And then I ate some good southern food

Most often when we talk about regional or national cuisines, we speak of those which we really love. It's decidedly less common for people to talk about general cuisines they dislike outside of reasons having to do with "it's different and I don't like it". I consider myself a pretty open minded eater, and enjoy most types of food. However, I've never quite been able to develop and love and appreciation for southern food. I'm generalizing a bit here, as there's quite a bit of variation between food in areas of the south, but certain themes are prevalent more than others. I've complained about the lack of spices and seasoning, the heavy reliance on salt, fat and breading as the only way to enhance the flavors of ingredients, and the overall "heaviness" of the dishes. It wasn't that I particularly disliked those foods, but just that I had never been that impressed during the times I had eaten them, and found them far less appealing that many other types of food.

But I was determined to give it one more try on my trip to Nashville, and much to my surprise, I found some food there that I actually really enjoyed. To say "found" might be a bit inaccurate because the places we went to were by no means hidden gems. In fact on Sunday we spent over 2 hours combined waiting for our meals. But the thing about waiting is that it usually an indication of good food to come. Unless you're at Cheesecake Factory, then it just means the portions will be gigantic.

And so we were up before 9am to stand in line at the Pancake Pantry, a Nashville institution known for....wait for it.....their amazing pancakes. We had to stand in line for almost an hour (not my favorite way to nurse a hangover) in order to walk in the place, but the 70 degree weather and complimentary coffee pushed things towards the tolerable side of life. The secret to ordering at the Pancake Pantry, we were told, was that all the other breakfast dishes come with pancakes as well. We all took this route, and while my dining companion's omelets looked delicious, the sausage and eggs I had were surprisingly mediocre. Eggs over easy without toast just doesn't cut it. But that's a side note, because the pancakes were fantastic. Being true to their "pantry" name, they have a wide selection of pancakes to choose from, but I settled on the sweet potato ones because I had never had anything like that before. I think I can honestly say were the best pancakes I've ever had. It's hard to describe them anymore than just to say the flavor and texture were perfect. I'm no pancake aficionado, but I had an instant appreciation for what I was consuming. While the other parts of my meal were not stand outs, the pancakes had definitely lived up to the hype.

But pancakes were really just a warm up for the evening's meal at Loveless Cafe, a country diner that has been serving travelers along the Natchez Trace Parkway for over 50 years, though the steady encroachment of metropolitan Nashville means it's no longer an out of the way destination. They weren't kidding when they said an hour and fifteen minute wait at 7pm on a Sunday evening, but as we walked through the entrance full of pictures of celebrities, athletes, and politicians dining there I had a feeling it was going to be worth the wait.

Family style proved to be the way to go, and so we ordered a couple meats and various sides to constitute our meal. It was a slight deviation from the authentic Meat and Three concept but the principles were still the same. Highlights? Well for me it was the meatloaf, which was flavorful and juicy, and along with Comet Cafe in Milwaukee, helped renew my interest in this famous but often brutalized dish. Biscuits with home preserves? Excellent. Creamed corn? Succulent. Pulled pork? Great and served with a tangy Carolina style BBQ sauce. Collard Greens? Not so much....I'm sorry but I still get their appeal. At the end of the day they still taste like bland, boiled down vegetables, even with a lot of salt and hot sauce. But all in all it was a very satisfying meal, and I left thinking that maybe my previous opinions on Southern food, while maybe not totally incorrect, were at least prematurely developed.

If I tried to tie these two posts together about my weekend in Nashville, some sort of summary as a real writer would call it, I think it would be that it is a surprisingly distinctive city with plenty of things to experience beyond the tourist traps that seem so tantalizing to the average American. I would come back to Nashville to see more music, eat more food, and perhaps make my pilgrimage to my father's Mecca....the Jack Daniels Distillery. Because we must always honor our parents wishes.