S17.E08: Restaurant Wars

[Jobiska]

I was sure that when they made a point of Kevin saying he was adding MSG, that that was going to come up somehow.  

My one grandmother's potluck dish was creamed mushrooms.  I don't specifically remember anything else she made, but that's at least partly a circumstance of when we lived near her and when we did not alongside our ages and abilities at those times.  

 

[Lois Sandborne]

On 5/11/2020 at 11:40 AM, hula-la said:

I am like you in that I always hated rum raisin ice cream, until I had some at Devon House Ice Cream in Jamaica. Then, I understood why people liked it--it was amazing! I have never eaten it since, as I know any other version would suck.

 

18 hours ago, ProudMary said:

Lee Anne wanted to make another flavor of ice cream, but Gregory insisted that it had to be rum raisin.

Oh, I missed where it was a specific directive from Gregory. Okay, I'm willing to concede that it might taste better fresh from the Caribbean. I still don't want it though.

[BlackberryJam]

I don't eat raisins, ever. So both the ice cream and the country captain are a hard No. 

[dleighg]

29 minutes ago, BlackberryJam said:

I don't eat raisins, ever. So both the ice cream and the country captain are a hard No. 

My father always called raisins "flies without wings."

[caitmcg]

2 hours ago, Lois Sandborne said:

 

Oh, I missed where it was a specific directive from Gregory. Okay, I'm willing to concede that it might taste better fresh from the Caribbean. I still don't want it though.

When the teams were in their respective cars discussing their menus, Lee Anne suggested pineapple sorbet or coconut ice cream to go with the cake, and Gregory said no, it had to be rum raisin.

[catrice2]

I guess I missed the plantation comment.   I just think the concept seemed complicated but they were ready to embrace it because he had opened SEVERAL successful restaurants.  Nothing that he said about it made me feel like it was something needed in the market, and even though he kept harping on the "family style" it seemed formal.  I have never (and I would gather most people have not) had canapes when I went to my grandmother's house.....

[biakbiak]

All I could think about Kevin’s restaurant down to the plates he chose was the legendary Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room in Savanah. 

[Ashforth]

13 hours ago, catrice2 said:

I have never (and I would gather most people have not) had canapes when I went to my grandmother's house.....

If things were getting fancy at my Granny's, she'd break out a block of cream cheese, top it with jalapeno jelly, and serve it with crackers. 

Which is actually quite tasty!

Edited May 13, 2020 by Ashforth

[VintageJ]

1 hour ago, Ashforth said:

If things were getting fancy at my Granny's, she'd break out a block of cream cheese, top it with jalapeno jelly, and serve it with crackers. 

At my Grandmother’s, things got fancy when the preacher came over and we got to cut on the air conditioning!

[BlackberryJam]

2 hours ago, Ashforth said:

If things were getting fancy at my Granny's, she'd break out a block of cream cheese, top it with jalapeno jelly, and serve it with crackers. 

That ja-LAP-eno stuff is for city folk. 

My Granny wanted to add gravy to everything. Probably one of the reasons I hate gravy so much. 

1 hour ago, VintageJ said:

At my Grandmother’s, things got fancy when the preacher came over and we got to cut on the air conditioning!

Air conditioning was for the weak. The wimmins had to stand in the kitchen cooking over a hot stove in 90 degree heat and LIKE it. 

[lh25]

7 hours ago, Ashforth said:

If things were getting fancy at my Granny's, she'd break out a block of cream cheese, top it with jalapeno jelly, and serve it with crackers. 

Which is actually quite tasty!

That does sound good.

Our version was cream cheese, cocktail sauce and those small bay shrimps.

[Ashforth]

Did I mention that the crackers were most likely to be saltines? 🤣

[GrannySmith]

12 hours ago, biakbiak said:

All I could think about Kevin’s restaurant down to the plates he chose was the legendary Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room in Savanah. 

Loved Mrs. Wilkes. We stood in line 2 hours. There were 23 sides on the table, family style with 10 people at each table. The fried chicken is outstanding, but a lot of the sides were just reheated canned food. Still, an experience I wouldn’t have missed. 

[akr]

10 minutes ago, Ashforth said:

Did I mention that the crackers were most likely to be saltines? 🤣

Wheat thins. Yum.

[Heathrowe]

Ha! If my granny (Nanny, Irish actually, not Southern) had a restaurant it would feature:

Ham sandwiches with thick spread butter on white bread

Saltines with Butter

Big plates of butter.

Boiled meat and potatoes.

She was a HORRIBLE cook, but made up for it with her amazing stash of unlimited junk food that she would share at cocktail time. She loved cheetos and sour cream potato chips...Aw.

 

 

 

 

[FormerMod-a1]

The discussion of what grandma/granny made is fun and interesting, and best suited for the Small Talk thread. 

[Bastet]

On 5/13/2020 at 2:11 AM, biakbiak said:

All I could think about Kevin’s restaurant down to the plates he chose was the legendary Mrs. Wilkes Dining Room in Savanah. 

Between the menu and having to sit at a table with strangers, that sounds like my own personal hell.  No wonder I wasn't interested in Kevin's restaurant.

Gregory's, on the other hand - a week later, and I still randomly think about that roasted fish every once in a while.  Which is rather odd, as I hardly ever eat red snapper, but it looked so good.

[RemoteControlFreak]

On 5/10/2020 at 11:57 AM, Heathrowe said:

I just don't understand why they picked Kevin's concept in the first place. I grew up in Florida and in the 70's it was a big treat to go eat at a cafeteria style restaurant (I want to say it was called Morrison's) and that is what Country Captain reminded me of. You would walk through the line and grab little bowls of a bunch of different things. I loved it, but I was seven years old. I thought all of the food that came out from Kevin just seemed similarly dated. 

Country Captain reminds me of a cross between Colonel Sanders and the Country Kitchen chain restaurants.  This is apparently what Kevin was going for, but it would take a lot for me to go to a place like that. 

[GeorgiaRai]

All I could think of was Captain D's - and as I firmly believe that "fish" must be shaped in a square, battered & fried in order to be edible, I'd pick Captain D's over the Country Captain for sure.

BUT... I love Kevin and hate to see him go.  He did get a bit snippy during this episode but I saw it more as pressure/passion than evil eyes/demon soul. My dream final four would be Kevin, Bryan, Gregory & Melissa.

Fangirl confession: Kevin was in our office once, and my boss came up with some lame excuse for me to enter the conference room so I could meet him.  Based on that 5 second exchange, whenever he comes on screen, in my head I scream "I KNOW HIM!!!!!"  (He was gracious & kind, BTW.)

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

Maybe it's going through a divorce and then a rigorous treatment for cancer, but he's definitely changed.

I never read that he was divorced... Wikipedia said he married Valerie Combs in 2011. I believe she came to the family episode, right?

 

[biakbiak]

13 minutes ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

I never read that he was divorced... Wikipedia said he married Valerie Combs in 2011. I believe she came to the family episode, right?

 

She’s his second wife. He was married to another woman during his first season and decided to divorce between the filming of the regular show and the finale (this was when they used to have months off before filming the final episodes.

[Yeah No]

One positive thing I have to say about the Country Captain recipe is that it's something new to most non-southerners and not just the same ol' fried chicken, collard greens and macaroni and cheese.  I like learning about new things and it's only recently that I discovered that there is a lot more to southern cooking than just the most popular dishes.  I'd be interested in seeing more of that, although not the way Kevin handled it in this episode.

[backgroundnoise]

On 5/8/2020 at 9:49 AM, VintageJ said:

First, let me just say that I loved the way they all got to pitch a restaurant and the top two got to open their restaurants. I hope they keep that.

I liked it too, but it really makes it almost impossible to eliminate anyone but the losing chef.  Unless someone else refuses to do what he/she is asked, they can't be blamed for menu choices, etc.

[rlc]

Rewatching Restaurant Wars while waiting for the finale, and laughing (again) at what a pompous jerk Kevin was during plate gate. Also realizing that that was the moment when Malarkey started to grow on me...not unlike a fungus.