April 14th

Bob's Small Town Grille seems like the perfect place to work if you are happy about food.

So today I am perfecting my It is Thyme to Hire Me Pork Roast and Sweet Potato Risotto.

Where I have never eaten risotto prepared in a restaurant, it is always featured on Chef Gordon Ramsey's programs so I figured I better learn how to cook it. But truth is, I don't really know if I make it correctly since I have never eaten it prepared by anyone else.

I lived in Tennessee a while back and fell in love with the Bell Buckle Cafe. David Letterman sent Bif there to cover the RC Cola and Moonpie Festival the year I lived there; but that is not why I loved this place. I loved it because it was so sophisticated and so small town all at the same time. You could settle in to a comfy seat and order speckled beans, fresh from the garden squash casserole, grilled fish and a glass of wine. Downhome cooking with sophistication. And bonus; there was live music! The coolest thing about the Bell Buckle Cafe is that it is in the middle of nowhere and nothing. It sits in a town with a post office, a few antique stores and a boarding school. The town is one block. That is it. Oh, and there is the annual RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival.

It is similar to what makes Bob's Small Town Grille exciting. It sits in a town with a post office, a bunch of antique stores, a small private collage and a few fast food and meat and three establishments. But Bob's is unique. It lives and breathes in Royston; a tiny town on your way to South Carolina, and it is a must stop at establishment. You can go there and get Salmon BLT's or Mac N Cheese you would sell your first born for, great burgers and lovely daily specials with a nice glass of wine or cool new brew. And, there is live music from time to time as well.

Both restaurants are housed in old, storied buildings with great character. And the staff always make you feel like you have come to their house for dinner.

I want my niece Katie Girl's band play at these places...

...as both establishments are family friendly.

I realize these places are just the kind of place I would like to have one day. I have a lot to learn I know; so I get back to studying....

...and of course, plotting...what small town on the way to somewhere can I land? Maybe somewhere in the Midwest? Or in some sleepy little beach town? We will serve everything, from deviled eggs and creamy brie soup with a seared scallop, to mouthwatering outside-in burgers and creamy fig pasta. Katie Girl will be the house band!

Ok, so that is a little ways off...for now, if you are traveling the small town roads of Georgia or Tennessee, do check out these great culinary finds!!