The Best of Augusta For Real!

Really! No kidding – the best meal we’ve had in Augusta! On Friday David and I made our way downtown to the White Elephant Café on Broad Street. Charson our favorite sushi chef from Matsu Sige had recommended it and knowing that he was also the chef at the Café we had really high hopes for a good meal. For once we were NOT disappointed! The White Elephant has all of the things we look for in a dining experience and at a great price too! The service was right on the money. Our waitress Nicole had an engagingly quick wit and was equally speedy on the delivery of food and beverages. No lollygagging going on at the Elephant! We were also greeted by Jai the owner, and Charson and I was reminded that it is the personal touch that makes the real difference in how a restaurant is run. I noted that other customers were greeted warmly as well and it made no difference if they were old friends or newcomers. All were made to feel welcome. The décor and ambiance is tasteful with a hint of humor and clean scrubbed to a shine just like we like it! The ladies room had some eyelevel framed wisdom to impart…Flush your troubles away…Words to live by! I’m mentioning the food down the bottom again as I often do but in this case because it’s nice to save the best for last. The food was excellent! The starter of sweet potato fries had an incredibly good chipotle dipping sauce. The salads were slathered with a rich, garlic loaded potion that I could slurp by the vat. I had the Peach Filet en Croute – rare – and it was actually perfectly cooked! It was seared on the outside and juicy red on the inside, tender and flavorful topped with a not to sweet peach glaze and sliced peaches. David had the meatballs with couscous – savory meatballs on a bed of fluffy couscous with a fruity-spicy chutney on the side. Both meals vanished without a trace in record time! The only minor nick was the coffee that was not quite on par with the rest of the feast but next time we’ll try the espresso which I suspect will be excellent. Unfortunately the ample portions left us too full for dessert so we’ll have to save that for our next trip….and there will be a next trip very soon I assure you! I’m giving The White Elephant a 9.5…the Best of Augusta on our list and a restaurant that would stand up favorably to good food anywhere!

Ironically Good

While David and Diane continue to explore the Southeastern culinary treasures, I manage to stop in on an oldy but a goody here in Texas. One of my goals this winter is to visit some great places that I haven’t been to for a while…and make sure they’re still great. This last weekend I managed to get by a favorite burger place in Waco, Tx. “The Health Camp” has been in business since 1949. “Burgers, Health?” you might ask. Well, there’s my irony. The Health Camp is a dive with greasy diner style burgers. I guess that back in 1949 that was considered healthy. Healthy or not, delicious they are. The burgers are classic diner style…greasy (not too much so) with a good flavor. Made fresh to order. “Mayo or Mustard…all the way?” is what they ask you when you place your order. The shakes and malts are a must have…made fresh from scratch. A cheeseburger will run you about $2.50 and a shake about $1.50. Back in the 80s they were written up in the Washington Post and The Dallas Morning News as one of the great burger places in America. Some friends have told me they think it is not as good as it used to be. I’m not sure whether we are just older or that is actually the case. I can tell you that the burger I had on Sunday was delic-ariffic. It’s nothing fancy, but I think it is excellent. When you stop in, you will see the old newspaper writeups on the wall, along with some old pictures of Waco. There a few aerials of the “circle” where the restaurant is located that look like they were taken from a crop duster with a brownie. The booths are old but clean. And there is a jukebox. The current model is a modern CD based one. It’s less nostalgic, but has a better selection. If there are a bunch of locals in the restaurant I usually select some Metallica on the jukebox right before I walk out the door. Where is this place? Exit Valley Mills off I-35 in Waco. It’s on “The Circle”. I imagine that this traffic circle was an important and busy place back in “the day”. It’s not much these days, but seems to be making a comeback with more restaurants building up nearby. Have you ever been in a traffic circle? Imagine 4+ roads coming together. Instead of a stop sign or light, all of the roads dead end into this circle. You then drive around the circle until you get to the road you want to be on. It’s a very silly concept that you don’t see built anymore. This one is true genius; it’s a 2 lane traffic circle! BTW, don’t get in the inner lane if you plan on getting out of the circle. As you enter the circle, you will see a nice (and recently refurbished) place called the Elite Diner and next to it a completely un-refurbished Health Camp. It’s a square, squatty, ramshackle little building that looks like it has had little maintenance since it was built in 1949. Old, ramshackle and the perfect ambiance for an old style burger. As we drove off, all we could say was “Mmmmmmmmmmmm.” I give it an 8.5 on the old Heave O' Meter.

Luigi's Rerun

While David has already written his thoughts about Luigi’s I feel compelled to add mine as well. Luigi’s got a rating of 2 from us on the Heave O' Meter…and it is one of those places that just made me mad! It has all the potential for a great hole in the wall Italian joint….seedy downtown location, dusky lit Mafioso style interior, blatantly Italian hostess… when we walked in I thought…Great! Some real Italiano in Augusta! When the hostess informed us that we’ll be seated family style with some other folks (but ONLY after she could fill the table of six) I thought GREAT! This means they get really crowded, it must be REALLY good and when we were seated with 2 couples from the area I thought now THIS should be fun! Ahhh huh…well…..sort of. Unfortunately Luigi’s only looks like a Mom & Pop Italian restaurant. What it tastes like is…well…let’s just say oatmeal comes to mind. And after speaking with our dining companions for a few moments it became evident that oatmeal-bland food and lifestyle is exactly what they enjoy. The one couple kept going on about the fact that they’d never really been outside the area (and seemed strangely proud of that fact). The other couple, where only the man was allowed to speak it seems, started off by saying you could order any of the spaghetti dishes in the half-order and it was MUCH cheaper…then went on about how the food at one place was cheap, and the food at another place was really cheap and then topped it off by saying that he thought the best coffee was to be had at Waffle Hut? HUH? Oh dear here we go again….. I ordered a glass of Chianti (which drew censorial glances from the far end of the table) and figured it was going to be another blog-worthy meal. Unfortunately I was right…..! The people watching proved to be the only vaguely spicy portion of our meal. We tried to decide if the sleazy looking girls were pros or just had stock in Mary Kay and Aqua-net. I haven’t seen such architecturally designed hair since Loretta Lynne in the 70’s! Since the strip joint is next door we decided they were probably in for a carb-boosting feast before a hard night of the bump and grind. Back at our table things were going a bit down hill. The couple across from us were pleasant if but much like the food yet to come, unseasoned and really pretty boring. The speaking portion of the couple on the end of the table is a proud member of something called the Beech Island Agricultural Club. He clumsily maneuvered this fact into the conversation by saying that David looked familiar and hadn’t he given an address to the club recently? It seems it’s a ‘gentleman’s club’ where women are only allowed to attend once a year. He gave my Dad a wink and a nudge as he described the group’s activities and libations. He also felt the need to ask if Dad “paahked the caaah in Haaaavrd Yaaaahd’ in a bizarre blend of Kennedyspeak and redneck drawl. As our salads arrived he hijacked the table to say an elaborate grace and I started to contemplate duct tape therapy. But luckily once he dug in he ate with all the enthusiasm that his bulk implied and we were spared further conversation. Oh yes the food… it’s down here at the bottom of this little tale because it was as David put it so “unmemorable”. The salads…$4 a pop, iceburg lettuce, a sprinkle of generic feta cheese, 2 pallid slices of tomato and 1 tiny kalamata olive…not exactly bountiful or flavorful either with it’s coating of fresh from the bottle dressing. I ordered eggplant parmagania, one of my standard favorites. This is not a tough dish to perfect but yet Luigi’s made it tough….literally! The overfried eggplant slabs were so chewy I had to cut them with a knife, no nice mozzarella cheese was in evidence…and the sauce tasted like it was right out of the Delmonte can…..no spices, no garlic…just ground up tomato. David went with the Fettuccine Alfredo…again a relatively simple dish. Luigi’s wanted it so simple they decided to leave out all those pesky things like garlic and cheese…wouldn’t want any flavor getting in the way now would we? Dad had the only reasonably tasty fare with his plate of Moussaka. Though he said it was far from the best he’d ever had he gave it a ‘not bad’… He too has found that to be the standard praise for food in this area. In keeping with the theme of bland is best Luigi’s served up plain white bread (because crusty bread is somehow sinful we’ve decided) with whipped non-cow “buttery” spread on the side. This is a HUGE pet-peeve of mine as I’ve mentioned in previous ramblings but it really ticks me off when it’s served with an $11 entrée! When the meal wrapped up the waitress inquired about coffee. The Waffle Hut aficionado chimed in that it was “Really good!” Ah gee, no thanks I think I’ll pass….on the coffee…..and on Luigi’s.

Donkey Kong:1 - Luigi:0

Luigi's Broad Street Downtown Augusta, Georgia Back in the day, when all of the DK hype had died down, I told Mario not to let his brother go off into the restaurant business. "Stay in the Strawberry Shortcake rescuing trade! It may not have the publicity that it once had, but these trends have a way of coming back even stronger than they were when they first hit the street." Luigi wouldn't listen to me, or Mario. Sad. It seems that Mario's brother must have ended up in the red-light district of Augusta, Georgia. How he got there must be some kind of story. Okay, okay...enough trendy 80's references. Luigi's sucked. From the moment that we parked in front of Fantasy's Showgirls, I just had a feeling that a Taste of America posting was on the menu. No, really...we had to park directly in front of the "gentleman's club"...nice, family setting. From the looks of the strippers going in, remind me to miss "Fantasy's" for my next "guy's night out". Not to worry, the tawdry parade of female flesh was not just limited to parking in front of the nudie bar....no, no...there was more to come. Once inside, I thought I had been dropped into Newark. I think that the words "Tasteful" and "New Jersey" have never (and should never) been uttered in the same breath. Okay, so now they have. The hostess informed us that there was a wait, although there were plenty of large open tables available. We could opt for the "family style" seating, but ONLY when six people had arrived. On that last point, she was...rather insistent. I have no problem with sitting with folks I don't know and having dinner...however, I know that may not be the case with some. We were sat with a prominent member of the Beech Island Agricultural Club and his wife, as well as a couple from Louisville, Georgia who had evidentially found enough within the confines of the CSRA to not ever have to leave - ever. "Never been more than a 100 miles from where I was born," he proudly proclaimed. I think I am beginning to see the root of some of the problems with the CSRA (Central Savannah River Area or "Greater Augusta" - which are also two words which should never be uttered together). The tawdry women? Yep, the strippers all eat at Luigi's before their shift. Well, let's be fair, the over-makeuped, big-haired, trampy-dressed girls sitting at the table next to us MAY not have been strippers...but the way girls dress these days, who can tell? If you are wondering why I have not mentioned the food yet, it is primarily because the food was so unmemorable. According to Diane, "I have opened a can of Ragu that had more flavor." I couldn't agree more. I had the Fetticini Alfredo. For those who are "culinary challenged", Alfredo sauce is heavy whipping cream, parmesan cheese and garlic - that's about it. The white stuff on my pasta, by my estimation, had to be reduced whipping cream. I am sure that they MEANT to put parmesan and garlic in there...because then it would actually be Alfredo sauce. Don't ask me about the $2.00 garlic bread. It just makes me angry....and you wouldn't like me when I am angry. Okay, okay...I am done with the cheesy pop-culture references...perhaps Luigi could use some of this cheese in his Alfredo sauce....then at least it there would be SOME reason to take notice.

Our other "10"...

Today we went with Dad to Watchmaker’s at the Fitzpatrick Hotel in Washington Georgia. It really has become one of our favorites. Their Sunday brunch is just excellent. I’ll have to admit it’s not the most opulent brunch buffet I’ve ever visited but everything they do they do very well. The decor of the restored hotel is lovely with brightly polished wood floors and paneling complementing mellow gold walls covered in tastefully framed watch memorabilia. It's not stuffy or pretentious, just quietly elegant. We arrived ahead of the after-church mob and the place was virtually empty. We were greeted by the hostess with a smile and a “well you’ve been here before so I sure don’t have to tell you what to do”! She’s right, this is our sixth return trip to Watchmaker’s and for good reason… they have great food. This visit was no exception with the highlights being a succulent traveler’s roast pork, superb squash casserole, crispy fried chicken, their specially stone ground grits with creamy shrimp sauce and so many other treats to numerous to list…. The service is always good, but today it was even better than usual. We just had to raise an eyebrow and someone was there to refill coffee or cheerfully fill a request and as the platters on the buffet emptied they were instantly refilled. Dad commented that it was almost like they were reading our minds. All of that would be saying something when they were in the almost empty phase but the fact that the superb service continued even after the place filled to capacity is a testament to how well this staff has been trained. The chef was there to oversee the whole affaire and came by to ask how we enjoyed our meal. It was nice to be able to tell him that it was excellent and mean it whole heartedly. We shall of course return………!

East Texas Burger Co (Mineola, Texas) A++

East Texas Burger Co (Mineola, Texas) This is one of those small town, hole in the wall kind of joints that you absolutely should stop at if you are hungry at all. Great Burgers, fries and pies, with nice atmosphere. Mineola is about an hour and a half East of Dallas on US 80. I was visiting family during the week of Thanksgiving, and stopped in for the first time in years. As we pulled up, we realized 2 things of immediate concern. First, the restaurant was packed and we wondered if we could find a table. Second, we realized that we had the dog in the back seat of the truck. After ducking inside briefly and discussing the issues, we decided to order to go and have a little picnic. This was both good and bad. Bad, because the quaint, disheveled décor really provides that sort of greasy spoon ambience. We managed to soak in some of the ambience and some of the grease as we waited on our order (taking turns with the dog outside on a leash). Both the bric-a-brac and the clientele were certainly eclectic, ranging from locals, to tourists to random bikers passing through. Everyone seemed to be happy to be there. The service was friendly, with smiling employees asking everyone if there was anything else they needed. Considering how busy they were, the 10-15 minutes we waited on our order was not bad at all. The Good was that it was an extremely nice day outside (sunny and 78), and there is a nice little Gazebo around the corner near the railroad museum (if you can call it that). We got to watch a couple of trains come by as a bonus. Now on to the main course, so to speak…Scrumptious down home burgers, in your choice of ¼ or ½ pound sizes. I’m not sure what they put in the burgers, but they have a unique flavor…savory yet different. My family was very impressed with how good these burgers were. The dog was begging like she never had before…I guess she could smell that there was something special about these burgers. The curly fries were excellent too…sort of a succulent greasy potato feast in your mouth…mmmmmmmm! By the time we finished the burgers and fries, we were just too full to try the pies. I hear they are really good. So, now I have to go back with a bigger appetite. So, let's call this one a successful culinary journey...good home made food...and nothing from Sam's Club on the menu!

A New Voice, A New Perspective

In the interest of expanding our horizons, I welcome my friend Drew to the ranks of The Taste of America. In reality, it has only been the taste of wherever Diane and I have visited...with Drew, it adds the dimension of North Texas and....well....wherever else he roams.