The Olde Pink House

I am in Savannah, Georgia accompanying Bruce on another one of his trade shows, this time it's the National Pecan Shellers Association, which seems like a logical place to have their winter convention. And last night I even had pecans on my sweet potatoes for dinner when we ate at The Olde Pink House, one of Savannah's great culinary experiences which we got to experience firsthand.  Savannah is so full of history, almost every inch of the city has another story to tell, including all the old buildings.  As soon as we walked into this one, we could feel the presence of all the stories this old mansion had within its walls. 

The building is a Georgian mansion of colonial architecture built in 1789 made of pink stucco that covers it's old bricks.  It is one of the few buildings to survive the fire of 1796. (Savannah has had two destructive fires in it's history, 1796 and 1830, both left over half the city in ashes)  We could certainly feel that this building was old, especially in the basement where we sat since we didn't have reservations for the main dinning area that is on the first two levels.

But we loved it down there, even though there have been lots of stories about ghosts here, as in many of the old historic mansions in Savannah.  We didn't see any ghosts this visit but thoroughly enjoyed our time as we sat on cushions by the hearth listening to the piano player named Diana while we waited for our table.

Diana had to be in her late 70's or early 80's and has been playing the piano in various venues for 30 years including NYC and New Orleans.  Her nails were perfectly manicure acrylic nails that added a little clicky sound on the keys as she played.  She was very social, too, and chit-chatted with us while she played and even suggested some of the best items on the menu to order.  If I didn't know better, I would have guessed that she was Emma, the Lady of Six Thousand Songs from the book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (which you MUST read before going to Savannah) 

Interestingly enough, as we were eating at our table, the maitre d' came around to ask how our meal was and I mentioned how the piano player reminded me of Emma and he proceeded to tell us that he had actually met the real Emma when he first came to Savannah!  He said it was years ago and she was in her 90's and he's sure that she has passed away by now.  I was so impressed.  We continued to chit- chat some more and he confirmed that the people of Savannah are truly like those written in the book and gave more examples.  Everyone here loves to chit-chat, I've picked up on that immediately which is why I think I love it here.   Of course, the food is another reason to love it here...Our maitre d' took a picture of us with our food.

Bruce and I are so eager to dig into all the great Southern, low-country favorites and we hit upon a few at the Olde Pink House.  We started off with appetizers of shrimp and grits but not the normal shrimp and grits.  At the Olde Pink House, they make their grits into little squares and sear them and put the shrimp on top.  I loved it that way.  It wasn't on the menu but Diana told us to order it.

We also ordered oysters that had a cornmeal breading, then fried with a green goddess dressing on top.  Exquisite.

For an entree, I had Bourbon Molasses Grilled Pork Tenderloin, Sweet Potato with Pecan Vanilla Butter and Collards.  I thought I died and went to heaven...the pork tenderloin just melted in my mouth it was so tender and the sweet potatoes...it could have been dessert which is fine with me, I'll eat dessert for dinner any day.  (Bruce wants me to make our sweet potatoes at home like this.)

Bruce had an entree recommended by Diana; Braised Pork Shank with Pineapple Glaze, Macaroni and Cheese and Collards.

Collard greens are pretty much a staple in the south and we love them so we're right at home. Macaroni and cheese is also popular here and I'd probably eat it more if it always tasted like this, a perfect crust on the top and oh, so cheesy in the middle.  Yummy.

We were not disappointed with our first Southern meal in Savannah.   There is a reason I love Southern cooking.