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2005-09-08 - 21:33 So I had fried chicken on the brain when I left work this evening. Chickenchickenchickenchickenbreadedfriedyumyumchickenyum. Lincoln and I decided to check out Rib Alley, this place where he had been many moons ago. We got there and found an empty parking lot and a water termination notice on the doorhandle. So much for that. Anyhow, we ended up at this outfit called Mama's Southern Plantation. Oh, God, those ribs. And the catfish. And, of course, the chicken. That wonderful chicken. That is some seriously good shit. Mmmmmm. The thing that really strikes you about Mama's, though, is not the food but the atmosphere. On the outside, it's a very nondescript, restaurant-y sort of place, but you walk in and it's just like being in someone's house. There's a counter with wooden barstools that looks back into the kitchen, white ceramic tile and a big mantel with a mirror over it. The service seemed a little out of place there, I was expecting a very "hey, how you doin', whatcha havin'" sort of welcome, but we got "thank you for being our guests, what may I bring you?" Never mind that our waiter was wearing a flannel shirt and a trucker hat. So here's the brainstorm of the day. Lincoln says that if he ever opened a restaurant, it would be a diner. I'm thinking of a restaurant where you walk in and think, "Oh my God, it's June Cleaver's kitchen." Here's my vision: Walk in and the place is done up with all the vintage kitsch you can think of. Not in the weird road-signs-stapled-to-the-wall way that T.G.I. Friday's or Chili's would do it, but the way it might look if you were walking into your grandma's house. Or my grandma's house anyway. White ceramic tile, mustard yellow tins of flour and sugar, crocheted placemats on the Formica tables, Fiestaware, servers in dresses and vintage floursack aprons. For breakfast we'd do the usual--pancakes (not pancakes, actually-flapjacks), waffles, bacon, eggs and the rest, but also cinnamon toast and hot and cold cereal. Dead serious, I would serve Lucky Charms. That would be so awesome. Moving on to lunch and dinner, there would be pot roast, turkey with everything, fried chicken, meat loaf, and Hawaiian School Lunch (rice, beef tips and brown gravy-in honor of my dear ol' dad). Homemade chicken noodle and tomato soups, beef stew, and maybe a few salads too. Oh, and we can't forget the sandwiches. Malibu chicken, my favorite. Also meat loaf, ham & cheese, bologna, and Mom's crowning culinary achievement, the PB&J. I'll even have the servers ask in their most maternal tone if the customer would like the crusts cut off. We could do some other interesting things, like sell sack lunches with PB&J's, cookies and carrot sticks. You get the idea. Home cooked meals at their very best.
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