4/11/2012
Patricia gave us some options here, so we chose Monell’s for our last meal before the great trek home. Monell’s operates under a southern tradition called “family-style” dining. All guests sit around large dinner tables, while waitresses bring out endless plates of food. Everyone sits together and passes the dishes around. This was a lot of fun. We thought it would be a little awkward, but it wasn’t at all. Conversation was inevitable with the people we sat with (a pair of colleagues in town from Alabama for a board meeting) as we passed the plates around. The food was incredible, by the way, and there were about a dozen dishes to choose from. Whenever we thought we had tried everything, the waitress would bring out a new plate with something new. Everything was comfort food – fried chicken, pork chops, corn pudding, etc. – but made with such care and with such quality ingredients it felt gourmet. At most buffets you leave with that special “quantity rather than quality” feeling – that empty fullness. This is a buffet where you’ll eat too much, but it will be worth it. Before we left I looked over at one of the other tables. Two strangers – a young African-American man and an elderly white woman – were sharing a plate between them. That’s got to be worth more than the food.
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