LTHForum.com

LTH,

Had to visit the Department of Motor Vehicles yesterday and noticed there was a facility just blocks from The Depot, perfect. Had a drop dead gorgeous grilled ham and cheese with sliced tomato, triple decker with enough girth I had to compress the sandwich a bit to get it in my mouth. The sandwich was attractive enough to elicit a comment and admiring look from a women two counter stools down, and me without a camera.

I also had a house salad with Caesar dressing, I'm guessing the dressing was house made as there was a noticeable hit of anchovy, very tasty dressing.

The only slightly disconcerting aspect of the morning was the DMV, they were friendly, helpful, efficient and I was in and out in record time with a smile on my face. I was certain I'd entered a parallel universe.

Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

The caption for this touching vignette would be "Love Springs Eternal in the Diner"...and the tender affection expressed would be by you and the woman for the gorgeous sandwich.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

Just got back from breakfast at Depot American Diner, which was my first visit. I unfortunately have to report a serious level of disappointment in this meal. Naturally, I tried the biscuits & gravy, which were in a word wrong. To elaborate, just plain wrong, in every conceivable way. Where to start? How about the sausage: finely minced bits of a salmon pink hue, tasting essentially like Underwood deviled ham. This is wrong. Next, the consistency of the gravy: runny, weak, thin. And notice that the gravy is actually translucent. This, too, is wrong. Yes, the gravy has a lot of pepper in it, but that's about all you can taste. The sauce is just a tasteless, watery goo, and that's really wrong. The biscuits themselves were dry, mealy and had little flavor beyond that added by the butter used to heat them on the grill (an exercise in lilly gilding that demonstrates the underlying product is deficient, and the cook knows it; good biscuits not only don't need this treatment, they are ruined by it). To accompany the B&G, I ordered scrambled eggs, which added insult to injury by being slightly burned and dry, although I realize that's a matter of taste and some prefer them cooked that way. But regardless of reason, the eggs added to my disappointment. And the coffee was also pretty lame; not objectively bad (it was fresh and warm enough), but it was weak-flavored when a stronger brew might have helped rescue this meal. Weak biscuits and gravy plus dry eggs plus "meh" coffee = The Trifecta of Breakfast Disappointment. (Oh, and the heavy peppering in the otherwise flavorless gravy has now induced a lovely case of heartburn by which to remember this disappointment.)

This failed attempt was doubly disappointing, because the Depot clearly has a lot going for it in other departments (decor, service, and, based on other posts here, wonderful-sounding lunch items) that might make me go back, just not for breakfast.

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JiLS

Jim,

How were the portions?

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Steve Z.
Photographer/Pseudojournalist

"The only time to eat diet food is while you’re waiting for the steak to cook." - Julia Child

Stingy.

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JiLS

I had lunch at the Depot yesterday and enjoyed some terrific split pea soup and meatloaf with mac and cheese. The cook was not one of the partners that usually holds down the grill. A Sunday fill-in? Perhaps his recipe for b and g differs from the partners'. Just a thought.

Possibly. What I was presented bore no resemblance whatsoever to GWiv's pictures, here. That was what I expected to find, actually. But it would take a PM from the owner personally inviting me back and promising the B&G would not be the mess I was presented Sunday (and in fact would be prepared to order for me by the owner) to get me back in there for B&G. If I was not clear before, what I was sold Sunday was absolute dreck, to the point that it showed a certain level of disrespect (I might go so far as to say contempt) for the customer even to have served it. It looked bad, it smelled bad and it tasted bad; I can't see why it was served. Suffice to say, I was being charitable in my initial review. The tone of humor I adopted in that post may have obscured the fact that this was just a lousy meal. I also could have mentioned that I was the only customer there, meaning the quality of what I was served by no means reflected an overtaxed kitchen, etc.

[By the way of fairness and to clarify, my "Stingy" follow-up to Steve's post was a joke. The portions actually were quite generous.]

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JiLS

JiLS,

It would be going quite far to say "contempt for the customer," though I trust your judgment, and am particularly inclined to do so on this subject (I've had biscuits and gravy less than five times in my whole life; it's an entirely unappealing dish to me, and even the co-owner, Robert Nava, told me it wasn't his "kind of breakfast" -- which does not mean he cannot make it well).

Despite the position of authority from which you speak (and I say that without irony), I think you may just have got them on a bad day.

Hammond

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

Yes, clearly it was a bad day for them. They just should've said, "Sorry, biscuits and gravy are off today" and been done with it. Instead, they served me a very inferior product. Was it inedible? No, I ate it. But anybody who saw this stuff would've known it wasn't good; I can't see anyone finding much appeal in it. Making bad food is forgivable; serving it, when it is obviously bad, much less so. Anyway, it's just biscuits and gravy, I'm not going to think (or post) about it any more. Clearly, this is a great little spot with a wide range of great dishes and owners who really care about their customers and the food they serve. I just had a bad experience there, on one occasion, and everybody gets a mulligan. In fact, I will promise to go back and try Depot for something else, on another occasion, and I expect to enjoy it very much.

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JiLS

JiLS,

The question is obvious: why not just tell the cook it was sucky? As I become older and less likely to give a damn what anyone thinks -- oh, and more mature, too -- I feel that there's no reason not to tell a restaurant that what you're getting is not what you wanted. In a diner, this is way easy to do: the chef is there, so just speak your mind. It's not comfortable, though, so I understand why you might hold back, as it does, momentarily, cast a cloud over the proceedings...but who gives a cotton pickin' damn, confound it, tarnation!

Hammond

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

I knew you (or someone) would raise that point, and I thought about it myself at the time. Why not complain? I certainly have no qualms about doing so, when it will do any good. But in this instance, it would have done no good. If they had just served me an overcooked egg, they could have readily corrected the error by cooking a new egg. If they had burned some toast, they could have made new toast. But in this situation, we are talking about a whole pot of gravy that was already made; was I going to ask them to reconceive their recipe and ingredients to produce an entire new pot of gravy, just for me, while I waited? No. The biscuits were already baked (and clearly some hours old); was I going to demand fresh biscuits? I suppose I could have, but I was on my way to work and could not have waited for that, either (yes, that is my own personal burden, that I was in a rush to get to my office on a Sunday morning). Nevertheless, I do know the value of speaking up, if and when it can make a difference. This just wasn't one of those times, unfortunately.

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JiLS

We've been there twice for breakfast. I've got to agree that their biscuits and gravy needs work. I don't know what kind of sausage they use but it's nothing I've ever seen used in B&G. I lived in the South for 8 years and B&G to me needs to a milk gravy made from the grease derived from cooking bulk pork sausage. The sausage is crumbled into the gravy along with black pepper and hot sauce and served over large, tender biscuits. Perfect.
We love the diner, maybe they'll figure out B&G, if not, there's plenty else there to choose from.

Bummer experience, but I have to think it was more a matter of the fill-in chef being the problem based on a very similar situation--but opposite experience--I had on Friday.

I went for lunch with two friends, one of whom is something of a mac-and-cheese aficionado. She ordered the catfish Blue Plate special, which was supposed to come with mac-and-cheese. It was served with potatoes, instead. When my friend inquired about the mac-and-cheese, Stephanie said she must've been mistaken about the special coming with mac-and-cheese. The friend asked for a side of mac-and-cheese. We were informed that it doesn't come as a side. When my friend pushed even further by asking, "Well, what dish do I have to order to get the mac-and-cheese?", the chef, upon hearing all of this, told us that he was tinkering with the recipe, and b/c he's a perfectionist and the mac and cheese was a little off, he wasn't serving it. But if we wanted to try it that bad, he'd give us a little taste. The plate showed up, and he was right. The flavor was right, but the cheese sauce had "broken", so it was a clumpy, white mess.

The guy did everything in his power to discourage us from ordering a dish he knew wasn't right.

I'll also second the idea that it is worthwhile to mention food disasters--in your nicest, most inside-voicest way--even if there's nothing the restaurant can do to fix the dish. I was served a bowl of mealy, funky mussels last night at Mon Ami Gabi, and the waiter, noticing that I had barely touched the mussels, asked if everything was okay. I told him the problem, and he offered to replace the dish--which I declined. Yes, they might've been able to fix this particular problem with a fresh batch, but who wants to eat more mussels after you've had a funky few?

What I appreciated most was the fact that the waiter took the dish off the bill without doing the whole, 'I told my manager, and I had this item taken off your bill', "look at what a great waiter I am" song and dance. He discreetly omitted the dish from the bill...and that was that.

I'll also say, to no one in particular, that when you get this kind of star service, even if the food blows, leave your standard "great service" tip. It's not the waiter's fault the food blows. But if he handles the situation like our guy did, he's done his job and then some. We tipped the guy based on what the bill would've been with the funky dish on it.

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http://www.ColleenRush.com

I don't know much of anything about B&G, but doesn't it seem possible that there's a lot of regional variation in this dish, and that they way you enjoyed it in the South might be different than the way they make it in Minnesota?

I was listening to Michael Nagrant's most excellent podcast interview with Rick Bayless, and Bayless was saying that when he first opened (before he became canonized), Mexican folks would come in all the time and tell him that his dishes were "wrong" because they were not the way grandmother used to make them. My point: there are lots of grandmothers out there.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

James, the man usually responsible for the B&G is originally from the south (Atlanta, I believe) and knows what he's doing--he walked me through it one morning and the procedure is exactly what dukesdad describes above. They use milk, though he said at home, he likes to use half and half. The only difference is that he uses their (really tasty) link sausage cut up and fried rather than crumbled bulk sausage. It does sound like JiLS got a bad batch. But I will say that they are definitely all ears when it comes to feedback on what they serve. On the one morning I ordered B&G, someone at the counter was complaining that it was too spicy--pointing out that he could see more red pepper flakes than the previous weekend. I thought they were spot on (and nothing like JiLS's description). Give them a little more time to perfect their recipes and to get the rest of the staff on board once that's done. And if you don't like something, by all means, tell them. It's that kind of place.

Kristen

David, while there is some variation, it is fairly consistent across Southern and heartland(?) borders. I would suggest, in all seriousness, that someone looking to calibrate their taste for B&G stop by a Cracker Barrel.

CB is a mystifying place for me. A big corporate chain with an insidious gift shop that you must traverse to eat, it really did start in rural TN. I could never stand it when I actually lived in the South. Then I could never stand it when I moved to Chicago and travelled 3 days a week, when it was often the "best" place in some random town according to clueless locals. Now my kids are addicted to the junky toys and candy, as well as the mac n' cheese, so I go there. The South is now far enough in my rearview mirror that I can relax and sort of enjoy the place. I get the (real) country ham with redeye gravy on biscuits and some greens. CB is probably the only place near Chicago where I can do so.

The regular, spackle-like B&G at Cracker Barrel is a perfectly middle-of-the-road rendition. Not great, not terrible, ideal in its blandness. I never get that for myself, though. Indeed, I still think B&G is something you get at 2 am to soak up beer, and you get it because it's the cheapest item on any real Southern menu, not because it's good.

Also, it's important to recognize that the biscuits at CB (sort of like the biscuits at Popeye's) are pretty darn good when hot, great compared to Chicago's sorry standards in this regard. Since fast food places indisputably can make a biscuit, I have a hard time getting why diners in Chicago can't. Of course, there are hundreds and hundreds of counter-examples going in the other direction...

Consistent, yes, because it's such a darn simple recipe, but by regional variation I was thinking more like the presence of pepper (or types of pepper) or perhaps the kind of sausage used. In fact, it's likely the variation is less regional and more the result of happenstance: you use what you have on hand, and that's not always the same thing. Got bacon grease? Use it. If not, don't.

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

Went by the Depot today to see what they were serving for Fat Tuesday. The place was closed up tight, shades drawn and door barred. The sign on the window says open Sun. to Sat. 6A to 10P. Lets hope that they are just taking a day off.

ACK! What time was this?

Well, I was there at 10:00 PM last night, and everything seemed to be moving along just fine. Spoke for a while with Annemarie. Robert is out of town, so it's possible they ran into some staffing difficulties (incidentally, Annemarie told me Robert called and was very concerned about the posts here about the quality of the B&G on Sunday; perhaps they had to let somebody go...).

Shades drawn?

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“We all have to stand before the kitchen gods.” Chef Jacob Sahaya Kumar Aruni

I went by the Depot about one o'clock this afternoon.

We went yesterday too...closed. What is up and why no sign?

The answering machine states that they're closed today due to "an emergency," they will reopen tomorrow for normal business.

Is the answering machine also old fashioned, like the phone?

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I'm not Angry, I'm hungry.

Aren't all answering machines old-fashioned now?

Yes. It's as big as a suitcase, kerosene powered, and plays 8 tracks.

LTH,

Out of curiosity I called today, Thursday, to ask the Depot's daily special. Chicken fried chicken served with a cream gravy.

I'm now almost sorry I called, I dearly love Chicken fried chicken, but it's good for an 1/8th of a blocked artery and a couple of excess pounds.

Enjoy,
Gary

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Sauce on the side, always, implied, axiomatic..........never a doubt, BBQ sauce without.

Low & Slow

I had the chicken fried chicken for lunch today. Terrific. And since it was served with a veggie medley that included a lot of broccoli, I convinced myself that I was really eating semi-healthy.

Hey! I just figured out where this 'new' place is.

I have been stopping by there for years and years in it's various incarnations.

Suddenly, it is a destination. I will have to stop by and see what all of the buzz is about the 'new place'.

Thanks!

(I love diner food. )

Since I had plans to go to Fitzgerald's on Saturday night, it seemed right to visit this great diner a little way's east (though I feared large post-Reader-write-up crowds). I didn't need to worry as comfy seating was ample. Best chicken soup I've had in quite a while, absolutely delectable pot roast sandwich (not something I thought I'd ever feel for pot roast), and I'm a fanatic for their chocolate cream pie. Looking forward to trying their homemade doughnuts next time I head off to the Brookfield Zoo.