Monday, October 27, 2008
Restaurants The Remembrance of Pancakes Past
Posted by Nicki Wood on Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 1:42 PM
What do one-time Nashvillians far from home want? A thread on Facebook has the answers: Pancake Pantry, Sylvan Park, Rotier's, SATCO, Baja Burrito, Puffy Muffin and more.
The thread was begun in 2006 and is bumped occasionally by a Nashvillian full of longing for the pizzas, nachos and chicken fingers of youth. There's widespread consensus on Mazatlan and Cafe Coco, a few speaking up for Swett's and plenty of love for Fat Mo's.
And there are a few puzzlers. For instance, I need to dine out with some of these big fans of U.S. Border Cantina and Las Palmas since they seem to be ordering from a different menu. Along these same lines: Spaghetti Factory? Really?
Some classics make the list, such as Jimmy Kelly, J. Alexander and Hog Heaven. Several now-deceased eateries get props, and sad, frowney emoticons, including Vandyland and Houston's.
Everyone is on Facebook these days, goes the conventional wisdom, but the exclamation point ratio in the posts, I'm not completely convinced.
If you were to leave town (perish the thought!!), what local eateries would you miss enough to log on and pen a wistful line?
Comments (34)
Showing 1-34 of 34
hahahahaheeheeheeheehehehehhaha
huh?
you're kidding right?
like where are i am moving to?
paducah? ok then i have a short list.
and the puffy muffin?
like for real?
those crazy kids...
like
dislike
Don't you hate it when you have two good titles for a post and you have to waste one on the url? "Home Fries Burning." Heh.
When I was in college, I longed for Mack's Country Kitchen grits and their sausage gravy. Apparently the Palo Alto Safeway did not share my interest in hominy. Fuggem.
I was impressed by the number of people who missed chicken fingers.
Cee, thank you for noticing the ghost title. And the memory of Mack's gravy. Unforgettable (except for the parts I can't remember).
Anyone else remember Mack's?
I remember Mack's. Yum.
If I moved away and wanted something authentically Nashvillian, I would wax nostalgic for Arnold's.
Hands down, it would be Prince's. We can't even duplicate it here, so there's no chance of ever satisfying that jones elsewhere.
And, suprisingly enough even to me, I'd have to say Blackstone's. It's not that what they do is so unusual, but it's just so consistently good. And while I have complained for years about the rigid sameness of their menu, I have to say, when I look around at other brewpub offerings here and nationally, they do a darned fine job delivering a variety of things and doing them pretty well. And damn, that Nut Brown is always perfect.
Geez...is Mazatlan really anything special? We are talking about the one in Brentwood, right, with the "Jim's Nachos"?
As for what I WOULD miss...I think Arnold's would be at the top of my list. Prince's would not be far behind.
Not that I really agree with this, but I think among people I know who have moved away, the local restaurant that they talk the most about missing is Calypso Cafe.
Maaaaany many years ago, in the space that's now South Street, there used to be this place called Marty's that after midnight was pretty much a hangout for waiters. They had some sort of baked honey-covered brie thing there that of course now I find horrifying but it's a very nostalgic sort of flavor idea. I don't really know if I want to eat it again, but I like remembering how good (and fancy) it seemed at the time.
Similarly, the World's End had this cuh-razy version of Chicken Cordon Bleu that was a piece of deep-fried chicken covered with Oscar Mayer ham and melted velveeta and it was just out of this world bad/good, especially after ten happy hour Cape Cods. That taste seems very specific to a certain time of my life here so I'd choose something like that.
Maybe I didn't answer the question at hand though. Sorry!
I moved from the US a few years ago and am planning a trip home for Christmas. In planning my visit to the motherland, I've found that most of the gatherings with friends/family are real excuses to go eat. So far, I'll be attending Rose Pepper, Rotier's, Prince's, Sylvian Park, and a few others. Anywhere new in the last couple years I shouldn't miss out on while I'm there?
World's End -- many a good cheap meal there, and I had forgotten about it. What a place. I miss it. And I miss Laurell's.
I would definitely miss Calypso Cafe and Baja Burrito. Not sure if there's anything else that couldn't be replicated elsewhere...
So far, I'll be attending Rose Pepper, Rotier's, Prince's, Sylvian Park, and a few others. Anywhere new in the last couple years I shouldn't miss out on while I'm there?
City House, Savarino's, Bombay Palace, Seoul Garden, At the Table, Martin's....
you're kidding right?
like where are i am moving to?
paducah? ok then i have a short list.
As "Hey Now" Hank Kingsley would say, hey now. This is about what food makes you nostalgic, not What Is The Most Aesthetically Pleasing Food I Ever Ate What. I get nostalgic for all kinds of foods that are neither quote-unquote very good nor very good for you--try chicken spaghetti made with melted Velveeta, Ro*tel and frozen peas, one of the greatest comfort foods of all time.
You know...I'd miss the Yazoo tap room. That place is so comforting on a Friday after work, especially if you leave the office a few minutes early to secure your special table. It's the only place I've ever felt comfortable drinking alone.
I miss 12th and Porter the way it used to be 10 years ago...funky punky waiters, crazy, dark,art and creative, Faison dishes like Pasta YaYa...yum.
Funny - I just *left* Nashville for the same reason. Sorry, we'll be back by Sunday. In the meantime, we'll be visiting the Park tavern and Candlewyck Diner in East Rutherford. Also, every deli, pizzeria, bagel shop, and chinese take out will also be considered.
While you can find this stuff here, a 40 mile round trip to Joey's for Pizza is a little taxing, for instance.
On the other hand, when the time to return here presents itself, I too will surely miss Yazoo - the taproom and Hefewizen year round.
well pink, being that i'm not from here, there is no nostalgia for me even after 15 years - not in the food department. not even a little.
but for me the nashville nostalgia is held in the highest esteem when it comes to the people and the music - in that order.
i'm not saying there's nothing worth eating but i am saying that there's nothing worth missing. and i only speak for myself.
thay being said we had a very nice dinner saturday night at city house. go tandy.
2 weeks ago miel overcooked everything and kept everyone in the room waiting for their food
and i give up on miro after 4x - and i feel bad about it. truly.
calypso? i don't get it... at all
and a cracker barrel breakfast is in my opinion way better than pancake pantry
in nashville mediocrity rules here when it comes to food with few exceptions
i realize i'm not making any friends here but i feel that this is a venue where one can speak their mind. and i have nothing to lose or gain by doing so.
Claudia continues to be a beacon of truth in a sea of mediocre food.
I've given up on restaurants in the area. I only hope that more artisan food makers open businesses so I can make food at home. Places like Lazzaroli's pasta provide far better food than any restaurant in this area. If we could only get a great farmer's market which is a whole other can of spam.
not to get personal, but i think claudia tends to be more of a beacon of snobbery than truth. its obvious that she is not impressed with nashville eateries, and prefers her own food over anything else- which is fine, but i dont see why she continues to comment on every single bites post. if you dont like nashville restaurants, why spend so much time reading about them?
im with pink, it isnt about what the best food in the world is, its about what chicken salad and tortilla soup you want to eat when you have the flu (puffy muffin), and what is your favorite hangover-greasy-mexican with neon green margaritas (las palmas), and your favorite cheese plate on a patio (rumours/east), or your favorite cookie to dip in coffee (kitchen sink cookie at fido)?
i lived in philly for a year and had world-class cuisine (and some pretty mediocre stuff, too) at my fingertips, but i still craved kitchen sink cookies with every cup of coffee i drank.
Not to be a suck-up, but I appreciate Claudia's input on these threads and have never felt that she's been 'snobbish'. Whenever she's been critical she's always been fair, IMO.
The thread is about what food people miss when they leave Nashville, we have Claudia's answer above. Don't take it as a personal affront, unless of course you work at Miro. ;)
I'm with Claudia, 'course we are from the same home town which says a lot about our standards. (BTW, Claudia, thanks for the heads up on Miel and Miro, sorry to hear).
There is one place I might miss if I left Nashville and it doesn't seem to make anyone else's list. The Picnic. You can't find that anywhere else.
My husband would go into withdrawal without weekly doses of Prince's Hot Chicken.
I agree with Alexis only in her point that the point isn't really what fine food you'll miss, but what's comforting. I miss lot of food in NYC and Vegas even though I've never lived there. It's fine food, unique food that I miss. But it's comfy food that I miss about my hometown of Memphis--Memphis Pizza Cafe and Panda Garden/Formosa, a grilled swiss on wheat from Kudzu's; not fine cuisine (though there are some really good restaurants there). What I missed about Nashville when I moved back to Memphis previously was the ubiquity of Middle Eastern food, late night dining at Bound'ry and Sunset Grill (though I don't stay up late any more) and the patio and margaritas at Rio Bravo. Yeah, I said it--I miss Rio Bravo, a chain restaurant. One that's not very good at that.
ps--if my hometown were NYC, my comfy foods might be a bit more highbrow. Just sayin'.
Excellent point, Lesley—and I think that's the heart (or stomach) of the matter. Nostalgia has more to do with the heart than the palate. It doesn't matter if your grandmama's "gumbo" was made with ground beef or her spaghetti was elbow mac with meat sauce, a plate of Mario's finest isn't going to sate that longing for what you grew up with and all its attendant memories. But if, like Claudia, you grew up in food paradise—well, you're doubly screwed when you get a disappointing meal.
Me, I hope Bites stays a beacon for anyone with strong opinions, high standards and a sophisticated awareness of food. That goes for Claudia and Alexis both. The only way you get the caliber of food you want is if (a) you know the difference between what's truly good and what's merely adequate, and (b) you demand the former. I imagine chefs would welcome an educated, curious clientele—if anybody's used to feeling heat, it's a chef.
I miss Rio Bravo too! More for the memories than the food, but I did like their generous use of cilantro.
I group up in Florida and what I miss most about the food there were the great Latino restaurants. They were places where owners took great pride in serving the foods they had grown up enjoying. Making sure that ingredients were fresh and execution of the dishes was perfect. They certainly weren't considered fine dining in fact most meals were under $5.
My complaint with the food in this area is mediocre is embraced. People defend bad restaurants by saying "well you should have lived here in the 80s to see how bad the food was then".
Then there the people who like to call food fancy. Because of course a fungus that grows in dirt and traditionally was helped gathered by hogs and dogs must be the ultimate fancy food in the truffle. I don't even understand the term fancy food and never will. Good food is not "fancy" and "fancy" food is not always good.
I hope people like Claudia will continue to be more vocal. The only way food will get better in the area is to raise standards and expectations.
I hate the word "fancy" as much as I hate the word "classy," and yet, recently, in a pinch, it spilled out of my mouth at the Best of Nashville event when I couldn't succinctly describe a restaurant that delivered thoughtful, artistic food in a hushed, elegant environment and charged through the nose for it. What's a good shorthand for that kind of place, which most likely has white table cloths and might not be the kind of place you'd want to wear jeans? You know, where you might want to dress classy.
ok so - it's certainly NOT all about the fancy or the expensive. i'm all about chinese, mexican, vietnamese, thai, pizza, falafel - i grew on most all of that food (not so much thai and mexican - found those more in my 20's but i am now 47 and trends were different then). i mean, c'mon people - it's not like my family was dining at highbrow restaurants every night or my mom was a gourmet cook - au contraire.
there is not one thing that my mother cooked when i was growing up that i could even categorize as what i consider my current comfort foods. we had dinner on the table most nights and it was neither good or bad - it was just dinner. my grandmother was a great jewish cook - but i don't crave any of those dishes ever either. (although my grandma made a great sweet and sour tongue dish with raisins that was KILLER as well as a super thick split pea soup with short ribs) and the jewish deli that we ate regularly? the pastrami and the hard salami and the kishka and the brisket... i could care less about that kind of stuff. i never crave it. what can i say?
my comfort food is the falafel i ate about 4x a week during my college days in the early 80's from a cart on 68th street off lexington ave. and good ny style pizza. and chinese food that's worth a shit. and good italian. yeah, mostly good italian...
and sure, on my blog i may cook food out of the ordinary (depending on what your ordinary is because it's not so far fetched to a lot of people) but i don't think that as a rule my food is fancy - or that involved. most things whip up quick.
but what goes on in my kitchen and my blog is not the point here... i may cook one meal for 2 or 4 or 6 people, on average of 3 or 4x a week. but i am not a chef. cooking is my hobby, my sport of choice. i don't have a full time job or kids at home. i spend my “fun money” budget on ingredients. i read about food, i travel to dine, i talk about food, i cook for enjoyment. i am immersed in it and would say that i am reasonably knowledgeable on the subject and am learning all the time.
and yes - i so very sing the gospel of quality. and i am all about consistency. if i'm slapping down $100+ at a fine dining place, shouldn't i expect exceptional food? and really, if i'm slapping down $10 - why should it be any different?
know this. when i go out to eat, i am prepared to love it. i want to love it. i'm not looking to be negative... and comfort food to me still has to taste really good and my puffy muffin experiences have been quite bad to the point of kinda gross.
as for the restaurants in town that are chef driven, many of these chefs are clearly quite good. but churning out multiple dinners 6 nights a week is not all about if you can cook or not… it is a complicated equation. i bow down to these craftsmen. it’s a tough gig and takes a lot of focus and dedication. and a staff that knows what they are doing...
alexis - to say that i comment on EVERY SINGLE bites post is funny because, well, i don't. i comment on what interests me. and to say that i only like "my" food is ridiculous. but i do often escape to the solice of my own pantry and whip up what i consider to be truly delicious food. unless i screw it up, which happens too.
so perhaps I am of the minority, but the food of my yesteryears is not what drives me. (with perhaps the exception of the black and white cookie). my palette has been developed because am curious and want to learn and experiment.
in the end, it is all about the quality of the ingredients and the ability to honor them and execute properly. period. you fuck that up and it’s just not special… at least not to me.
The food of my yesteryears does drive me--my poor mother's proclivity for overcooking every vegetable is a primary motivator in my cooking style now! The only things she can make better than I can (that I wish to eat) are potato soup and cornbread. But I will never again have brown broccoli or boiled cabbage. Or any vegetable boiled! Bless my mother's heart, but she was just carrying on the tradition of the family of cooking vegetables into submission.
well now we know there's no length limit on the comments. And for that public service, we all thank you.
The last time I was gone from this town long enough to miss it, Green Hills was still a strip mall. Almost all the foods I've come to love, you can find out there in the great wide world, and probably done better, or just as well. That said, if there were no fresh, sweet and steaming hot, cornmeal-breaded, pepper-flecked catfish within a day's drive of me...
btw: Mack's was great for making phone calls, finding a cop quick, or beer for breakfast, but the food was not all that great and the panelling in the back room was steeped in the smell of overcooked greens. The Campus Grill, now, that was something else.
