{"id":922,"date":"2020-08-22T16:14:41","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T20:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/?p=922"},"modified":"2020-10-01T18:30:12","modified_gmt":"2020-10-01T22:30:12","slug":"southern-comfort-dishes-from-dixie-whistle-their-way-onto-local-menus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/?p=922","title":{"rendered":"Southern Comfort: Dishes From Dixie Whistle Their Way Onto Local Menus"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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The South is rising again in Connecticut\u2014and it\u2019s a good thing. Don\u2019t worry, you won\u2019t be seeing a Confederate flag flapping over the Capitol or The General Lee tearing up the dirt roads of Roxbury anytime soon. But Southern food is definitely making inroads in the Land of Steady Habits.<\/p>

Like the wide swath of territory encompassed by the South itself, Southern food is a broad term. Its roots range from Northern European to Spanish, African and Native American influences, and the rich cooking tradition encompasses a number of sub-genres\u2014Low Country, Tidewater, Appalachian, Florribean, Cajun, Creole and Island. (We\u2019ll save Soul Food and Barbecue for another day.)<\/p>

A fair number of Connecticut restaurants devote significant portions of their menu to Southern fare. But in other restaurants as well, Southern ingredients and dishes have been getting good play of late. Fried pickles, deviled eggs, chicken & waffles, and shrimp & grits seem to be everywhere. Pimento cheese dips are trending like poutine. Beignets will not be kept at bay.<\/p>

The area eatery currently turning heads\u2014and taste buds\u2014with its Southern fare is Park & Oak in West Hartford. Owner and Berlin native David Borselle Jr. comes relatively late to the cuisine, after heading kitchens that include Vivo in the Hartford Marriott, Aspen in Old Saybrook, Bar Bouch\u00e9e in Madison and \u00c0vert in West Hartford. His best sellers are probably shrimp & grits and fried chicken in various forms, but Cajun catfish and oyster po\u2019 boy sliders move extremely well, too.<\/p>

Borselle attributes much of the restaurant\u2019s early success simply to filling the niche of neighborhood spot with good pricing and food. \u201cBut I think they\u2019re loving the Southern food not just because it\u2019s different but because it\u2019s good different. It\u2019s relatable. We\u2019re drawing from all walks of life. And we\u2019ve had people from Louisiana, Tennessee, Carolina give us props because our food is just as good or better than they\u2019re used to.\u201d<\/p>

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Jonathan Harris, a native of Nag\u2019s Head on North Carolina\u2019s Outer Banks, was the opening chef at J. Christian\u2019s<\/a>, an elegant Wallingford eatery offering Continental fare with Southern influences in a renovated 1920s bank. Its Southern offerings include gumbo, crab cakes, jambalaya and shrimp & grits. He says people interested in Southern food are \u201clooking for a change. I grew up with all seafood restaurants, no Italian restaurants. People want to try different foods.\u201d Harris moved on to Park Central Tavern in Hamden late in 2016, a New American restaurant where his Southern additions have also done well, including jambalaya, shrimp & grits, she crab bisque, deviled eggs and warm pimento cheese with crackers.<\/p>

But is it just that Southern food is a nice change of pace, or is there something inherent in the nature of the food that\u2019s especially appealing? Mike Clauson, a Salisbury, N.C., native who for six-and-a-half years has operated quaint, cozy, Southern-themed 457 Mason Jar in Bristol, credits the Food Channel with opening people up to other cuisines. He adds that a lot of ex-military people who were stationed in places like Fort Bragg are pleased to find the Southern food they remember.<\/p>

The enticements include hush puppies with scallion honey butter, fried Cajun gator bites, pimento cheeseburgers, pulled pork, barbecued ribs, smoked prime rib cut into steaks, and chicken Oscar \u201cthat could win an Oscar\u201d with shrimp, grits, asparagus, crabmeat, hollandaise and fried okra. Clauson also emphasizes Southern hospitality. \u201cWhen I meet someone, I don\u2019t meet a stranger,\u201d he says.<\/p>

Judith Roll, a Milwaukee native raised in Scarsdale, N.Y., who graduated first in her class from the CIA and owns Judy\u2019s Bar & Kitchen<\/a> in Stamford, calls herself \u201ca Jewish girl gone wild.\u201d She says she surprised a lot of people when she opened a Southern restaurant on the heels of her popular Middle Eastern restaurant, Tabouli Grill<\/a>, also in Stamford. Roll subscribes to the notion that people \u201care looking for something different.\u201d But she thinks Southern food especially resonates because \u201cit\u2019s a return to comfort food. It\u2019s quintessentially food that represents family, eating together, picnic foods\u2026\u201d Her smoked wings, brisket and ribs, fried chicken, Cajun catfish, chicken-fried chicken livers with sweet-and-spicy onion jam and Nilla wafer banana cream pudding all move very well. The award-winning Peach Pie cocktail is perfect accompaniment.<\/p>

Although Greer Fredericks, whose middle name is Peaches, was born and raised in Ridgefield, she is probably Connecticut\u2019s most prolific Southern restaurateur. In November 2016, she opened her third Southern restaurant in Norwalk, Peaches Southern Pub & Juke Joint.<\/p>

People were slow to warm up to some of the lowbrow pleasures of Southern cooking, Fredericks says. \u201cFive years ago at Mama\u2019s Boy, I couldn\u2019t sell fried chicken & waffles because no one had heard of the dish, but when I made it Cornish hen with cornbread waffle, it flew out of the restaurant. Now at Peaches, I can offer a bucket o\u2019 chicken.\u201d Other big sellers are her shrimp & andouille gumbo, catfish po\u2019boy, and especially, her beet-brined deviled eggs with braised bacon and pickled okra.<\/p>

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Hurricanes And Sazeracs<\/b><\/p>

Southern-themed drinks also fly out of her restaurant, including Hurricanes, Sazeracs, Peaches Pain Killers, bourbon cocktails and bourbon-infused teas.<\/p>

It\u2019s not clear whether the rising popularity of Southern-themed drinks has gone hand in hand with increased interest in Southern food or whether it may have helped spark it. Kyle Swartz, managing editor of Cheers magazine<\/a> and a Wallingford resident, says he\u2019s \u201cseen a lot more Southern-themed drinks of late.\u201d He also confirms that brown spirits have been outpouring clear spirits for the past several years, with bourbon and rye accounting for much of the growth.<\/p>

While Southern food and drink clearly are on the rise, Hartford\u2019s Black-Eyed Sally\u2019s<\/a> has been serving them for 21 years, along with a heaping helping of barbecue, jazz and hospitality.<\/p>

\u201cNow that it\u2019s trending, we\u2019re here to catch the wave as well,\u201d says owner James Varano, a Connecticut native. \u201cWhen we opened, our purveyors told us nobody will eat things like catfish, collard greens and okra. We sell hundreds of pounds of them a week. Then five years ago, they told us deviled eggs wouldn\u2019t sell. I guess we\u2019ve been ahead of our time.\u201d<\/p>

Varano cites as menu favorites the slow-cooked brisket, Southern-fried chicken & waffles, and blackened catfish.<\/p>

Of course, Black-Eyed Sally\u2019s food sales probably benefit from two Southern items whose popularity have been constants: Southern music, especially jazz and blues, and Southern desserts. Enticements like peach cobbler, pecan pie, bread pudding, beignets, red velvet cake, coconut layer cake and Key lime pie have long been a staple on local restaurant menus.<\/p>

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Guilty Pleasures<\/strong><\/p>

Like these desserts, many Southern foods are guilty pleasures. It is not an especially health-conscious cuisine. Many Southerners can\u2019t fit in their Daisy Dukes like actress Catherine Bach or enter through the windows of their \u201969 Dodge Charger like Bo and Luke Duke.<\/p>

According to The State of Obesity watch group, nine of the 11 states with the highest obesity rates in 2016 were Southern states, with Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and West Virginia exceeding 35 percent. Not surprisingly, the 10 states with the highest rates of hypertension were in the South, as were 10 of the top 12 states with the highest rates of Type 2 diabetes.<\/p>

However, Fredericks sees another side to Southern cooking\u2014namely, that \u201cit\u2019s one of the most farm-to-table of all cuisines.\u201d In the South, she says, \u201cpeople\u2019s gardens are right in their backyard, you pick food from your garden and then you figure out what\u2019s for dinner. Like all cuisines, depending on what you choose to eat, Southern food can be fattening\u2014or not.\u201d<\/p>

Roll, whose menu includes veggie sticks with low-fat pimento cheese, laughs when asked about the healthfulness of a Southern diet. \u201cWhat am I going to say\u2014never eat it? I\u2019d be out of business. You can\u2019t eat clean all the time, anymore than you can eat rich all the time. It\u2019s got to be a balancing act.\u201d<\/p>

There are plenty of other Southern-themed restaurants in the Nutmeg State. Without any attempt to be exhaustive, it\u2019s worth noting Landing Zone Grill in Harwinton for alligator tenders, Cajun popcorn (crawfish) and frogs legs in spicy red sauce; Queen Zuri New Orleans Delicacies in New Haven, Milford and Stratford for gumbo, jambalaya, shrimp & grits and bread pudding with Bourbon sauce; Red House<\/a> in Deep River for fried pickles & okra, pig wings and Dr. Pepper beef brisket; the Bayou Smokehouse in Groton for three kinds of gumbo (including gator), gator bites, pan cornbread and jambalaya; and the Voodoo Grill in Mystic for hush puppies, blackened catfish, country-fried steak and shrimp & crawfish \u00e9touff\u00e9e.<\/p>

Southern cooking is coming into its own in Connecticut. Look around for good Southern fare and you\u2019ll find yourself whistlin\u2019 Dixie.<\/p>

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The South is rising again in Connecticut\u2014and it\u2019s a good thing. Don\u2019t worry, you won\u2019t be seeing a Confederate flag flapping over the Capitol or The General Lee tearing up the dirt roads of Roxbury anytime soon. But Southern food is definitely making inroads in the Land of Steady Habits.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sidebar_toogle":false,"sidebar_date":"","sidebar_drop":"","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"0","ocean_second_sidebar":"0","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"0","ocean_custom_header_template":"0","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"0","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"0","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"off","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features","entry","has-media"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=922"}],"version-history":[{"count":30,"href":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1830,"href":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/922\/revisions\/1830"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ctdish.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}