Sunday funday photo

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Home is where the heart is…

Boz Chronicles (Gnat’s Buzz)

St. Simons Food and Spirits Fest

Posted on October 1, 2012 by Emily Hines

I currently wear several professional hats, one of them being a contributor to The Southern C. On an otherwise normal Wednesday afternoon at our Athens headquarters, Cheri (one of TSC creators) offered up her extra tickets to the St. Simons Food and Spirits Festival. Being a lover of food and spirits, I jumped at the chance to go.

I arrived in St. Simons on Friday before the big event and to my surprise I found my parents up to their elbows in pulled pork and cornmeal. As soon as I dropped my bags and said a quick hello, I too was thrown into the assembly line. I really shouldn’t have been that surprised…our restaurants have always been a family affair.

trays and trays of “pig pinatas”

After a long morning of transporting and set up…the Gnat’s and Bubba’s tasting tables were ready to go.

With my parents settled in their booths, my brother and I perused the tasting tent with forks and souvenir wine glasses at the ready! Unfortunately I was so preoccupied with feeding myself, I failed to take a lot of photos. I’ll do better next year but here are a few…

tasting tent under the oaks

Chuck T slingin’ chicken and ribs at Southern Soul’s booth

photo courtesy Southern Soul

After running circles in the tasting tent, Keith and I made our way to the market area.

Viola’s Market tent was incredible. They had essentially recreated their unique shop under the oaks for the afternoon.

Next up: Lisa Kerns Jewelery…always a fun/dangerous (for my bank acct that is) booth.

As I checked out Lisa’s newest creations, I realized my brother Keith had found something of equal interest to him in the tent next door….dessert- specifically Annie Clyde’s Homemade Cakes.

Annie Clyde’s Homemade Cakes was started by Brenda Clyde, Annie’s daughter. Her mother Annie worked to perfect her pound cakes and spent hours teaching Brenda her technique. Today, Brenda carries on her mother’s pound cake legacy baking these homemade minis for others to enjoy.

What is it about miniature things that makes you want them even more? We weren’t hungry AT ALL by this point, yet we couldn’t help ourselves. After staring at the impressive spread of mini cakes and pies, we just had to buy a few. These minis were perfectly round little pound cakes adorned with an array of flavored toppings; we opted for country caramel and velvety vanilla. Making pound cake and eating lots of it is one of my most vivid childhood memories. My grandmother was famous for hers and over the years taught all the grandchildren how to make it. To me, there are few desserts better than a classic pound cake. Not terribly difficult to make, but there is a delicate balance between texture and flavor, and when done right it is simply heaven. Although different from the ones we grew up with, these sweet confections took us right back to the blue and white kitchen in Birmingham, Alabama where we had sifted flour and licked the mixing bowl many years before.

Finally at 4:00 that afternoon, our tasting binge had come to an end. I missed the demos from the culinary heavyweights like Nathalie Dupree but I had a great time hanging out with the fam and some of my favorite local restaurants. After breaking down the tent, we headed home to take our rightful places on the sofa.

This festival was the first festival of its kind; celebrating the vibrant restaurant and retail community of the Golden Isles while raising money and awareness for Hospice of the Golden Isles. It was wonderful to see so many people come out in support of this special event. Can’t wait to go next year!

Saint Simons Food & Spirits Festival Featuring Ted Dennard of the Savannah Bee Company (susanlucas.typepad.com)
Volunteer Experience Leads to Opportunity of a Lifetime (Some Kinda Good)

Sunday funday photo

Posted on September 23, 2012 by Emily Hines

Fun at my parents’ booth- Gnat’s Landing

Had a great time at the St. Simons Island Food and Spirits Festival! More photos to come…

If you want home cookin’ stay home!

Posted on February 15, 2012 by Emily Hines

Feeling a nostalgic after a visit home to St. Simons Island… One of my inspirations for this blog is my family’s restaurant business…my step-father and mother are the creative/driving forces behind the biz, but all of us kids have worked there at one time or another (some still do). The first restaurant, Gnat’s Landing, opened in 1999. A beachy, bar and grill, with a quirky/laid back attitude, Gnat’s serves up good ole American fare, inspired by family recipes and travels around the country. The decor is a cross between vintage emporium and local dive, complete with monogrammed mosaic bar top, old chandelier in the ladies’ room, mermaid sculpture strung up above the bar stools, and patio full of rainbow colored Adirondack chairs.

The story of Gnat’s has had new meaning for me in recent years studying historic preservation, because of HP’s emphasis on adaptive reuse of existing structures. The building Gnat’s occupies, is by no means historically significant, but it resides in one of the oldest “shopping villages” in St. Simons Island (Redfern Village), and was recycled. The previous tenant was a restaurant, and old bbq joint, with minimal seating, and our parentals transformed it into the bright, open-air (weather-permitting) eatery it is today. Having reused an existing structure, plus the personal touches, allowed for the Gnat’s to have an immediate flavor/ambiance, as opposed to stucco boxes in strip mall type developments.

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Our sister restaurant, Bubba Garcias, is also in Redfern Village, and housed in an adapted space. Bubba’s is a tex-mex style cantina, perfect for having a margarita or 3. Taking a nod from the mosaic bar top from Gnat’s, all of the table tops in Bubba’s are mosaics created by family members and employees, comprised of old dishes, bottle caps, and old photographs.

Bubba Garcias

The newest addition to the restaurant family is the Bubba’s Up Bar. Directly above the cantina, in a former office space, is a true throwback to a 1970s basement…think That 70s show. The entire bar is a reclaimed single piece of wood and the decor is made up of personal retro pieces and thrift-store finds over the years.

In such a risky time for creative independent businesses, it is inspiring that we are still thriving. If you are ever in Southeast Georgia…check ’em out!