Yum, It's Almost Wednesday

A new restaurant, The Family Soul Spot, opened last week on my block at Park & Seventh. It features traditional favorites such as fried whiting, chopped BBQ, smothered pork chops and sides of collard greens, yams, string beans and macaroni and cheese.

I found myself dropping in often for some of its tasty specialties. In our household, we seldom cook meat, and vegetables tend to be blanched, steamed or lightly sauteed, with little or no seasoning (thanks to a late '60s-early '70s foray into spartan vegetarianism - for years, we never even had salt or pepper in the house). The wonderful panoply of flavorings in soul food, so close at hand, became an irresistible temptation.

But after Sunday's take-out dinner, I had to drop back to the usual at home, because the restaurant would not be open again until Wednesday.

The owner wants to wait a while before doing an interview for Plaintalker. But they are there, and they are dishing up some really, really good food. I ordered the fried whiting with collards and yams Sunday before I realized there was a special of the day, pot roast and mashed potatoes, a family favorite of my childhood. Stop in at 108 East Seventh Street and check out the menu and daily specials. No steamed broccoli here.

--Bernice