is also the home of some fantastic restaurants, both classic and modern.

Meat and Three’s are a great way to begin this topic of classic restaurants. A meat and three is a popular Southern meal combination of any meat and three vegetable sides for one set price. Typical meat choices are fried catfish, fried chicken, and brisket. Typical vegetable choices may be green beans, collard greens, white beans, fried green tomatoes, potatoes, corn on the cob, or fried corn. An item that I was reminded by my Sister, that should not be forgotten in the vegetable category of a meat and three is macaroni and cheese. I won't say anymore, you'll have to figure that one out on your own. Some better known meat and three’s in Nashville are Monell’s, Swett’s, and the Loveless Cafe. There are many, many more and you can find them all by checking the website - www.meatandthree.com

There is something exclusive to Nashville, Hot Chicken! Hot chicken, in it’s traditional preparation, is a portion of breast, thigh, or wing that’s been marinated in buttermilk, breaded, sauced using a paste that’s been heavily spiced with cayenne pepper, and pan fried. Always served on top of slices of white bread with pickle chips. Of course, for the health conscious (LOL!), hot fish is also offered. Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack and Bolton’s Spicy Chicken and Fish are two of the best known hot chicken locations. Nashville even has the Music City Hot Chicken Festival - www.musiccityhotchickenfestival.com

Then you have just classic American restaurants such as Jimmy Kelly’s. It would be difficult to find a classic steakhouse in the US with as much tradition as Jimmy Kelly’s, with the exception of Peter Luger in Brooklyn (125 years of service and still going). Jimmy Kelly’s is housed in an old Victorian Mansion and has been open for more than 70 years, run by three generations of the Kelly family. Besides their classic American steakhouse cuisine, the restaurant is also known for their friendly, professional service, and long term employees. They’ve never had to advertise for servers and they have a very low turnover. One gentleman has served 44 years behind the bar and another server, who died a few years back, recorded over 40 years of service. Donned in white coats and black ties, the only complaints I’ve read about service is that it can be a bit gruff, however Jimmy Kelly’s is not like wandering into a chain steakhouse where loud music and bright colors are in your face. Jimmy Kelly’s is a classic and stands to stay in business for many years to come - www.jimmykellys.com

I could go on and on with the classics, but I need to touch on the new Nashville food scene. I don’t think there is anything that you can’t find in Nashville now. Things have come a long way since I had my first visit.

Let’s start with South Street Crab Shack and Dive Bar, which is a casual smokehouse, crabshack, and a bit more upscale than your typical dive bar. Start off with a truly Southern treat, fried pickles and bypass the tartar sauce and ask for South Streets white sauce. I’m not sure what it is, but I know that it’s white, a bit spicy, and adds a hell of a lot of flavor to everything! Then don’t mess around, move right into their 12 hour, smoked over hickory coals, pulled pork served on corn cakes. Maybe their 1/2 Rotisserie Pumped Chicken, which has been injected with their secret seasonings and slow smoked. In the mood for a sandwich, then I suggest either a Fried Shrimp or Fried Oyster Po’Boy. Served on a Hoagie roll, this sandwich is packed with fried shrimp or oysters and topped with cole slaw, onions, tomato, and a pickle. As far as sides goes, I’ve been stuck on their Hush Puppies and Homemade Tater Tots. And make no mistake, these are true, honest to God homemade! Maybe a bit bigger than golf ball size, balls of potato, with onion and chive, crunchy on the outside and tender and tasty on the inside. They alone have a ton of flavor, but then you dip them in that slightly spicy white sauce and you have an entree there alone! South Street has a great menu and should not be missed on a visit to Nashville - www.pansouth.net

Something a little less traditional would be City House, with a kitchen run by James Beard nominated Chef Tandy Wilson. I think we can consider City House as urban Italian fare. With a changing seasonal menu, you just never know unless you check the menu online what you will be offered. The night we all went I shared a pizza and pasta. The pizza was a white pizza, meaning no tomato sauce. On this thin, Neopolitan style pizza was house made belly ham, Mozzarella, Grana Padano cheese, oregano, chiles, and a farm fresh egg cracked over the center during the last few seconds of baking. Quite a few people will turn their noses up at the idea of an egg on a pizza, but my friends, I can guarantee that you will not be disappointed in this. If I could figure out how to post photos, I would. Of course you can check my facebook page for photos of this piece of art. And it was as delicious as it looked. For the pasta, we had the Rigatoni, with Oxtail Sugo, Chestnuts, Mushrooms, and Pecorino Romano cheese. Since some Italian Americans on the East Coast and around Chicago refer to tomato sauce as “gravy” or “Sunday Gravy”, the Italian translation, which is actually juice, but can also mean sauce. The expression for “gravy” in Italian is sugo d’arrosto, which is literally translated to mean “juice of a roast”. It was a thick, rich sauce that coated each piece of rigatoni, leaving flavor on every piece of perfectly cooked, pasta. The kitchen at City House is open, like a stage, so you can watch their every move...so you can watch the show and see that you are indeed being served a fresh, top notch meal - www.cityhousenashville.com

And to touch on the celebrity chef scene, we have Chef Arnold Myint from Season 7 of Top Chef. Chef Myint is the Chef/Owner of Nashville restaurants-Cha Cha, PM, and Suzy Wongs House of Yum. Chef Myint also has an outpost at the Nashville Farmers Market, AM@FM, which offers gourmet grab-and-go, using fresh in-house baked breads, ingredients sourced from the market, as well as ingredients sourced from local artisans. I’m going to focus on Suzy Wongs because that is the only restaurant of his that I’ve visited. The name of the restaurant, Suzy Wong’s, references a popular 1950’s novel, "The World of Suzie Wong." It’s the story of a beautiful Asian “lady of the evening” falling in love with an American diplomat. Not only will you get fabulous modern Asian cuisine until the early hours of the morning (they are open until 4 AM on Friday and Saturday), you will also enjoy creative cocktails, great decor, and good music. The service is great, very attentive and the crowd is urban cool, but laid back. We snacked on Vegetable Gyoza Pot Stickers, while waiting for our Garlic and Basil Egg Noodle Lo Mein. The gyoza is the Japanese version of the Pot Sticker. The primary difference in the Japanese version is the rich garlic flavor. Other differences are that these gyoza are lightly flavored with salt and soy and their wrappers are much thinner. I’m not sure what the dipping sauce was, but it enhanced the garlic flavor, making a nice balance and not leaving an overhwhelming garlic punch in your mouth. The Garlic and Basil Lo Mein, was a simple yet flavorful bowl of noodles with a nice garlicky flavor, with a hint of basil. It was not a dry noodle dish, there was some moisture to these noodles, but it was not swimming in a sauce. The noodles were cooked perfectly and there were some pea pods floating around that still had just enough of a crunch to add texture to the noodles. Our other diners enjoyed the Pineapple Red Curry Shrimp, Peanut Sauce Chicken Penang, and the Chicken with Wonton Noodles. Everyone left satisfied and no one left hungry - suzywongsnashville.com

This is just barely the tip of the iceberg of what Nashville has to offer diners from every corner of the world. Wait, no the world is round, so there are no corners on a globe, so, well, you figure it out. Just know that when you visit Nashville, your appetite will be satisfied. And remember, this trend is expanding beyond the city limits. A good example, and I beg you to look at their website, is Mack and Kate’s Cafe in Franklin, TN - www.mackandkatescafe.com This little treasure we found while traveling to find a place for brunch one Sunday morning. Every other popular place was packed, while Mack and Kate’s had not been affected by the after church crowd, yet. We made it just in time!

The South is growing ya’ll. People are discovering the joys of eating and they want new and exciting food to eat. Not only do the folks that live in these places that hunger for more benefit, but so do you, the visitors (I will not call you tourists) that come to explore these areas. The Southern states are beautiful, the people are friendly, and the food is delicious and to me, that’s a hell of a great combination!