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Thursday, September 20, 2012
September 2012 eNewsletter
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
August 2012 Newsletter
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Saturday, July 7, 2012
July 2012 Enewsletter
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BACK TO ‘BAMA
By Doc Lawrence
MONTGOMERY,
ALABAMA. My Alabama roots run deep. My wonderful mother was from
the northeast part of this state near the west slope of Lookout Mountain. My
paternal ancestors came over to Georgia from St. Clair County outside Birmingham.
I’ve always felt a spiritual kinship with a cross section of the state’s
cultural icons. It’s nearly impossible to be raised in the Deep South and not
be influenced by Harper Lee, Truman Capote, Hank Williams, Nat King Cole and
Emmylou Harris.
ALABAMA SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL
This is heartland
in tune with nice accents. Examples are easy to find of why the gifted
journalist Marshall Frady called the region “America’s Ireland.” Music,
literature, dance, hospitality and a love of tradition are omnipresent. Being
no stranger, I set out to visit again the grave of Hank Williams, It’s a
pilgrimage I made before, a walk up the hill in the cemetery hoping to connect
with those archetypes that Williams embedded in his music.
Paradoxes abound in
Montgomery as they do throughout the South. The Confederacy was born here. Dr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. preached at the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. The Rosa
Parks Museum is near the White House of the Confederacy. This was the home of
the great folk artist Mose Tolliver and Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald. I plan to read
again F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Tender is the Night, his account of their
storied marriage.
Cuisine has special
identity here and is proudly showcased. In Alabama, farm-to-table has been a
way of life since pioneer days. Throughout the state, gourmet dining thrives
alongside country and soul cooking. And these folks know how to do great
barbecue.
The Alabama
Shakespeare Festival, headquarters of the heralded Southern Writers Project,
stands almost alone at the pinnacle of cultural acclaim in the South. I’ll
attend a performance on their mainstage of NANTA, a cooking musical garnering
across-the-board international praise.
It’s a few days of
returning to things deep in my heart. Nostalgia, reassurance, comfort, flavors
and fragrances, heritage and the joy of being immersed once more in the soul of
the South.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
ON THE BARBECUE TRAIL
LOOKING FOR LOVE
By Doc Lawrence
STONE MOUNTAIN,
GA--Each year for about a decade I’ve shared barbecue
experiences with readers and listeners, often daring to whisper an occasional
opinion or recommendation about the All-American food, dear and delicious smoky
barbecue. Down here near Atlanta, pork reigns. It’s the meat of choice with no
close second, although plenty of places do chicken and beef right.
The history of barbecue and its
preparation will not be in my food, wine and spirits columns. Rather, finding
the best places-restaurants, café’s, shacks, roadside tents-where you can drop
in knowing that everything is prepared with a whole lotta' love is the goal.
I’ll stick my neck out and say that no state really has a corner on barbecue.
The style, spicing, wood, pit, sauces and preparation aren’t confined to state
boundaries. However, there are pockets of cooking methods that do hearken to tradition
and have been preserved by good cooks over many decades.
And, therein lies
the mystery. Who are the ones that keep local traditions alive? What keeps
everything original? What causes good people to come back month aftr month,
year after year?
Most of all, where
can we find these people and their food?
What they have in
common is a commitment to quality barbecue. It’s an art form, one of the few
flawless collaborations that really make people happy.
I’m on the road in
the heat of summer in Dixie looking for the barbecue that stands out from the
rest. The sauce that is made with love. Real Brunswick Stew. And the wines,
cocktails and beers that magnify the barbecue experience.
Look
for dispatches from Valdosta, Dothan, North Wilkesboro, Monteagle, Lexington,
Panacea, Corinth, Spartanburg and Winchester. Plus many more places.
Looking for a worthwhile vacation featuring new places and smiling
faces? The Mississippi Gulf Coast is a winner. Enjoy this destination with
Wines Down South- Click Here!
Friday, June 22, 2012
4TH & SWIFT- A GOURMET GEM IN ATLANTA
By Doc Lawrence
ATLANTA--Location,
location. It remains important in the success formula and 4th &
Swift, Chef Jay Swift’s wonderful restaurant is a stone’s throw from the
busiest thoroughfares in the South, yet comfortably nestled in a quiet location
with very ample parking. The adventure is confined to the dining experience,
not the nightmare of navigation and parking which burden many Atlanta
restaurants.
A Baltimore native, Jay Swift
has a menu reflecting Deep South preferences, all enhanced with an imaginative
cocktail and wine program that blends into the overall enjoyment.
I was asked by my companions, a
distinguished assemblage of ranking officials from North Carolina’s renowned
Harrah’s Cherokee Casino and the Cherokee Tribe to select a restaurant for an
evening of food, drink and conversation that was emblematic of Atlanta’s
reputation as the unofficial headquarters of New South cuisine. That’s daunting
if you take such requests seriously. New South is in the eyes of the beholder
and since I am an Atlanta native and have a track record that includes years of
dining in many other Southern cities, I made a studied decision.
For one evening, I was a
prophet: 4th & Swift, featuring Chef Jay Swift.
Begin at the bar. There are
bottles upon bottles of handcrafted bitters along with standbys like
Peychaud’s, the magic potion in the Sazerac cocktail. The cocktail menu
features some high-octane delights like “The Cries of Silent Men,” invoking
images of Southern existentialists like Walker Percy. It’s a Gin-based witches
brew with secret elixirs. Maybe topped off with
eye of newt? One can only guess, but all can enjoy.
Dinner was a gentle immersion
into the best of Dixie. Several ordered the chef’s special, Three Little
Piglets, while I spotted braised short ribs from Will Harris’ renowned
grass-fed beef farm in South Georgia. A bottle of Argentine Malbec enhanced the
experience, and the Chef’s special ricotta-stuffed squash blossom appetizer
paired well with chilled Pinot Gris from Oregon. The wine list symbolically
states that management takes its diner’s needs seriously. What you see is
reasonable and compatible. Many outstanding wines are also available by the
glass.
An evening here includes
amenities that make pleasant memories. Spacious seating with comfortable
tables. The noise level is low. Conversation flows uninterrupted by those
dreaded cries of dining banshees, something that can ruin an otherwise terrific
evening. They must have been in other restaurants on this evening.
Jay Swift has perfected the
balance in great dining: Food, wine, cocktails and ambience. Here’s a place to
get to know someone. The dining ritual is the near perfect way to reach out and
build bridges of understanding; and 4th & Swift must have had
this in mind from the inception.
Turning vision into raves from
happy diners isn’t easy. 4th & Swift is a template for gourmet excellence.
This is easygoing, elevated dining, the Atlanta food experience we deserve.
And you thought you knew Vidalia
onions? Enjoy Lynne Brandon’s wonderful story about America’s favorite
vegetable:
Monday, June 4, 2012
TENNESSEE’S MOONSHINE TRAIL
Wish that I was on ol' Rocky TopDown in the Tennessee hills
Aint' no smoggy smoke on Rocky Top
Ain't no telephone bills
Rocky Top you'll always be
Home sweet home to me
Good ol' Rocky Top
Rocky Top Tennessee.
“Rocky Top,” by Boudleax and Felice Bryant
By Doc Lawrence
KNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE-A journey into the land
of White lightening, 200 miles of history, beauty, adventure, and charm, begins
just outside of Knoxville’s famous attractions and little-known sites. This
trail gets its name from the route’s legendary history as a moonshine-running corridor during the prohibition era. It
was a time when rebels careened around these curves, transporting illegal,
homemade corn whiskey under the cover of darkness to avoid the law.
I’m
off to visit historic towns whose famous thrill-seeking outlaws unknowingly
laid the foundation for today’s stock car racing, experiencing the natural beauty of East Tennessee, anticipating that much of
it remains as it has for hundreds of years. Its mountains are laced with might
streams like the Powell, Nolichucky, French Broad and Holston Rivers. These
ancient forces, harnessed by the Tennessee Valley Authority to generate
electricity, created vacation hotspots Norris Lake, Douglas and Cherokee Lakes, beautiful bodies of water
that draw thousands of visitors each year. Along the way, my journey will
explore the picturesque mountains, traveling along the path first cut by Daniel Boone.
Highlights
include a stop at Dandridge, the second oldest town in Tennessee (ca.1792), a
delightful mixture of old and new. Today, downtown Dandridge is a National
Historic District showcased by the courthouse completed in 1845, a prime
example of Greek Revival architecture. Next is Russellville and an opportunity
to learn about the headquarters of Confederate General James Longstreet during
the winter of 1863-1864. Morristown is home to Bethesda Church, a quaint old
building with high-backed pews and an enclosed pulpit, one of the oldest
churches in this section of the state. The church was built in 1835, and was
later used as a hospital for wounded Union and Confederate soldiers. There are
approximately 82 unknown soldiers buried nearby.
When
you think of Tennessee, Davy Crockett comes to mind. Morristown was the
American hero’s childhood home and has a museum containing artifacts from
Davy's childhood, telling the story of this legendary figure in American
history who died fighting at The Alamo.
I’ll
be reporting on legendary places like Clinch Mountain, Cumberland Gap, Joppa
Mountain Pottery, and describing the museum in Maynardville that provides a
glimpse of the heritage of Union County. The museum has a reference library
with genealogy lines of many families connected to Union County, known as the
"Cradle of Country Music." This is the home of the Grand Ole Opry’s
Roy Acuff, Chet Atkins, Kenny Chesney, Lois Johnson and Carl Smith.
This
will be the launch of a series of vacation ideas that appeal to those visiting
the South during the Civil War Sesquicentennial as well as those who yearn for
real adventure, preferring travel closer to home.
Join
me in all the fun.
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