July 28, 2007 - Tracy, Stacey and Mikey
We had been here before, but’s it’s amazing the difference your perception is when you see a restaurant full of people and the same restaurant empty.

The first time was on a scooter rally with Motovino Wines. It was about 1pm and the only people in the place were the 15 of us on the rally and the guys prepping for that nights service. We tried a few dishes, had a good look around and moved on to the next rally stop.

Now, we are back. Reservations for dinner at 8:30pm on a Saturday Night. A whole different scene. Loud. The place is packed. People without reservations are being told there’s a 1hour and 45minute wait. How smart are we, no wait for us.

This place is more like a HUGE bar than a restaurant as far as the vibe goes. As far as the food goes, it’s much better than bar food.

We started with crispy fried oysters with a creole mustard sauce. Yum.
Thin sliced sweet potato chips with a smoked salmon, chipotle cream cheese, capers and red onion spread. Awesome. It’s a dish we’ve been doing at home since our first visit with Motovino Wines.

Martinis were good and the wine selection was ok.

Entrees were as follows: Seared Tuna with a sesame dressing. Pork Shoulder, alot like Osso Bucco (reminds me of the time in Arkansas) was DELICIOUS. Skirt steak on a big pile of cream cheese mash potatoes didn’t suck either.

Waitron was excellent. We asked lot’s of questions and he had good answers. Even steered us away from a few things.

Decor was way cool. This is an old telephone factory turned loft/retail. You should click on the Two Urban Licks link and check it out. They have done a great job of giving you the industrial feel with tons of comfort. Once again, service was really good. The waitstaff are not working under regular restaurant situations. I cannot even tell you how many tables are in the place, there’s a huge bar for drinks, a food bar facing an open kitchen, where we noticed one station doing nothing but putting out the sweet potato chips with smoked salmon. Like I said, more like a bar serving some really good food.

These people have a couple of other restaurants including One Midtown, Piebar and Trois.

We’ve been to all but Trois. Looking forward to dinner there…

Everyone loves George. People smile the second they see him. I’m not sure just what it is but he has that affect on everyone. My mom says hello to George before she acknowledges either of us. Friends end email transmission asking how is George and might they have him. And they are not joking.

I ran into George one afternoon here in the hood. He was smelling stuff. Walking around in the church yard across from my shop smelling stuff and then peeing on it.

I had seen him around before and wondered about him. I knew someone was taking care of him, he was in really good shape. But after the third time I saw him out and about I invited him to get in my truck and he hopped right in. I took him home and made a few calls and found his current address. When the young lady who answered the door told me she didn’t want “that dog” any longer, I just turned and walked away. Fine with me, I had fallen in love with him right away and would be happy to take care of him.

And so it’s been for about 3 years now. He is the perfect gentleman, always dressed to the nines in his tuxedo. Always saying thank you, no sir or yes mam, never peeing on the floor and never fighting with the other dogs. He is the perfect mix of Bassett Hound and Black Lab. He loves to travel and never runs away from as he did before he came to live with us.

And sorry, but, no you can’t have him.

Ol’ Ben would show up around the first of July with the best damn tomatoes I have ever had in my life. I mean these things were so good they made me want to slap my granny. But instead I slapped Ol’Ben. Really, the only thing slapped was my ass to the car seat on the way to get a few loaves of white bread and a huge jar of mayo.

Anyway, what I’m talking about here are tomatoes. It’s been years since I have had a tomato like the ones we had at the pawn shop I worked at in the 90’s. It’s not just that these were the best but they were also the last ones I have had that tasted like a tomato should.

As I write this, I realize the beauty of it all. Here I am, in the middle of downtown Atlanta, loaning “huge bucks” on wedding rings, stereos, cameras, gold teeth, 9mm handguns and uzi’s. There was me , Jimmy, Straw, Pauli, Marlin and John our faithful manager and some other dumbasses. And here comes Ol’Ben. With 20 pounds of sunshine soaked tomatoes that some neighbor of His had grown way too many of, how lucky were we ?

This was a big box Ol’Ben carried. At least 20 pounds of tomatoes. We would spend the rest of the day eating tomato sandwiches, writing loans and selling all kinds of stuff. We would skip lunch and basically eat all day. Lets say Ol’Ben showed up around 9:30 a.m. We began eating sandwiches by 10 and ate one every half hour on the half hour ? We closed at 6 p.m. soooooooooooooo I ate about 16 sandwiches those days Ol’Ben showed up.

I haven’t had a really good tomato in 6 or 7 years. When I try hard I can find some O.K. tomatoes and some that look really good but when it comes to taste they are all lacking. Stacey and I refer to these as being mealy. More than not they taste old.

I want acid, I want that juice that burns a little. I want the soft, sloppy yen yang of the white bread, the bite of the tomato and the cool sweetness of the mayo. Hell yes - that’s what I’m talkin’ bout, thats how I wanna roll.

But I can’t. Can’t find the right tomatoes. Can’t seem to grow them either. I got some plants and they are giving us tomatoes. All different kinds. I also buy them each weekend from one organic farmer or another and still, still I say - they just ain’t the same.

Remind me to tell you more about working at he pawn shop sometime!

Ask anyone, not from the Mobile Alabama area, and I bet they have no idea what West Indies Salad is. I have asked Chefs here in Atlanta on more then one occasion and not one knew about it -and I am OK with that. This is about the best thing I can tell a person about my hometown, it was invented here. Not many folks know about it.

It is one of the best things you will ever put in you mouth. It is also one of the simplest dishes to prepare. And the fellow who invented it, his name was Bailey, was way ahead of the current thought of chefs, which is fresh and simple.

I am not gonna say a lot about this salad, you just need to make it yourself and enjoy, what else need be said. It just don’t get much better then this. You can thank me later, with a bowl full please.

This is all it takes: 1 lb white lump crabmeat
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 o.z. wesson oil
4 o.z ice water
3 o.z. cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

Layer onion and crab in dish with cover; add salt and pepper to taste. Evenly distribute oil, then vinegar, and finally ice water over layered mixture. Cover tightly and marinate at least six hours, preferably overnight. Toss before serving in individual bowls on a leaf of lettuce.
4 Servings

So, not to long ago Stacey and I went to a small restaurant in Claysville Alabama. We were on our way to a dinner in Tuscumbia Alabama with the Southern Foodways Alliance. We went a day early to check out Unclaimed Baggage in Scottsboro.

We have a friend who lives in the North Alabama area. I ask him about a place he had spoken of for fried chicken. He gave me the low down on a place on Lake Guntersville. Fried chicken, fried fish, fresh off the lake and sides of southern lunch buffet regulars.

The food was good and I had three plates, one built around fried chicken, one built around the fish, which were as good as the fried chicken. My third plate was built around whatever I had not yet tried. I tried seventeen different foods including breads and salads.

But thats not the point of this story. No, the reason this meal stands out most of all is because of an embarrassing moment I had in the restaurant and didn’t even know it until I was driving away in my car.

See, I had ask my friend where he went for the fried chicken and he told me it was called Bruces’. He went on to tell me he grew up hanging out with Bruce as a teenager when his folks had a place on the lake. Bruce and his family lived near the lake.

So after my three plates, I went over to this guy who had been tending the buffet since we had arrived and ask if Bruce was there. He said “No, but I’m as good as Bruce” so I told him my friends name and how he had directed us there and how much I enjoyed my three plates. He chuckled and said “Oh yea, I know Ken” and in fact he was supposed to see him that day.

So when I got in the car I dialed up Ken, my friend, to tell him I loved the chicken and fish. I told him I ask for Bruce but the guy I spoke with told me he wasn’t there. Ken stopped me there and told me,”of course Bruce wasn’t there, he’s dead”. Died years ago in a car wreck,the guy I spoke with was his brother. He had opened the place and named it in Bruces’ memory.

I swear Ken had not told me this. And, knowing Ken he had not.

So, we recently attended an event hosted by Heritage Foods USA called THE NEW QUE. It was held at the Studioplex on Auburn Av in Atlanta. The event matched some of the best local Chefs with some of the best local Pig Farmers. This was a chance for the chefs to get their face and restaurant out in front of a large, hungry crowd. But more importantly, it was a chance for BBQ lovers to learn about where their pork comes from and who is raising it. Like everything in the food world, PORK has gone gourmet. Restaurants are promoting fresh and local and everyone wants to know where and how it was raised. Nowdays, Farmers are raising pedigree pigs and raising them with lots of TLC. Special diets, large roaming and grazing space and more humane ways of production, make for better tasting pork. It was evident at THE NEW QUE. When you hook up Linton Hopkins of Restaurant Eugene with Charlotte and Wes Swancy of Riverview Farms or Joe Truex of Repast with Big Sandy and his Tamworth hogs - it’s pure HOG HEAVEN. It was not just straight ahead BBQ. You could have BBQ pork tacos, BBQ pork belly over local hominy, mini sausage dogs, pulled pork sandwichs, BBQ Brunswick Stew, just to name a few. Wynn Pennington of Motovino was pouring his wines. His spanish white wine goes great with any of the BBQ. Sweetwater provided beers. The Hummer Brew was a good match with the QUE, but so were all their beers. It was a really good turn out, with a hungry crowd. Lots of the regular foodies and hopefully some new recruits.

#1 EAT GRITS, It dosn’t matter how, with butter, with cheese or with shrimp, just get youself some grits everyday.

#2 Don’t fight dogs. You would think this is a no brainer, but in case you haven’t heard some people just can’t help themselves.

#3 Carry out at least 1 random act of kindness. You can spend the whole day spoiling yourself, but you must do one nice thing for someone else.

#4 Think Positive. You may wake up in the worst funk ever, but by the end of the day fix it, whatever it takes fix it (grits may help).

#5 Tell someone you love them. If you have to go knock on you neighbors door before you go to bed and tell them you love them, then do it. This will do you more good than your neighbor, but it won’t hurt them either.

Stay tuned for another list cause there is so much we should and shouldn’t do daily

So, January 8 2ooo, Stacey and I decided to go to New York for the day, we wanted to check out a few exhibitions.

First off we went to the Barry Freidman Gallery. This place is about the size of a 3 bedroom apartment. The show was furniture designed by Ed Weinberger.

Weinberger designs one of a kind pieces of furniture. He then has the designs built by master craftsman Scott Schmidt. Weinberger suffers from parkinson. He came to design late in life. I can’t remember how, but in his career before design he made lots of money. Then once he was diagnosed with parkinson he decided to spend his money having his designs built.

He teamed up with Schmidt, who was the only craftsman he could fine to agree to execute these very complicated drawings. Weinberger was also very picky about the materials he wanted used. Very exotic woods and hardware that was made special for each design. This was a very costly endeavor.

I remember reading in the New Yorker how he ended up going to Europe for a new surgical procedure, which involved drilling holes in his head. I think he found relief for a while, but it was not permanent.

I could not do justice to his work trying to describe it, you should go to the link on his name and check out some photos. I remember seeing the Tension Rod Table at the Friedman Gallery and was blown away.

Next it was off to the New York Museum of Design for a show on the works of Ray and Charles Eames. I was a little dissapointed with this show as I found it kind of lacking. There were all the furniture designs we all know, but I didn’t see much I didn’t know about. I guess the most surprising part was how crude some of the materials they used were. But I guess they were the first to work with some of these materials and use them in a furniture application.

Next it was to the Guggenheim, the lovely spiral museum designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. We were there to see a Francesco Clemente show.

This guys work is amazing and I have been a fan a long time. He works mostly in water colors. Very wet, loose water colors, but at the same time with very fine lines. Click on his name above to see works.

He was born in Italy in 1952 and has homes all over the world. The audio tour we took talked about how each place he has a home, Rome, Madras and New York impact his work, each in a unique way. I learned of him from these small Indian prayer books he help publish. His work on paper, mostly watercolor and pastel are his most popular, although he works in other mediums.

The works we saw were very surreal and dreamlike. We both really enjoyed this show and it was also our first visit to the Guggenheim.

Then we got on a plane and went home.

So, just the other evening we were listening to the Buena Vista Social Club CD. I love this record and it always reminds me of the time I first heard it.

It has been a few years. Stacey and I were traveling around Spain, we were in Barcelona at the time. We had hooked up with a friend from the states who was there on business.

Andre is a wine importer. He specializes in small, boutique wineries. Most all from Spain, but some others.

Andre has a friend he went to college with in spain, his name is Fausto. Fausto took us to a bar near the Las Ramblas named Bar Ra. It had a really small kitchen and two small dining areas. One of the dining areas was the next door alley with a roof. Thats where we were sitting.

Having snacks and cocktails.

The owner of the place came by and we were introduced. I can’t remember the guys name, it’s been about 5 years or so. But, I do remember him, very tall and balled as a queball. I ask about the music and he was happy to share.

Well, it wasn’t 2 weeks later, we are in N.Y.C. I got into a conversation with a friend about Buena Vista Social Club. He gave me the low down. Ry Cooder had rediscovered these old Cuban gentleman who had invented this sound. These guys were well over 60 years old each. They had long ago given up any dreams of a life of music. Some of them had stopped playing altogether.

So the story goes, Ry Cooder happened upon this sound coming from a music hall as he made his way around Cuba. When he inquired about it, he was informed of the origins and in fact the fellows who had invented this style of music were still alive and living in Cuba.

So Cooder spent the time to find the original members. One of the guys had not touched a piano in years. They spent two weeks rehearsing and then cut this record. Well the rest is history as they say. These guys had huge success for the next few years. I understand some have since past.

Stacey and I were lucky enough to see them at the Beacon Theater in N.Y.C. a year or so later. It’s was a beautiful show. And it was apparent just how old some of these fellows were. But they made great music that night.

So, I say to you, get this CD. Make yourself an ice cold Cuba Libre and toast the Buena Vista Social Club.

This has always been a tough question. I have had the occasion to ponder this before. I consider myself a fairly good person. Always trying to take personal responsibility for my actions. I try to show reasonable compassion for everyone and everything and I try to have a good word for the folks I interact with daily.

I believe most folks are basically good. I just can’t understand why some of them get dumped on so badly sometimes. Sometimes I wonder who’s dealing these cards and what was She thinking. It’s like, doesn’t that person have enough to deal with already. Some folks I know just don’t deserve all the shit that comes their way. And some of it is really serious and it makes me wonder just why it happens to them. Especially with all the problems they already have. Problems they did not create for themselves.

I am not sure of my beliefs when it comes to God, evolution, creation, heaven, hell, life itself. So I deal with it the best way I have come up with to this point in my life and that’s responsibility, compassion, kindness, tolorence, and patients. Like a very wise man once told me a very wise man told him, “just keep your side of the street clean.” That’s what I am trying to do.

It wasn’t long ago I read this paragraph from the Encyclopedia Britannica, although I found it in another book. I really like what it has to say and find it helpful in my search for reasoning for this life of ours here on planet Earth.

Ecclesiastes. This is a book of the Old Testament.

The authors observations on life convinced him that “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor the bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the man of skill; but time and chance happen to them all” (9:11). Mans fate, the author maintains, does not depend on rightous or wicked conduct but is an inscrutable mystery that remains hidden in God (9:1). All attempts to cure ones fate are “vainty,” or futile. In the face of such uncertainty, the author’s counsel is to enjoy the good things that God provides while one has them to enjoy.

So that would be my counsel, for what it’s worth. That and let’s all take care of each other.