"Closing the Food Gap" Author Winne Speaks July 24

Anyone who has driven the four miles from the long-shuttered Edgehill Piggly Wiggly to the gleaming Whole Foods in Green Hills knows what Mark Winne is talking about when he chronicles the divide between the nutritional haves and have-nots. A journalist and food activist for 30 years, Winne traces the modern history of eating and farming that has led to a two-tiered food-supply system in the U.S. Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty (2008) explores the intertwined issues of welfare, farm subsidies, supermarket deserts, food banks, obesity, diabetes, community gardens and CSAs. Drawing from experience leading the Hartford Food Service in Connecticut, Winne focuses on expanding access to healthy foods for all income levels.

Food Security Partners of Middle Tennessee hosts a free talk and signing 6 p.m. at Second Presbyterian Church, 3511 Belmont Blvd.

Hot Chicken Festival: A Cluck Back

In a comment posted today on our July 3 entry about Nashville's second Music City Hot Chicken Festival, held July 4 at East Nashville's East Park, reader S L asked today for some kind of recap: winners, turnout, etc. I'll be happy to oblige—and to pose some questions about the future of this (paradoxically) cool event.

The big winner this year was Justin Jones, whose bright cartoon "Soda Pong" used to run in the Scene. It was great to finally meet him and shake his (rubber-gloved, cayenne-scented) hand. I did not get to sample Team Soda Pong's bird, but the remains had vestiges of pitch-black, pepper-scorched crust that looked mighty tempting. Justin said he would send us the recipe, stressing that he was not an expert, and that lots of trial and error had gone into it. But he also said it was every Nashvillian's duty to try and propagate the hot-chicken mythos by at least giving the fiery fowl a whirl.

The event looked like a huge success, with big happy (if hungry) crowds, more activities, and the welcome addition of a Yazoo beer tent. Better still, there were at least double the number of food booths, with newcomers such as Dee's Q, Otter's and Murfreesboro's The Chicken Shack alongside Prince's, Bolton's and 400 Degrees. A booth dispensing watermelon was a nice Independence Day touch. (A nice report can be found at Nashville Restaurants, where we stole the image above.)

The insurmountable problem, though, is that the slow cooking hot chicken requires puts it completely at odds with the nature of a festival. The lines at the food booths move at a crawl; replenishment takes forever. But who wants to rush chicken?

The other major problem, ironically enough, is the heat. I know logistically (and philosophically) that the Fourth of July makes sense, but summer temperatures keep a lot of folks even from going to Prince's in months without an "R." One humble suggestion: move the festivities to LP Field. Not only does it have ample parking, it can accommodate thousands of people and a large-scale cooking event indoors, as Iron Fork proved.

Obviously, the visible boost in attendance this year and the growth of the event showed that the Hot Chicken Festival is becoming, er, a feather in the city's cap. But how to serve more people without ruining the chicken's unique properties—the whole reason for the festival, after all—and how to make it more comfortable? These conundrums require the full power of the Bites brain trust.

Fowl Play on Independence Day

If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the chicken. But if you like your fowl fiery, brace yourself for the second annual amateur hot chicken fry-off, when Poultry in Motion takes the deep-fryer against Compton’s Cluckers, Hermitage Heat and three other wannabes on July 4th. Hot chicken professionals from 400˚, Bolton’s Spicy Chicken and Fish, Prince’s Hot Chicken Shack and The Chicken Shack will offer their wares for free to the first 500 people. Slow birds can buy their own from those vendors and others. The fledgling family-friendly event—destined to become a landmark culinary festival—will include music, inflatables and a beer garden hosted by Yazoo Brewing Company. Noon to 3 p.m. at East Park (700 Woodland St.)

The Jeremy Barlow Problem

Wacky chef Jeremy Barlow has gone a little Monty Hall on us. This week over at tayst, ordering off the menu will be a little like playing Let’s Make a Deal. Instead of choosing what’s behind the curtain, you choose a protein. But you never know how it’s going to be prepared. (Of course, the regular menu will be available if you don't feel adventurous.)

Consider this: You’re given choices of clams, pork and beef. You choose clams, then Jeremy tells you what the pork dish would have been and asks you if you want to switch to beef. Should you switch?

Suddenly, your relaxing dîner à deux turns into a culinary version of the mind-numbing Monty Hall Problem. Debated by everyone from C.I.A. to M.I.T., the conundrum goes like this:

A contestant on a game show is given the choice of three doors: Behind Door No. 1 there’s a car; behind the other doors are goats. The contestant picks Door No. 1, and the host, who knows where the car is, opens Door No. 3, which has a goat. He then asks if the contestant wants to swap for Door No. 2. What should the contestant do?

Mathematically, the question has been expressed like this:

Let the doors be called X, Y and Z.
Let Cx be the event that the car is behind door X and so on.
Let Hx be the event that the host opens door X and so on.
Supposing that you choose door X, the possibility that you win a car if you then switch your choice is given by the following formula
P(Hz ^ Cy) + P(Hy ^ Cz)
= P(Cy) P(Hz Cy) + P(Cz) P(Hy Cz)
= (1/3 1) + (1/3 1) = 2/3

…whoa. Whatever. Pick all three and order a cocktail. tayst is pouring a few absinthe drinks these days, so sit back, relax and leave the math to the Green Fairy.

Located at 2100 21st Ave. S. (Phone: 383-1953), tayst will serve the Surprise Menu tonight through Thursday. The restaurant will be closed July 4th weekend.

Dog Day Afternoon

The Dog Days of Summer event hosted by Slow Food Nashville last night in East Nashville was a humongous success for everyone...except me. I got to I Dream of Weenie on Woodland at 6 p.m. and waited in line 20 minutes before getting the announcement that the big attraction—City House chef Tandy Wilson's homemade hot dogs—had run out.

Before that sad news, I counted at least 100 people on picnic blankets, plastic tablecloths, etc., in the front yard and on the porch of nearby Rumours East: burly biker-looking dudes, sangria-sipping yups, a dead ringer for Michael McDonald, a tattooed babe who could have been Angelina Jolie's back double for Wanted, young couples with kids in strollers. (Good luck navigating that hill.)

The turnout astonished everyone but Carrington. When I told her about last night's crowd, The Oracle replied, "Any time you throw a start-up event with free food in East Nashville, it's an instant success."

More after the jump.

Social Occasion

Want to meet new people, hear new (old) music, eat, uh...new ice cream? Head to Bobbie's Dairy Dip at 5301 Charlotte today (Saturday, June 28) around 6 p.m. for the half-century-old burger stand's Ice Cream Social. Order up a hot fudge cake (two spoons, please) and stake out a spot to hear Caitlin Rose, James Wallets, Sawgrass, Danger and The Steel Cut Oats play, starting at 7 p.m.

Here's hoping you have better luck than we had at Bobbie's last night, though. The burger was unusually small and dry, and the sweet potato fries were literally blackened and had an unpleasant aftertaste of burned oil. The whole vibe at the place was just...weird. After being open more than 50 years, a joint's entitled to an off night now and then. But Bobbie's, a local treasure, isn't a place anyone wants to see start slipping.

Calling All Chefs Who Suck

Here's an ethical dilemma for you. If you know a cook so inept he or she could burn water on an unlit eye, you have until June 30 to nominate the poor sap for the title of America's Worst Cook. By so doing, you could make the victim eligible for "a culinary makeover trip-for-two to New York," courtesy of the American Egg Board. But is it worth outing a friend, family member or (shudder) spouse as a culinary serial offender, just to get an expense-paid trip to the Big Apple? We say: only if the nominee invites you along.

I would nominate myself, but I don't really have any cooking disaster stories. Well, except for the time I caught a skillet of bologna on fire and set off my apartment building's smoke detectors. Or the time I didn't wash the fresh-picked spinach for my spinach lasagna, providing my sweetie with a romantic dinner of triple-layered grit. Or the time my Pyrex dish of broiling salmon literally exploded in the oven. Or the time my brother dangled eggs from the rotors of our kitchen ceiling fan and hit top speed. Or the time....

On second thought, gimme that form.

Yazoo! (Gesundheit.)

Remember Chef Julia Helton's tasting dinners at the Family Wash? East Nashville's tattooed culinary love goddess is reviving the tradition this Saturday night, June 14, at Mitchell Deli in Riverside Village. Each course, featuring Helton's clever variations on comfort-food staples such as pea soup and corned beef and cabbage, is paired with a sampling of Yazoo Brewing Company brewmaster Linus Hall's finest. Here come the newlyweds:

Baby corned beef and cabbage (brussels sprouts) with Sly Rye Porter
Minted English pea soup with Hefeweizen
Sauteed clams and chorizo with Dos Perros
Braised beef with a morel demiglace with Onward Stout
Fromage savoie with an IPA brewed specially for the event

Cost is $65, and only 40 slots are available. To make a reservation, contact catering (at)juliahelton.com. Mitchell Deli is located at 1402 McGavock Pike, 262-9862.

UPDATE: Waaah! The tasting dinner Saturday night has been canceled, and here's hoping it's rescheduled on a day that East Nashville hasn't temporarily relocated to Manchester. However, this also means Julia Helton has a free Saturday night, a shipload of Yazoo and lots of those corned-beef-sprout thingies. Were I a younger man....

Down by Riverside

Need a stout cup of Drew's Brews, some New Orleans funeral-band vinyl, a Michael Crichton paperback and some jumbo slabs of Benton's bacon? Tomorrow marks the first anniversary of some of Riverside Village's highest-profile tenants, and the happening East Nashville hang celebrates with a day of sales and goodies.

There'll be live music and cheery chow Saturday to commemorate year one of Sip Café and the East Nashville School of Music. The day will be especially sweet for Sip, as owner Mike Duguay—who also owns Mike's Ice Cream Fountain on Lower Broad—will hand out free samples of his vanilla ice cream. In coming weeks Sip will start carrying 18 flavors of Mike's, which recently completed its manufacturing facility nearby: that will give the Riverside neighborhood an ice-cream parlor to go with its barbecue (Bailey & Cato's and Dee's Q), vegetarian offerings (The Veggie Cafe), pizza (Castrillo's) and the quickly beloved Mitchell Deli.

Also celebrating is Inglewood Backs and Tracks, the used book and record shop with deals for discerning jazz fans. (I found a two-disc Blue Note jump-blues set not long ago for the cost of a Noshville Reuben.) Owner-proprietor Adam Meyer will knock 10 percent off all merchandise; he's already offering 15 percent off "beach reading" popular fiction, some of which may end up in the nearby "take-one/leave-one" lending library on Mitchell's garden patio.

Meyer says Mitchell too will be joining tomorrow's party—a good excuse to sample one of the city's tastiest, saltiest BLTs (and to sign up for next week's Yazoo tasting dinner—more on that Monday). It's all happening throughout the day at the corner of Riverside Drive and McGavock Pike in East Nashville. Watch out for Fan Fair traffic.

Take Your 'Cue

The Kansas City Barbeque Society, the NASCAR of competitive grilling, is making a pit stop in Nashville. June 5 through 8, you can check out the KCBS tour trailer and interactive display at the CMA Music Festival.

If you can't take the heat of downtown and LP Field, swing by the Wal-Mart parking lot at 5824 Nolensville Road on Monday, June 9 at 4 p.m., where you can meet KCBS pros and taste samples of their 'cue.

KCBS is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and enjoying barbecue. With more than 8,000 members worldwide, the organization sanctions 300 barbecue contests annually in the U.S.

Smiley's, Everyone. Smiley's.

No, it's not the plane landing on Fantasy Island. It's Meet Your Farmer Day at the Nashville Farmers' Market on the first Saturday of the month. At noon June 7, farmer Troy Smiley will come to the Market Midway, between the two farm sheds, where he will talk about life on his family's historic farm in Ridgetop, Tenn.

While you're there to see Smiley's Farm, stop by and welcome market newcomers Rainbow Hill Farm, selling fresh vegetables; Chigger Ridge Farm, itching to share their fresh lamb and rabbit; the Schrock family, bringing eggs; and the Her family, offering flowers from their farm near Jackson, Tenn.

With the market's new layout, shoppers can purchase fresh and local goods from farmers directly, or from resellers who source much of their grocery inventory from local farms. The Farmers' Market covered sheds are open daily from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sui Generous

Wednesday, May 28, is elastic-waistband day. Don't forget to wear your comfy britches for Generous Helpings, when dozens of Nashville's finest restaurateurs converge on the Nashville Convention Center to dish up tastes of their culinary creativity. The event benefits Nashville's Table, the prepared-food rescue division of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.

This democratic event, studded with Nashville Originals and seasoned chefs alongside relative newcomers, brings out the best in the city's restaurant industry in every sense of the word. Lending their expertise are Watermark, Mambu, The Culinary Arts Center at Second Harvest, Ovations Catering, Nashville State Community College Culinary Arts, Park Café, Chaffin’s Barn, Pied Piper Creamery, Cabana, Eastland Café, Midtown Café, Sunset Grill, Tayst, Tin Angel, Mirror, Kalamata's, Margot, Marche, Zola, Noshville, Chappy’s on Church, Flyte, Radius 10, Veggie Café and Caffé Nonna.

As if that weren't incentive enough, restaurant chair Laura Wilson of Ombi says she will finally unchain sous chef Cooper Brunk from the stove to meet the public. Brunk will unveil a shrimp salad with grilled artichokes, tomatoes, hearts of palm and balsamic vinegar.

Previously named “Best Food Event” by the Scene, Generous Helpings 2008 will take place 6 to 9 p.m. Tickets are $40 in advance and $50 at the door. Patron tickets are available for $125, which includes valet parking and VIP access to bars and wine tastings. For tickets, visit Second Harvest Nashville or call 627-1565.

Ode to Otha to Benefit Second Harvest

To celebrate his own birthday and honor the musical legacy of Otha Turner, attorney Bill Ramsey will host his annual block party, Ode to Otha, Saturday, May 31 from 2 to 9 p.m. at 1711 Sweetbriar Ave.

The family-friendly event includes food, beer, margaritas, clowns, piñatas and music from Sharde Thomas and the Rising Star Fife and Drum Band, Delicious, The Greencards, Tokyo Sauna, Blue Mother Tupelo, Debbie Ritter, Stacy Mitchhart, Chip Green, Bashful Mountain Broadcasters and more.

$30 admission benefits Second Harvest Food Bank. Children under 14 are free.

Playing Chicken

Two swallows may not a summer make, but two hot chicken festivals could be the makings of a summer tradition. The second annual Music City Hot Chicken Festival will come home to roost July 4 in East Park.

Former Mayor Bill Purcell hatched the idea last year for an event celebrating Nashville's indigenous fried delicacy. In the inaugural battle of the breasts, East Nashville resident Will Radford of Will and the Fry Girls beat out then-mayoral candidate David Briley. Meanwhile, hot chicken hopeful Brett Wade was scratched from the competition when he was deployed with the Tennessee National Guard. Having completed his military tour of duty, Wade will take up arms in the MCHCF breast stakes this year. Competition organizers are calling for five more amateur contestants to join the cook-off, which will be judged by a panoply of poultry pros.

Think you've got what it takes to fire up some fowl? Apply online for one of five remaining berths.

If you'd rather just watch from the wings, you can enjoy samples from Bolton's Spicy Chicken and Fish, Prince's Hot Chicken Shack and 400°, along with entertainment and activities for the family. If last year was any indicator, get there early. The crowds were huge and the lines were long.

The free event will take place from noon to 3 p.m. at 700 Woodland St.

Smoothies, Get Your Free Smoothies

If you're strolling through downtown at lunchtime Thursday, stop by the Nashville City Center plaza at 511 Union. Purity Dairies will be giving away free samples of their new tropical fruit smoothie frozen yogurt from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m..

Purity dropped off a few cartons of the non-fat smoothies at the Scene recently, and they were a big hit. Of the four beachy flavors, our favorite was Hawaiian Surf, studded with shredded coconut and chunks of pineapple. We could imagine adding some rum and a umbrella. Of course, we would never do that at the office. Would we?

Franklin Speaking

Let me get this straight: I can gorge on barbecue, biscuits and fried pies, learn the secrets of some of the area's finest chefs, and help save the historic Franklin Theatre? Geez, why not toss in a cure for cancer and a free penis enlargement? Sorry—you'll just have to settle for the Franklin Food & Spirits Festival, coming May 30 to historic Carnton Mansion and May 31 to the Franklin Square.

On Friday the 30th, check out a Potlikker Film Festival featuring documentarian Joe York's short films "Hot Chicken," "Fried Pies" and "Whole Hog," as well as a Whole Hog Cooking Class with pitmasters Ed Mitchell and Patrick Martin. The main attraction, though, is a Grand Dinner coordinated by Chef Drew Robinson from Jim N' Nick's Bar-B-Q. Dig this roster of big swinging spatulas in the kitchen: Jason McConnell from the Red Pony; Martha Stamps from Martha's at the Plantation; Tandy Wilson from City House (awesome fried soft-shell crab the other night); the return of kitchen-science wizard Sean Brock from McCrady's in Charleston, S.C.; and John Fleer from Sunburst Trout in Canton, N.C.

Then, on the 31st, the Square spotlights a wide spectrum of Southern cooking with the help of the Southern Foodways Alliance. Eat barbecue, learn the secrets of aging whiskey, explore the rich history of local specialties such as hot chicken and the hot fish sandwich, and visit with the Four Horsemen of Southern food writing: John Egerton, John T. Edge, Jim Myers and Fred Thompson.

Visit the event's website for a full schedule, locations, and ticket information. After the jump: a schedule of some of Saturday's educational events.

Ever Generous

If you missed the culinary creativity of Watermark, Flyte, Zola and dozens of other excellent restaurants at last month’s Iron Fork, you get a second chance to sample the bounty at Generous Helpings, the annual fundraiser for Nashville’s Table and the culinary arts program at nashville Tech.

This year, as escalating food costs put strain on prepared-food rescue program Nashville’s Table and its parent, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, the event will play a heightened role in providing food to hungry families across Middle Tennessee.

On a lighter note, you can get a taste of some of Nashville’s best cuisine, from Ombi, Margot, Marché, Tayst, Eastland Café, Tin Angel, Sunset Grill, Mambu, Chappy’s on Church and Kalamatas, to name a few of the generous restaurants stepping up this year. Ombi chef Laura Wilson is chairing the event.

Previously named “Best Food Event” by the Scene, Generous Helpings 2008 will take place 6 to 9 p.m. May 28 at the Nashville Convention Center. Tickets are $40 in advance and $50 at the door. Patron tickets are available for $125, which includes valet parking and VIP access to bars and wine tastings. For tickets, visit secondharvestnashville.org or call 627-1565.

Hope to see you there.

Boom Market

It's a good time to invest in squash futures. Starting next Wednesday, Nashville's choices for fresh, locally grown organic produce will expand with the grand opening of the new East Nashville Farmers' Market. Located just outside The Turnip Truck, at the corner of 10th and Woodland, the outdoor market will show off its wares from 4 to 7 p.m. with live music, giveaways, contests and discounts.

From the press release:

Market Manager Jennifer Barrie says she anticipates "a diverse mixture of products on opening day, including a variety of greens, broccoli, asparagus, herbs, onions, shittake mushrooms, strawberries, grass fed and pastured raised poultry, beef, pork, lamb, eggs, milk. There will also be natural dye clothing, candles and more."

The initial opening day list of all organic farmers includes Delvin Farms, Eatons Creek Organics, Gardner Grove, Hatcher Dairy, Jones Mill Farm and Certified Kitchen, Madison Creek Farms, Paradise Produce, Son Farm, Spring Haven Organic Farm, Three Meadows Farm, Timbertop Farm and West Wind Farm. Lisa's Greenhouse/Pipsesswa Herbs will join in the following week. Other vendors include Angel Radiance, Spiral Market Dyeworks and ASK Apparel.

The East Nashville Market's website, www.eastnashvillemarket.com, is online and will include market updates, a calendar of events, list of products and farmer profiles and links to participating farmer's websites.

Spread the word to The Veggie Cafe.

House Whites

If you haven’t checked out chef Joe Shaw’s culinary revamping of The Standard at the Smith House, you can get a soupçon tonight at the restaurant’s inaugural wine tasting. Thursdays this summer, The Standard will pair appetizers with wines for just $5. Tonight, former Watermark sommelier Justin Maestas will present five summer whites. The event kicks off at 5:30 p.m. at the beautifully restored residence at 167 Rosa Parks Blvd.

Iron Sufficiency

“Oh my God,” was all she said when the Secret Ingredient was revealed at last night's Iron Fork competition. Then Zola restaurant's chef Deb Paquette got to work on a potato brandad with beef tenderloin and shrimp and an apple turnover—both showcasing fiddlehead ferns—to take home the coveted Golden Fork.

Paquette's Mediterranean-inspired treatments of fiddlehead ferns trumped the outstanding efforts of Will Uhlhorn, Bobby Benjamin, Sean Norton and Clay Greenberg when the five chefs squared off at LP Field’s Stadium Club. The stunning array of culinary showmanship included a spring vegetable Napoleon, Thai curry beef, cod with butter-poached fiddleheads, roasted-tomato-and-fiddlehead soup, and salmon with smoked-tomato panzanella.

After the jump, Mr. Pink's random notes from the whirlwind of chaos, excitement and edible flora.