“There’s a chance the Pig Stand comes to an end one day. But I think it’s held on this long because when people come to eat here, we become like family.”
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—Mary Ann Hill, owner of the San Antonio restaurant that got its start in Dallas a century ago. Among the Pig Stand’s claims to fame: inventing Texas toast, onion rings, and chicken fried steak sandwiches. Read more here.
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Happy Birthday, WillieFresh on the heels of his seventy-first solo studio album, That’s Life, Willie Nelson will celebrate his eighty-eighth birthday this Thursday, April 29. In tribute, we asked five Southern artists to share their favorite song from the Red Headed Stranger. Though as fellow Texas musician Charley Crockett said, it’s hard to pick just one: “The entire album ...And Then I Wrote is one of the finest ever recorded. And not just in country music. Willie changed popular music with his songwriting, and it all started here.” Get the full birthday playlist.
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Pop Art In Bloom
The Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in Sarasota, Florida, are alive and teeming with color in an exhibition that offers a fresh take on the art of Claude Monet. Roy Lichtenstein: Monet’s Garden Goes Pop! reveals the surprising connection between Roy Lichtenstein, the 1960s pop artist, and the nineteenth-century French impressionist. Selby’s horticultural team transformed the gardens into Lichtenstein’s version of Monet’s world, with cartoonish water lilies and color-changing haystacks among blooming flowers, arching bridges, and peaceful ponds. “The vignettes are living artwork,” says Jennifer Rominiecki, the gardens’ president. “When you put impressionism and pop art in dialogue, you get technicolor fun.” Take a peek at the gardens and read more about the exhibition, which runs through June 27.
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’Cue Up These Reads
“While barbecue remains extremely popular and profitable, I want African-American barbecuers properly acknowledged, celebrated for their contributions, and sharing in the barbecue prosperity,” writes Adrian Miller in his book Black Smoke: African Americans and the United States of Barbecue, which is out today. The book delves into barbecue history and surveys Black pitmasters past and present, and it pairs well with another new ’cue read, Rodney Scott’s World of BBQ, the first cookbook from the South Carolina pitmaster. As G&G books reviewer Jonathan Miles wrote: “Half memoir, half recipes, World of BBQ lets Scott’s disco-ball personality glitter while supplying home barbecuers with a recipe foundation—from whole hogs to that legendary sauce to mac and cheese—that’s as solid as it gets.”
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Finding Your Light
Every evening in New Orleans, hundreds of lanterns flicker on throughout the French Quarter, many the legacy of a Southern craftsman named Andrew Bevolo Sr., who founded Bevolo Gas & Electric Lights in 1945. Since then, the company’s lanterns have illuminated nearly every site on the area’s National Register of Historic Places, including the Presbytère and the Cabildo, and iconic restaurants such as Brennan’s and Tableau. Tucked away from public thoroughfares, however, the New Orleans-based Bevolo creates a wide range of gas and electric lights for indoor and outdoor residential, commercial, and historic spaces, with nearly five hundred options ranging from traditional styles to more streamlined, modern designs. The brand also offers complimentary lighting analyses to pair customers with the best products to fit their spaces, even designing custom pieces for singular style. Learn more about Bevolo’s lighting and expert services at bevolo.com.
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From Amanda Heckert, Deputy Editor
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Arkansas Hope
I absolutely loved the terrific acting and storytelling of Minari, which I finally rented ahead of this past weekend’s Academy Awards—the film was nominated in six categories, including Best Picture. Inspired by the director and screenwriter Lee Isaac Chung’s roots growing up in Arkansas, the tale follows a Korean family struggling to achieve their American dream of starting a farm in the Natural State. Trust me, you won’t forget it—particularly the captivating (and now Oscar-winning!) performance by the revered Korean actress Yuh-Jung Youn as the bawdy, Mountain Dew–loving, wrestling-watching grandma.
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Freedom Food
Things I can’t wait to do once my husband and I are fully vaccinated come Saturday: hug my parents; have my best friend over to binge the second season of Selena, the Netflix bio-series about the beloved Tejano singer, after it lands May 4; and hit as many newly opened Charleston restaurants as I can. For our first non-takeout meal in more than a year, we’re going to down oysters and crab toast at Post House for our anniversary, with plans to snag butterbean agnolotti at Vivian Howard’s Lenoir and Viet-Cajun fried chicken to-go from the new Pink Bellies outpost next. Making your own trip here soon? You can find top-notch recommendations in our refreshed Charleston: At a Glance and Eat Like a Local in Charleston guides.
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A Sparkling Julep
This Saturday, May 1, the Houston bar Julep will reopen for the first time in more than a year for its annual Derby Party—a chance to celebrate the cocktail that gave the bar its name. Owner Alba Huerta’s menu boasts all kinds of julep variations, including this sparkling iteration. “It’s a refreshing, gorgeous, daytime cocktail based on a champagne julep,” she says. “It has lower alcohol content, so it’s perfect for day drinking.” Find the recipe here.
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From Haskell Harris, Style Director
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I love the imperfect, sculptural shapes of the pasta bowls and dinner plates in this quirky collection from Be Home. The look brings way more personality to the table than standard white dinnerware. $38–$42; ggfieldshop.com
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We recently asked, “The Kentucky Derby is May 1. How will you celebrate the race this year?” Some of your responses:
By having my one and only mint julep of the year and watching the race. I have a pot of mint that grows just for the occasion—same mint plant for eighteen years. —Winnie W.
Several years ago we tried to recreate Hot Browns—the open-faced sandwiches associated with the Brown Hotel in Louisville—and failed somewhat. But fall once, get up again, so we are having a small garden party with the above, maybe some potato and spring salad, and of course, mint juleps (I’ve mastered those). —Pete M.
Sending official Derby julep glasses to our kids’ households and having a post-time Zoom with them all. —Susan B.
We always love to go to Churchill Downs at dawn. We leave at 6 a.m. and get there to stand along the fence to watch the Derby horses do their morning exercise. —Mary and Dave R.
This is my first real Kentucky Derby in Louisville, as I moved here in July of 2019. My condo will be decorated with all things equestrian and bourbon. I look forward to the day I attend the race in person, but this past Monday (my birthday), my son and granddaughter took me to Churchill Downs to watch the beautiful contenders practice. What a thrill! We were so close and it was so quiet that you could hear the horses breathing and the jockeys whispering to them. Everyone was so welcoming to this newbie. —Diane N.
My family was born and raised in Kentucky. The Kentucky Derby is considered a national holiday for us. When they play “My Old Kentucky Home,” no one is allowed to talk (they can sing along). My sister moved to Florida this past year, and we are packing up all of our Derby gear and bringing the Derby to Florida. The traditional burgoo with cornbread will be served and mint juleps will be flowing. —Beth R.
Red roses all over the house and bourbon at hand. —Larry J.
Same as every year, with ice cold mint juleps and homemade cheese straws. —Alexis W.
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