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978-0-89587-221-0
0-89587-221-8
$14.95 paperback
6" x 9"
263 pages black-and-white photographs, index
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Collard greens, butter beans
and corn, okra and tomatoes, macaroni and cheese, black-eyed peas, baked
apples, mashed potatoes and gravy, chicken and dumplings, fried chicken,
country-fried steak, fresh seafood, cornbread, angel biscuits, hush
puppies, peach cobbler, banana pudding, pecan pie. Sound good? Now you
don't have to stand over a hot stove all day to eat the kind of food
your mama used to serve. This book can guide you straight to the source.
Southerners seem to have a
unique perspective on food. The mom-and-pop diners that serve
all-you-can-eat buffets and daily specials offering a choice of a meat
and three vegetables (hence the term meat-and-threes) still exist
despite encroachment by fast-food franchises and fast-paced
civilization.
But it's not just nostalgia
that keeps these establishments in business. In most instances, they
also serve as social centers for their communities. With the demise of
Jim Crow, these restaurants are studies in democracy. As one owner
explained, "All races come in here and eat together, talk, and
enjoy the good old Southern atmosphere. All the titles and pedigrees are
left at the door."
Journalist Don O'Briant
ignored the advice of his doctor and set out to capture the flavor of
these institutions before they disappear from the Southern landscape. To
assist in his research, he solicited help from writers and newspaper
people around the region. Folks such as James Lee Burke, Connie May
Fowler, Tina McElroy Ansa, Lee Smith, Winston Groom, Larry Brown, Roy
Blount, and Jan Karon offered memories of their favorite down-home
restaurants.
The result of Don's travels
and the input from his friends is Backroad Buffets and Country Cafes,
which profiles 225 restaurants in North Carolina, South Carolina,
Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee,
and Kentucky.
Whether you use it as a
travel guide, a restaurant guide, or simply a look at America at its
best, this book is sure to whet your appetite.
about the author
Don O'Briant has been a writer and editor for the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution for twenty-five years. Born in McCormick, South
Carolina, he has a political science degree from Clemson University. He
worked as a carpenter, teacher, traveling salesman, and landscaper
before becoming a journalist. He is the author of Sonny Bubba's
Southern-Fried, Semi-Low Calorie Cookbook; The Hapless Handyman's
Weekend Project Guide (both under the nom de plume Sonny Bubba
Ferguson); Atlanta; and Looking for Tara: The Gone With the
Wind Guide to Margaret Mitchell's Atlanta. He lives in Atlanta
within walking distance of the Krispy Kreme doughnut bakery.
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