[sunmoonset]

Went there last week and checked it out. NE 24th and Burnside, where the old Sofa • Table • Chair used to be. Down home southern cooking, they even have an EAT sign in the window. I had red beans and rice, fried green tomatoes, hush puppies, fried chicken and collard greens. I'm not from the south, but it was awesome.

Anyway, I got a chance to look at their lunch menu and it has a "muffalata" sandwich on it, and some Po' boy sandwiches. I haven't gotten a chance to go back yet and I was wondering if anyone has been there for lunch yet? Is it crowded during lunch, etc. etc. Any info is appreciated.

By the way, my first post!

T

[ExtraMSG]

Thanks for the report, sunmoonset, and welcome to the site. Sounds promising. Have you been to Lagniappes? If so, how does it compare?

[pdxnewbie]

Oh, honey, I am on my way ! lol..thank you so much for this..hush puppies..sigh

( in case you can't tell, I am from the South lol)

[Amanda]

I often pass by this place and have watched it evolve from a graffitied neglected space to a classy looking little cafe. Sounds like the food is down home and delicious. Do they serve breakfast?

Best regards,

Amanda

[sunmoonset]

I heard they will be opening for breakfast on they weekends soon...

[syrahgirl]

Sounds like a nice comfort-food type place. I have put it on my PDX list, thanks for the info, looking forward to hearing mroe about this place for future reference.

[thakrza]

I will of course be heading to this place, STAT. I pray for a legitimate Southern menu. I am a little mystified by this insistence of every Southern place round here to have Po Boys and Muffalettas. Now, I love those two things, but they are very NOLA-specific food items. The only places in the regular old South that serve Muffalettas are either old-style Italian deli joints or places run by expat Louisianans.

Now I won't complain if they nail it with their fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, collards etc!!!!! I won't complain if they have good muffalettas/Po Boys! I just think it is kinda weird (unless everyone starting these Southern joints is originally from Louisiana), but everyone knows I am a purist!

[pdxnewbie]

They were serving Muffalettas at Bluehour the other day

I am going to see if we can stop by this weekend, on the way to or from Laurelhurst Pk..this is for the dog, does anyone know if there are outdoor tables?

I want hushpuppies But wonder what breakfast is ? grits and ?

[ExtraMSG]

I wondered the same thing, thakrza, when I heard about that place. With all the NOLA expats scattered like the Jews, though, it just could be the case that all these places.

[thakrza]

You are correct, sir. It is an interesting phenomenon, whatever the case. Perhaps they aren't Southern in any way, form or fashion and just like ALL Southern delicacies. I won't complain, as long as they get the RIGHT. If not, hell, I will complain and stamp my feet all day long!

[Epicurious]

I had breakfast there this morning. Turns out the owners are Tuscany Grill expats. At first blush, the menu struck me as a bit conflicted; "southern style" items liberally mixed with vegetarian. I don't know about the rest of you, but to me, Tasso ham and tofu make strange bedfellows! Duo personalities aside, my eggs were perfectly cooked, the OJ was fresh, and the coffee was great. (I forgot to ask what kind they served). The place has a nice, modest, neighborhood feel; we ate on one of a half dozen picnic-type tables outside. Eggs come with a choice of potatoes or grits. I opted for the potatoes (which were of the oven-roasted variety). My eggs also came with a biscuit, which wasn't a true southern "drop-style", but was quite tasty. It was almost a cross between a biscuit and foccacia. My dining partner had "traditional" Benedict that looked very good. The menu features all the usual suspects with the aforementioned vegetarian options. Muffalettas, Po-boys, etc., are offered with the likes of fried tofu. There is even a vegetarian "country gravy" offered with biscuits! I couldn't bring myself to ask the server what was in it. My own bias' not withstanding, everything that passed our table looked terrific. Service was friendly and effective. As it is not my neighborhood, I don't know when I'll be back, but I would certainly encourage folks to check it out. Nicole, one of the owners, was sweet and endearingly enthusiastic (as only a NEW restaurant owner can be). I wish her great success.

[Amanda]

WOW, Southern style with veggie options??? Sounds like my kind of place!

Best regards,

Amanda

[Markovitch]

okay, I have to say just one thing:



THEY DON'T HAVE A SCREEN DOOR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[pdxnewbie]

lol markovitch!
Now I really have to get over there, we tried this am and got sidetracked..weekdays are ok too, right? I must have fried eggs and grits with a biscuit...screen door or no screen door

[thakrza]

I gotta know about this veggie "country gravy". That is heresy, but I'd eat it if it tastes good. Do they make real country gravy??? Please say yes.

On another site, the issue of veggie gravy was SO shot down, esp. by my Southern compadres. I gotta say, I tend to agree. At Vita and the other places that tried to do veggie gravy, it was a watered down and unflavored mess. Nothing like gravy.

Please someone report on the grits!

[ExtraMSG]

The only vegetarian gravies that I've tasted that are any good are with mushrooms or caramelized onions to give it a natural faux meatiness. Personally, I only like cream gravies when they have at least some pan drippings, though, so I'm pretty biased.

[thakrza]

Personally, I only like cream gravies when they have at least some pan drippings, though, so I'm pretty biased.


Mos def. Cream gravy w/o drippings (or even chunks of sausage!) just ain't right. I have made some veggie gravy with mushrooms, garlic, soy sauce, nutritional yeast and onions (with a roux) and it is good, but not "gravy" to me.

[ExtraMSG]

The non-drippings cream gravies, though, have become pretty standard on chicken fried steaks. They just taste like salty-peppery thick milk to me, but some people like them. If you caramelize some onions and sautee some mushrooms so that brown bits form on the pan and then add in some butter and flour and let the flour brown nicely, then finish with cream and let it all simmer and then strain, it's pretty gravyish. But it doesn't have that true meatiness. Perhaps a little MSG..... (And by that I mean, actual monosodium glutamate, not me spitting in the food.)

[LadyConcierge]

LOL msg!

I've had "good" veggie gravy at Gravy on Mississippi. I'm not a fan of country gravy in the first place, tho, so maybe my taste is skewed.

[Crash]

As someone from the west coast, I must say that I'm disappointed that I don't even qualify for the moniker "Yankee trash." I love the south as much as someone originally from San Francisco can. It is the literary capitol of our country, and the people are ALWAYS polite to your face. The south has maintasined a culture for longer than any region in the country. It may not all be good but the culture of the south has been around the US only longer than its original inhabitants.
This said, I've got to ask our posters from the Land O' Dixie, why is it so hard to find an AUTHENTIC southern restaurant? Are there too many poseurs, who are just playing as southern? Is the southern style of cuisine perhaps so varied that someone from Georgia wouldn't recognize virginian cuisine as southern?
I'm anxious for thoughts-
-Crash
(A Yankee Trash Wannabee)