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:

• Baguettes to go in Thomas Square ⛲️🥖

• Cuban Window Chef’s dish their favorite dining spots in savannah 🌮

• Perfect side dish for your 4th of July cookout 🇺🇸

• Pimiento cheese burger and fries at Poe’s Tavern 🍔🍟

THE MAIN DISH

Natasha Gaskill and Matthew Palmerlee open eagerly awaited brick-and-mortar bakery cafe 🥐

On Day One of an eatery’s opening, a line is a great sign, especially one a dozen deep before the door even opens.

Without a doubt, longtime friends and food fans of Natasha Gaskill and Matthew Palmerlee had been following Instagram closely for the past several weeks, knowing that the grand soft opening of Sixby’s retail space was imminent, and on the morning of June 29, patience paid off in orders of overnight oats, egg-and-cheese sandwiches, crumble buns, baguettes to go, and plenty of baristaed beverages 🥖

Everyone seemed to know others in the steadily lengthening queue and caught up while inching up to the door, and eager eaters sat in the shade of the ample front courtyard and out back.

This past Saturday’s launch was the culmination of a partnership and a plan that Gaskill and Palmerlee have been working on for roughly two years, and their bakery cafe fills a neighborhood niche, nestled in the same East 41st Street block between Abercorn and Lincoln that is home to Lone Wolf Lounge, Moodright’s, Over Yonder, Picker Joe’s Coffee & Vintage Soda Shop, and Russo’s Seafood.

Another food feather in Thomas Square’s cap.

CHEF’S CRAVINGS

The Cuban Window - Jack Collins, Erik Kinzie, D.J. Holmes, and Dani Zachar 🍸🥘

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?

This week’s Chefs’ Cravings come from the co-owners and do-everythingers at The Cuban Window, Jack Collins and Erik Kinzie, who took over the Victorian District favorite and revamped it back in 2022, and their talented team of cooks D.J. Holmes and Dani Zachar.

EK (without hesitation): Green Truck, The Whole Farm. I like the one with the fried egg on top 🍔

JC: Yeah, if I’m going to get a burger, Green Truck, a hundred percent. I get the Rustico. It’s fantastic. Goat cheese, a little balsamic vinegar, red pepper. Good stuff. 

DZ: I spend a lot of time here. For me, I like stuff around the corner. Anything that’s close to this area, anything that’s walking distance. I’m an international student, so I don’t juggle around a lot. Tacos + Tequila is next to my house, so that’s one of my frequents. I wait for Taco Tuesdays and save a dollar, but you cannot go wrong with a burrito 🌯

JC: I go to Tequila’s Town North [Tacos + Tequila] because it’s pretty affordable and it’s close to my house and I love Mexican food. Granted, I get a little tired of Latin cuisine, being around it a lot. 

JC: Sly’s is also really awesome. That’s where I go to get something quick, and they’re really affordable. The Boardwalk is delicious. They have the Nashville Hot that they do on Tuesday. It’s super-awesome. The Pain Don’t Hurt. I mean, everything there is good.

DZ: They have a little bit of everything. 

DJH: The perfect answer for ‘Chefs’ Cravings’? What do I like to eat when I’m not at work? I would say that I come right back to work at least three or four times a week, especially if I know who added a little bit more flavor to it, like my man here with his sandwiches (smiling at Zachar). I switch it up every other time. I might get the turkey and egg, and I might get another breakfast sandwich. As far as lunch, I’m addicted to the Sazón. I love that, when we make the white rice into yellow rice. And the quarter chicken leg, what’s that?

DZ: Pollo asado.

DJH: See, he’s got to get me right every time.

DZ: Luckily, anything that I could eat out, I can cook it here. When we close, I come in, prep it, do my own stuff. It’s like my own kitchen outside of my house. It’s not that I don’t like to eat out, but if I can make it myself, I’d rather make it myself. [Collins and Kinzie] give you the chance to work on your stuff, too, so it’s a win-win.

JC: E-TANG for Chinese food. Their griddled shrimp, fantastic, spicy, if you’re into that, and I am. Moodright’s [Over Yonder] 🍻 They’ve got a great burger and a great chicken sandwich. It feels like you’re in a Tarantino movie.

EK: Clary’s for a Reuben. That’s a great place. Clary’s is an original in Savannah, and they’ve got the best Reuben in town.

JC: I would be remiss if I didn’t give Screamin’ Mimi’s a shout-out, too. Their white pizza is awesome, and everybody who works there is super-duper-cool. And if you’re willing to make the trek, Huc-A-Poo’s is probably one of my favorite places on the planet. Anywhere I can eat and not have to wear shoes is special to me.

EK: That’s about it, man. I’m always here. 

JC: Anytime we’re not eating here, we go to the same places.

And for a special occasion?

JC: Of course, Local[11ten]. We had Christmas Eve dinner there. Chef Brett [Cavanna] is a gangster, awesome dude, fantastic food. Their mussels are super-good. Obviously, it’s a rotating menu, so you can’t always get the same thing, but every time I’ve gone there, it’s been fantastic. 

EK: The Italian place. It’s locally owned. Frali Gourmet 🍝

JC: I haven’t been there. Is it good?

EK: Everything’s homemade. They make their own pasta, their own lasagne. Their fans of ours.

JC: Bella Napoli is super-cool. Their pasta is all amazing. I had never tried it until six months ago on a date. It’s tiny, but the food is fantastic. La Scala is also super-good. A lot of our guys, Mikey Webb, he used to work for us. He worked at both places, so he kind of gave us the run of the land. The rooftop bar at Perry Lane [Peregrin]. I like to go there, and then you can pedicab pretty much anywhere in the city 🍹

DJH: I have three jobs, so I’m barely at home. I actually come here, buy my plate of whatnot, go to my other job [JW Marriott Plant Riverside District], and they ask me where I got my lunch from. And then they come here.

-Neil Gabbey

TRIED, TASTED, TRUE

Chip’s Salad 🥗

THE STORY BEHIND THE RECIPE

I am confident that readers of my vintage can also recall a time when the only lettuce on earth was iceberg. When I was a kid, there was no romaine in the Wegmans produce section. No looseleaf reds and greens or little gems or butterheads.

Said aloud in mixed company and in the wrong accent, endive and frisée could have passed for cuss words. Tongue only partially in cheek, I have often wondered when arugula was invented. 

Boston bibb back then? Maybe. Whence chard and kale? Honestly.

In the last three decades, several now common lettuces and salad leaves have virtually come into being in American supermarkets and on restaurant menus, a relatively rapid evolution considering that a generation or so ago the only choice was a barely green ball wrapped in cellophane.

During these salad days of more distinctive and serviceable variants, the erstwhile unrivaled iceberg has become rather an afterthought in the produce section and relegated to sandwich ‘shredduce’ or reinvented in upcharged ‘chopped’ salads in restaurants.

Perhaps as people became more ‘health-conscious’, either in practice or pretense, watery iceberg was overwhelmed by its darker, more nutrient-dense cousins, despite being a decent source of folate, potassium, and Vitamins A and C.

All this being true, I cannot be the only contemporary lettuce shopper who pales at the prices of most modish greens and who looks wistfully at a two-buck iceberg ball and wonders, “Should I?”

Yes, we should, and since we moved away from Baltimore, my go-to salad has been a rendition of the signature starter from Chiapparelli's Restaurant, an institution that first opened in 1940 in Charm City’s Little Italy, emphasis on the diminutive former with the country cognomen squarely in air quotes.

Now dwarfed by nearby skyscrapers, a few blocks of formstone-fronted rowhouses make up this historic neighborhood, all of about a twentieth of a square mile in between the Inner Harbor and Fells Point. Only a dozen restaurants remain in a district that few Baltimoreans ever visit for a meal - y’know, like the majority of River Street.

In two decades, my wife and I ate at Chiapparelli's twice, which doubled the number of times we dined at any other Little Italy eatery. On both occasions, we shared the Chip’s Salad because everyone told us we should. 

They were right: it was a great salad and made the most of the much-maligned iceberg.

In true Triple T tradition, I have made modifications to the Chiapparelli's recipe, mostly because the salad does not need the hard-boiled eggs and because we hate pepperoncinis. In the latter’s crunchy and colorful place, I add slivers of radishes.

Chip’s Salad tastiness is due, in part or whole, to its being overdressed by design in a Italianesque vinaigrette that is loaded with shredded Parmesan. The original recipe calls for actual garlic cloves to be blended into the dressing, but I opt for garlic powder. To aid the emulsification, I also add a little Dijon mustard and whazzing the ingredients in a blender

My Cuisinart Hurricane Compact Juicing Blender has a small chopping cup that works perfectly for whipping up oil-based dressings and sauces, far more efficient than a whisk.

While I have nothing against croutons, they are often a conundrum in a salad: too big, too small, too hard to tine, too stale, too store-bought. This past time, I had a couple leftover slices of a country loaf I had baked and decided to make a gremolata, food-processing the bread with a small clove of garlic, fresh parsley from my garden, and lemon zest which I then toasted in the oven until the bread browned.

Both before tossing and after plating, I dusted the salad’s surface with the crispy gremolata and remaining Parmesan.

My version of Chip’s Salad always accompanies my homemade pizza, a satisfying starter while the Sicilian cools down enough to cut. With the olives, onion, radishes, and all that cheesy dressing, iceberg never had it so great.

-Neil Gabbey

THE RECIPE

HARD GOODS 

• 1 head iceberg lettuce (serves 4 to 6) 🥬

• ½ small red onion, quartered and sliced razor-thin

• ½ cup (or more) Kalamata or Niçoise olives (pitted), halved

• 2 radishes, sliced into thin rounds

• ½ cup finely grated high-quality Parmesan 🧀

• 1 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon sugar

• ½ teaspoon garlic powder

• Kosher salt (to taste)

• Fresh-ground black pepper (to taste)

• 2 slices rustic bread: baguette, boule, sourdough, French, or Italian (optional) 🥖

• Zest from 1 lemon (optional) 🍋

• ¼ cup fresh parsley (optional) 🌱

• 1 small clove garlic (optional) 🧄

WET GOODS

• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil 🫒

• ¼ cup red wine vinegar

• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

DO THIS

1. For the dressing: put the olive oil, vinegar, Dijon, oregano, sugar, garlic powder, and ¼ cup of the Parmesan in a blender and blend until it emulsifies

   • Alternately, the Parmesan can be whisked in after the dressing’s wet goods and dry spices are blended

2. For the gremolata (optional): tear the bread slices into pieces and put in a food processor with the lemon zest, parsley, and garlic clove

   • Process until the bread is entirely crumbs

   • Spread the mixture on a small sheet pan and toasts in a 350° oven until just browned

   • Set aside to cool, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste

3. Rough-chop the iceberg into mouthful-sized pieces

4. In a large salad bowl, toss the lettuce with the radish rounds, onion slivers, and olive halves

5. Pour a little more than half of the dressing over the salad and toss

6. Sprinkle approximately half of the remaining Parmesan and half of the gremolata (optional) over the salad and retoss

7. Put the remaining Parmesan, gremolata, and dressing on the table so that diners can add more of each

BEEN THERE. ATE THAT.

Poe’s Tavern 🍻🍔

For my birthday, my wife lovingly bought me tickets to the Ben Folds concert at District Live. I write ‘lovingly’ because she hates Ben Folds, mostly due to his tendency to talk-sing. The same goes for Cake. 

No sooner had I opened the card than she smiled sweetly and asked, “Who’s going to go with you?”

In the intervening two months between my 53rd and the show, I had not asked anyone else to be my plus-one not because I wanted to torture my wife but because going to concerts is our ‘thing’. Over the last nine years, we have made the drives up to Atlanta, Charleston, or Charlotte or down to Jacksonville or Orlando to see the bands who are not going to come to Savannah: Bryan Ferry, Foals, Guster, Pete Yorn, Phoenix, Roosevelt, Tokyo Police Club, Two Door Cinema Club, and others.

Since moving here, we have even flown up to D.C. thrice, once for Phoenix and then separately to see Lime Cordiale and Bombay Bicycle Club. Sadly, indie rock bands from France, Australia, and London have yet to circle Savannah on their respective tour maps.

If you are like most of our friends, you are asking yourself, “Who?” YouTube them. You will thank me later.  

My wife took one for the team, as it were, and came along, which I later equated to payback for my attending an Aimee Mann concert some two decades ago.

Because Ben Folds was playing in Plant Riverside District’s Atlantic building, the pre-show dining options abounded, and we chose to return to Poe’s Tavern. Our first meal there was not long after the Sullivan’s Island (SC) brand opened this Savannah outpost, and we rather enjoyed the burger and sides of both fries and fried onion straws.

A second visit was aborted: after we asked to sit on the spacious side patio and took our seats, we were forgotten about. My wife and I chatted and looked longingly toward the host station for maybe 15 minutes before we simply stood up and excused ourselves.

On the whole, Take Three was smack dab between the first two. 

Because it was still north of 90 degrees, we opted to sit inside but almost immediately regretted it. With both of the front garage doors closed and the aircon evidently struggling, the two living room ceiling fans were not enough to deal with the day’s lingering heat. 

Nearly two years old now, the adjoining dining room and bar areas are open and airy, in theory if not in actuality, and along the façade, six umbrellaed patio four-tops are sheltered by a lovely new brick wall adorned with period globe lights. Still, on what is often a very still Savannah evening, several fans are going to be a necessity to entice anyone to sit outside.

As we did for our maiden Poe’s Tavern meal, we split the Gold Bug Plus ($17.50), upping the ante to allow for pimiento cheese, with sides of hand-cut fries and onion straws.

The fact that this article has been more about music than food says most of what you need to know. 

In this Epoch of the Smash Burger, it was a nice change to have a patty cooked to temp, even if our server did not actually ask me for a desired doneness. The burger was good, the bun was a bun, done and done, though even accounting for one included side, this burger is $17.50 because of location, location, location. 

Speaking of the sides, the portions of both the fries and the fried onions were massive. If only either had been cooked correctly. The onions were relatively better in that they were slightly crispy, but they were neither ‘ring’ nor ‘straw’ and were shards of onions, not a cut that was fit for finger food, and smacked of having sat out for some time. 

Other than their superb cut size, the fries were truly disappointing: oily and soggy, not a crisp one in the potato pile. Did we eat them? Yes. Should we have? Probably not, but I was not going to call our server over and say, “Hey, can you ask the kitchen to fry these properly?” for at least three reasons.

Despite its pleasant appearance, Poe’s Tavern seems to have settled into serving perfunctory pub grub, perhaps because it is situated where it does not necessarily have to be better than it is. 

To close the metaphor, we left the Ben Folds show well before the final number because he largely opted to play his lesser-known and more maudlin tunes. If you are serving fries, double-fry them so that they are crispy. If you are still touring 30 years later, play the happy hits. Satisfy the paying audience with what they want.

-Neil Gabbey