The Holy Grail

Dear Allison,

Well, my dear, it's finally happened: we've graduated and parted ways, supposedly to forge our separate paths in life. To find fame and fortune and fulfillment. Well, I've got the "fulfillment" part covered, anyway--as part of our Epic Trek Through the American South, my family had lunch in Savannah at none other than The Lady and Sons, Paula Deen's restaurant! Now, you know how I love all things southern, but southern food can sometimes be problematic from a vegetarianism standpoint. I was impressed to see that at The Lady and Sons, there were three whole vegetarian entrees on the lunch menu! That may not sound like much, but when you're used to making do with a salad and sides, it's exciting.

First things first: The Lady and Sons is in downtown Savannah, which is a quirky and awesome city full of antebellum architecture, indie boutiques, and hipsters who attend SCAD.

Now, in true Paula Deen fashion, our meal didn't begin with plain old bread. Rather, it started with a fried corn cake (there was maple syrup at the table to go with it), and a cheddar-garlic biscuit, both oozing with butter. Um, delicious is putting it lightly.

Here's what the interior or the restaurant looks like: there are three stories of dining rooms, and we were seated on the top story.
We started off with fried green tomatoes, which were garnished with a roasted red pepper sauce and a vidalia onion relish. These were so. good. Crispy and surprisingly delicate, and I loved the onion relish. I really want to try and re-create them when I get home
For my main course, I went with the asparagus sandwich which, according to the menu, is "a favorite of the New York Times." The sandwich was filled with asparagus, red onion, jack cheese, and thousand island dressing, grilled between two slices of rye bread. It was served with cole slaw (which was garnished with green tomato pickles), and in the background is my lemonade with mint. This sandwich was homey and comforting and, most of all, different, which to me is the most important theme in a world of token portobello burgers. The cole slaw wasn't that special, although it was spicy and a step up from normal restaurant cole slaw.

And then there was the macaroni and cheese: since I promised you would try it, I forced my father to bring some back from the buffet (which, as you can see, was mostly populated by vegetables-cooked-with-bacon). This macaroni and cheese was pretty awesome, and I'm about 95% certain the secret ingredient was mayonnaise. Actually I'm about 95% certain that Paula Deen's secret ingredient is always mayonnaise.

Then there was dessert: a pecan pie so flaky, creamy and caramely that it was like looking into the face of god. Okay, maybe not quite, but it did come with a scoop of honest-to-god-not-from-a-can whipped cream on the top, which was pretty freakin' awesome.

So I hope your summer is going well so far, Allison! I can't wait to hear about your fancy cooking job and anything else that happens in your life. Keep me posted!

Love,

Kathryn