It Crawled from the South Part IV: More Nashville

We had a bit of a late start to our first and only morning in Nashville so by the time we got our bearings, it was already time for lunch. Our pal Christian, who graciously allowed us to crash at his place, implored us to eat at Marche, just a few blocks from his East Nashville home. It's a huge, split level space that serves as a fancy food + takeaway shop and restaurant. The breakfast menu looked awesome, but we were a few minutes late and had to settle for lunch.

So with Mr. Otis Redding playing on the stereo, DMR and I perused the menu. I decided on a cup of ham and vegetable soup and a BLAT - bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado which came with a side of pickled red cabbage (delicious), along with an iced coffee to drink. Dan ordered a Caesar salad with chicken and a side of fruit. Ridiculously, this felt like the lightest, healthiest meal we had eaten all week! My soup was super yummy, tasting more like a light beef stew, with a nice assortment of fresh veggies and bits of smoked ham. I loved my sandwich, but not so much the bread because it was a little too greasy. I wound up picking out the contents and leaving half of the toasted slices on the plate. While we were eating another CD was loaded up into the stereo and at first I couldn't make out what was playing and thought it was the Rolling Stones, which made me happy. But Dan's ears picked up a Glaswegian accent and the music turned out to be Camera Obscura's latest, which tickled us both pink!

On the way out, we picked up a bag of homemade potato chips to bring back to Team Plumley HQ, where a fried chicken feast would be waiting for us! But before we headed back to Memphis, we stopped off at Hatch Show Print and the Ryman Auditorium, the original home of the Grand Ole Opry. And we managed to get those elusive paletas! For some stupid reason, I got it into my head that I should go a slightly healthy route and went with a tangy and refreshing hibiscus bar, which I've really been into hibiscus this summer. Dan opted for chocolate wasabi. The chocolatiness was creamy and delicious, but we both thought the wasabi could have been stronger and more pronounced.

When we arrived back in Memphis, HTE and Sam aka T-Bone were out at the butcher picking up some meat for the next day's cookout. T-Bone had already stopped by and dropped off two greasy bags of spicy fried chicken from Gus's World Famous, where he has been known to pick up a shift here and there. A true renaissance man. We ripped into the bags once the butcher errand was completed.



It was some damn fine fried chicken and the table went silent as we stuffed our faces. The bag on the left contained wings and the bag on the right was filled with breasts. The obligatory stack of white bread is in the middle.


Rounding out our meal were some baked beans and potato salad. I should have gone for that second breast piece, but instead I got a second wing.

It Crawled from the South Part III: Music City, USA Day One

After a few nights in Memphis, DMR and I headed to Nashville! After making the three hour drive, we met up with some work colleagues of mine for a lunch of meat and threes at Arnold's Country Kitchen. Once again I messed up and forgot to grab the camera from the bag but the wonderful Holly's Eats has a great entry on Arnold's with a ton of photos, including this exterior shot:


So basically Arnold's is a no frills cafeteria style eatery. Grab a tray, tell 'em what you want and don't hold up the line. The food was so tasty and the workers cheery and funny as hell. I think no matter how fast you place your order, they'll still be telling you to move faster. I loved being there. I loved having my food served to me by these sassy ladies. I loved the food. Dan and I both went a roast beef platter with potatoes, green beans and mac and cheese, along with a sweet tea to drink. The meat was accompanied by some of the most flavorful jus ever. It was peppery and rich and went well with all the sides. Along with your dish, you also get cornbread two-ways. One is a little baked muffin and the other is a flat corn cake which is apparently griddled like a pancake. For dessert, I tried some of JT's chess pie, which reminded me of derby pie minus the chocolate. A little too sweet for me.

Why do we not have meat and three joints in the East? Where are all the cafeteria style places around here? This is exactly how I like to and want to eat on a daily basis. I hope I get back there in my lifetime.

Afterwards, we hit Las Paletas for some Mexican popsicles, but they were closed!

That evening, Dan and I went to a Nashville Sounds game. As he mentions, the most exciting part of this stadium is their guitar shaped scoreboard. Second might be that they sell Chick-Fil-A sandwiches. I had a couple bites of Dan's and a soft Super Pretzel with nacho cheese dipping sauce.

The game was super snoozy boring and I even fell asleep for a bunch of pitches. It went into extra innings and we left to visit a honk-tonk downtown called Robert's. The band that was playing was pretty awful, but the Hi Life was nice and cold. We sat at the bar and ordered up some dinner. I went with a grilled cheese with onion rings and DMR a cheeseburger with fries. The onion rings were pretty good and it's tough to fuck up a grilled cheese. DMR thought the burger wasn't even mediocre. Man, it was a long day.

Greetings from Memphis

Just checking my email at the Team Plumley HQ, waiting for Hot Tub Eric and T-Bone to get back from the butcher so we can dig into some Gus' fried chicken that's hanging out in the fridge.

Some of what we've eaten so far: cheeseburger at the Lamplighter, hot rib plate at Payne's, country ham and eggs at the Beauty Shop and a meat and three plate at Arnold's (Nashville).

Stay tuned.