If you watched the soaking-wet Kentucky Derby on Saturday, you learned two important lessons: 1) A good Derby hat should block the rain as well as the sun. 2) Always ask a woman for betting advice (or at least the Texas woman who won $1.2 million on an $18 wager). Here’s to helpful hats and bountiful bets. Welcome to this week’s Talk of the South.
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“Always say something nice and wear clean underwear.” —Phyllis Marie Harris, Talk of the South reader, one of many who answered the question, “What’s the best advice your mama ever gave you?” See more responses below.
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Pit master and new James Beard winner Rodney Scott. (Courtesy Atlanta History Center)
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And the Winners Are...
The South had a big night on Monday as the James Beard Foundation presented its prestigious chef and restaurant awards in Chicago. Birmingham’s Highlands Bar & Grill was named the country’s top restaurant, and its longtime pastry chef Dolester Miles took home the top pastry chef award. In addition, Cure in New Orleans won for Outstanding Bar Program and Charleston’s FIG for Outstanding Wine Program. The regional winners included Nina Compton (Best Chef South), Jeremiah Langhorne (Best Chef Mid-Atlantic), and Rodney Scott (Best Chef Southeast). Scott, the pit master at his eponymously named barbecue joint in Charleston, became only the second pit master to win a Beard (after Aaron Franklin in 2015) and the first African-American to win the Southeast award. See our full recap and more details about the Southern winners.
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| On Fire
And speaking of barbecue, the Atlanta History Center opened its newest exhibit, Barbecue Nation, last weekend with a full day of history lectures and meat-smoking demos. The extensively researched exhibit, which includes centuries-old original documents, oral histories, and cooking tools, pays tribute to the deep and often complicated roots that barbecue has in the South and around the globe. Visitors can even add their own favorite spots to a community whiteboard. The exhibit will be up through June 2019, and look for more special programming throughout its run.
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| Jazzed Up
The Alabama-based clothing designer Billy Reid, who was born and raised in Louisiana, threw one fabulous party on May 2 in New Orleans. The place: his NOLA store. The food: by Nina Compton. The best part: It was all to benefit the Trombone Shorty Foundation, which supports music education and mentorship in New Orleans. Reid designed a special Trombone Shorty polo just for the occasion, and the gala was highlighted by a performance by Shorty Academy Students.
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| In case you missed it on G&G G&G editor CJ Lotz’s list of must-read books for May includes a never-before-published tome by Zora Neale Hurston, a collection of poems devoted to dogs from a National Book Award finalist, and a gorgeous book of Texas photographs. ... Years before forming the Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia played banjo, influenced by the legendary Bill Monroe. Now a box set of early Garcia music is coming out, and we have exclusive streams of two songs here. ... G&G’s Dacey Orr Sivewright was totally unprepared for her first music festival. See why she’s much wiser now.
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| THE NEW GARDEN & GUN CLUB
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| If you haven’t heard, G&G just opened a restaurant at the Battery Atlanta, next to SunTrust Park, home of the Braves. Come say hello and have a bite or a drink. See the menu and hours here. Thanks to those who have already visited and shared kind words.
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May 11-12 The Longleaf Film Festival at the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh highlights films with a Tar Heel State connection. All the films (and even the popcorn) are free.
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May 11-12
The International Bar-B-Q Festival in Owensboro, Kentucky. Serving up mutton since 1979. Wear your elastic waistbands and say, “Pass the burgoo!”
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May 12 Krewe of Turtles parade and party at Brennan’s restaurant in New Orleans. Watch Hollandaise, Béchamel, Espagnole, and the rest of the turtles that call the French Quarter restaurant’s courtyard fountain home receive official pardons, and then celebrate with anything but turtle soup.
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Last week we asked for the best advice your mom has ever given you. Here are some of the responses:
“Be interested and interesting.”
—Sally Jarrell McMichael
“First: Buy the best quality you can afford. Second: The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray.”
—Gregg Watson
Advice from this mom to her adult single son and daughter: “Don't hook up with anybody crazier than you are.”
—C. Dianne Wisner
“You do not have to tell your husband everything.”
—Libbee Clifford
“Our family wasn’t well to do. ...When things got bad my mother would often say, ‘Well sugar, you either laugh or slit your throat!’”
—Mary Anne Lecce
“The best advice: It’s a lot easier to get forgiveness than permission. Her second-best advice: Kill ’em with kindness. Both have served me well, especially when they are used together.”
—Mary Jo Pittman Godwin
This week’s question: What’s the best wedding gift you ever gave or received? Send your answer to newsletters@gardenandgun.com
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