Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Beard Foundation as an American regional
classic restaurant. Its beef is fresh ground
every morning and the cheddar that's shred-
ded for the 3-Way is real aged cheddar. With
its generic diner decor, it's anything but a
posh hangout, but a cadre of devoted
customers swear by it. Then there are
those who vote for
Price Hill Chili
(4920
Glenway Ave. # 2;
&
513/471-9507;
www.
pricehillchili.com), a vintage coffee shop in
West Cincinnati founded in 1962; it's
known for its meatier, mellower take on
the classic chili, as well as its great break-
fasts and deli sandwiches.
(
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Interna-
tional (24 miles/38km).
L
$$
Millennium Hotel Cincinnati,
150 W. 5th St. (
&
800/876-2100
or
513/352-2100; www.millennium-hotels.
com). $$
The
Cincinnatian Hotel,
601
Vine St. (
&
800/942-9000
or 513/381-
3000; www.cincinnatianhotel.com).
Hometown Dish
204
Country-Style Fried Chicken
A Southern Classic
Atlanta, Georgia
Everybody's got a different vision of what
perfect fried chicken should taste like—
and it's probably based on the way your
mother made it (or your grandmother, or
whoever in your family was the fried-
chicken whiz). Unless, of course, no one in
your family could cook fried chicken, in
which case you really need to visit Atlanta
to find out how it's done.
Let's start with the classic:
Mary Mac's
Tea Room
(224 Ponce de Leon Ave. NE;
&
404/876-1800;
www.marymacs.com),
a bastion of traditional southern cuisine
that has been around since 1945 (Jimmy
Carter was known to lunch in this cheery
yellow-walled dining room when he was
governor). Mary Mac's makes its famous
fried chicken dredged in buttermilk and
flour, with a double batter that comes out
of the deep fryer curly and crisp. The thick
giblet gravy is essential, and the list of pos-
sible sides is endless, including black-eyed
peas, fried green tomatoes, whipped pota-
toes, fried okra, macaroni and cheese,
sweet-potato soufflé, and more.
Just down the road from Mary Mac's, the
Watershed
(406 W. Ponce de Leon Ave.,
Decatur;
&
404/378-4900;
www.watershed
restaurant.com), a hip sandwich shop/wine
bar located in a former gas station, has only
been in business for a couple of years. But
the chef, Scott Peacock, learned his craft
from the great lady of southern cooking,
Edna Lewis—they wrote a cookbook
together,
The Gift of Southern Cooking
—
and his fried chicken wins raves from food-
ies all over the South. Peacock brines his
chicken first to make it moist, then soaks it
in buttermilk for tanginess, and finally fries
it in a mix of lard and sweet butter for
crunchy crispness. There's just one catch—
Peacock only fries chicken once a week,
every Tuesday (it's too labor-intensive to
keep on the daily menu). They only take
reservations for large parties, so show up
early and expect a wait—everyone wants a
piece of Peacock's fried chicken.
A few blocks west, toward downtown,
you'll find
Gladys Knight and Ron Win-
ans' Chicken & Waffles
(529 Peachtree
St. NE.;
&
404/874-9393;
www.gladys
andron.net), where the crispy golden fried
chicken seasoning has a little more kick
and comes served with sweet fluffy waf-
fles (a vintage Harlem soul-food pairing).
Founded by the veteran soul singers
Gladys Knight and the late Ron Winans,
the wood-paneled dining room features
