TAILGATING DOWN SOUTH-KNOXVILLE

 

EVERYTHING’S ORANGE

By Doc Lawrence

KNOXVILLE, TN—You’ll never know what it feels like to be in a totally orange city until you enter this lovely town on the banks of the Tennessee River on game day. It’s the home of the Volunteers, the pride of the University of Tennessee and today is the first SEC game for both the Vols and their rival from the Sunshine State, the Florida Gators. Tailgating here is a daylong affair of slow cooking: baby back pork ribs, beef brisket, smoked chicken and many dishes brought from home by home chefs.

Tailgating here takes on a new dimension with festivities on countless boats docked on the river just outside Neyland Stadium. These partying partisans may be having more fun than anyone.

Frank Spence, a former top Atlanta Braves and Atlanta Falcons executive is a respected student of Southern culinary traditions who maintains that “The Great Skeedadle” in 1861 probably set the stage for the first tailgating party.

A native of Nashville, Spence was referring to the Union army retreat the after the first battle of Bull Run. “Accompanied by their beautiful women, Congressmen set up colorful tents for a fancy hillside picnic to observe the assumed destruction of General Lee’s army. Unaware of the looming defeat, party wagons-the forerunners of today’s caterers- arrived loaded with picnic baskets of gourmet food, and bottles of fine French Bordeaux, Burgundy and Champagne. Because of the sudden panic to reach Washington’s fortified safety, the unpacked goodies were abandoned. Unloading everything from the rear of the wagons, jubilant Southern soldiers celebrated with a feast and told about the experience after the war.” Thus, says the ebullient Mr. Spence,  “both the name and the tradition of tailgatin’ was born.”

Tailgating in Dixie means great food but, wonderful beverages are just as important. This is Tennessee and Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey is the one I spot being poured more than any other.

Earl and Dottie Maynard are here in the lot beside the stadium with their friends and enjoying fried chicken (“Dottie’s secret recipe batter,” says Earl), grilled hanger steak along with boiled shrimp, creamed corn, sliced Grainger tomatoes and some lovely mandarin orange cake.  This was served with many beverages including Angry Orchard Crisp Apple Hard Cider that had a fresh sweet apple flavor and with Tennessee food became a marriage made in heaven.

The bottle of “Jack” was going down fast with each cocktail mixed by Earl.

 

On this day, I concluded that boxed wine deserves a place at tailgating. They are unbreakable, easy to dispose and offer surprising quality. CalNaturale is made from organically grown grapes and comes in one-liter portable containers. The Cabernet Sauvignon made some nice sangria.

This is pure Americana. Fun, food, superior beverages enjoyed by cheerful tailgaters. They don’t know me (I could be the opposition) but they smile, and several offer me food and drink. I accepted Earl and Dottie’s invitation because they remind me of other friends who do these things on many Saturdays somewhere far away.

Well, it’s time for toe to meet leather and I’m going to watch the game, comfortably satisfied after a great pre-game meal enjoyed with a glass of “Jack.”  As one reveler said, “it’s not just who wins or loses, but also what you ate and drank that counts.”

NOTE:Jefferson, the revolutionary gardener, is the subject of a new book, See:

http://www.winesdownsouth.com/culture/JeffersonsGardens/JefferThe%20Gardner%209-12.pdf

STONE MOUNTAIN VILLAGE MURAL DEDICATED

 

DINNER ON THE GROUNDS PART OF GEORGIA CEREMONY

 By Doc Lawrence

STONE MOUNTAIN, GA—With their giant painting of the historic city’s heritage hovering above them, a crowd of good citizens participated in the formal dedication of an impressive mural, proclaimed by Dr. Dan Parker, minister of The First Baptist Church of Stone Mountain as “the incredible beauty that arose from the cooperative energy of people working together for a noble purpose.” Joined by Stone Mountain Mayor Pat Wheeler and city councilwoman Susan Coletti, Parker, who presided over the ceremonies that included congregations of both his church and the United Methodist Church of Stone Mountain, said the mural was the product of “imagination, a deep love for our city, for each other, lots of hard work that is now a permanent example of how art can truly bring people together.”



Dr. Dan Parker Served As Master Of Ceremonies

The dedication ceremonies were preceded by dinner on the grounds after church services, a Southern tradition that harkens to early America according to one prominent nearby resident. Frank Spence, a former top official with the Atlanta Braves, Atlanta Falcons and Georgia Special Olympics praised the event: “Where else except in a town like Stone Mountain could we enjoy a bountiful community feast, inspirational choir singing and renewing payer to honor a magnificent painting?”

The mural project began as the idea of community leader Pat Sabattle who joined with councilwoman Susan Coletti to gain the support of city government and the owner of the property for the proposed mural, the Stone Maintain. First Baptist Church. Stone Mountain resident Olivia Thomason, a noted Georgia folk artist whose paintings are in corporate and private collections throughout the country, agreed to design and supervise the project. “When Olivia came on board,” said Ms. Sabatelle, “we had a winning team in place.” Ms. Thomason has created paintings for the Dekalb History Center, the Decatur Arts Festival and other Georgia events and for many years owned The Primitive Eye, a major art gallery in Atlanta’s Dekalb County.

The mural took shape over a period of months, Parker revealed, “in scorching heat, working on a high scaffold, motivated solely by goodwill and love for the city.” The wall with the painting is part of the pavilion and lawn that contains some remarkable history. Although they are no longer there, Riverside Military Academy was once on the grounds, followed by a luxury hotel. At the base of the lawn is a memorial bell honoring Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I have a dream” speech where he said, “Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.” Another monument documents “Sherman’s Neckties,” part of the Civil War strategy employed by the Union Army to destroy the railroad system of the Confederacy. And in 1864, “The March to The Sea,” began here.

The mural sits high above the historic village buildings, and according to mayor Wheeler has already attracted the attention of visitors. During the day, it can be seen from the top of Stone Mountain and plans are to spotlight it at night for the enjoyment of the throngs of guests during the upcoming holiday season.

The dedication ceremony was part of a month of significant activity in Stone Mountain which included parts of the city used as a set for an upcoming major movie.

One song by the choir seemed to capture the spirit of the ceremonies on a glorious Sunday afternoon in Georgia:

“I’m standing on the rock of ages;
Safe from every storm that rages;
Rich, but not from Satan’s wages.

I’m standing on the solid rock.”

Peter J. Hatch discusses his book, “A Rich Spot of Earth-Thomas Jefferson’s Revolutionary Garden at Monticello.”

http://mycookingmagazine.com/gourmet-highway-thomas-jefferson-revolutionary-gardener/

 

JOE SOUTH'S GEORGIA

SOUTH’S SONGS ARE MASTERPIECES

By Doc Lawrence

FLOWERY BRANCH, GA-He was pure Georgia. As authentic as Blue Ridge mountain spring water and red clay. Like two other native sons, Ray Charles and Johnny Mercer, Joe South will forever be an important part of the state’s cultural DNA. Beyond his many hit records, songwriter, singer and virtuoso guitarist Joe South, backed greats like Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan and Simon and Garfunkel. Joe South died a few days ago in this Northeast Georgia town with the pretty name.

Joe South penned many songs, almost all mega-hits. My memories of him began during childhood when my nextdoor neighbor, a studio musician named Charlie Broome, had a bunch of guys and one girl over on Saturday nights to jam. I sat in the living room with Jerry Reed, Ray Stevens, Ric Carty, Carole Joyner and a very young Joe South and for about four hours was in paradise.

Stevens and Reed moved to Nashville and well-deserved fame. Cartey and Ms. Joyner composed what would become the number one hit on the planet, “Young Love.” Joe South stayed around Atlanta where he was born and where most of his songs were recorded. The hits were chartbusters that earned Grammy awards. They are as alive today as they were during the 60’s. I hear “I Never Promised You a Rose Garden” performed by younger generation artists regularly, confirming the majesty of powerful words and melody. I stumbled on the great Kelly Hogan’s version of Joe’s masterpiece, “The Greatest Love,” and it sounded like it just came from the mind of a budding genius.

There is a Lexus television ad that incorporates a version of South’s hit song “Hush,” recorded by Deep Purple. I hope they paid him well because the song, not the visual, made the ad effective. Go to an oldies show or one featuring “Beach Music.” The Tams, also from Atlanta, are still around performing at these events, and many of Joe South’s songs were written for them, particularly “Untie Me.”

A member of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, South should also be inducted into both the Rock and Roll and Country Music Hall of Fame. Listen to Aretha’s “Chain of Fools,” and there’s Joe on the guitar. He could make his guitar sound like a Sitar and it’s showcased on “Games People Play,” recorded before George Harrison introduced the instrument on Beatles’ recordings.

I was in England on an extended stay and stopped by a pub that had music on the weekends. Everything they played was from the American South: Elvis, Gene Vincent, Johnny Cash, Wanda Jackson and Carl Perkins. A young woman sang Joe South’s remembrance of his Georgia childhood, “Don’t It Make You Want To Go Home.” I knew I was terribly homesick and three days later was flying over the Atlantic, headed home to Atlanta.

“Oh, the whippoorwill roosts on the telephone pole
And the Georgia sun goes down
Well, it's been a long, long time
But I'm glad to say that I am
Goin' back to my home town

All God's children get weary when they roam
Don't it make you want to go home?”
 

NOTE: Join me on a journey through Alabama:

http://www.bytheseafuture.org/Southwind_Sept-2012.html

THE KING'S KITCHEN-CHARLOTTE'S SOUTHERN FEAST

CHEF JIM NOBLE’S NEW LOCAL SOUTHERN CUISINE

By Doc Lawrence



CHEF JIM NOBLE PAIRS FINE WINE WITH SOUTHERN CUISINE



CHARLOTTE, NC—North Carolina’s Queen City is where visitors might reasonably be expected to search for regal cuisine. Look no further than Chef Jim Noble’s heralded The King’s Kitchen, a gourmet establishment that not only has one of the South’s most authentic and creative menus, a full selection of fine wines and wonderful ambience, but also has a mission to make Charlotte a better place. When you meet Chef Jim Noble and wife Karen, you’ll know soon enough that they are very special people.

The King’s Kitchen is a not for profit restaurant where earnings go towards feeding and educating the homeless as well as providing employment to those who deserve a second chance. This Charlotte gem is nothing less than a modern upscale restaurant with a trained staff, a wine selection you’d expect to find in Manhattan and austenitic Southern food.

To date, I have found no restaurant counterpart and if you want a memorable Charlotte dining experience, then come on over for lunch or dinner. So you have to wait a few minutes. No worry. The attractive bar is efficiently operated (i.e. you can get a good drink quickly featuring a “Charlotte pour.”)

The King’s Kitchen continues to win fans and critical acclaim. I dined there with Jim and Karen joined by Carl White, the accomplished host of the popular television show “Life In the Carolinas.” The food, particularly “Aunt Beaut’s Pan Fried Chicken” was wonderful. Each dish had the fresh taste of good food from nearby farms. The wines recommended by our talented waiter were superb.

Chef Jim Noble is a High Point, NC, native whose heartfelt approach to slow food was inspired by French cooking visionaries Auguste Escoffier and Julia Child. Following their lead, he began using local, organic ingredients to prepare meals for his own family. During dinner, he revealed that a trip to Napa in the early 80s introduced him to the benefits of pairing exceptional wines with meals that reflected local sourced food and North Carolina cooking traditions. Today, King’s Kitchen and Chef Jim’s other restaurants showcase his food philosophy.

Some menu items have elevated status with local diners. The seared scallops with low country succotash and sweet copeach suggest a taste of the Outer Banks, while Chef Jim’s glazed pork chop served with his sea island red pea hoppin’ john mirrors much of the food from North Carolina’s Piedmont. Side dishes of renown include properly seasoned collard greens, pan seared cabbage, crowder peas, blackeyed peas, coleslaw, sea island red peas and hugely popular Anson Mills cheese grits,

The wine list demonstrates Jim Noble’s commitment to pair wines with the modern new Southern cuisine offering a personal favorite, the delicious Albarino, Spain’s white wine that is comfortable with shrimp, collard greens or fried chicken. Pinot Noir, and other elegant red wines may be poured with confidence.

The King’s Kitchen is in downtown Charlotte, open for a memorable lunch or dinner. (704) 375.1990. www.kingskitchen.org.

NOTE: The Year of Alabama Food is the ultimate vacation for those who like the cuisine of the Deep South served alongside music and literature. Join me in some lemon icebox pie with Truman Capote, Harper Lee, Nat King Cole and Hank Williams:

http://global-writes.com/2012/09/a-year-of-alabama-food.html

NATASHA THRETHEWEY AT AJC DECATUR BOOK FESTIVAL

America’s Poet Laurete is Keynote Speaker

By Doc Lawrence

 

DECATUR, GA—This is the little city that could and did. Literally surrounded by Atlanta, it is one of the country’s most livable and enlightened towns, totally urban, full of academics and brimming with rather good restaurants. It’s the Labor Day weekend home of the wildly popular AJC Decatur Book Festival, the largest community supported, independent book festival in the nation. The festival is run by a small, non-profit organization that operates the event in trust for the general public, who are, according to festival managers, the actual owners.

This year’s festival keynote speaker is Natasha Trethewey, the new U.S. Poet Laureate who will deliver her address at the Schwartz Center for Performing Arts at Emory University. Rumor has it that she will introduce her newest collection of poems, Thrall, to the standing room only audience. Ms.Trethewey received the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 and is the Charles Howard Candler Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory, and is also the Poet Laureate of Mississippi, her native state.

On a cold winter morning not long ago at Emory, I sat in a class led by the engaging professor as she talked about growing up in the Deep South, the child of a racially mixed marriage, the murder of her mother and that tumultuous day when the student killings at Virginia Tech occurred just before she learned of her Pulitzer award. Her daughter, unharmed she later learned, was a student at Virginia Tech. I asked Ms Trethewey while she was inscribing my copy of her 2006 collection, Native Guard, where she wanted to live during her final days. “Mississippi,” she replied with a smile. “It will always be my home.”

Decatur, with its romantic courthouse in the middle of everything nice, is home to Agnes Scott College, a close neighbor to Emory University, the childhood home of humorist Roy Blount, Jr. and has emerged as one of the most popular places for fine dining in the Atlanta region. Try Café Alsace on Ponce de Leon just off the square if you yearn for some authentic French cuisine with a bottle of wine from Burgundy.

Launched in 2006, the festival brings more than 300 authors to Decatur for the holiday weekend, attracting crowds estimated to be beyond 40,000. The authors give readings, talks, and panel discussions. The event is free and open to the public. www.decaturbookfestival.com

MOVIE MAKING IN STONE MOUNTAIN

“GRANTHAM AND ROSE” FILMING BRINGS BIG STARS TO GEORGIA

By Doc Lawrence



Dr. George Coletti with Actress Marla Gibbs



STONE MOUNTAIN, GA--Stone Mountain, the giant monolith forever remembered as part of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “I Have a Dream” speech and one of the most popular parks in America, can now add another triumph to its trophy chest. The area is a major part of a highly-anticipated movie, “Grantham and Rose,” now being filmed here and a prominent couple Susan and George Coletti extended a taste of true Southern hospitality to the cast, director and producers at their historic home that literally sits in the shadow of the mighty mountain.

With actress legend Marla Gibbs and young superstar Jake T. Austin in their 1820’s-era home, joined by the movie cast and production staff, Dr. Coletti, author of the acclaimed Civil War historical novel, “Stone Mountain: The Granite Sentinel” and wife Susan, a Stone Mountain city councilwoman, served an old-fashioned Low Country Boil accompanied by fine wines from France, Italy, Spain and the United States.

Marla Gibbs, famous for her dry wit, soared to stardom in the feisty maid role on the popular ground-breaking CBS comedy "The Jeffersons," is cast opposite Jake T. Austin in "Grantham and Rose." The 17-year-old star portrays a young man struggling to find his way as an adult in New York City when a petty crime thrusts him into the company of a feisty 81-year-old African-American woman (Gibbs), who teaches him about life and love, and together they take a road trip back to their Georgia roots.

The film also stars Tessa Thompson ("For Colored Girls"), Lisa Winters and Ryan Spahn, who also penned the script, and is directed by Kristin Hanggi, a 2009 Tony Award nominee as Best Director for the Broadway musical "Rock of Ages." 

Sharing stories laced with laughter with local dignitaries including Stone Mountain Mayor Pat Wheeler dominated the lovely late summer evening. “We’ve had so much fun with these easy-going new friends,” George Coletti said, “and we are thankful they gave us the time to show them our amazing community’s history and heritage. Marla Gibbs radiates goodness and beauty and the entire production unit’s presence has been a treat for the city.”

MALBEC WITH FRENCH QUALITY

ALTA VISTA’S PATRICK D’AULAN

By Doc Lawrence

ATLANTA. Bring an esteemed French winemaker like Patrick D’Aulan to Argentina, let him work magic with the land growing and harvesting his selection of grapes with a goal of making fine wines you will get New World wines that have many of the characteristics of a noble Bordeaux.  “I work with wine,” the ebullient D’Aulan said during lunch,  “because it’s in my DNA and my family has been making wine for 150 years.” The owner of Alta Vista winery in Mendoza, Argentina Patrick D’Aulan uncorked a few of his bottles for a trio of journalists last week at Chops in Atlanta’s Buckhead, and no matter the dish served, the wine fit nicely.

Patrick D’Aulan is philosophical about the future of his wines in Argentina, particularly Malbec. He views it as a relationship built from “expressing a terroir through a single variety. Malbec is our focus and we produce it in different styles according to different terroirs.”

Patrick’s family once owned Champagne Piper-Heidsieck and said that he “was probably born with Champagne in my blood.” His high regard for Malbec, a varietal with origins in Bordeaux, took him to Argentina where Malbec has gained global prominence. D’Aulan, the first winemaker to create single vineyard Malbec, proceeded to lead us through a lunchtime tasting of Alta Vista’s Classic, Premium, and Luxury tiers, including its famous flagship wine, Alto,

In quality, Alta Vista is a league above earlier omnipresent and very ordinary Malbec that once fought for bottom shelf retail space. This regal wine from Argentina reflects all the attention to detail you would expect from a man who, when he was born, had a drop of Champagne placed behind his ear. True to his mission to produce Bordeaux quality wine in Argentina, Patrick D’Aulan brought the best of both the old and new world to lunch in Atlanta.

2012 is "The Year of Alabama Food." Here's one of the culinary adventures in Mobile:

http://mycookingmagazine.com/gourmet-highway-alabama-celebrates-its-food/