by Sarah Hall
tranger names
have brought curiosity seekers in off the street, but Gay Hawk Restaurant
actually brings speeding motorists to a stop. Located at 685 S. Danny Thomas,
Gay Hawk used to be one of the most popular drive-in restaurants in Memphis.
Lewis Bobo, who's owned the Gay Hawk for the last 34 years, explains the
reason behind the name in the WKNO documentary Memphis Memoirs. "There
were two birds on each end [of the sign] that looked like they were flying,"
Bobo says. "Gay meant happiness, but you know days go by and gay means
something a little different now."
Gone are the sign's neon tubes and birds, but its blue cursive lettering is hard to miss. And the restaurant's lunch buffet is easily one of the best in town. (Bobo's Catering, located in the same building, also caters the Center for Southern Folklore's Sunday blues brunch.) Intrigued by the name and encouraged by a co-worker, I visited Gay Hawk twice last week. On the first visit, I stood out among the regulars like a sore thumb. Choosing a table on the smoking side, a mistake not only for the usual reasons, but also because the table was further away from the food, my companion and I waited only a few minutes before figuring out there are no servers at Gay Hawk. Instead, everyone grabs a glass of sweet tea or water from the bar and makes their way to the buffet. As soon as we realized this, we headed for the buffet area. The salad portion was unappetizing, with iceberg lettuce, cubes of cheddar cheese and ham, heavily mayo-ed potato and pasta salad, and little fruit on both visits. But why bother with a salad when steaming vegetables sit nearby? That day's sides were lima beans, mashed potatoes, okra, spinach, corn-on-the-cob, sweet potatoes, and macaroni-and-cheese. Fried chicken, meatballs, and ham hocks were also included in the buffet.
Normally even one plate of down-home Southern cooking would put me right to sleep, but Gay Hawk's lima beans, steamed whole okra, and mac 'n' cheese unlike any boxed variety only gave me fuel to go back for more. My vegetarian companion skipped the fried chicken and doubled up on the sweet potato slices flavored with brown sugar.
The buffet also included corn bread muffins or rolls and peach cobbler, hot and ready when we braved a third walk to the buffet.
A few days later, now a seasoned veteran, I took along a friend who had heard of Gay Hawk for years but had never tried it. We quickly took a table on the right, closer to the food and the piped-in blues music.
We were joined at the buffet by a woman who told us she owned a restaurant in Clarksdale and was moving to Memphis to put everyone out of business. She made several trips to the buffet that day, strictly research, I guess.
This time, we piled our plates high with squash, sweet potatoes, collard greens fixed with rice, spinach, succotash, pinto beans, and all three meats: baked chicken, salmon croquettes, and meatloaf.
Fresh apple slices under a thick crust made the cobbler dessert better than the previous, canned-peach variety. So good, in fact, my friend was moved to tell the cook that outside her mom's kitchen, she's never had cobbler with a better crust.
The full buffet we tried is $6.50 and includes sweet tea and tax, but there are several variations to choose from, including only vegetables at $1.10 each. A posterboard menu behind the bar lists them.
A simple listing of Gay Hawk's buffet items may sound the same as the offerings at many other three-veggies-and-a-meat joints, but there's an obvious difference in the preparation. Cooks at Gay Hawk sit back and relax by the bar, pleased with the reception of their work -- proving soul food is good for the soul because it's cooked with that in mind.
RICK NELSON, EXECUTIVE CHEF AT The Peabody, just returned from Wilmington, Delaware's Hotel duPont, where he taped four half-hour segments for an upcoming series called Historic Chefs of America. A spin-off of the television program Historic Hotels of America, produced by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Shortt Stories Teleproductions, the series will focus on 13 chefs from member hotels, including Hotel Maison de Ville in New Orleans and The Plaza in New York. Nelson's four episodes will show the preparation of smoked corn chowder with chive polenta and pan-seared rabbit loin, portabella mushroom and goat cheese skewers, pecan-crusted roast rack of lamb with mint julep sauce, and raspberry crème brûlée in a filo shell. But the series isn't the only thing causing a stir at The Peabody. Mallards has added sidewalk seating for 20 on the Union side of the building. The expansion has been in the works for about six months according to Ken Hamko, food and beverage director. "All big cities have sidewalk cafes downtown," Hamko says, "and it just seemed like an ideal thing for Mallards." Hamko says the area will stay open throughout much of the year, but he's most excited about its timely unveiling. "With Memphis in May there's a lot of street traffic," he says. "So we'll be able to capture a lot of those folks who like to sit down and watch other people walk by." Around the corner on Front in the spot most recently vacated by the catfish restaurant Top o' the River, Uptown Deli is now open. Owner Craig Mednikow describes the deli saying, "I won't say it's New York-style because it's better than New York-style." Mednikow says sandwiches weigh in at just under a pound with half a pound or better of meat and cheese. Open for lunch and dinner, the menu also includes a few grill items, salads, and 24 different cheesecakes.