Welcome back to Savannah Flavors, our weekly newsletter bringing you the latest delicious details from Savannah’s culinary scene every Thursday.

Here is what’s on the menu today:

• Simple Soul celebrates 1 year anniversary! 🥂 

• Over Yonder’s top pick for seafood and beautiful views 🌊 

• Homemade Poké bowl with Sriracha Mayo 🤤🔥

• Savannah’s prime destination for chicken tenders 🐓

THE MAIN DISH

Simple Soul marks first year serving Southern staples on Montgomery Street 🌺🥘

In the front corner of Simple Soul of Savannah hangs a stunning photograph of Vernell Jackson. Donned in a crisp white blouse and patterned skirt, she rests her right hand casually atop a waist-high wall, her left arm akimbo. The vintage black-and-white image is of Jackson in her 30s, her eyes fixed on the camera, her smile confident and brave.

That is Rachel Silvers’ grandmother, and any story about Simple Soul that does not principally reference Mrs. Vernell Jackson would be woefully incomplete.

“This is my favorite picture of her,” Silvers said of the framed photo whose border is filled with endearments written by relatives who were present at Jackson’s 80th. “She looks all sassy and young. She was a diva at heart.”

“She is my primary reason for being back here,” Silvers added. 

Contrary to the apocryphal axiom, it is not 90 percent of new restaurants that fail within their first year. Still, the more widely verified figure of 60 percent underscores why I have never opened my own place: no guts and no capital.

To create Simple Soul, Silvers invested a lifetime of the latter and more than equaled that in the former, a family trait that is visible everyday in her restaurant that recently celebrated its first year in business. 

Just take one look at her grandmother’s face in that photograph.

CHEF’S CRAVINGS

Over Yonder - Chris Moody & Miranda Norman 🌊 

Each week, I ask the folks behind the phenomenal food at our favorite places around Savannah these same simple questions:

When you are not in your restaurant kitchen, where do you go out to eat and what do you order?

In the six months that Savannah Flavors and ‘Chefs’ Cravings’ has been in existence, the most frequently hailed individual item has been the Doublestack at Over Yonder, the best burger in town 🍔 It was high time that OY owner Chris Moody and general manager Miranda Norman weighed in with their go-tos, even as other food industry folks keep flocking to their hip Thomas Square gastrohonky-tonk.

CM: I don’t eat out a ton, not as much as I used to. I eat at home a lot. 

MN: In my time off, I love going to the beach or being out close to the water, and my favorite place right now is Bubba Gumbo’s. I go there really often. They have some really good scallop dishes, their fish is always really good, and it’s a beautiful view out there as well 🌅

CM: I frequent Bubba Gumbo’s pretty often as well. When we’re on Tybee, we go to Sea Wolf and Bubba Gumbo’s, and then when I’m around town, it depends on what kind of food I’m in the mood for, more casual or a nice evening out. For everyday places, Bubba Gumbo’s is a great spot.

MN: I like Uncle June’s, the new sandwich spot in Starland Yard. 

CM: I have yet to try it, but I’ve heard it’s really good. I go to Brochu’s pretty often. I think Savoy Society and Colleagues + Lovers are a good mix between upscale and casual, and then sometimes, I’ll get wings at Coach’s [Corner] 🍗 For bar food, Norwood Tavern’s good. They’re known for their hand-breaded mozzarella sticks. Their cheesesteak’s really good, wings, burgers. It’s just really good food.

And for a special occasion?

CM: Late Air, husk, Common Thread, all solid. The Grey. I haven’t been to some of those in a while, but all those are great spots doing cool things.

MN: Brochu’s, I would go there for a nice date night because they’ve got a solid menu and a great wine selection 🍷

And before we forget…

CM: Oh, I did forget one: Taqueria El San Luis. I usually get a barbacoa torta and a cantaloupe agua fresca. Vinnies, Sobremesa, Crow Bar, Narobia’s, and Slow Fire are a few others, and I’m also looking forward to Sixby opening.

-Neil Gabbey

TRIED, TASTED, TRUE

Poké bowl 🍣 🍋

THE STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE

I really had no idea what poké was until a few years ago when Harold Schroeter and Ashley Mumbray opened up Nom Nom Poké Shop in the building where I used to get my hair cut.

On Diners, Drivers, and Dives, I am sure that I heard the Hawaiian word sometime just after we first moved to Savannah, but not until I met Schroeter and Mumbray and ate their fantastic food did I understand what had evidently become a worldwide craze. 

There are dozens of reasons to frequent Nom Nom frequently, not the least of which is supporting this super-sweet couple’s enterprise. Their beef bowl has been my go-to, my wife loves the sesame salmon, and several ‘Chefs’ Cravings’ interviewees have gushed over the gochujang tofu bowl. Plus, they do sides of wonton chips.

A couple years ago, tempted by a Kroger fish counter special on ahi steaks, I figured that I would give preparing poké a go, knowing all along that whatever I made would pale in comparison to the pros’ bowls.

I have now made my version a dozen times, pretty much whenever Kroger has reprised that tuna special, and the bowls have been pretty great if not also a bit of a long walk in several different directions carrying most every bowl in my kitchen: another reason simply to go to Nom Nom.

Still, if you do not mind having a confusion of containers all over your counter, not unlike a home-done taco night, go ahead and poké this bear. (Sorry.)

Some of the prep can be done well ahead of time: the corn-pineapple salsa, the radish and cucumber slivers, the eel sauce and sriracha mayo, and even the marinade for the tuna.

Go time tends to be quite a foofaraw, depending on if you are making rice (another pot) and how you are cooking whatever protein you have chosen, but it all can be done in a home kitchen.

Of course, I usually fry up a big bowl of wonton chips to go with, which means another pot, though lately, I have economized by adding to the oil used to prepare the crispy shallots. Of all the possible toss-ins, the shallots are a non-negotiable necessity, well worth the time and oil, if done correctly.

For this past poké buffet, I decided to broil the tuna steaks after a good two-hour marinade, which alleviated one burner and plenty of splatter: five minutes per side yielded medium-well flesh, which my wife prefers. Because she does not like rice, I tossed some chopped-up spring mix with a whisked tablespoon of soy sauce and lime juice to be her bowl’s base.

No matter what goes into it, a poké bowl is feel-good fare, and the at-home effort is worth it in the end because the sum total of the parts make for a deliciously customizable feast of flavors.-Neil Gabbey

THE RECIPE

HARD GOODS 

• ½ cup white sugar

• Pinches of kosher salt, used separately

• ½ cup corn kernels, frozen or fresh

• 1 cup pineapple chunks, frozen or fresh 🍍

• 5 shallots, used separately

• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped fine

• 2 radishes

• ½ cucumber 🥒

• 2 tuna steaks, approximately 1 pound total 🐟

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder 🧄

• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

• 2 ripe avocados, cut into slices 🥑 

• Cooked rice or mixed greens (for bed of poké bowl)

WET GOODS

• ¾ cup soy sauce, used separately

• ½ cup mirin

• ½ cup mayonnaise

• 1 teaspoon, or more to taste, sriracha

• Several tablespoons rice wine vinegar, used separately

• Several teaspoons sesame oil, used separately

• Zest and juice from one lime, used separately

• 1 tablespoon Shaoxing (Chinese cooking) wine

• 1 teaspoon (or less) sambal oelek

• 1 tablespoon honey 🍯 

• Canola or vegetable oil (for frying)

DO THIS

1. For the eel sauce: combine ½ cup soy sauce, mirin, and sugar in a saucepan and bring to a boil

   • Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 10 minutes

   • Off the heat, the sauce will thicken

2. For the sriracha mayo: combine the mayonnaise, sriracha, one tablespoon lemon/lime juice, and salt in a bowl and whisk to combine

3. For the corn-pineapple salsa: finely chop the pineapple chunks and corn kernels and mix together in a bowl with one diced shallot, lime zest, one tablespoon lime juice, one teaspoon sesame oil, cilantro, and a pinch of salt 

4. For the tuna marinade: combine the remaining ¼ cup soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sambal oelek, 1 tablespoon lime juice, 1 teaspoon sesame oil, honey, garlic powder, and ginger and whisk until the honey dissolves

   • Place the tuna steaks in a sealable bag and pour in the marinade

   • Marinade in the refrigerator for at least two hours and up to six, periodically turning the bag over

   • Remove the bag from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking

5. Use a mandoline to slice coins of cucumbers and then slice into matchsticks

6. Thinly slice the remaining shallots and place in a medium saucepan

   • Cover the shallots with oil

   • Turn the heat to high and stir frequently for 3 minutes

   • Reduce the heat to medium-high and stir every minute or so for 10 more minutes, until the pieces are golden-brown

   • Use a spider or slotted spoon to remove the shallots to a baking sheet lined with paper towel

   • The shallots will crisp up as they rest

7. If you are making wonton chips, add another two cups of oil to the saucepan and heat to 350°

   • Working in batches, fry the wontons until golden, about three minutes per batch

8. Make the rice and/or roughly chop the greens

   • If using greens, lightly toss with a dressing of 1 teaspoon soy sauce and 1 teaspoon lime juice

9. Slice or mash the avocados, sprinkling either preparation with lime or lemon juice and salt

10. Prepare a broiling pan with cooking spray and set the oven to broil on high

11. Remove the tuna steaks from the marinade and place on the broiling pan

    • Broil for four to five minutes per side, depending on doneness preference

    • Let rest for five minutes before slicing and while loading the bowls

BEEN THERE. ATE THAT.

Geneva's Famous Chicken and Cornbread Co.🍗🥦

That Friday morning, I came out to the garage to find that my bike’s back tire was gone. Not “disappeared” gone, just a done-for inner tube. Luckily, the friendly folks at the Trek Store of Savannah would be able to replace the tube right away, and Ryan even said that he could take care of it while we waited.

I graciously told him to take his time. We would pick it up after lunch: Geneva’s is just a few blocks down Skidaway.

Loyal readers of BTAT know that my wife and I are loyal eaters at Geneva's Famous Chicken and Cornbread Co. Moreover, we genuinely love and absolutely support Geneva and Kenny Wade and their entire family enterprise. If someone told me I could only eat out at one place, I would not bat an eye: Geneva’s.

Since the renovation and expansion that culminated in a grand reopening back in March, the Wades’ eatery has been busy and then some, and even before noon, the inside was bustling and the crew was hustling. We had yet to take advantage of the added seating outside, so we checked with Deandré, who said that he would bring us menus in a minute. 

The “view” is of an expansive parking lot with a Target on the horizon, but the new umbrellaed tables on the sidewalk have the added daytime benefit of the summer sun being blocked by the building.

Deandré correctly called our usuals: four fry bird tenders ($11.99) with potato logs plus pecan cornbread and pecan butter for me and the eight-piece fried fantail shrimp ($16.99) accompanied by baked squash casserole, steamed green beans, and plain-and-plain bread and butter for my wife.

This is how you reward yourself for cleaning the back porch. Remember: this is not fast food. The proteins are made-to-order, so sit back, sip on a half-and-half, and talk to your loved ones in keen expectation for some fantastic food.

As they always have been, Geneva’s tenders are the quintessence of crispiness without being one bit oily, thanks to her signature wet batter. So much crunchy coating around the tenderest chicken tenders.

Though six dipping sauces are available, ask for two BBQs and then try to sneak 10 more home in your pockets. The tangy orange sauce is barely spicy and works well with both chicken and shrimp.

The shrimp are treated to their own special batter and are just as crispy as the chicken pieces. I always take my wife up on her offer to trade a shrimp or two for a tender, and do not judge me: I eat the discarded tails.

Everyone makes fries, which makes Geneva’s potato logs that much more special, the herby, crusty coating encasing a pillowy soft interior. Try as I might, I cannot adequately replicate the cheesy yellow squash casserole whose texture is thick and not at all watery. 

Next time, we will definitely dig into the scratch-made sweet yams.

A mini loaf of Kenny’s cornbread comes with both entrées and makes for a great lunch dessert, the tasty end to what will be your only meal of the day.

-Neil Gabbey