lowcountry: fried chicken and football and…

Posted: November 10th, 2011 | Author: anita | Filed under: new york, photo, review | Tags: , , , , , , | No Comments »

there’s only one thing that makes me anxious about having a family visitor: a last-minute request for a group dinner recommendation and reservation. (we roll deep.)

my cousin jenny planned to be in town to support a couple of her friends that were running the marathon. she had most of her weekend set but there was one dinner –for her last night here, her “farewell for now” dinner–that she wanted help to arrange. i wasn’t sure what we’d find available, for 6, esp  during marathon weekend. but i stayed optimistic and went directly into “party-planning mode.”  i asked if there was anything i needed to know about her friends or keep in mind when considering venues (veganism, foodie-inclinations, borough/neighborhood preferences).

she said at least one of her friends would want to watch the football game. but she wanted to have an nice meal. is there a way to marry the two? does such a place exist in ny?

and then everything got real easy: lowcountry. i sent her the menu and told her about “fried chicken and football night”; it made her heart “skip a beat.

my “work” was done. the heart skipping a beat was a lot to live up to,  but i’d been there before –if you’re interested, here are my first impressions–and i was confident that lowcountry could deliver.

***

here are photos and notes from a nice meal earlier this week (“weak 9,” from an nfl perspective)  :

bacon deviled eggs

( i have only one friend who will dispute that “bacon makes everything thing better.” she can’t even stand the smell of it. but that’s a story for another time.)  these deviled eggs manage to be at once fluffy and hefty. (“black magic” at work?)

bourbon chicken liver mousse

my sister and i made this choice. we’re fiends for liver. i followed her lead on that–it took a while for my taste buds to evolve. she even professes to have loved the liverwurst on white bread sandwiches that my mom occasionally snuck into our brown lunch bags. i won’t go that far. but i do enjoy a well rendered chicken liver dish.

the thing about mousse is that it’s cold — we forgot that.  cold liver spread? it doesn’t quite sing. also the distinctive iron-minerally taste of chicken liver is fully present here. it took us a few carefully considered bites before we both decided we liked this dish. not everyone at the table was so charmed.

fried pickles, with green goddess dipping sauce

these were quite perfect.

fried green tomatoes, with cajun remoulade. a side of fennel, radish, poblano salad

more fried perfection. (although, the majority thought these were too salty, the minority  (including me) thought they were just good and tasty. i would have wanted another plate for the minority to hoard.

bourbon bbq pork chop, with sweet potato purée, roasted fingerling potatoes and squash, and brussels sprouts.

having decimated a plate of sticky ribs the night before, i’d considered going meat-free for the rest of the week (or at least a couple of days). but when it came time to order, i couldn’t resist bourbon bbq pork chop  with brussels sprouts. (the heart knows...) this is a generous plate. i ate both chops without regret. you will too.

and, the fried chicken biscuit:  fried chicken breast, cheddar biscuit, country sausage gravy, and onion jam…

i think this was good? my sister, initially wary of “breast”  in the description, happily reported that this was very good and juicy. she offered everyone else at the table a taste, but because i wanted her to have a little more for herself (and i had two serious chops of my own) i only sampled the biscuit. (delicious.) this also gives me an excuse to go back and order the dish for myself.

i should note that the hangar steak was received with considerably less enthusiasm than the the other dishes. it was judged merely “ok”; perhaps keep that in mind when you visit.

as to the sweet stuff, my cousin won the round with the fresh homemade beignets and ice cream. I lost badly with the mint chocolate chip pudding. i like a sprinkle of salt with chocolate for lift and contrast. Here it was heavy-handed, leaving me to wish they’d left the salt out altogether. but a bite or two of the beignet and ice cream set everything right again.

jason, with a grand finish

***

low country is at 142 W 10th St, New York, NY 10014
(212) 255-2330

reservations via opentable.com

 

Leave a Reply