One of the things I love and enjoy the most about my wife is that when we are alone there is no topic off limits. Our conversations can range from the most serious of topics, to the hilarious, to what if. I love talking to her for hours when we travel, when we stay up way too late or when we go out to eat. It’s this last one that I’m thinking about today. The nature of our lifestyle is such that we have to eat in restaurants often. We prefer a good home cooked meal at our own kitchen table, but frequently we are on the road and that’s not possible.
One of our conversations has been an admittedly weird discussion, but it serves as a backdrop for our love of food. Once we had the conversation asking, “If you were on death row and being served your last meal, what would you want that last meal to be?” I know it’s a morbid topic, but hopefully I’ll never be on death row to begin with, so it’s just a good excuse for me to talk about my favorite places to eat and what to get there.
Option #1 - Steak Fajitas from Rosie’s in Huntsville, Alabama. To start with, they have the best chips and salsa I’ve found (other than my mother’s homemade). What sets their fajitas apart from others is that they use actual ribeye steak, not skirt or flank steak. Second, it is marinated in something awesome. It is served with freshly made, warm, soft, tortillas. What puts this over the top is the spicy butter dipping sauce it comes with. It’s so good I would lick it off the floor if I spilled it.
Option #2 - Chicken Bryan from Carrabba’s. I love the break and herbs with olive oil dipping sauce they bring to the table to get you started, but we don’t eat too much because we love an appetizer of crab cakes with red pepper remoulade and a bowl of tomato basil bisque. After this, it’s time for the guest of honor, the Chicken Bryan which introduced me to sun dried tomatoes and, I can’t believe I’m saying this, goat cheese. That stuff is magic. Add a side of fettucini alfredo with grated Romano cheese and you have a meal worthy of your last.
Option #3 - Ribeye Steak from Ruth’s Chris. I’ve only eaten at this restaurant one time, but once is enough. Truthfully, I’ll probably die without ever eating there again, so I might as well make it my last meal. Everything you’ve heard about Ruth’s Chris is true. The steaks are like butter, savory, juicy and tender. If you are a steak lover, and I am, it would be hard to find a better one. I like mine cooked medium and served au poivre, with a side of garlic mashed potatoes. It is fancy, it is pricey, but it is the best steak I’ve ever eaten.
Option #4 - Louisiana Ooh La La from Henry’s Louisiana Grille in Ackworth, Georgia. I stumbled upon this delight by accident. While traveling back to Pulaski from Valdosta a few months ago, we passed through Atlanta and were ready for some food. I just happened to see a sign for Henry’s Louisiana Grille on the interstate, and being a sucker for Cajun food, swerved across five lanes of traffic to make the exit. Once we got off the interstate we had to find our way around town until we located Henry’s. A word of advice, just because it says Cajun on the sign, doesn’t mean it is actually Cajun food. This is not the case with Henry’s. He’s not just a Louisiana boy, he’s also a bona fide chef. The dish he calls Louisiana Ooh La La is angel hair pasta in a white wine sauce, topped with flash fried oysters, shrimp and crawfish (all fresh), spinach and roasted garlic. I’ve eaten at every Cajun restaurant I can find outside of Louisiana (Blue Orleans in Chattanooga, Papa Boudreaux’s in Santa Fe, Tim’s Cajun Kitchen in Huntsville, Chappy’s in Nashville, and half a dozen others) and none of them can compete with this dish. The only rival I’ve found is the New Orleans Market Restaurant in Birmingham (crawfish eggrolls to die for), owned and operated by New Orleans royalty the Brennan family. Sadly, it is now closed down. This leaves Henry’s at the top of my list and my must stop meal when traveling between Valdosta and Pulaski.
In lieu of the previous entries what I’m about to write is culinary blasphemy, but I love garbage food as much as gourmet. In the fast food category the choices would be between: Sbarro’s pepperoni pizza, Papa John’s pepperoni pizza (love that garlic dipping sauce), Sonic Supercheeseburger (cheese and mustard only), Chicken plank dinner from Long John Silver’s, and the simple, but perfect, Chik-fil-A chicken sandwich. I know this is already a long list, and I’m sure I will add to it in a future blog, but I’d like to know what would be your choice of a last meal?
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