Westside...

Sorry for the radio silence.... Traveling has been light these days.

We headed up to Westside Bar-b-que, New Albany, MS on a game day. We avoided the massive crowds in Oxford and had an excellent lunch. The pulled pork barbeque was very good. I love a nice and simple barbeque sandwich. The slaw was a bit bland but that might be my personal taste. I am from Decatur Alabama, and my hometown bbq sandwich features a vinegary slaw that has a bit more kick.

The real showstopper is the desserts. Yum! My mother and I had the strawberry cake which was pink and luscious. My dad had the caramel cake.  He is a connoisseur and declared it was excellent. He now wants me to pick up a cake ($28) on my way home.

As an artist, I really enjoy the pig theme decorations. From the dancing pig mural to the pig collectible display cabinet, the effect is over the top, awesome, and only slightly disturbing.

Thanks Mamma for the photos!

Automatic for the HB!

We are in Athens, GA, attending the ThinkTank conference (radical art education). We made our way down to Weaver D's, near downtown on Broad Street. It is famous for the "Automatic for the People" sign that influenced REM. We had to go late (it closes around 6pm). I would recommend going for lunch because they were out of some things. However, we had the sweet potato souffle.  It was smooth, citrusy, and not too sweet. It was delicious! HB's catfish was amazing- light, tender and perfectly fried. It could give Taylor Grocery a run for its money.

Weaver D's aesthetic (oil cloth/panelling/random posters) is comfortable and no-nonsense and fits in with the "list."  Although the menu is smallish, all items fall into the comfort/soul category.  I should have gotten a fried porkchop sandwich to go....

Kevin loves the Fungomery

Don't let the strip-mall facade fool you....Martin's is the real deal. Dating back to the 1930's, Martin's has been serving it up Wiregrass style forever.

Known for the corn muffins, you would be Krazy not to love them. A perfect mill grind, texture, and surface area make these unforgettable. Don't skimp on the butter, fool.....

 No restaurant can survive on corn muffins alone.  Good God, Martin's has excellent fried chicken. and sides. and desserts.  Both Lou and I had the small lunch plate.  One piece white meat and two sides.  I had the cole slaw and rice with gravy.  Lou had the collards and string beans.  I swear, the rice and gravy was identical to my Mamaw's.  She would have been dismayed how a restaurant in Alabama could have made her weekday staple in such an identical manner.....hmmmm.  Lou's collards were excellent.   Her fork didn't stop.  And then dessert.....coconut meringue pie for her, strawberry pudding for me.  I could have swallowed a gallon of this stuff.  Bless Martin's!
 

So to wrap up, here's the weekday menu for Martin's.  Hope you can read it....and go to Montgomery.  And coincidentally, this is the first restaurant, juke joint, stand, or cafe to actually realize and publicize (at least outwardly.) they were actually on John T.'s list of places to eat before you die.  Martin's said "Yep, we made the list.  We're proud.  Now eat."

-kjw

Apalach

I love Apalachicola. It is a long drive, but compared to more developed and new places like Destin and Gulf Shores, it is pretty fantastic. Apalachicola is an old town-rare in Florida. The downtown almost reminds me of Oxford-lots of press tin ceilings. We stayed on St. George Island and ventured into Apalachicola for meals. St. George Island is very beautiful and almost empty. It has shells on the beach,  no high rise condos, and at this point no oil.

I researched the "list" before we left and found 2 places to try. The first was the Wheelhouse for the smoked mullet dish. I made my mother drive to the address, and the Wheelhouse is now Up the Creek Raw Bar with no mullet dip. The other place on the list in Apalachicola is the Gibson Inn. It is a lovely Victoria hotel. I have eaten there several times. The first time (probably in the late 1990s) was a classic fried seafood place. A very good fried seafood place... The next time it was Avenue C, a white tablecloth place. Now it is Cafe Momi. We ate wonderful oysters with homemade crackers and I had an excellent scallop and mango dish. It was very good, but not the fish and chips that John T. had suggested.

                                           Former Wheelhouse

                                           

We did go to Papa Joe's for oysters- raw and fried. It has a great location next to a marina. I love watching the boats go by while I am eating. One of my new favorites is the Seafood Grill that is just down the street from the Gibson Inn. It has incredibly fried oysters and a very democratic clientele. I love a place that has both locals, the Coast Guard, and tourists. It also has the decor of the "list". Some common characteristics of the places I have eaten thus far, they all have wood panelling, mismatched chairs, and oil cloth tablecloths.

Apalachicola has really good food (if you like oysters and shrimp). The oil spill has not affected the bay and seafood at this point. I love the "list" however you would have to work hard to have a bad meal here.

Niki's West

On our way to Apalachicola, we stopped at Niki's West in Birmingham. I have driven by this place a million times (it is on 78 as you come into B'ham from Oxford or Memphis) and it is on the list. Instead of going to Sonic or McDonald's for the roadside meal, we checked out Niki's West. It is cafeteria style and very efficient (fast).

The featured dish at Niki's is the stewed tomatoes. I liked them more than Kevin did. They are sweet and tangy. He loved his white beans, catfish, and fried green tomatoes. I highly recommend the collard greens. yummmmm! As you can see by the last picture, we enjoyed Niki's West.

I tried...

I had to pick up a painting in Meridan and drop one off in Monroe. We stopped in at the Mayflower Cafe in Jackson on a Saturday afternoon. No luck- the cafe was closed until dinner. Oh well, it looked really good!

Mark's One Stop, Calhoun City, MS

Sorry for the cell-phone picture... I forgot the real camera and I have no idea how to get the picture off the phone. I will be back through Calhoun City in the next couple of months. I'll get a better shot.


Calhoun City is a small town about 45 minutes south of Oxford on Hwy 9. I went through there on my way to Meridian. I had to drop off a couple of paintings at the Meridian Museum of Art for the Bi-State Exhibition. Of course, when I visit a new town, I look at the "list" to see if I can knock anything off. Luckily for me, Mark's One Stop was on the way with its Caramel Cake. First of all, I love love love caramel cake. My birthday cake (when I am in Alabama) is a Tennessee Jam Cake with a double batch of caramel icing. My favorite thing is to pick off the icing after the cake parts go stale. mmmmm.... I also have a faint memory of the Oxford American writing about this place (or more specifically the gas station food as culinary schizophrenia). I also remember this issue because it had the theory that the more anthropomorphized the pig on the bar-b-que sign, the better the meat. Exhibit A- my hometown barbeque place (which should've been on the list).

OK- let's get to the cake. I picked up 2 slices from the counter and brought them home. I could barely handle the 30 mile trip home and I have eaten my slice. HB better get back from Taylor soon! It was so good. The cake was buttery and light- it reminded me of a good poundcake. The icing was a double batch and homemade. There were no brach's caramels in there. It was so sweet that I had to have a glass of milk as a chaser. I highly recommend the caramel cake from Mark's One Stop. Don't let the gas station pizza turn you off.

Taylor Grocery

Taylor Grocery is a North Mississippi institution. It is a great place to go with a group. Fried catfish is THE thing to get. My mother got the blackened catfish and lost...

Bring your own beer, wine or liquor. However, use some type of cozy or bag. Use a ToGo cup. The owners frown on conspicuous consumption. Be cool.

Come early, go late, or expect to wait. We got there at 5:45 on a Saturday and had to wait 30 minutes to get seated.

Bucket approved sides- brown rice, coleslaw, hushpuppies, fries (beans, salad, okra were not as good).