Tag Archives: Food

by | April 8, 2011 · 12:23 am

Anthony’s Appetite #7 (Broad Street Grille)

A Rare Find

I can’t help but tell you guys about this place in downtown Chattanooga, right on Broad Street, in The Chattanoogan. It is called the Broad Street Grille.

If you have a desire for gourmet food around lunch time, but you don’t think your Swiss bank account has enough funds to pay the bill, don’t worry. All you need to do is go downtown to the Broad Street Grille. There you can eat like the Vanderbilts, but on a coupon-clipper budget. No joke!

Try $10 on for size!

Seriously, where can you go and have chef-prepared delicacies awaiting your company, buffet-style, in an atmosphere ten times more swanky than a steak house, all for as little as $10? Nowhere like this, I dare say.

Just Enter

You can enter the BSG from Broad Street, or by coming through the hotel. If you are not going to stay at the hotel, just park on Broad Street by the BSG’s front door, drop some change into the parking meter, and walk right in. From there all you need to do is walk up to the front desk and let one of the nice people seat you.

Once you are seated, a very professional server will take your drink order and assist you in any way needed. And when I say “professional,” I mean it. Let me just say that even though this is lunch, you will be treated with the same class as those who will pay much more for dinner.

The Food

One thing you will notice is that there will be food like you have probably never had before, or at least not often. Every day is something different. The main courses change around, so one day you may find chicken and beef, while another day it will be something else, like salmon and chicken. It just varies. But whatever the case, the way the meats are prepared will totally amaze you. We are not talking ordinary. We are talking gourmet.

If you like salad, then you are in for a treat, for sure. You can choose from salad already prepared (a couple of ways), or make your own from scratch. But this is no ordinary salad bar, mind you. This is gourmet. Seriously. Just check out the flowers!

Do you want dessert? No problem. A variety is available to either make you forget you are on a diet, or convince you you’ve died and gone to sugar heaven. There’s not just one or two things to choose from, but several. And let me tell you, their cheesecake is excellent…it’s gourmet…but you probably knew that.

There are also, along with the salad, a selection of little sandwiches, crackers, and (you guessed it) gourmet cheese. Believe it or not, unlike the typical cheddar and mozzarela you can find in bulk at other restuarants, the BSG offers cheeses SO gourmet that I won’t even eat some of them. When was the last time you were offered Brie at Ryan’s or the Golden Corral?

The Challenge

Seriously, the Broad Street Grille is a place you have to try at least twice. As a matter of fact, if you want to impress someone, just take them there for lunch and never let them see the bill. You just pick up the tab, and when it is over, they will think you spent a fortune on them. If they don’t think you were the kindest big-spender for taking them there, I’ll eat my words…on a cracker with Brie cheese.

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by | February 9, 2011 · 10:41 am

Biscuits, Jelly, and Legalism

Here’s the deal…

One can easily make rash judgments about people based on certain actions. A legalist will look at those actions and come to the conclusion that the ones being judged are in need of spiritual growth, revival, or maybe total repentance. How then should a “recovering legalist” judge, if at all, people who can’t get your biscuit order right?  Ever!

one sausage biscuit

Image via Wikipedia

For years I have been going to Hardee’s for breakfast. Don’t misunderstand, I don’t go there every day; only once a week, or so. Usually, I order a chicken or sausage biscuit with cheese and a cup of coffee. That is my standard, but occasionally I order a jelly biscuit, too. I get the jelly biscuit many times for my wife. But no matter how many times I go to the drive-through window, the outcome is always the same:

Speaker:   Hello, welcome to Hardee’s, would you like to try our new gravy-covered, bacon-stripped, egg-wrapped, ham-filled, spicy jalapeño, smoked sausage biscuit breakfast meal?

Me:           No, thank you. I would like a jelly biscuit and a medium coffee, please.

Speaker:   Would you like to make that a combo and add hashrounds, a larger size drink, a bigger bag, more calories, and a bigger bill?

Me:           No, thank you; just the jelly biscuit and coffee.

Speaker:   Would you like to add one of our new multi-fruit, caramel and nut covered, sugar-dipped, candy biscuits?

Me:           No…thanks.  Just a biscuit with butter on it and two packs of jelly (for the jelly biscuit), and the coffee.

Speaker:   Will that be all?

Me:           Yes.

Speaker:   Is your complicated, hard-to-understand order correct on our high-tech, flashy, electronic order-confirming screen?

Me:          Yes, it is.

Speaker:   Ok. Please drive around to the next window, please (2 please’s are always nice).

So, I drive around to the window to pick up my simple order of a jelly biscuit and coffee. How hard could it be? The sign that I was just looking at had all the stuff this place is supposed to sell, including, for $.99, a JELLY biscuit. Did I say, JELLY BISCUIT?

I get to the window, and then an older lady (at least she looks older, but her hard-living lifestyle has probably made her look like a sweet, old granny, even though she’s 23) leans through with my coffee. Got it….coffee….just like I ordered.

Next, after taking my money, I am handed a greasy, paper bag containing the simple (or maybe complicated) order of a JELLY BISCUIT.  Granny says, “Thank you, sweetie. Have a nice day and come back!” I then look in my bag which is supposed to contain Hardee’s completed portion of our transaction.

I stop my car….sigh….mutter something under my breath….bang my head on the steering wheel…..and do just what granny asked….

I go back!

When you order a JELLY BISCUIT, shouldn’t you expect blankity-blank JELLY?!!

Back to the window I go to get my jelly for my JELLY biscuit.  2 PACKS!  Window opens:

Granny:  Can I help you, dear?

Me:          Yes, I need jelly.  I ordered a JELLY biscuit, and there was no JELLY in the bag.

Granny:   Oh, I’m sorry, you have to ask for the jelly.

Me:         (Look of disbelief, feelings of high blood pressure not caused by the high-sodium content of the biscuit I have not yet consumed…because I didn’t get any JELLY for a JELLY BISCUIT!) Really? Well can I have 2 packs of strawberry?

Granny:   How many do you want, sweetie?

Me:         TWO.

Granny:  Here you go, sweetie. Now you come back!

I do go back, but I don’t know why. Maybe I just have a big heart for the “order-taking” challenged.

All I want is a jelly biscuit with, oh, I don’t know……..JELLY!

Obviously, someone at Hardee’s needs to get their heart right with the Lord…or am I being too legalistic? Maybe I need to show a little more grace. Maybe I need to do as some have suggested (like my friend, Rhonda) and just have a stash of jelly with me at all times, just in case. Or maybe, I should keep in mind the words of Proverbs 10:12,  “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins,” and just keep my jelly-mongering to myself and “granny.”

I really like Hardee’s……..but anyone claiming to be right with God should automatically give JELLY with a JELLY biscuit….it’s the LAW!  Isn’t it?

Oh well, see…..living a life of grace isn’t always easy……sometimes you have to eat your biscuits plain.

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by | January 7, 2011 · 2:47 pm

Anthony’s Appetite #5 (the wedding)

I like food, but it is weighing heavy on me. Something has to give.

Young love, how sweet!

On New Year’s Eve I performed a wedding in St. Petersburg, Florida. Everything was so sweet and romantic, especially the gazebo and view of the Gulf Coast. What happened after the wedding is the subject of this post.

If you are ever in St. Petersburg, and you want to eat Italian, try the Palm Court Italian Grill located in the Trade Winds resort on St. Pete Beach (http://www.tradewindsresort.com/dining/palm-court.aspx). We walked there from the beach, but you will probably have to drive.

For an appetizer, I had their Traditional Crab Bisque. For those of you who don’t know, it’s like a thick, creamy soup. According to the menu, it was made with an Italian brandy cream. I don’t know what Italian brandy is like, so I’ll have to take their word for it. It was very creamy, though. Oh, and it had crab meat in it. Simple, huh? Yeah, and fattening.

My wife ordered her own appetizer. She selected Bruschetta (roasted garlic, plum tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, smoked mozzarella, piquillo peppe & basil pesto). She really liked it, which frankly surprised me. Valerie is not one to eat tomatoes. I didn’t care for it too much, however. The dish had a lot of potential, but I believe there was an excessive amount of olive oil used.

After the appetizer I chose the Club Croissant. You normally can’t go wrong with a club sandwich, so I figured I was safe. This was no ordinary club sandwich, though. As the name implies, it was on a croissant. That added a whole flaky texture that made it a little difficult to hold the contents together when taking a bite. Don’t get me wrong – it was tasty. All of the ingredients (smoked turkey, smoked bacon, swiss cheese, etc.) came together nicely. It was a filling sandwich, especially when served with the cool pasta salad.

Delicious cake from Publix

Interestingly, the bride’s mother purchased the wedding cake from Publix. White cake with raspberry filling and a cream cheese icing – marvelous! One piece was enough to add an inch to my belt line.

Because of all this eating, and all of the eating before, the new year has begun with a change in diet. At my doctor’s recommendation, I have started the South Beach Diet. I am too important to my family to die early like my dad did. In the near future you will hear of how losing weight can be tasty, too…..I hope.

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by | October 21, 2010 · 1:51 pm

Anthony’s Appetite #3 (The Purple Daisy Picnic Cafe)

I love BBQ.  As a matter of fact, I think that when God told the Apostle Peter to eat the stuff that was on the sheet that was lowered down, BBQ sauce must have been included.  It had to come from God as a thing ordained from Heaven.  Consider the following words from Acts 10:11-13

He saw heaven opened and a certain container descending to him, like a great sheet let down by four corners on the earth, in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky. A voice came to him, “Rise, Peter, kill and eat!”

At first Peter was not about to do this thing, for on that sheet (I think it was the first picnic sheet) were things formerly unclean, presumably including pork.  God then says to Peter, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.”  Folks, let it be said,

“If to God you want to be true, eat everything with Barbeque.”

Alright, so I won’t get an “A” in biblical hermeneutics, but hopefully you get the point.  BBQ must be ordained by God, so we must try to eat it everywhere we can to find the best to recommend.  With that, here’s a suggestion.

The Purple Daisy Picnic Cafe

If you are ever at the foot of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN (right next to the Incline Railway), stop by The Purple Daisy Picnic Cafe (thepurpledaisy.com). My wife and kids and I went there last week and left pretty happy.  Let me tell you about some stuff we ate.

Q-Dog

Have you ever heard of a Q-Dog?  Well, it was pretty dang good.  It consisted of an all-beef, grilled hot-dog, covered with barbecued pork and slaw, with a pickle on the side.  I loved it.  The slaw was good, too (if you like coleslaw on a BBQ sandwich, you’d like it on the dog).  The cost ($4.50) was a little more than a regular hot-dog, but i’twere the toppings that made the difference.  You could eat it with a fork, but I preferred to man-handle it.

 

Now, speaking of just good-ol’ barbeque (I think it looks better spelled with a “q”), the sandwich was a lot better than the one I had not too long ago at Bones’ in East Brainerd (no offence, Bones’).  The meat was tender and moist, with a good smoky flavor.  My wife ordered a regular size one, and I got the last bite (for the blog’s sake).

For dessert, Valerie and I shared a banana pudding.  Again, it was not like my granny in Alabama used to make, nor like the big-armed grannies at a few homecomings, but it was good.  What made it a little different was that it seemed to be freshly prepared for the customer at the time of order.  The reason I say this is because of how the actual pudding was at the bottom, but the vanilla wafers and whipped cream were on top.  The whole thing couldn’t have been made too much earlier, because the wafers were even still crunchy.  It was served cool, not warm.  I prefer warm, but oh well.

Now just a couple of other things to mention.  First, let me tell you about the baked beans.  They were a dish to themselves – really.

Baked Beans with "Stuff"

As you can see from the picture, these weren’t your ordinary baked beans.  They had “stuff” in them.  A bowl of them thar’ beans and some cornbread and you’d be set, I’m tell’n ya’.  How’s that for colloquial?

 

The atmosphere of The Purple Daisy Picnic Cafe was fun and unique, too.  Just take a look at the table and chairs in the corner.  There is seating inside and outside.  They serve Coke (hallelujah!). But getting in and out of their parking can be a little tricky, depending on which way you exit the lot (FYI).

Well, that’s about it for this addition of Anthony’s Appetite.  Who know’s where I’ll end up next.  Until then, give this little locally-owned cafe a try.  The even have a neat website if you want to plan your culinary adventure beforehand.

God Bless BBQ!

P.S.  My only complaint was that there was no Brunswick stew.  But you know, nothing wrong with doing only what you do best.

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by | October 9, 2010 · 12:15 am

Anthony’s Appetite #2

When I envisioned a blog written by a recovering legalist, I never had “food critic” in mind.

But guess what?

Of all the things I have written so far, I have had more responses to what I thought about food than anything else!  Cool, huh?  I eat for other people’s reading enjoyment.  What could be better?

Last night was one of those nights where everything goes according to plan, just not your own.  We ended up at a restuarant all the way out in East Brainerd (that’s a part of Chattanooga, for those of you who don’t know), which is a good 30 minutes or more from our house.  Long story short, we decided to go to a place called Bones’ Smokehouse (9012 E Brainerd Rd).  A friend of the family, Kimberly Cobb works there as a server (so go there and ask for her, but make sure you leave a good tip).

When it comes to BBQ places, I have just a couple of things that I always ask for, 1) a simple pork sandwich,  and 2) a bowl of Brunswick stew.  Now, sometimes I also like to eat chili, so in this case I ordered all three, just for my loyal reading audience.

Let me tell you what I thought.

First, the chili was really good.  Of course, I make the best chili known to man, so if  there’s a quality chili anywhere I like to know about it.  This chili was pretty darn good, I must say.  It was full of meat, both pulled pork and beef.  There was not a lot of beans, but enough to let you know they were there.  The flavor was rich and not tomato-y.  As a matter of fact, there was a particular spice that I sensed that characterized the chili, but I just couldn’t put my finger on what it was (which will drive me crazy).  As a whole, it was a more peppery chili (as in black pepper), but not a hot chili.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone, and wouldn’t mind having more.

 

Chili with onions and cheese, Brunswick Stew, and a pulled-pork sandwich

 

Secondly, the Brunswick stew was absolutely divine (humanly speaking, sense I am not convinced Divinity eats Brunswick stew).  Just like the chili, there was nothing watery about this stuff.  It was stocked full of veggies like corn, peas, green beans, celery, chunky tomatoes, and those little lima beans.  The meat was good, smoked, pulled pork that was as tender as butter on a biscuit.  Overall, however, it was the smoky flavor that brought it all together into a taste combination that would make you want to close your eyes and say a simple “thank you” to God for taste buds.  Personally, it brought back childhood memories of cold mornings and the cozy smell of a warm fireplace.  Good, good stuff.

Thirdly, there was the sandwich. Didn’t like it.  Enough said.  Nothing special in the flavor department and a little dry.  Considering the rest of the food, maybe they were having a bad day.

For dessert, I asked for banana pudding. Frankly, it was not really up to the standards of home-made, but it was alright.  When it comes to banana pudding, unless a granny makes it, or it is part of a homecoming dinner at an old-fashioned Baptist church, you might as well forget about finding perfection at any price.

All-in-all, the best tasting food came in bowls.

Thankfully, they serve Coke!  What’s even better, they use the small crunchy kind of ice you can munch on all day long.  That’s good stuff, too.

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