Down-home Downtown

originally published March 28, 2007

Back to The Library: Even months after its renaming, there’s still a lot of confusion every time one mentions The Library (420 E. Clayton St., 706-227-6182). Well, get ready for its latest food incarnation to confuse matters further. Previously, if someone said “I’m going to The Library ,” and it was in the early afternoon, one could figure it was the place with the books, but with the addition of a Southern lunch served on weekdays at The Library , it’s anyone’s call. There’s still a range of burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, wings, salads and other basic bar food, and apparently they serve all-you-can-eat spaghetti and garlic bread for a mere $6, but the possibility of another option for collards downtown, nicely spaced between Wilson’s and Weaver D’s , is probably the real attraction. Those two venerable institutions do have superior food, no question, but a meat and three vegetables, piled high on the plate, only come to $6.50 for a very hearty lunch. The hand that wields the salt shaker does so too enthusiastically, for the most part, as the fried pork chop had to be consumed with copious amounts of water. And occasionally, pepper wants to party just as hard, asserting its presence in the pork chop and the loose macaroni and cheese. The fried okra, on the other hand, could use a bit more seasoning, though its breading is decently tasty. The collards trend to the sweet side and would probably be improved by a few shakes of pepper sauce. All in all, it’s not the best Southern food in town, or even downtown, but one must appreciate the prices, the heaping servings and the friendly staff (for the first time, when one decides to push open the decidedly bar-like front door, one isn’t forced to wander to the back of the long room in confusion, but is met by a peppy, well-organized server, ushered to a table and handed a menu rather than listening to a list of what’s actually in stock). The Library also delivers downtown and serves lunch 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays and its grill menu from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday.

Fruity-licious: The next entry in the “Song Remains Largely the Same but with Slightly Different Lyrics” department is the latest frozen dessert business to open in the red-and-white awninged structure in front of Carmike Cinemas: Fruit Glacier Water Ice Co. (1580 Lexington Rd.). For some reason (the winter? Students being out of town in the summer?), these small businesses keep closing, even though each of them has been both good and significantly less expensive than the fancy marble slab-type premium ice cream establishments. What Fruit Glacier brings is not only a selection of creamy, rich ice creams with cool flavors (red velvet cake, Boston cream pie, Reese’s, pineapple upside-down cake, banana pudding), but “water ice,” something relatively new to town. Picture a slightly more solid Slush Puppie, a slightly softer version of the Italian ice you can mostly buy prepackaged in the grocery store or at sporting events. More refreshing than ice cream because it doesn’t coat your tongue, friendly to the lactose-intolerant and containing far fewer calories, the water ice is available in even more flavors than the ice cream, mostly fruit-centric ones: tropical splash, strawberry, peach, piña colada, pear, pink grapefruit and so on. “Gutbuster” was created with UGA food sciences students and consists of a Cherry Coke-flavored water ice base sprinkled with Pop Rocks, a la Life Cereal’s Mikey’s rumored demise. The flavors are pretty fresh, the prices good and the scoops large. Fruit Glacier is open every day, though its hours change from summer to winter.

What Up?: A Taste of Athens was once again a tremendous hit and a great fundraising event. Yours truly served on the committee of three judges, along with Courtney Alford-Pomeroy of the Banner-Herald and Tom Maicon of Atlanta Cuisine, deeming Homer Whitmire’s (of DePalma’s Downtown ) version of lamb slightly superior to Bret Clark’s (of The Foundry Park Inn & Spa’s three restaurants). Maison Bleu was awarded "Best Food" and Hoyt House nabbed the "People's Choice." Farm 255 ’s choice to serve mojitos was the best decision of the evening and, as always, a good time was had by all. That restaurant, incidentally, has introduced a new feature on its revamped menu: “Ask the Chef,” a four-course meal of chef’s choice, available 5:30–7 p.m. daily. Tuesday, Apr. 24, will mark the 13th annual An Entrée of Hope . The following restaurants will donate 10 percent of their gross sales that day to The Ark and the Athens Area Emergency Food Bank : Broad Street Bar and Grill, Buffalo’s Southwest Café, DePalma’s (all three locations), East West Bistro, Five & Ten, Five Points Deli, Foodworks, Fresh Air BBQ (Hull Road), Gautreau’s Cajun Café, Harry Bissett’s (both locations), Hibachi Express Inoko, Hilltop Grille, Last Resort Grill, Maison Bleu, Plantation Buffet, Roly Poly, Speakeasy, The Grit, La Fiesta (Hawthorne), The Sultan and Zim’s Bagel Bakery. The Lee Brothers , authors of The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook , will be in Athens Apr. 13 and 14 to sign books at Mercury Art Works and Earth Fare.

Hillary Brown

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