St. Simons Island.

My friend John and my other friend Rhonda, yea they are married, have a restaurant there, Black Water Grill. That’s really all you need to know. Go every chance you get. Everything they serve is always the best in the world. It is as simple as that, no matter what, at Black Water it will be very good. Always.

The great chef Mario Batali once said “If you go to a restaurant and the foods good and you go back and it is different, then that place sucks”. I agree, consistency is the most important thing.

John has worked in the most wicked restaurant conditions in the world and made it work, hell, he more then likely made it fun. So Black Water Grill has probably been a walk in the park. Other than the long hours.

I have never had anything but a great time and good food at Black Water. Any time someone mentions St. Simons, I ask if they know Black Water and the answer is always yes, we love it.

When Rhonda say’s “Hey ya’ll”, well, you know your right at home. These guys are old friends. So are Keith and Mikey, the folks we were gonna try and meet at Black Water Grill last weekend for a birthday dinner for Mikey. We could get there but getting home Sunday was gonna be a problem. No seats on the plane, so we couldn’t make it. But we will get over that way soon, cause I’m jonesing for an andouille corn-dog and some shrimp and grits.

Almost went to St. Simons Island!

That’s another story for another day.

This is the Monday Report, thank you very much! Here are some photos of the stuff I talked about last week - jobs I was working on.

The bench/coffee table made from slabs of wood with raw edge is something I have been doing lately. This table has no nails or screws. It is held together by joints and glue.

The light bulb picture is a commissioned piece for a guy who writes books about Idea Spotting. Sam is a good friend and a client. Doing this painting for him was a pleasure.

The Angel painting sold this weekend at the organic farmers market in Midtown Atlanta. I have been selling my wares at this market for about 10 years. I have made a career in this parking lot. The folks that bought the Angel painting were in town for a Emory University reunion. I wanted to tell them of my history with Emory but didn’t get the chance. Another brilliant couple.

Every chance you get listen to “This American Life” on NPR. You can listen to it anytime on their website. Also, always watch the television show “No Reservations” with Anthony Bourdain. Good stuff, all of it.

Kingsized

Now I could be talking about the band, or rather the orchestra, but I’m not I’m talking about the bed the brilliant couple is having built. It’s big and white and old looking.

So, the couple known here as “Julie and Chris” had me build a table for their beach house and then we got together and planned a bed. Like I said it’s big. The foot and headboard have 6″ square, antique pine post on each corner. The headboard is almost 6′ tall. They both have slats, 7″ wide, used for the panels, the panels are 70″ wide, so there are ten slats in each the head and footboard. The slats are pine that was used as decking on a Mardi Gras float in Mobile. The rails are made from antique pine, they are 2″ x 5″, 80″ long.

Each piece of lumber was planed with a hand held electric planer. Then it was all sanded with 50 grit paper on a 4″ hand held belt sander. Then all the lumber was sanded with 80 grit paper on a 5″ disc sander and then with 12o grit on same sander. After all that sanding I painted the whole bed white with flat latex paint and once it dried I sanded it for the last time using 120 grit paper and giving it a distressed finish.

Julie brought to my workshop eight antique tin ceiling tiles which are about 8″ square each. They are gonna look great mounted in the headboard. Each has a different design and each has a different distressed finish. Together, in two rows of four they will really make the bed.

I have just about finished this bed. I got a few other fun things I am working on and would like to finish a coffee table for the market this Saturday. I just finished a painting a fellow ordered. I will post a photo of the bed and this painting soon.

I also met with a lady today and she ordered a painting of her dogs. Two dogs in the same painting which is gonna be 3′ tall and 4′ across. That size should work well for what she has in mind I will try and remember to post a photo of that painting when I finish it.

Hotel Talisi

The Hotel Talisi is in beautiful downtown Tallessee, Alabama. It has been there since 1928. Stacey and I have been there many times as it is on the way to Mobile, not to far off the Interstate and the traffic or crowds are never a problem. Except once we stopped on Mothers Day, it was so crowded we got it to go ($4.25 per pound) and we found a nice spot by the mighty Tallapoosa River to sit and enjoy. Oh yea, there’s food at the Talisi Hotel and John T. Edge mentions it in Southern Belly.

The food is good, real good. They have the same menu everyday with some specials a few days a week. Like on Fridays, you can get the regular menu along with fried catfish and fried shrimp. We haven’t been on a Friday but I bet the catfish is really fresh.

Anyway, after that Brunch we had Sunday at Mom and Dads we hit the road back to Atlanta. By the time we got through Montgomery and came upon the Tallassee exit sign, we decided we could eat again. So we made a left hand turn towards the Hotel Talisi.

The place was right where it was last time we were there. The Hotel Talisi is a 19 room inn with antiques everywhere and in every room. The front desk is awesome. It reminds me of something from a movie. I love the mail and key slots on the large hutch behind the desk. Every time I walk through the lobby, I want to get a room and stay a few days.

Like I said, we’ve been here before and the menu is the same: Fried Chicken, Baked Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Green Beans, Blackeyed Peas, Cornbread Dressing, Cornbread Muffins, Rolls, Salad Bar and Desserts.

The Cornbread Dressing is my favorite on the menu, that and the Fried Chicken. They are both a true testament to Southern Cooking. The dressing is always the same. Perfect in texture and never dry. The chicken is crisp and a little greasy, like I said a true testament to Southern Cooking.

Sunday Brunch

So after the wedding Saturday night I was in need of a really good meal to soak up some of that leftover alcohol still coursing through my veins. Good thing Dad was cooking, I knew it would be a lot of food and I knew it would be good. Dad didn’t let us down.

Mom and Dad have a really large dinning room table, I would say it’s 20 feet long or there about. And it needed to be for the crowd we had there for brunch Sunday, down there in Mobile. Everyone was there. Pam and her two children were in from Little Rock and Kim, Bob and Scottie Mike came in from Birmingham. Sister and Cecil were there, as well as Cheryl and her three little ones. Lisa was in from NYC. Man I haven’t seen her in a coons age and she looked great. Of course Jeff, Jacob and Taylor were there, as they are most Sunday mornings. Al, from across the street joined us, he is like one of the family. Mike and Holly came by for a bite before leaving on their honeymoon. Big Daddy came back from the boats just in time to sit down with us. And Sam, as in “Lil Sis” was there. What a beautiful bunch of people!

So check out this menu. Can you say Osso Bucco, everybody all at once, OSSO BUCCO! Very good, thank you very much. There was also 25 gallons of grits, 60 biscuits, 6 dozen scrambled eggs with cheese, 10 pounds each of bacon, Conecuh County sausage, and andouille sausage. Homemade fig, strawberry, and peach jellies. 5 gallons of Bloody Marys and 5 gallons of fresh orange juice. I almost forgot the sliced fresh tomato’s.

We had the time of our lives. They don’t call us the “Loud Family” for nothing. The Mimosa’s kinda got us going, Pam mixed about 15 gallons of those and they were gone before we sat at the table. It was kind of like the wedding, we laughed, we cried and some of us threw up and started all over again. Mom was really proud. Dad was really tried, after all that cooking. Good thing they got 2 dishwashers in their kitchen.

I tell ya, it’s times like this I live for. Ain’t nothing like having good friends and family around a table like that. We must have spent 3 or 4 hours just eating, and talking, laughing and being real loud. It was a hoot and I can’t wait to do it again.

We all then went out front and played a long game of touch football. That kind of helped us work up our appetite and then it was back to the table for a third and fourth helping. Marion, thanks for all that great food, and please start planning your next menu!

Mobile

So the wedding was gonna be outside in Spanish Plaza, but just like everywhere Stacey and I try to go these days bad weather follows. The tropical storm never developed like it was supposed to but it was enough to cause the wedding party to have a huge tent setup. Which they did right behind the Mardi Gras Museum, which is where the reception was held.

Now this was a great wedding for lots of reasons. Mostly I am very happy for my friends Mike and Holly and I know they will live from now on in total bliss, that’s what happens when you get married, total bliss, just ask Stacey. Another important part that made it so great was that during the ceremony I could hear the cooker boiling hot oil and the cooking of fried chicken and fried shrimp happen behind the tent. Talk about total bliss!

The weather held off and all the old gang showed up and it was reunion as well as a wedding. Holly was beautiful in the gown that she and her mother handmade. We ate, we drank, we laughed, we cried.

Oh the fried chicken and shrimp? Well that was part of the fare served at the reception. That and lots of other southern goodies. There was boiled shrimp, spinach casserole. speckled butter-beans, and tons of other food, and it was all very good and very southern. I can’t wait til they do it again!

On The Road Again

I’m outa here. Going down where all the monkeys are. One of those monkeys will be gettin married. God love him.

So I hope to have something cool to tell ya about when I get back. Like I said yesterday, this is the old gang and I’m sure some of them haven’t slowed down since I saw them 20 or so years ago. Hope I can keep up, old man that I am.

So I’m gonna get me a poboy and hit the road. George saw me loading the truck and I went in for another suitcase, came out and he’s sitting in the front seat. Sorry buddy, not this time. He would have to spend to much time on his own, in a strange house so it’s best he stays and keeps Brownie and She She company. Man he looks sad.

Found a fried chicken joint in Montgomery I am gonna try and find. I’ll let ya know.