Cooking Queen Has Left the Building

While traveling I'm always a little nervous (with good reason) when I ask for restaurant suggestions and there's no immediate response. Most people have some sense of what good food should be and hesitation always means they're choosing between the lesser of several evils. And...it's always followed by "well you could try Subway out on the bypass, or Applebees on Connector Rd".

With those words I know I'm doomed! There is nothing acutely wrong with either, in fact I often, by choice, eat lunch at Subway. But dinner inspires a different animal in me. One that needs not just nourishment but flavor, local color and something that rings authentic to the area.

I've often said I'd gladly trade a layer of grease, a smattering of ash trays (way in the back room) and a surly waitress with a whiskey tenor, for a good meal...hell, I might consider trading my soul!

Owensboro, KY offered up a gem this week. Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn, while extremely clean (no fine grease film here) offered up lots of locals catching up on each others lives and the lives of those not immediately present; who has a new "grand baby", who's laid up, who's living on the dole, who's getting married or divorced, church activities, and the ever present din on the sad state of the economy. All this between mouthfuls of hickory smoked pork, beef and mutton barbecue, crispy-around-the-edges mac and cheese, country beans, baby lima's, creamed corn, cole slaw, corn bread, biscuits, mashed potatoes, twelve different varieties of homemade pies, and copious gallons of sweet tea!

My waiter, a cute, personable young man greeted me immediately and actually sat down at my table long enough to extol the workings of Moonlite...and its virtue of high personnel retention, (he's been there 4 years and others 20 or more...though "the dishwashers have a higher turnover". He's worked in a dozen restaurants and this one, according to my table companion is like non other. It's obvious he loves the place and his job.

When I asked about the buffet he said, "You wanna look at it with me...I'll explain everything?" (this kid gets as excited about food as I do!!). Wow! He led me to the buffet, pointed out the choices, asked if I had questions, and when he saw the gleam in my eye, left me standing there thanking God he didn't sell BMW's!

It was fantastic! I had a little dob of nearly everything except the twelve pies. What is wrong with me?? Unfortunately I limited myself to a sliver of chocolate pecan and a sliver of coconut cream...how's that for balance? The barbecue sauce was delicious with a tangy, slightly sweet flavor to which I added their special hot sauce to kick it up, or as Shaun White says, "lay it down"! Surprisingly I wasn't stuffed; the opportunity was definitely there but I showed a very uncharacteristic level of restraint.

Conversations flowed all around me; the hum of laughter, pain, happiness, surprise, grief and the joy of real life stories shared over good food with friends and family. It's a sound that's pretty familiar in local restaurants from one small town to the next and what I miss when the Queen has left the building!