It's The Little Differences

It's the little differences between California and Tennessee that really get you.

For example, we don't have any flaming squirrels, and if we did it would mean companionship or hunting for food.

Yes! Top Ten! Suck on that, California!

Who's laughing now? [link via Flowing Data]

Today I Ate Lunch with 10 Strangers

Today I was taken to lunch at Monell's Dining in Nashville. I haven't processed the experience yet, so all I can do is describe it.

Monell's is in an old, large house in the Germantown neighborhood. I followed my host into the yard through an ivy-borne trellis and around the side of the house. The menu, which I see is based on the day of the week, is posted on the door to what was once a sunroom. And it's quite a long menu, but I don't have time to read it because as we enter are seated immediately.

Seated immediately at a large table. A very large table. With 8 people I don't know. Who are passing around bowls of food.

Cole Slaw, Macaroni Salad, Green Beans, Rolls and Corn Bread. I'm loading up some macaroni salad when a woman at the table tells us to pace ourselves, there is a lot of food. "Sure," I think, "there are three sides plus bread, and the main course to come." But before I've taken a bit of macaroni salad the staff seat 3 more people at our table and bring out mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, corn pudding, and okra for everyone to pass around.

Soon after I manage to get ahold of the sides I am interested in the staff seats two more people and brings out the main courses. Fried Chicken, Southern Barbeque Ribs, and Chicken Fried Steak.

And, of course, there was Banana Pudding for desert.

Lots of heavy, fried food. Around a table with 10 strangers. For $12. And the Weekend Brunch menu is a heart attack on a plate.

Let's go Eat at...Uhhh...

Any sizable city in America has at least one "Alternative Weekly" paper. At the risk of sounding callous, they are pretty much all the same. Arts and Entertainment, local highlights, cover stories about "the little guy" - be it a business, a renter, a prisoner, whatever. That isn't to say some are not better than others, quite the contrary, there are some I really like, but structurally they share roughly 80% of their elements.

One of those elements is the annual insert highlighting restaurants/pubs/bars, etc. Not surprisingly, this insert, wherever you may go, has the word "Menu" in the title. Here is Nashvegas we have the Nashville Scene, which recently ran their Menu of Menus (okaaaay).

Finally, I said to myself upon seeing this, we will have a decent selection of establishments when we eat out. We eat out so infrequently now that we don't want to waste any opportunity.

I could not have been any more wrong. In Nashville, a city with a metropolitan population of 1.4 million people has only 39 restaurants featured in their Menu of Menus. I am forced to conclude that either the editors are total snobs, the ad rates were exorbitant, or , there are only 39 interesting "restaurants" here in Nashville.

Maybe we'll find an italian place like this.

Oh the Irony: Best Restaurant Burger Yet!

Good Burgers are hard to find, even in California, where our culinary exploits are the stuff of legend. Lobster Tacos? Yep. Subtle, distinctive wines? Yep. Blending the ingredients and traditions of our diverse cultures to create something both familiar and wholly new? Yep.

Burgers...a slab of meat on a tasteless bun? Yep. Even in the area I hail from, where you can easily pay $10 for a "diner" burger with bacon, avocado, swiss cheese, and fancy mustard (fries and drink extra), they all taste the same. No one does anything special to the meat. No spices, no treatment, just a slab of meat. Sure, the bacon and avocado help a little, but usually they are cheap and tasteless.

Well, last week we were looking for a quick, cheap place to get a summery meal and some googling turned up favorable reviews for a place called Fat Mo's. Hmmm, we thought, where have we heard that name before? Turns out, we drive by one every day. As you can see from the picture, not much too look at. It isn't even a drive through, it's a drive-by. There isn't much outside to pull you in and places like this just don't exist in California.

Flo called in the order, and I was the wheelman. Pulling up, I must say I was nervous. Not too clean outside, no one in line or in the parking lot, no clear menu or prices posted until you get up to the order window. I was skeptical and I had no idea what I would find in my bag.

It turns out what I would find in the bag is the best damn prepared meal I've ever had for less than $20. For a whopping $11.54 American Dollars we got two burgers, two sides of fries and chicken nuggets. Feeding the family at a fast food joint costs more than this, and the burgers were great. Better than anything I ever had the illustrious Firestone Grill back in San Luis Obispo.

In-n-Out Notwithstanding

Please note, I am excluding In-n-Out Burger from this discussion because they are "Quick Food." That is, somewhere between restaurant food and fast food. In-n-Out rules, but it isn't a restaurant burger.

I Don't Know What Meat and Three Is

I'm not a card-carrying world traveller, but I've been a few places and eaten lots of different kinds of food. Food is one of the many things that differentiates a culture; food can tell you a lot.

There is something that happens here is the South called "Meat and Three." On two occasions, native Southerners have attempted to explain it, but the specifics still elude me.

I gather it is a meal, seemingly lunch, but a simple examination of the name raises many questions. I am concerned that no one has been any more specific than to use the term "Meat." And the completely abstract "Three" provides no context to decipher any further information. I gather that mechanics some how play an important role in this nebulous ritual as well, but my questions are always answered with platitudes ("It's great" and "You'll love it") or adjectives ("incredible", "huge", and "amazing").

I'm not too shy about food; I've eaten many different kinds of meat, but the possibility that this is an initiation has crossed my mind more than once. I have been promised a trip to "Meat and Three" next week, so if I make it back I'll let you know.