I've Died and Gone to Georgia Brown's

Two major crimes preceded our visit to Georgia Brown's tonight: first I left my camera at home and had to use my generation-behind iPhone in the dimly-lit room to take our dinner pix. Second, how on earth have we not been here before?

I've had a dinner at Georgia Brown's on my To Do list for ages. Every time I'm looking for a new place to try with Jac Georgia Brown's surfaces as a prospect. Yet, somehow it wasn't until a mutual craving for "really good fried chicken" got us into this DC haven of homey Southern cooking.

Our meal started with corn bread and biscuits. I am an avowed biscuit-hater (one of the few breads in the world I want almost nothing to do with), but I devoured those tasty morsels*. I guzzled sweet tea lightly flavored with peach. Jac and I, for perhaps the third time in the past decade, ordered the exact same entree. We each got the fried chicken with asparagus and mashed potatoes. For an extra degree of decadence we ordered a side of macaroni and cheese.

When our chicken arrived, I winced. Had they brought me two pieces of dark meat which my unsophisticated palette would reject? Oh no they didn't, they had partially deboned the white meat chicken they set before me. And wow, was that chicken tender and fresh.

Jac had suggested the macaroni and cheese side and I was happy to accommodate him, figuring I could easily avoid the extra side if I found it bland or excessively "foofy". I have narrow standards for macaroni and cheese. To me, mac & cheese must taste like cheese, not be overloaded with eggs, and is better when left unadulterated by bacon, mushrooms or herbs. Well, the mac & cheese at Georgia Brown's was right in my cheesy sweet spot. The dish is so good that, sitting here writing about it, I'm wondering if it would be feasible to drive into town just to pick up a side of it to take home.

We finished dinner with a heavenly pecan tart topped with good vanilla ice cream and surreptitious tastes of a heavenly bourbon sauce. We can't wait to go back. It will be hard to order anything else.

*It is possible the slow return of my appetite mid-second trimester had something to do with my newly re-found appreciation for all things "carb".