As I walked into The Southerner, I immediately felt at home. Home in the way that I breathed a little deeper, I talked a little louder, and I immediately knew I would eat and drink a little more than normal.
Southern cuisine is a magical tasting palette, rich in smells, and almost always accompanied by sincere hospitality. My grandparents are from Mississippi and growing up Grandma was my standard for all cooking. We eat “cheese and biscuits” for Christmas. Mass amounts of cheese melted together with equal amounts of butter on biscuits. My grandma always special orders the cheese and makes everyone try a bite as she prepares the breakfast. It is my favorite and most celebratory meal.
My grandma was a Methodist pastor’s wife renowned in Mississippi, and then Indiana, for her cookies, her her hugs and her ability to remember everyone’s name. I am amazed how, every time I meet people that find out that I am their granddaughter, people seem to melt as they remember how kind my grandparents are and how their love changed their life in their hardest moments.
Food was one of my grandma’s favorite ways to love people and to show them they mattered.
The Southerner’s website tells us their purpose, “In the 1950’s many Appalachian families moved to Michigan seeking work in the auto industry. It’s a familiar story to many people with roots in the American South, and we strive to tell part of this story through our meals.” I learned a lot about these people in my first, and hopefully not last meal, at the restaurant.
The Southerner was the culmination of a weekend away in Saugatuck, MI. I recently started a new and stressful job and upon returning from my first work trip in Arizona, my husband planned an impromptu weekend getaway. I immediately packed and within two hours of arriving at the Belvedere Inn and Restaurant we decided that our Friday night to Saturday trip needed to add a Sunday. After a weekend of watching the water, wine pairings, and starting the holiday season just the two of us we walked into The Southerner well rested and meeting a dear friend.
The entrance to the restaurant is so unassuming that it made you question its larger than life reputation. We had been told all weekend that this place was worth an hour plus wait and so we arrived right when they re-opened at 5:00pm Sunday night. Instead, with the sun already setting and our perfect trip coming to a close we were the first people there. We weren’t sure if they were open yet and our waiter came out to invite us in and put up the “Open” flag that all of the Saugatuck stores had. He told us to choose out favorite table and he would be right there. We chose a table by the water that looked like it once belonged to a family and been loved for generations. Looking out, I realized why the dirt parking lot entrance was so understated, the waterfront communicated the direction our attention should face. With places to dock your boat you could picture the swell of visitors in the summer, with families pouring off boats after full days of fun.
The building feels like a one level home where every room is a dining room. You can tell where rooms used to separate and that they probably kept the wallpaper. The blue mason jar glasses and old flowery china reminded you that you were not here to impress, you were a guest that already belonged. The small and simple Christmas decorations spoke simplicity after a weekend of decadence.
Walking into a restaurant styled like an old home to find a menu with biscuits, grits, and fried chicken left my decisions easy (check, check, and check). Our waiter heard it was our first time there and excitedly shared all of his favorite items and the specials — a long list.
As people populated the restaurant, the smells, the conversations and the feelings of community and warmth compounded. You realize that this place is more than food. It is the gathering place of Saugatuck, it is a community that forms around a table. Buttery flavors somehow bind our hearts, our conversations and have always bound my home. When our friend, Ellaine, arrived we settled into a dinner of laughter and friendship.
We ordered a bottle of wine from Puglia (red, full, and delicious) and shared our stories from the last month. Ellaine’s dates, our travels, the hard, the good, our future plans. Ellaine was so passionate about the Bloody Mary she ordered that I decided to give it another try and it was so spicy and yummy that now I gained an appreciation for the whole Bloody Mary industry. The “Libations” menu is full of variety and life. You can order fancy boozy punch by the carafe or you can order Hamm’s or PBR for $2 at a time with no shame.
The food arrived; warm, savory, and spicy. My Nashville hot chicken was served in tin foil and as it was unwrapped spices filled the room. The tenderness of the chicken and the messiness it required made me feel like a kid, unselfconscious of my love for and the appearance of my eating.
Their flaky biscuits are what they are really known for and they did not disappoint. They are large and dense and served with perfectly sweet honey butter. Many people recommended the Chicken Biscuit Sandwich and next time I would be excited to combine my wonderful meal into one.
The grits were my best surprise. I have always felt guilty for not understanding grits. I would pass them off to my grandma claiming I was full, when really I just didn’t think they tasted like…anything. Now as I ate chicken that racked my mouth with spice, the Buttered Anson Mills Antebellum Grits completely made sense. They absorbed the spices and the butter made everything settle with pleasure.
As the meal came to a close, I realized that like the best conversation, this meal had made me lose all track of time. Two hours had passed and it was completely dark outside. I felt well rested. The meal was indulgent in the most satisfying way. I ate a lot but knew that I would leave some to take home so that this night did not have to end quite yet.
If you know me, you know that there is nothing that I love more than places and nights like this. In college my friends and I referred to “sparkly moments.” These are the moments that seem to transcend their parts. If the same people were in the same place doing the same thing again, it might not be the same. In my memory of that night, the way the wine, the ambiance, and our conversation came together, left me with a feeling that is greater than its independent elements.
The more I think about “sparkly moments,” and the feeling they leave etched in the timeline of my life, the less mysterious they become. The common factor in these moments is the love that is shared not just for the people present, but for the place and the moment in time. A crazy college night out, that ridiculous road trip, singing loudly with friends, and the first “I love you” all live in our hearts forever the moments we fully lived.
The best part of the Southerner is that I can tell that it is place where people have sparkly moments daily. The heightened flavors and views only amplify the love that enters. The staff seemed overjoyed while completely unsurprised at how much fun we had. This is a place where people come with the people they love to discuss the things they care about over their favorite flavors and smells.
I loved this place because of all of the love that has filled it meal after meal. The Southerner made all of my best memories bubble to the surface to join with the legacy, not just of The Southerner, but of Southern food and hospitality.
Valhalla's Table 