Fair Food, Winfield, KS (September, 2011)

So, when I go to the Walnut Valley Festival (they call it "the Bluegrass", we call it "Winfield"), there are generally abundances of three things: music, friends and food.    Most of the time we eat in camp, but occasionally we go out, (like the jaunt to the Burger Station), but the other choice is food on the fairway.  

So let's take a tour of the midway.  As you walk in the main gate, on the left you start with Ice Cream.   This is both sequential and ideological.

I don't know Dave and Jan, but I love them.  Imagine the best homemade ice cream, ever.  You start by trading in your one gallon home maker to two ten gallon makers run by an engine.   Amazing design, amazing home made ice cream.  Any flavor that you want, as long as it is vanilla.

Up next?  

Kettle corn. I'll caveat that I'm not a popcorn fan, but this is different and better.   Winfield is not for culinary amateurs.   At no time should you attempt to eat each of these things at the same time.   

Across the way is the roasted corn and baked potato stand.   There is a constant flow of corn to the grill, stripped of the silks, but still in the husks.  The roasted corn is then dipped in melted butter and handed to you with a handful of napkins.  The perfect walking snack.   To the left of the corn stand are the greek place (good gyros) and the barbecue place (decent pork, good brisket). 

Still on the left, is the coffee joint, the Lions Club booth (where they have a really good pork burger -it's a pork patty pan-fried and covered in Cheese Whiz.  How could it not be good?), then the sorority booth (home of the $1.00 Cokes and the late-night special biscuits and gravy) and the 4-H food stand (one of the few places that I've never eaten).

Back to the right (good) side of the midway:

Beside the Kettle Corn booth is the sandwich stand, home of the Reuben.   One of our friends recommended this to Jo and she had one for lunch one day, with the admonition to ask for her Reuben extra crispy.  So she did - and she wished she'd had one every day instead of just on Saturday...

Next is the Lemonade stand.  I pity the girl  that spends her day here.

Pretty good lemonade, though. 

Behind it are all of the "fried food" stands: the fried pork sandwich (imagine a pork Chick-fil-A on a white bun) place, the fried chicken / fish / okra / peaches stand (we'll get back to the peaches), the Indian Taco stand (pictured, but not recommended) and the Funnel Cake stand.

After the fried food section,  there's a root beer stand (which was closed for the entire festival this year due to inclement weather), Gobble and Squat (another barbecue place), a Cajun stand (I was recommended to not eat there) and a breakfast place.  

Did I miss any place?  I don't think so.

But I did miss one thing - the Winfield trifecta.  We discovered this one year by happenstance and it has become tradition.  First, you need two friends (this has occasionally been a challenge for me <g>) and then you divide and conquer.   Each one of the three of you buys an ingredient:  home-made ice cream, a funnel cake and fried peaches.  If you've never had fried peaches, the concept is similar to fried pickles - they slice the peach into length-wise spears, batter and deep fry them.  The key to the trifecta is the combination.  This year, there were eight of us, so we took three of each:

Amazingly, all plates were cleared in a collective fifteen minutes, over much laughter.

Cakes and Ale, Decatur, GA (September, 2011)

In the continuing pursuit of Atlanta's best restaurants, we went to Cakes and Ale in Decatur, Saturday night before last, #3 from  the August, 2011 Atlanta Magazine article.  Cakes and Ale has recently relocated just down from the Iberian Pig in Decatur.  In fact, when I first tried to make the reservation, they were closed for the move.  So we took the next available Saturday.   6:00 dinner on a Saturday is a great time for us, you get into a restaurant before the crowd and watch it fill up around you.   This place is the antithesis of Sotto Sotto: 

• similar banquette type seating, but without the extra table or two, allowing for un-cramped seating;
• light and spacious as opposed to dark and crowded; and
• comfortable, in addition to being elegant.

We started with a crostini with goat cheese and heirloom tomatoes.  The goat cheese was baked, along with whole tomatoes, ranging in size from golf ball down to marble.   The one thing that was consistent from tomato to tomato was the RIDICULOUS amount of heat they contained.   We both burnt ourselves fairly quickly on these.  Then we laughed at the couple next to us as we watched them do the same thing.  The goat cheese / tomato / crostini / olive oil combo was perfectly executed.

We decided to split an entree - the whole trout for two.  The North Carolina trout was fresh caught in the last couple of days and baked in parchment in the brick oven.   The waiter brought it to the table,

and said, "I'll have to get someone else to come out and filet it for you."    Within minutes a young lady appeared filet knife in hand and said, "I LOVE this part of my job.  It's the most fun that I have all night."  And she wielded the de-boning knife like a samurai.   Within minutes we have two trout filets with a side salad of shelled peas (black-eyed, crowder, field) and corn.

Dinner was exceptional and we devoured every bite.   The waitress took back nothing but empty plates and skin.

Then she asked about dessert.   Hmmm.   Okay, she tempted us and we gave in and had a slice of house-made lemon icebox pie with peach preserves

Outstanding.  Not quite frozen, but close.  The combination of the peach preserves and the lemon icebox was amazing.  

The dinner rivaled Restaurant Eugene for quality and was considerably more relaxed.  Definitely a winner and we'll go back, hopefully with friends in tow. 

The Red Bar, Grayton Beach, FL (September 2011)

Whenever we're along the Emerald Coast, we manage to squeeze in a dinner at the Red Bar.  That generally means getting there right after they open.  It's a bar, plain and simple.   As you pass through the freaky door, you enter a place that is SO PACKED with tables and people that you wonder how they manage to serve dinner.   

And serve dinner they do - they have a menu that is comprised of six items and that's it.  For the last couple of years, the basic menu hasn't changed: eggplant stuffed with shrimp, scallops and veggies, grilled fish of the day (Mahi last week), manicotti, panne chicken and a special.  For an appetizer the night we were there last, I ordered part of the special entree as my app - a deep-fried bacon goat cheese grit cake, covered with a tomato sauce.

For dinner, I chose the panne chicken (pan seared with a lemon buerre blanc sauce with capers, house-mashed potatoes and a salad)

and Jo had the mahi (grilled with the same mashed potatoes and salad).   Of the other couples with us, there were three fishes, two chickens and a manacotti.  The chicken won - everyone that tasted it said it was the best meal of the three that we had, collectively.   Jo said it best, "how can you go wrong when you cover something in lemon and a butter sauce"?

Barefoot Barbecue, Seaside, FL (September 2011)

So, after my bad dinner / Jo's excellent dinner at the Shrimp Shack, I was still hungry.    As we walked back to the car, we came upon the wonders of AirStream dining at Seaside.  There are six trailers parked along 30A and, for my sudden snack need, I chose Barefoot Barbecue. 

Barefoot is spread among two and a half trailers -  the half being the Smokehouse.  For a little smokehouse, this thing packs some serious smoke.  I knew that I didn't need to eat too much, so I ordered the sliders.  They give a choice of beef, pork or chicken in the order of three sliders.   Sadly,  they only allow for one meat per order.  I chose pork - the best way to gauge the quality of someone's 'cue.

I'll have to say that this was some of the smokiest barbecue that I've ever eaten.  I couldn't wait to take them back to the house, so I ate one, dry, in the car.   The smoke was almost overwhelming.  But when I got back to to the house and had the chance to put the sauce on one (I went with the hot choice, from among five) it made for a really good sandwich.   I'll definitely go back.

The Shrimp Shack, Seaside, FL (September 1, 2011)

One of the challenges of going to the beach is deciding where you're going to eat.  Do we eat at some place we know?  Or do we strike out on a new adventure?   Saturday night, we decided to try some place new.   We were heading down to Seaside, to either Bud and Alley's Taco Bar or Pizzeria, but wandered upon  the Shrimp Shack.  

The menu was extremely simple:  three kinds of shrimp - peel & eat, red rock (last night) and steamed to order, along with three sandwiches - a Cuban, shrimp po-boy and a lobster roll.  You can see the menu and the steam table through the window.  We got there approaching dusk.  

Not being a huge shrimp fan, I went with the Cuban sandwich.  Big mistake.  The sandwich was bland and the bread pressed beyond crispy.  Jo did order the shrimp. 

The shrimp was steamed to order and came out of the kitchen hot and seasoned, according to Jo, perfectly.  She said that she gladly could have eaten that shrimp every night we were at the beach.   It is usually served with corn on the cob and steamed fingerling potatoes.  I had an order of the potatoes and they were fingerling sized, with drawn butter in which to dip them.   Very good.  

The setting was picturesque - a pavilion on the beach, looking over the dunes to the water.  The picture is out of the back of the pavilion toward the Shrimp Shack itself (there were people on the ocean side and they cluttered up my picture.)  It is definitely worth a stop if you're on the Emerald Coast.

Country's Barbecue, Troy, AL (September 2011)

For the last eight or nine years, we've headed toward the Redneck Riviera for Labor Day weekend where we share a house with two other families.  We're always looking for a faster route and, about three years ago, we settled on the path that we take: I-85 South to Waugh, AL, AL80 to AL85 to US231 to Troy, AL87 South into FL, right on FL20 towards Freeport, FL, then US331 south to Highway 98 between PCB and Destin.   For one of the turning points (onto AL87) the reference point is Country's Barbecue.   How many times can you pass by the same barbecue place without stopping?  The count, for us, was six.

I ordered the "Conflagration Plate".   Two reasons: 1) I didn't know that anyone in Alabama could use the word "conflagration" correctly in a sentence, so I had to see what it was; and 2) I knew in my heart that if the barbecue was not exceptional that I'd never get away with stopping there again.   

The conflagration is all three of three of the meats they serve (pork, beef, beef ribs) with two sides.   I chose pulled pork and sliced beef.  They had three sauces - thick and sweet, thinner and hotter and thin, vinegary and hot.  The pulled pork with a combination of sweet and hot on white bread made a relatively tasty sandwich.  The sliced brisket was miserable - think sandwich sliced roast beef.  But it tasted worse than lunch meat.  I ate two slice, slathered in different sauces, but it reminded me of the roast beef pho I ate near the office one day.  The only lesson  there was never order it again.  The beef rib was the best of the three - a good bit of meat that actually tasted like it had been smoked.  

We won't have to worry about stopping there again.

LeRoy's Fried Chicken, Atlanta, GA (August 2011)

About two months ago, I noticed a new place on Howell Mill - LEROYS FRIED CHICKEN.  I'll admit it - I got very excited.  Immediately, a picture came to mind.  Leroy -   white t-shirt, apron, that old-time cook's cap that fits like a Navy hat, standing over a deep fryer, cigarette butt hanging out the left side of his mouth.   In my mind, before I ever went, this was going to the PERFECT fried chicken.

You see, the sign on Howell Mill has everything in all caps.  But when you get to the menu itself, it's not Leroy's, but LeRoy's Fried Chicken.   Very different.  "LeRoy" is Julia LeRoy.  Not quite the cook I had in mind.  Or the fried chicken.   LFC is a walk-up, for all intents and purposes.  They have three tables and a total of six chairs.   I stood, as there was  a party of three (rudely using a fourth chair for their bags) and a table of two.   I think they intend to be a carry-out place.   More about that in a minute.

To the chicken -  I went with a  one piece meal:  a breast with macaroni and cheese and a biscuit.

This was one pretty piece of fried chicken.  The outside was crispy.  Their claim on this chicken is two fold - local hens, fried in lard.   I can testify to the fried in lard.  It tasted like lard.  It tasted like garlic powder.  Strongly.  The chicken WAS moist and tender.  It just didn't taste good.

That's in contrast to the mac-n-cheese, which didn't taste at all.  Bland.  Bland.  Bland.   The biscuit was the saving grace - exceptional.  Light and flaky.  I'd go back for a biscuit.  Or three.  I might want to do it soon, because as soon as everyone tries the fried chicken for the first time, they'll lose their potential client base and won't be open, IMO.

Sotto Sotto, Atlanta, GA (August 2011)

After the "City's Fifty Best Restaurants" article came out in Atlanta magazine, I set a goal to try the ones in the top ten to which we hadn't been.  Second reservation, after the yet-to-be-topped Restaurant Eugene, was at Sotto Sotto.  

So early on a Saturday we went.  This seems to be our best time for dinner if we want a reservation at a nice restaurant.   Upon arrival they showed us to a table, which was in that odd set-up - banquette seating for one side of the table, chairs for the other.  This led to one of the two complaints about this place:  1) when you're sitting on a banquette, you're subject to EVERY move made by anyone else sitting on the same piece of furniture.  This was complicated by 2) they had about two too many tables in the place.   It had that cluttered "New York" feel.   When we sat we were between two couples: two band directors to my right who were drinking wine and talking about band competitions and a couple to my left where he took a series of calls (to his trophy wife, "I need to take this, it's important) loudly while she smiled vacantly.  To the food, I started with an heirloom tomato caprese.

I am a caprese fan and this one was excellent.  Each tomato was of a different variety and the olive oil was lemon-infused.   Good start!

On to the entree, I chose Tortelli di Michelangelo.  This is a recipe from his letters, veal, chicken and pork ravioli in a butter-sage sauce.  Magnifico!  Jo tried two small plates - a risotto and a pasta.  Both were excellent.  Overall, this was a fantastic meal at a restaurant that we really didn't care to eat in again.  Remove a few tables, it would definitely be a winning atmosphere.  The food already is there.

Tom's BarBQ and Deli, Memphis, TN (July 2011)

We were in Memphis for a funeral and were talking with folks about food, as we sat around afterwards.   I had my stand-bys in line (Interstate Barbecue and Rendevoux), but two folks told us about this place that we needed to try, over by the airport - Tom's BarBQ and Deli.  

Before we headed over that way for lunch on the way back to Atlanta, I googled Tom's and found the link to the video segment from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.  Guy raved about the rib tips when he was there for Triple-D and then, in a segment of the Best Thing I Ever Ate: Grilled  the rib tips came up again.   I took his advice.   

Paying the Piper..

I decided on a two-meat combo.   Rib tips were the obvious choice, based on personal recommendations at the funeral and Guy.  (If you don't know, rib tips are the ends that are cut off when trimming a rack of pork spare ribs St. Louis style.  They’re the end of the ribs furthest from the backbone and closest to the belly, so they’re fatty and meaty.  

For the second meat, the choice was tough, but I decided on bologna.   As a kid, I ate bologna and cheese sandwiches on Wonder bread, most summer days.  Ever since I had the slab of bologna at Smokin' Joe's, I pick it up most chances at a barbecue joint.  This didn't disappoint.  The simplicity of barbecued bologna and sauce on white bread is hard to beat.   The sides were good, and we shared a banana pudding that was definitely above average.

Abbatoir, Atlanta, GA (July 2011)

Opening in 2010, Abbatoir was getting the buzz from most sources as one of the best new restaurants in Atlanta.   We tried to go earlier in the summer, but had to cancel the reservation, but were able to keep one for an early Saturday dinner in mid-July.  Abbatoir, owned by the Star Provisions group that also gave the city Bacchanalia and Floataway Cafe, refers to a slaughterhouse, hence the focus on offal and other odd parts on  the menu.

I asked the waitress what would be a good choice and her question was, "How adventurous are you feeling?"  I opted out of the various pig and cow parts, and settled on a house made frankfurter with leeks, onion and mustard.

The frankfurter was quite good.  They said that the bestseller on the menu was their wagyu steak, but I went with the chicken schnitzel.  This thing was HUGE.   And tasty.   With bacon chutney (mmmmmm - bacon) and a tomato and cucumber salad.

I think the key to Abbatoir would be to go with a large enough group where you could sample other's food.   And go with people who are, at least, as adventurous as you are, culinary-wise.

Thompson Brothers BBQ, Smyrna, GA (July 2011)

So I keep these three "lists" of places that I want to eat in my trunk (I also have a digital version in my phone) - all for places in Atlanta.  One Saturday in July, I decided to venture out in the quest for 'que.   Thompson Brothers BBQ,  in the Cumberland / Smyrna area (right across the street from Scalini's), was next in the rotation.  

Walking in at mid-day Saturday, the place was about half full. These brothers from Tulsa moved to Atlanta to open a barbecue outpost.  As you can see from the menu, whatever the question, "beef" is the answer.   I asked the fellow behind the counter what would be a good place for me to start.  He suggested the "Whole Nine Yards".

It's a sandwich of beef bologna, chopped beef brisket and beef sausage, with a side and a beef rib.   I took the photo below to get a better "feel" for the sandwich.   I'm just a redneck at heart, 'cause I love me some bologna.  The brisket is beautifully done and they have the perfect sweet, hot sauce on the table.  The ribs are good, too, although I'd suggest the same thing I've ordered each of three times I've been in the past two months.  It's definitely worth a stop if you're within 10-15 miles.