I’ve never been a huge fan of southern cooking, so I was a little wary of trying any restaurant that was too authentically southern.  No grits, livers, or fried okra for me!  I like my food to fall into categories I would roughly describe as identifiable and, um, within a stone’s throw of “normal”.

Anyway, I didn’t think I was missing much.  With a nice French restaurant like Vin Rouge close at hand, a delicious Mongolian BBQ joint like Bali Hai, and our favorite fast food Chinese takeout, we didn’t need anything else.  Except Firebirds, of course, for extra special occassions, and maybe something more interesting when we attended world festivals.  I knew there was a chance I was misjudging the food, but what could a southern restaurant offer by way of mood and atmosphere, anyway?

I had that question answered for me on Friday, and got to swallow my ignorance while I was at it.  Called The Blue Note Grill, this place is steeped in the south.  In addition to a really fun atmosphere the place has bands in every night, so far as I can tell.  While we were there the Duke Street Dogs played and had us clapping, tapping, and wishing there was more room to dance.

They were joined for part of the night by Chris Turner, a truly amazing harmonica player.  This is a quieter, slower snippet of Mr. Turner, but it shows you what he’s capable of.

I never knew the harmonica could make music like that! It was amazing, it really was. And the food wasn’t bad, either. I little on the fried side, maybe, but that’s what we ordered.

This pic doesn’t show the ribs, ’cause they didn’t last long enough for me to grab a pic.  They were all you could hope for in ribs, and reminded me of what the south does so well.  The onion rings were good, too, and you’ll notice we even ordered fried okra.  I thought it was slimy, but hey, you can’t overturn all a girl’s perceptions in one night!

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