EAT: Texas Tapas Times Two and some BBQ

Two new Texas themed restaurants have hit NYC. Marfa (pictured above) is, according to Thrillist, "the brainchild of an E.Vil townie who convinced the Lucky Cheng's crew to replace Waikikki Wally's with a scuffed-wall, cellar-esque barstraunt named for a West Texas artist colony...Texas grub includes fried catfish w/ cole slaw and beans, dry rub BBQ, mac & cheese, and their own Marfa Chili, so meaty, other chilis will jealously whine 'Marfa Marfa Marfa.'"

And in Brooklyn, Whiskey Sunday, of which the Village Voice wrote: "'A new barbecue spot in the land of rotis,' and that pretty much sums it up. Prospect-Lefferts Gardens is a paradise of West Indian and Caribbean food, and that's where prolific Brooklyn restaurateur Jim Mamary has recently opened a non-traditional but tasty barbecue spot. It was called Billy Sunday's, in a tongue-in-cheek ode to a famous prohibitionist, but apparently Billy was known for not only hating booze and being an evangelist, but also for being a rabid racist, soooo... that name was soon nixed in favor of Whiskey Sunday."

MARDI GRAS TAKES MANHATTAN!!

NOLA native and Loyola alum Ashley White Fryer gives us to lowdown to the showdown. She'll be dropping it like it's hot all over NYC tonight:

Mardi Gras is always the hardest time for a New Orleans expat to be away from home. As Fat Tuesday approaches, I can close my eyes and smell Popeye’s chicken mingling with the sound of police sirens and the scent of exhaust fumes as the parade inches closer. Yet, like every year since I moved to the Big Apple nearly eight years ago, I’ll be streaming the WWOZ Mardi Gras broadcast (www.wwoz.org) from my office in midtown. Sigh. Luckily, there are plenty of celebrations around the city this Tuesday to lift my spirits. Here’s a short list of those looking for an excuse to don their purple, green, and gold.

Below 14^th Street:

Mara’s Homemade (342 East 6^th Street, between 1^st and 2^nd Avenues)

Mara Levi and her husband David know Southern food. The authentic New Orleans cuisine and Arkansas barbeque at Mara’s Homemade never disappoint. On Mardi Gras day, Mara offers a special menu (see http://www.marashomemade.com/Mardi%20Gras%202009.htm) featuring some of her best dishes. Seating begins at 4 PM and continues until the last customer leaves.

Philip Marie (569 Hudson Street at West 11^th).

If you’re looking for a low-key Mardi Gras celebration in the form of a good meal, Philip Marie is offering a dinner for $29.95 (menu at http://www.philipmarie.com/documents/53.html). There are two seatings available (at 6 and 9 PM), and live zydeco by The Gotham Playboys.

The Delta Grill (700 9^th Avenue at 48^th Street)

A $20 admission price at The Delta Grill will get you a Hurricane and all-you-can-eat Cajun buffet. Dance to the live music of Citigrass, and get there early—doors are at 5 PM, food begins at 6, and the music starts at 7.

Acme Bar & Grill (9 Great Jones St. between Broadway and Lafayette)

Mardi Gras revelers get two parties in one at Acme Bar & Grill. On Fat Tuesday, a DJ will spin upstairs, while a zydeco band performs downstairs. Best of all, 16 ounce hurricanes go for $8.

Back Forty (190 Avenue B at 12^th Street)

This Mardi Gras, Back Forty is throwing a birthday celebration for Sixpoint Brewery (a Brooklyn-based microbrewery) in honor of their 5^th anniversary. $50 per person buys you heaping platters of their “Cajun favorites” paired with Sixpoint Brews. Communal dining will encourage the party; reservations are recommended.

Jimmy’s No. 43 (43 East 7^th Street between 2^nd and 3^rd Avenues)

Benefiting Food Services NYC, Jimmy’s No. 43’s Mardi Gras Party features $5 pints and bottles of Abita, as well as gumbo and jambalaya specials.

The Town Tavern (134 West 3^rd Street near MacDougal Street)

The Town Tavern will host their fifth annual “Kegs and Eggs Fat Tuesday Throwdown.” In true New Orleans style, the party on Fat Tuesday starts at 8 AM, with a $12 unlimited Louisiana breakfast buffet offering with Budweiser draught until 10:30 AM. If you’d prefer to start a bit later, not to worry—2-for-1 Hurricanes are available all day, as well as $2 pitchers from 7-9 PM, and $4 pitchers from 9-11 PM. At the stroke of midnight, the patron wearing the most beads will receive $500 cash plus a $500 Town Tavern gift certificate, although there is a high-heel prerequisite (men, start practicing the stuffing of your feet into those red pumps right away.) A $5 cover charge will benefit The American Red Cross.

Above 14^th Street:

The Bourbon Street Bar & Grille (346 West 46^th Street, between 8^th and 9^th Avenues)

The relatively new and opulent New Orleans restaurant (complete with wrought iron balconies) will feature music by the Sugartones New Orleans brass band, an “earn your beads” contest (hmm), and a sampling menu including a live crawfish boil, king cake, jambalaya, and seafood gumbo.

Bourbon Street (407 Amsterdam Avenue, between 79^th and 80^th Streets)

This Upper West Side hangout (not to be confused with the Bar & Grill above) frequented by former Big Easy residents (especially during Saints NFL games) throws a party starting at noon on Tuesday, featuring a live DJ, beads, and drink specials throughout the afternoon and evening.

Southern Hospitality (1460 2^nd Avenue between 76^th and 77^th Streets)

When it comes to Mardi Gras, Justin Timberlake’s BBQ joint does not disappoint. Aside from $6 Frozen Hurricanes and Frozen Cazadores Margaritas all week long, on Fat Tuesday, choose from Magic Hat Beer Specials, or upgrade to a $45 VIP Premium Open Bar from 8 PM-midnight. Mike Preen & The Hot Six will provide live music, and cash prizes will be awarded for “Best Mardi Gras Spirit.”

The Underscore below Bar East (1733 1^st Avenue at 90^th Street)

For the second year, The Underscore will host a fundraiser thrown by New Orleans natives to raise money for the New Orleans Habitat for Humanity. A $30 cover charge gets you some grub and unlimited well drinks from 7-10 PM. The party includes live music and raffles.

Social (795 8^th Avenue, between 48^th and 49^th Streets)

Upscale Midtown West pub Social is offering Happy Hour all day until 8 PM on Fat Tuesday, including $3.50 Bud, Bud Light, and Coors Light bottles, $4.50 well drinks, and $4.50 glasses of Merlot and Pinot Grigio.

TG Whitney’s (244 East 53^rd St. between 2^nd and 3^rd Avenues)

Starting at 8 PM, this post-frat boy hangout features $4 Hurricanes, $3 “Voodoo” shots and $3 New Orleans beers, plus free beads and giveaways throughout the night.

Latitude (783 8^th Avenue, between 47^th and 48^th Streets)

This Hell’s Kitchen hotspot will feature drink specials all day long, including $6 Hurricanes, $4 Shark Bite Shots, and $3.75 Bud and Coors Light.

The Mean Fiddler (266 West 47^th Street, between Broadway and 8^th Avenue)

Not only are there drink specials at the Mean Fiddler on Fat Tuesday ($3 Coors Light, $4 Corona, $4 shots of Southern Comfort, and $5 Hurricanes), but should you become the master of the dance floor after taking advantage of those specials, you may be fortunate enough to win one of the prizes offered for the best dancers. Free beads and giveaways throughout the night complete the party.

Rogue Bar (757 6^th Avenue between 25^th and 26^th Streets)

All day long, Rogue Bar is offering $3 Abitas and New Orleans food specials. At 7 PM, the bar will hold giveaways with prizes.

MJ Armstrong’s (329 First Avenue between 19^th and 20^th Streets)

It may not be exactly like watching Bacchus roll down the streets of New Orleans, but MJ Armstrong’s will hold “Fat Tuesday Rock ‘N’ Roll Trivia” as part of their Mardi Gras festivities. The winning team will receive a $50 bar tab, which would go far with their drink specials for the evening ($3 Hurricanes, $3 SoCo and Lime, $2 PBR and Bacardi specials).

EAT + ART = Goolsby’s in Evans (Augusta), GA

"Come on girl and try some of this hoecake, you know hoes gotta eat too!"

Well, I never did think I’d get a chance to use that classic John Witherspoon line, but thanks to Goolsby’s in Evans/Augusta, GA I rang in ’09 eating a bonafide hoe cake!

photo from vegancrunk.blogspot.com

Legend has it that the cakes were called "hoe cakes" back in the day when field hands (and/or railroad workers) would cook the cornmeal-based cakes over an open fire in the mouth of a shovel or hoe.

Miss Betty, granddad’s lady friend and a native Kentucky-ian, says “We didn’t call them hoe cakes, we just called them fried corn bread!”

Certain Georgia restaurants maintain legendary, almost mythical, status in the mind of Big D – Doug’s Place in Emerson, Buckner’s towards South Georgia, and Goolsby’s, a meat-n-three in Evans/Augusta:

photo: Augusta Chronicle

It doesn’t look like much beyond a strip mall joint from the outside but, yeah:

Country fried pork loin; barbecue chicken; hickory-smoked barbecue pork loin; Southern-fried jumbo chicken tenders; green beans, black-eyed peas, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, collard greens, coleslaw, mashed potatoes and gravy, cabbage, creamed corn, candied yams, and rice and gravy AND A HOECAKE!

The waitresses remember your face and if you take yellow, pink or blue packets in your unsweetened tea, and the allegorical slice-of-life tin roofing/acrylic paintings of Lincolnton, GA artist Leonard Jones line the walls.

Leonard Jones has lived in the same rural community his entire life. Born in 1955 and raised on a farm, Jones does occasional farmwork, logging work, and odd jobs to support himself. He lives simply, without a car and often without electricity or running water. He began painting seriously when he was 17, when he discovered a talent for making exact copies of photographs. Today Jones much prefers to paint simple, sweeping memory scenes. His materials of choice are housepaint and roofing tin. His choice of subject matter is often derived from his childhood, early life memories and experiences. His work is unique because of his choice of perspective - whereas most folk painters choose a head-on, two-dimensional approach, many of Leonard's works are seen from angles more akin to a cameraman. His works have begun to receive acclaim in recent years, appearing in gallery shows and at the House of Blues.

(Bio taken from his gallerists Ginger Young & Fin Leaf)

SWOON: Banjo Jim & The Redhead

“Don’t you come home with a Yankee!!”

When he left his Marietta, GA home for the big bad land of Northern Aggression in 2004, Big D took with him, among other things, that stern warning from his mama. Two years later the words still echoed thru his head and jokingly fell out of his mouth on one of our first dates. Two years after that we were engaged. (Sorry mama!)

DATE NIGHT NYC: Taking D to eat "southern" in NYC is not bad. He's curious but skeptical, having reminded me at least once that he was "raised on good food." The Redhead is a bar that has morphed into a bar-ish-restaurant serving Sunday dinner comfort food and known for its bacon peanut brittle and its chicken fried pork rib “Devil Bones.” The décor is clean and minimal and the staff is ultra-accomodating.

There is something in the butter. And D refuses to let it leave the table. It’s that good. As is our shrimp & grits appetizer. These grits are substantial, more of a rough chop than a fine mill, with perfectly seasoned shrimp and a chunky sprinkling of andouille sausage. My main course fried chicken is light and juicy with a crackly/crispy crust and served with a savory/sweet multi-textured spinach salad. The best thing about the cornbread was it gave me an excuse to eat more of that crack-butter. For desert, we split the salted caramel Ho Ho. It is a weird mix of sweet and chocolaty with a hint of saltiness in the caramel cream filling. Heaven!

After dinner, we strolled thru the East Village until we stumbled upon a scrappy dive on the corner of 9th St. & Avenue C. Banjo Jim’s is awash in the reddish glow of Christmas tree lights. A garland of green mylar cacti dangle from the ceiling and posters for the upcoming mandolin contest stud the walls. The L shaped corner bar is lined with ladies and sweaty cans of PBR. All the while, crooner Megan Palmer fiddles old-timey originals and covers in the front corner by the door. Here, in the belly of Alphabet City, a whiff away from Latin-fare mainstays Casa Adele and Esperanto and across the street from La Plaza Cultural community garden, we found a honky tonk.

SCOOP: Greensboro, NC by Stephanie Sherman

Elsewhere Artist Collaborative's Director of Concept and Design Stephanie Sherman gives Southernist "the scoop" on insider hotspots in Greensboro, NC:

ART: Elsewhere!! is an arts production site and experimental museum that brings innovative contemporary artists to Greensboro to participate in the transformation of a three-story former thrift store housing one woman's immense 58-year collection of surplus objects. (See more info below)

SLEEP: The Proximity Hotel is an awesome new green hotel. New World Moxie - Old World Hospitality -Vibrant Restaurant - Creative Events - Stylish Loft-Like Guestrooms - A Green & Eco Friendly Hotel. "Greensboro is an apt name for a town that will be home to one of the greenest hotels in the country." - New York Times, September 2007

EAT: 223 restaurant (223 south elm street) has incredible experimental southern food that appears totally wacky but is actually delicious. Very innovative combinations.

SHOP: A new store on McGee St. in downtown called "Love Your Friends Be Social"is a mix of skateboard, hip-hop, designer genre with some really great colorful kicks and nice sunglasses. Also, there's a great vintage store called Design Archives on Tate Street (a little ways from downtown).

More about Elsewhere: Elsewhere's international visiting artist program invites innovative cultural producers to create new, site specific works across media using the materials of Elsewhere's collection. Artists work with and within a living artwork, continually transforming Sylvia's collection and past artists' work into a building-wide collaborative installation. At Elsewhere neither object nor artwork is for sale, instead, a continually circulating environment of art and object provides imaginative experiences for audiences and artists alike. Elsewhere's fifth season, running March to November 2008, will include over 35 international creators and feature a complete schedule of openings, Artist Conversations, performances, workshops, new installations, happenings, and events.

2008 marks the bicentennial of Greensboro, NC.

EAT: Puttin' A Lil' More South in New York's Mouth

Brother Jimmy's BBQ opened a new downtown location on 7/24 in Murray Hill. The invite? Coca-Cola meets Run-DMC. Walk this way y'all:


http://http://www.tamzdesigns.com/clients/brotherjimmy/