Trip Report: Hwy. 61 Memphis to New Orleans, Part 2

[AmyMad]

We have returned from our Memphis to New Orleans Road trip via Highway 61 (and 55 and 10) and can say without hesitation that we had a great time and ate some great food. Our goal was to explore a part of the U.S. that we hadn’t been to and sample the best food we could find. We started in Memphis and continued to Clarksdale, MS.

We were in Clarksdale on a Sunday and Monday, which meant just about every restaurant was closed. On Sunday we took the advice of our innkeeper and went to RUST. We were completely surprised and delighted by our experience. It’s on the same street as Madidi, which was closed both days we were in town.

We ordered vodka martinis and the choice of top-shelf liquors was impressive. The olives were stuffed with feta, which I (perhaps unfairly) wasn’t expecting in Clarksdale. I had roasted tomato chicken served over panzanella and it was excellent, with garden fresh vegetables in a tasty dressing. My partner had a filet with port and mushroom demiglace, green beans and mashed potatoes. It was on par with any place we usually eat at home and a nice change from beer and barbecue. Dessert was a generous slice of fluffy white “un-birthday cake” with even fluffier white butter cream frosting topped with an un-lit birthday candle. The chef, Randall Andrews, came by our table to chat and told us that Sally Chow makes the cakes. He said she is well known in the Delta and has been on the Food Network. It was very nice cake. The chef himself is an interesting guy – born in Clarksdale, went to culinary school, ended up as a personal chef in Hollywood, and now is back in Clarksdale running a fine dining restaurant and making art out of salvaged stuff. I would definitely go back to RUST.

We ate breakfast twice at the Delta Amusement Café, and can say it was one of the most distinctive places I’ve ever eaten. A big dog and a friendly cat met us at the door and kept a respectful distance while we ate. I had an egg, cheese and bacon sandwich for $3 or $4 and my partner had an egg breakfast for maybe $5 or $6. Let me say right off that the food was excellent – I don’t think I’ve ever had a breakfast sandwich except a McMuffin when I was desperate once. When the waitress asked me if I wanted grape jelly I took it to mean that’s how it’s supposed to be eaten and I went with it. It was eggy, gooey, salty, crunchy and sweet. The Delta Amusement Café is an odd place; the dining room just has a few tables along the walls and small bar at the front. There are lots of back rooms that older men were going in and out of – it may still be where the local bookie does business. Everyone who walked by our table said, ”Good morning” and we really felt like we were in a whole different world. We loved it.

We ate barbecue at Abe’s (motto: Swine Dining) at the crossroads and I also got to sample Delta Hot Tamales. I was curious about the tamales, because in Southern California tamales are a cultural tradition among Mexicans, with no family gathering or major holiday being celebrated without several dozen tamales being handcrafted by all the aunties and grandmas. You see them on restaurant menus, but they aren’t usually very good and are more of a homemade holiday tradition. A really good tamale is hard to come by. Even homemade they are often dry, heavy on corn meal and light on filling. So I was pleasantly surprised by the order of three tamales. They are much smaller than the ones I am used to, and served with a packet of saltine crackers. The filling seemed to be barbecued pork, and they were bathed in a red chili sauce – maybe enchilada sauce? The barbecue was Memphis-style, with the coleslaw on the bun. I liked it very much, and was pleased with my lunch at Abe’s.

For our last dinner in town we ate at the Ranchero, mainly because it was the only place in town open on a Monday night. It’s a family-style steakhouse, brightly lit, nothing impressive at all. I had a decent piece of top sirloin (I think) for $9.99 that came with a trip to the salad bar, which was a like a trip back to the 1970s: soggy iceberg lettuce, a plate of gray stuffed eggs, some carrot and celery sticks, 1000 Island dressing.

It’s too bad we were there on Sunday and Monday, because we would have loved to try Madidi, Ramon’s, and Ground Zero. Next time…

[tennreb]

Thanks for the update. It was an enjoyable read. A word about the tamales at Abe's...they are good but they don't make them there. Delta tamales are different from Mexican tamales in that they are made by African Americans and they are stewed in spices rather than steamed. Keep coming with the updates.

[AmyMad]

I figured they were doing something to the tamales besides steaming, because they were so moist and saucy. My Mexican-American friends in So. Cal. are fascinated by my tale of Mississippi tamales. It's an interesting bit of American "Foodlore." Would I have found better samples someplace else?

[tater]

Here's a site with much more information on the history of Delta tamales

http://www.tamaletrail.com/

[biskuit]

Inspired by that site form the Southern Foodways Alliance, I recently did a tamale trail around Corinth, MS. See photos and accompanying stories (in the photos notes) at http://flickr.com/search/?q=tamale&am...

Dilworth's is the real deal. Worth a short detour if you are anywhere nearby.

[Monch]

Amy,

Thanks so much for the post. I've not read in detail (on lunch at my desk) but am planning a similar trip in October.

Solo from Madison, Wis to Larose, LA.

Have planned, all along, to make the trek from Memphis, south, on 61.

Thanks again,