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Skilled Skillet
Lunch at Monell’s was like another Thanksgiving feast, except with strangers. My wife and son and I arrived in Nashville an hour before he was to catch a ride back to school. Fortunately, there was no wait for a table on a rainy Sunday while the Titans played across town. We sat at a long table for ten where everyone passed the meats and sides to their left.
The suggestion to eat at the family-style restaurant came from Mary Constantine, the food writer for the Knoxville News Sentinel. She responded via Twitter to an inquiry I had posted on Saturday. Mary promised that they would have excellent fried chicken, which they most certainly did.
Last year my family had a family-style meal at The Loveless Cafe, which still had the feel of a restaurant. At the Loveless, we sat at our own four-top table and chose meats and sides from a menu. Monell’s feels more like you’re visiting someone’s home. Unless you show up with your own party of ten, you’ll sit with some people you don’t know. There is no menu; you eat what’s on the table. The meat selection varies by the day of the week but skillet-fried chicken is served at every meal. Everything was tasty. I liked their fruit tea, which was made with sweet tea, orange juice, apple juice and pineapple juice. I also liked their banana pudding, which was so fresh that the Nilla Wafers still had some crunch.
Baconian Method
Bacon was featured on three of my favorite dishes at the March of Dimes Signature Chefs Auction on Sunday night. Dr. Donetta Poisson and her team from the UT Culinary Institute prepared a bacon-wrapped shrimp on a bed of polenta with a smear of Korean barbeque sauce. Chef Chris Moore of the Knoxville Convention Center served chicken and waffles topped with bacon crumbles as big as postage stamps. Kathleen Robinson of Scrumps Cupcakes had a variety of mini-cupcakes, the best of which had a maple icing and bacon garnish.
When my wife and I are given tickets to a fundraiser, we usually make a bid on a silent auction item or buy a raffle ticket at the event. Sometimes we win and sometimes we don’t. This time, my wife had the top bid on gift bag of Clinique skin care products. She also bought a small teddy bear in a chef’s outfit. One item struck me as particularly odd until I realized that one of the many doctors in attendance would be the likely high-bidder for the disposal of 24 boxes of medical waste.
Butcher and Baker
The recent addition of three items to my small collection of 1982 World’s Fair memorabilia made me want to revisit Sweet P’s Barbeque and Soul House. The World’s Fair logo is everywhere at Sweet P’s. In addition to the collectibles on the walls and shelves, the logo is displayed on the shirts and hats of the employees. A shelf in the dining room is filled with cans of World’s Fair Beer.
Last month I had an excellent chicken sandwich but the rib I sampled didn’t meet expectations. My wife and I gave Sweet P’s another try on Friday night with much better results. The chicken was once again perfect. This time, the ribs on our sampler platter easily separated from the bone. We really liked their Tomato N’ Blues Salad as a side item. For dessert, we split a bacon chocolate chip cookie. The unusual treats are made for Sweet P’s by Magpies Bakery. I’m sure our son will want to try one when he’s home for the holidays.
Banana Kick
Bananas on a burger? The combination of banana slices and green pepper was surprisingly fantastic. Last month I sampled three meals in Gatlinburg, two at Pancake Pantry and one at Bear Creek Grill.
My dining excursion was recorded for “Smoky Mountain Magazine” on East Tennessee PBS. Because we have delayed the premiere until January, the footage became dated. It was streamed on the SMOMOtv Livestream channel yesterday.
I’m glad to have an opportunity to critique myself before going on broadcast television. The pancake and burger footage was the very first thing we shot. As I watch it, I see myself looking off-camera to see the time cues. In the future, I’ll ask that that the time cues be placed closer to the camera.
Power of Suggestion
Sweet P’s Barbeque and Soul House was featured on the “Ribs” episode of “United Tastes of America” this past week.The Cooking Channel show is hosted by Jeffrey Saad, who came in second on “Next Food Network Star.” The restaurant has been on national TV before. Adam Richman attempted the Gigante Burrito Challenge on the Knoxville episode of “Man v. Food.”
Sweet P’s is three miles up the road from the Riverside Business & Events Center, where Einstein Simplified does an all-ages improv show once a month. My wife and I tried the ribs on Friday night. They looked good enough to put on TV. Unfortunately the meat wasn’t quite as succulent as I hoped. When perfectly cooked, the rib bones should slide out easily. I also ordered a pulled chicken sandwich, which was excellent. Chicken doesn’t seem to get the good press that pork does on barbeque TV shows.
Pretty Big Stuff
Smoky Mountain Morning, the online video show I’ve been co-hosting with Taz Cable, is changing and growing. On October 15, a new version of the show, now called Smoky Mountain Magazine, will premiere on East Tennessee PBS. It will air weekly on Saturdays at 10:00 a.m., right before Marshal Andy’s show. Taz has been working very hard to make this deal happen. As you can imagine, I am extremely happy about the news.
Smoky Mountain Magazine will be a show for anyone who uses the Smokies, whether they live in Tennessee, North Carolina or anywhere. The broadcast signal of East Tennessee PBS reaches four states. Clips from the show, along with timely updates, will be available online to viewers worldwide.
Because locals and tourists use the Smokies as a place to relax, the show will focus on recreational activities and entertainment. I’ve already been contacted by someone who wants to teach me fly-fishing for a segment. Taz and I are also looking forward to covering performances and festivals around the region. I’m already wondering what different foods I’ll be able to try, like the duck taco I ate at Bele Chere in July:
Dog Days
There is a small cinder-block shack on Middlebrook Pike that captivates my imagination. I used to stop there regularly for BBQ when it housed M&M Catering. I visited two or three times when it was home to Two Sisters Gourmet Sandwiches and Sweets. Alas, I only got there once when it was Chadwick’s Churn, which closed at the end of July. M&M and Two Sisters moved to new locations along Middlebrook. Chadwick’s still has its original location in Friendsville.
Another business will set up shop in the shack as of October 1. Over the Labor Day weekend, I spotted a banner announcing the arrival of Dave’s Dog House. Their Facebook page also had the news.
The challenge for any business in the shack is to get westbound drivers to turn in to the parking lot they share with a laundromat. Of the bunch, it seemed that M&M had the best luck in that location. They also had the benefit of their smoky aroma wafting through the air. The shack is almost invisible to westbound traffic. I think those drivers would have been the ones most likely to stop for ice cream at Chadwick’s during the ride home from work.
The Google Street View of the shack still shows M&M Catering. That should change soon. I saw Google’s camera car driving down Middlebrook Pike a week ago.
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