Sunday Supper at the Public House

Just a few years ago, the city finally repealed the "Blue Laws" which prohibited businesses from opening before 12noon on Sundays. It caused quite a controversy here in the "Buckle of the Bible Belt." Ardent churchgoers felt this made it difficult for workers to attend church on Sunday morning, as they'd have to be at work instead. (My response? Convert to Catholicism, and have variety in your mass time choices!) It was ironic to me that folks would have this reaction, as they are the first ones in line at the local restaurants for supper after they get out of their 10 o'clock services. They clearly weren't considering the souls of the wait staff.

I write this as a background on how deeply Sunday suppers are embedded in the local mindset. Whether it's going to grandma's or to the Piccadilly Cafeteria, folks here like to have a meal after their soul-cleansing. One of the newer - and pricier - restaurants here has picked up on this, and is offering their own version of Sunday Suppers.

The Public House opened this year in a vacant space in the Warehouse Row development downtown. The owner is Nathan Lindley, whose brother owns several of the restaurants I've previously reviewed (Alleia, the Meeting Place and the St. John's). Their regular menu is based on the "small plates" concept - you can order several smaller plates as opposed to a large entree (although you can get regular entrees as well).

Sunday Supper is different. It's served just on Sunday, from 12n to 8pm. You can choose from one of four meats, and then all sides are served at your table family style. We started with a large salad, described as "Garden Patch Salad with heirloom beans, tomato, cucumber, spiced pecans, blue cheese, herb vinaigrette." It came in a large bowl, and all four of us had two servings plus some left over. Along with the salad was a basket of rolls - both regular yeast dinner rolls and some very yummy cheddar muffins (we had to get extras of the latter), served with home-made Chow Chow, a relish that is a Southern favorite.

Next came the main course. We had a choice of four items:

Public House Fried Chicken
Cedar Plank Roasted Salmon
Sugar-Cured Roast Pork Loin, Sweet onion gravy
Wagyu Beef Meatloaf with Tomato-Basil Gravy

One friend got the pork loin, and let us all sample it. It was so tender! There were two large slices - she ended up taking one home. Another got the fried chicken. It looked very flaky and tender. I got the meatloaf - wow! It was wonderfully seasoned and the meat wasn't all mushy. I brought half home - and can't wait for what I consider the perfect lunch: a leftover meatloaf sandwich.

With the entrees came three side dishes: roasted squash, macaroni and cheese, and green beans. Each came in a large serving bowl that we passed among ourselves. All were terrific - and enough for several extra servings. When we were finished, the wait staff asked if we wanted to take anything home. So we all refilled our plates with the extra sides, and they were nicely boxed up for us and handed to us in a shopping bag as we got ready to leave.

And, yes, there was a dessert course (although we were all ready to unbutton our pants!) - a warm apple cobbler served with two scoops of ice cream and locally produced honey over the top. Wow. And I guess that's an accurate description of the whole meal: over-the-top-fantastic!

My one disappointment was that I couldn't get my friends to enjoy a pitcher of sangria or mimosas - they stuck with hot tea. Oh, well. They also need to invest in some serving spoons. As this menu is a recent addition, they don't seem to as yet have anything larger than a soup spoon for serving.

The bill for all that was just $20 per person. A great deal and a great meal! I had been dying to try this, but had been reluctant to go alone, knowing how much food was involved. However, I did note a single diner at a nearby table who was served a single portion of each side with his meal. So if I have a hankering to go again, I won't have to worry about getting together a posse! And in how many restaurants does the owner not only come by to ask about your meal, but also delivers some the courses himself?!

CAN. NOT. WAIT

Congratulations Jordan!

Photo by John Shearer
Congratulations to Jordan Thomas, who was among the top 10 vote-getters in the CNN Heroes Award. He's one of my former students, and we've all been voting for him like crazy. He won $25,000 for his foundation, which helps fund prosthetics for children.

And he also got to meet NPH!!

Iron Tom

Or should I say, Iron, Tom?!

Football? Well, maybe

Did I claim to be a one-sport woman? Well, Tommy could make me change my mind...

An easy evening

I had a ticket for the Symphony Thursday night, so I put off my Wednesday Dine Out until then. And it was a night that was so good for my soul!

I decided to have dinner at the Easy Bistro & Bar. It's located in downtown Chattanooga, right across the street from the Tennessee Aquarium. It was opened by some folks from New Orleans, and the menu reflects that heritage. It's a pretty place - as you can see above - very "New York." Lots of black, with huge purple orchids at most tables. Big windows looking out on Broad Street, so you can watch the pedestrian and vehicular traffic go by.

They have a lovely menu, and I was determined to step outside my comfort zone and try some different things, So I started with a twist on the Southern favorite, fried green tomatoes. The Easy version was served with bits of crawfish and black-eyed peas. Yum! For my main course, again trying to be different, I opted for the fish special: a pan-roasted triggerfish, with crushed Yukon Potatoes, almonds & tomato-shallot confit. Wow! They fly their fish in daily, so it's quite fresh. I'm a sucker for carmelized onions/shallots, and they were a fantastic accompaniment to the fish and potatoes. Wonderful.

At this point, I wasn't sure I had hit the $50 mark yet - I had a gift card for that amount! So when asked about dessert, I said, why yes, of course. I chose the bourbon bread pudding - and what a feast my mouth had! A wonderful finish to a wonderful meal.

(And to my readers - I've realized that it must seem that I have very un-discriminating taste. I rave about every meal I have! But I've been quite selective in the restaurants I've chosen so far - ones I've either been to before or that my friends have raved about - and ones that I know will serve a blog-worthy meal!)

After my dinner, I headed to the Tivoli Theater for a performance by the Chattanooga Symphony. Earlier this year, our Musical Director and conductor, Bob Bernhardt, announced that he was stepping down as conductor. So each performance this year has featured one of the candidates for the position. This week, they showcased a young man from Australia who has been working in Germany for the past few years, Tobias Foskett. His remarks to the audience were witty and thoughtful, and his conducting of the orchestra was masterful. They performed three "German" pieces - a Wagner overture, a Brahms "variation," and Beethoven's 7th Symphony. A really terrific performance - and my seat in the upper balcony (thanks to my dear friend Bill) was a fun way to watch over the whole performance. I love to watch the percussionists in particular - the cymbalist who sits the whole symphonic performance to leap to his feet for two cymbal crashes at the end; or the player of the triangle who has such an important role!

These evenings of classical music and fine food are becoming important to me. So relaxing and stimulating. They just make me feel so refreshed and appreciative of my life!

The best team money could buy - Joe Posnanski - SI.com

The best team money could buy - Joe Posnanski - SI.com

Joe says it better than I ever could!

Bloated Payroll

I have a couple of friends (and you know who you are!) who love to taunt me that the Sox have been just as guilty as the Yankees of trying to buy a championship. The next time they start in on that, I'm going to wave this at them. It's from Cot's Baseball Contracts:

MLB 2009-13 payrolls : MLB 2009-13.xls

. 2009-13 PAYROLLS . Figures include annual salaries, plus signing bonuses pro-rated over life of the contract. . Figures do not include deferrals or performance, award or signing bonuses. . Figures are unofficial. . 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 . 1 NY YANKEES $206,811,689 $166.307 $118.084 $99.634 $95.384 . 2 NY METS $139,102,235 $92.113 $86.738 $39.250 $26.500 . 3 CHICAGO CUBS $137,945,612 $119.958 $96.300 $54.000 $19.000 . 4 DETROIT $129,598,000 $84.588 $41.250 $31.000 $23.000 . 5 PHILADELPHIA $127,957,380 $96.286 $76.036 $27.286 $16.786 . 6 BOSTON $122,624,689 $76.183 $43.483 $30.833 $11.500 . 7 LA ANGELS $116,709,000 $59.950 $42.150 $29.700 $1.000 . 8 LA DODGERS $109,176,603 $60.933 $25.750 $1.250 $0.000 . 9 HOUSTON $105,035,000 $54.250 $37.000 $21.000 $0.000 . 10 SEATTLE $99,346,926 $44.125 $46.875 $22.250 $0.000 . 11 CHICAGO WHITE SOX $98,268,500 $45.075 $27.975 $10.250 $0.000 . 12 ATLANTA $97,692,834 $44.117 $32.392 $23.917 $15.500 . 13 SAINT LOUIS $93,612,500 $50.339 $44.189 $13.938 $0.000 . 14 SAN FRANCISCO $88,777,106 $51.100 $32.600 $32.600 $20.000 . 15 CLEVELAND $81,325,900 $49.955 $27.205 $13.500 $2.750

. 16 TORONTO $80,493,657 $81.168 $43.643 $36.643 $37.143 . 17 MILWAUKEE $80,280,861 $38.813 $7.038 $6.288 $8.788 . 18 BALTIMORE $77,169,792 $29.568 $21.468 $22.350 $25.350 . 19 TEXAS $76,239,840 $38.950 $22.200 $23.200 $16.500 . 20 KANSAS CITY $76,021,243 $49.100 $30.500 $13.750 $0.000 . 21 COLORADO $74,730,533 $40.558 $29.683 $5.100 $0.000 . 22 ARIZONA $72,475,000 $32.117 $23.700 $26.700 $12.750 . 23 CINCINNATI $71,858,500 $59.888 $28.313 $3.400 $0.000 . 24 MINNESOTA $67,899,267 $59.364 $33.100 $23.500 $15.000 . 25 TAMPA BAY $65,126,368 $39.183 $21.708 $11.430 $6.000 . 26 OAKLAND $61,896,066 $19.250 $3.500 $0.000 $0.000 . 27 WASHINGTON $61,455,049 $22.500 $0.000 $0.000 $0.000 . 28 PITTSBURGH $52,643,000 $22.975 $20.000 $3.950 $0.000 . 29 SAN DIEGO $42,746,653 $26.250 $16.000 $17.000 $4.000 . 30 FLORIDA $35,483,951 $7.950 $11.000 $15.000 $15.500

Heck, the Red Sox don't even make the top five! (Thanks to Kelly for pointing out this site)

Wednesday Dine Out: Bonefish Grill

When I started on this culinary journey, I made a decision to try to avoid any chains. I mean, every Applebees and Olive Garden is the same, no matter what city or country you're in. And there are tons of dining options here in the Scenic City, but really, the crowds flock to the chains.

So, I eased up a bit, and tried the Bonefish Grill. Bonefish is an "upscale" chain, with most of their locations in the Southeast and along the Northeast Coast. The first one opened in 2000 in St. Petersburg, and Florida is still the home to most of their units. I'd been there ages ago, when it first opened, so a return trip was long overdue.

Over the past weeks, one thing I'd noticed at my restaurant picks was the lack of early diners. I like to eat early - like 5:30 or 6pm - and the downtown restaurants I've tried really just seemed to be getting some business as I was leaving. Not so with Bonefish - when I got there at 6pm, that place was hopping! It turns out they have extended happy hours until 10pm on Wednesday - with some good specials, like half price on "premium" liquors. I had a 25 minute wait just to get a table! So I took advantage of the HH and sat at the bar. It may be because Bonefish is in the "burbs," on the way home for folks working downtown, but for whatever reason, there was a large crowd hanging out there. It made for a much more fun dining experience - there was all kinds of activity to observe. Much more interesting than my book.

Although they have a varied menu, grilled fish is their signature item. You can choose from six or seven different types, and then you choose one of four different sauces. I opted for the tilapia, with a warm mango salsa. Yum! With it, I had the house salad, which was good, and a nice glass (or two!) of the house red sangria. A really nice meal.

The other special on Wednesdays is their Bang Bang Shrimp. I'm not a great lover of shrimp, so I passed on that, but it seemed like just about everyone in there was ordering it. So it must be good!

When it comes time to start revisiting some of these restaurants, Bonefish Grill will definitely be in the rotation!

Bon appetit!

As seen at the Reading Market Terminal

Via twitter from Amelie Benjamin