okra. Issue 15, 2021 PREVIEW

T

FA L L I S S U E T

2021

Southern FOOD CULTURE

Display until November 29, 2020

THE WORD GOT OUT Tootsie Tomanetz is the secret ingredient at Snow’s BBQ in TX ROBERT ST. JOHN Muses on gardening and the Squash & Dash

TAKING THE LOW ROAD The Good Road visits Charleston and celebrates its culture DINNER AND A STORY Vivek Surti shares dinner with tales of his heritage

THE GOOD ROAD

MENDING WALLS

WELCOME TO THE SHOW

SEPTEMBER 7TH–12TH. TICKETS ON SALE NOW THROUGH THE RIFF WEBSITE MID-JULY. A FULL SCHEDULE OF THE 2021 FILMS AND MUSIC EVENTS CAN BE VIEWED JULY 15TH BY VISITING WWW.RVAFILMFESTIVAL.COM The Premier Sponsors of the 2021 festival include: Swedish Match, the Virginia Film Office, Tilt Creative+Production, the RIFF Arts Institute, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, the Quirk Hotel, Gather, CBS6, the Byrd Theatre and Bow Tie Cinemas.

52: THE WORD IS OUT Tootsie Tomanetz keeps the fires going at Snow’s in Lexington, TX

60: MINDING THE STORE

Mandy Morris celebrates her family’s Chinese heritage in the Mississippi Delta

STORIES

68: A SPACE FOR EVERYONE

The SoundSpace revitalizes Rabbit’s Motel, breathing new life into a community in Asheville, NC

76: ROADSIDE NIRVANA

82: TAKING THE LOW ROAD

Craig Martin and Earl Bridges travel south in search of do-gooders and low country culture.

Photograph by Wyatt McSpadden

Stephanie Stuckey is working hard to rebuild the nostalgia of her family’s once thriving business

CHAPTERS EDITORIAL

TO DINE SOUTHERN

PG 7: OUR CONTRIBUTORS

PG 28: THE SOUTHERN TABLE

Jimmy Proffitt shares memories of Sunday dinner at his grandparent’s house in Tennessee.

The people who make our stories come to life .

PG 8: EDITOR’S LETTER

PG 31: GATHERINGS

Celebrating our Southern Food Culture and all that entails.

Chef Vivek Surti serves up dishes, as well as stories, layered with the flavors of his heritage.

PG 36: ENTHUSIASTIC SOUTHERNER

PG 38: COOKING WITH

Robert St. John muses about life in the South and the beautiful dream of gardening and what to do with all that squash.

Justin Fox Burks and Amy Lawrence celebrate the magic and fun of vegetarian cooking for two.

PG 40: ON OUR PL ATE

Glorious summer corn brings a unique taste to Chef Mark Bolchoz’s Sweet Corn Agnoletti.

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110

17 SOUTHERN COMFORTS

A ROAD LESS TRAVELED

PG 12: BURNING LOVE

PG 110: WANDERING

PG 16: BY SOUTHERN HANDS

PG 114: WHERE WE WENT

NC artist, Bee Locke, captures nature’s beauty with the art of pyrography.

A fun drive turns into a scavenger hunt in Western NC on the Barn Quilt Trail.

You’ll want these finds made by locals.

PG 20: PAGES

Micah Cash offers a unique look at the communities through the windows of Waffle House across the South.

PG 22: LISTEN UP

In Texas, Mike Zito goes through a “Learning Curve” and produces a great new album.

Folk-country artist, Esther Rose, remains untethered on her new album “How Many Times.”

Photograph by Billy Harrell

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SOUTHERN SNAPSHOTS PG 94: ALONG THE ROAD

The Dillard House, Dillard, GA

FRONT COVER

Tootsie Tomanetz Photograph by Wyatt McSpadden

Stop in to beat the heat at Hansen’s Sno-Bliz, a New Orleans landmark.

PG 100: L AY OF THE L AND

Our readers submit photos of their special Southern places and people. Above: Newport River, Coastal NC

5

STAFF Scott Speakes Publisher Genie Gaither Jones Editor-in-Chief Rebecca Cashwell Design Director Robert St. John J. M. McSpadden Liesel Schmidt Contributing Editors Richard L. Jones Copy Editor

Advertising Sales Specialists Brittany Sanders brmcdonald45@gmail.com Scott Speakes scott@okramagazine.com

SCAN TO SUBSCRIBE & VISIT US ONLINE

CONNECT WITH US facebook.com/okramagazine @okramag contact@okramagazine.com

Published by Southbound Publishing, Inc.

okramagazine.com

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CONTRIBUTORS MANDY MORRIS After a decade-long career in IT, Mandy Morris pursued her passion for food by attending culinary school.

Since graduating, she’s held a variety of positions in the food industry: garde manger in a Michelin-starred kitchen, pastry cook at a Top Chef winner’s patisserie, an assistant food stylist, and a freelance recipe tester and developer. She’s currently the Culinary Program Manager at June Oven, a strategic business unit within Weber. Her new puppies, Cap and Harper, dominate her free time and her phone’s camera roll.

SUSAN MARQUEZ is a lifelong learner who finds joy in the unexpected discoveries often found on the path less traveled. She began writing professionally in 2001 and 2,800 articles later, she is still telling the stories of the South. With one foot in suburban Mississippi and the other in New Orleans, she can pack a suitcase in record time. “Writing gives me an excuse to ask questions, and to learn more than what can be seen on the surface.”

WYATT MCSPADDEN

is a native of Amarillo, Texas. He began his career there in 1974 as the photographer for eccentric arts patron Stanley Marsh III. McSpadden photographed the creation of Marsh’s Cadillac Ranch and chronicled the work’s evolution from local curiosity to state landmark. In 1992 he moved to Austin and turned his focus to editorial photography. His portraits of governors, golfers, musicians, millionaires, and more have appeared in scores of publications nationwide, most notably in Texas Monthly, where he is a contributing photographer. His work resides in the permanent collections of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection of the Wittliff Collections in San Marcos, the Amarillo Museum of Art, and in the homes of many private collectors. McSpadden’s photography has garnered awards from professional stalwarts such as the Society of Publication Designers, Communication Arts, and the Print Regional Design Annual. His 2009 book, Texas BBQ (University of Texas Press)—a photographic celebration of classic Texas barbecue joints—is in its second printing. The follow up BBQ book Texas BBQ Small Town to Downtown was published by UT Press, released in 2017. wyattmcspadden.com

J. M. MCSPADDEN is a freelance writer and music enthusiast whose work has appeared online at theflamestillburns.com, and at mbird.com, a journal that examines faith in the real world. His love for roots music led to a gig at nodepression.com, where he reported on live music from The Birchmere, the famed music hall in Washington, DC. He is fascinated with the way words and music impact our lives and can be used as a vehicle for healing. Host of The Village Night Owl podcast, an interview show featuring musical artists, he lives in Virginia with his wife Suzanne where he is at work on his first novel.

MARIANNE LEEK is a retired high school educator who continues to teach part-time at Tri-County Community College.

She lives with her husband in western North Carolina, where she spends much of her free time enjoying the outdoors. Her work can be found in The Bitter Southerner.

7

EDITOR’S LETTER

Nostalgia is defined as a sentimental longing or wistful affection for a period or place with happy personal associations.

So much of what we define

as nostalgia is intertwined with memories of food— Grandma’s fried chicken, Aunt Jane’s pecan pie, family reunions, our favorite restaurants, and those stops along the road when we traveled.

In this, our annual Southern Food Culture issue, we celebrate that nostalgia.

We visit with Stephanie

Stuckey who is working to revitalize her family’s once thriving business. As a child, no road trip was ever complete without a stop at Stuckey’s for a pecan log and to peruse the tables full of regional souvenirs.

Growing up in Asheville, North Carolina, Clarence Robinson lived behind Rabbit’s Motel and Café, a once thriving business serving the African-American community. Today, Rabbit’s has a new lease on life as a sound studio and Robinson is about to reopen the café serving soul food just like it’s former owner, Miss Lou Ella Byrd, did during its heyday.

Do you remember the first time you thought this is the best BBQ I’ve ever had? Well, in 2008, Snow’s BBQ, in the tiny town of Lexington, Texas, was unexpectedly named the Best BBQ Joint in Texas by the BBQ editor of Texas Monthly magazine. Ever since

“PEOPLE I HAD NEVER SEEN BEFORE F L O C K E D I N , T H E I R FA C E S S H O W I N G A L O N G I N G Y O U N E V E R S AW F O R C A K E .

PEOPLE’S EYES LIT UP FOR A CUPCAKE, CAKE SEEMED TO SIGNAL CELEBRATION. B U T T H E I R E Y E S G O T F I L M Y, WA T E R Y, MIST Y WHEN WE HANDED THEM A SLICE O F P I E . P I E WA S M E M O R Y. N O S T A L G I A .

PIE MADE PEOPLE RECALL SIMPLER, M AY B E H A P P I E R T I M E S .”

Judith M. Fertig, The Memory of Lemon

Scott Speakes // Publisher

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the word got out, they have visitors from all over the world. We visited 87-year old pit master, Tootsie Tomanetz, who is owner, Kerry Bexley’s secret weapon.

Chef Vivek Surti, of Tailor in Nashville, Tennessee, has dinner parties—at his restaurant—at least, that’s what they feel like. Surti charms diners with not only wonderful food, but stories of his heritage and how growing up Indian in the South influenced his food.

Nostalgia for us is Sunday dinners at Grandma’s house, road trips and pit stops, roadside diners, farm stands and regional snacks. All of these are nostalgia we should celebrate. We say, enjoy them.

Genie Gaither Jones // Editor-in-Chief

CELEBRATING SEASON 10! Vera Stewart is the host of the VeryVera Show, syndicated across the southeast in 34 markets. The show combines Vera’s natural teaching ability and etiquette insight with modern twists to your grandmother’s favorite recipes. Vera Stewart is also a nationally recognized cookbook author whose career in the food and hospitality industry spans nearly four decades.

MARKETS AL : Mobile • Huntsville • Dothan • FL : Tampa • Pensacola • GA : Albany • Augusta • Columbus • Cordele Macon • Savannah • IN : Evansville • Indianapolis • LA : Lake Charles • MD : Hagerstown • MN : Rochester • MS : Jackson Hattiesburg NC : Charlotte NY : Watertown • OK : Oklahoma City • SC : Myrtle Beach • Charleston • Columbia • Greenville TX : Austin • Dallas • Harlingen • Houston • Victoria • Waco • VA : Richmond • Roanoke • WI : Madison

veryvera.com

@veryverastewart

“Fresh from the pond to your plate since 1982”

S I M M O N S C AT F I S H . C O M

Bis-CAT: jumbo angel biscuit with fried Delacata Catfish Fillet with classic Southern coleslaw and house tarter sauce.

CRAZY CAT EAT UP • JACKSON, MS

CHAPTER 1

SOUTHERN COMFORTS

11

Photo: Andrew Shurtleff

A R T

BURNING LOVE BEE LOCKE CAPTURES NATURE’S BEAUTY WITH THE ANCIENT ART OF PYROGRAPHY Written by Deborah Burst / Photography courtesy Bee Locke Imagine an immortal forest where fairy seeds float blissfully through the air.

perfectly in capturing the property’s vast beauty and biodiversity with its infinite

Slivers of sunlight beat down on pools of cool water as a rainbow of dragonflies

details and textures.

play tag with a school of blazing trout. As the sky turns purple, a distant owl

Each piece is unique, even the most simple kitchen utensils; cutting boards

dives low for an evening meal while the herons and songbirds huddle inside the

and rolling pins are a blank canvas. The pyrography pen transforms a wooden

treetops. Meanwhile, the sly fox hides among the emerald shadows stalking his

spoon into a portrait of a spotted mushroom and a bee sipping nectar from a

prey. And just as twilight bids farewell to daylight, the fireflies begin their tango

flower. And every day is a new find; one of the fine art pieces shares Carolina

of shimmering light.

Wrens nursing babies inside Bee’s porch wreath.

This is the world of Bee Locke, a self-

“I like to combine realism and fantasy with

taught pyrography artist, weaving her mag-

natural elements. If I have a subject that

ic inside the Blue Ridge Mountains. Just

needs to be lifelike, I will research its true

outside Asheville with her husband and two

essence and then draw my own rendering of

young daughters, she consumes every detail

the subject before burning it.”

An ancient art dating back to the Egyptians

and every minute message this wooded kingdom sends her way.

and African tribes, pyrography continues to

From the trees’ barley bark to the intricate

amaze Bee. She says has a life of its own,

artistry of a butterfly wing, each stroke brings

incredibly versatile and an art form with end-

to life an eternal portrait. Much like a cat-

less applications.

erpillar, an ordinary piece of wood endures

The primary tool is a pyrography machine

a masterful metamorphosis. Bee grasps her

called a Razertip, comprised of an electric

pyrography pen, and with it a lunar moth

base unit that heats a handheld and pen-

opens its forever wings streamed with cop-

sized implement with a metal tip. As the

per-colored veins across a wooden necklace.

heated tip of the pen comes into contact

The stunning canvas stretches across a

with the wooden surface, the heat burns the

dynamic piece of property, 21 acres filled with woods, bottomland, rolling mead-

top layer of wood and creates a dark layer of carbon. By controlling the appli-

ows, two ponds, a sparkling stream and a raspberry farm. “I love living so close

cation of heat, the artist can create very detailed imagery. Another vital tool in

to nature, be it lush forests, sprawling fields, wet valleys or windy mountaintops.

creating various textures and patterns is the pen’s multiple tips.

Creativity naturally finds room to flourish when there is time and space dedicated to all that surrounds you.”

A lover of the arts, Bee longed to be an artist since her early years drawing photos for loved ones, then sketching faces and designs. She was introduced

“There is something mysterious about the artistic process that can’t quite be quantified or explained explicitly. I spend a lot of time envisioning various images before I settle on how I want my artwork to look, and the vision is always evolving until I decide it’s finished.”

to pyrography in 2009 with an old soldering iron and was quickly mesmerized

Bee noted that although some artists use laser engravers, handmade pyrogra-

by the rich sepia tones along with that smoky aroma. Woodburning blended

phy is time-consuming much like drawing. The burning stage is the longest part

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SOUTHERN COMFORTS

Clockwise from upper left, 1: Inspired by the Locke raspberry farm. 2: A heron takes flight in a colorful memory box. 3: Fine-tuning the feathers on a hawk. 4: This Carolina Wren nest is a perfect inspiration for a fine art piece. 5: Bee Locke modeling a wooden necklace inspired by a fern frond. 6: Bird loving life memory box.

“ I SPEND A LOT OF TIME ENVISIONING VARIOUS IMAGES BEFORE I SETTLE ON HOW I WANT MY ARTWORK TO LOOK.”

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of the process and can take many hours depending on the intricacy of the design.

Most of her materials are wood and leather; it’s best to use wood that is kiln dried and light in color with a less prominent grain pattern. “Each piece of artwork I make is carefully created with a series of steps including preparing the wooden surface, drawing the design onto the wood, burning the design, and sometimes adding color. Then I seal and finish the wood to preserve the imagery over time.”

Of course, anything with a high degree of heat can be dangerous. “Thankfully I have never experienced a serious burn, though accidents can happen, and it’s important to take safety precautions while burning.”

Gazing at her work, one can only imagine the hours needed to craft the complexity, much like a multi-dimensional portrait. Bee notes it demands focus and dedication in carving such intricate detail, from the sharp beak of a hummingbird to the finely etched veins of a purple iris.

Not only stunning but also fully functional pieces; cutting boards and serving boards are draped with a free-flowing portrait of fish and sea turtles swimming inside an aquatic wonderland. They are perfect for a special event or a picnic set among shady trees and glistening waters. Some prefer a memory box endeared with their favorite hiking trail. Bee brings it to life, be it a grand heron flying off into the sunset or a salamander zigzagging its way through a jeweled-toned rock bed inside a shallow stream.

Although most are custom pieces, Bee’s favorite work is unrestricted fine art.

“I love to focus on designs that flow meditatively, scenes straight from my heart that feature lots of color.”

Her favorite place for mediation is her front porch, gazing off into the woods hypnotized by its poetic stage. “When I take time to enjoy the sensory experience awaiting me in the wider world and let my thoughts drift away, a sense of wonder and peace naturally follows. To be inspired is easy; to be dedicated enough to transform that inspiration into art is a whole other practice that can be deeply fulfilling.” beesymmetry.com

Creative Woodburning: Projects, Patterns and Instructions to Get Crafty With Pyrography

After a decade of learning the ins and outs of the creative world of

pyrography, Bee wrote a book for both beginners and experienced artists building their craft. The book introduces the art and the tools needed along with details in selecting the materials and a breakdown of wood species. Another vital technique of wood burning that brings the art to a higher level is adding color. Bee notes that wood does an excellent job in absorbing color, and thoughtful placement can enhance the natural look of the woodburning. Her book shares more than 180 patterns and 20 projects, including jewelry boxes, cutting boards, a gourd birdhouse and many more.

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SOUTHERN COMFORTS

H O M E

C H AT H A M K N I V E S The adage that necessity is the mother of invention isn’t just wellitems passed down to them from generations past, which could consist used…It’s also very true. And so it was for Michael Chatham ten years of files, axe heads, or any other high carbon tool steel pieces that would ago when he found himself in need of a knife that would hold an edge make excellent cutlery. Each piece is heated to approximately 1600 and sharpen easily. Being creative and artistic, he did degrees in my propane forge or my coal forge. When the what came naturally to him: He made one for himself. proper steel temperature is reached, I begin the forging Four years later, his hobby became a business, and Chaprocess by using a three-pound rounding hammer for tham Knives was born. “The first knives that I made were stretching, shaping, and finishing the steel. With each from repurposed old files which I still make a lot of my hammer blow, the steel begins to move. Sometimes the knives out of—early Nicholson, Black Diamond and Kensteel shows me the way to shape each piece in its own tucky files,” says Chatham, who hails from Bay Minette, direction. This makes these creations one of a kind.”

Alabama. “My interest has always been to find the finest Offering a range of products including a wide variety quality steel to repurpose, such as early saw steel that of knives as well as kitchen tools, Chatham’s pieces could be as old as one hundred years.” are indeed one-of-a-kind creations—right down to the Chatham’s process for making the knives shows his athandles and the sheaths. “The handles are made from tention to detail and standard of excellence. “While the repurposed Bourbon barrels, cherry wood from an anprocess differs for each piece, the first step is typically cient cherry tree off of family property in Mississippi, Michael Chatham a sketch, which comes from a consultation with the cliBuffalo horn, white tail antler, and many other stabilized ent in which we determine the perfect piece of cutlery woods of different types. All of them are hand-shaped for them to use every day. Whether it is an outdoor knife or a chef’s and hand-sanded one at a time. Each piece then receives its own wetknife, the next step is steel selection. I may be hand-forging a Farrier formed, hand-sewn leather sheath that is molded to fit just that one rasp into a chef knife, or I could be hand forging a leaf spring from a piece of cutlery.”

1940’s car into a hunting knife,” says Chatham. He is the proud owner Chatham actively works with Heroes on the Water, and his products of multiple antique anvils including an Isaac Hill made in 1860 and a can be purchased online at chathamknives.bigcartel.com and on his Peter Wright made in 1910, all of which serve as the inspiration for his shop on Etsy. work. “There are times when clients request that I use high carbon tool Written by Liesel Schmidt

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F O O D

ELVIE’S HOT SAUCE Walk down the condiment aisle of any grocery store, and you’ll find able for sale. Naturally, the taste is its biggest selling point, and the row after row of hot sauces ranging from the slightly tingle-inducing to process for making it is one that layers the flavors to coax out nuances the full-on fire-breathing variety. It’s become an essential for countless and concentrate as much heat as possible. “We get peppers—prefpeople, an addition to every kind of dish imaginable. And erably locally—and for every pound, we use one tablefor Cody McCain and Hunter Evans, hot sauce is a way of spoon of salt. In a food processor, we pulse the peppers life—so much so they began making their own. in batches to make a paste,” Evans explains. “Then we Officially opened on January 31, 2020, Elvie’s honors mix in the salt. Put it in a non-reactive container, cover it Evans’s grandmother, Elvie, who passed away on that with a cheesecloth, and keep in a dark cold room for two date many years ago. A native of Jackson, Mississippi, months. Then for every pound of peppers used, we add Evans discovered a passion for cooking while working in about three cups of vinegar, depending on the consistenkitchens and learning from incredible chefs, and it was cy needed. Then we let that sit for about another month always his dream to return to his hometown and open a and then blend the hot sauce in batches before passing restaurant of his own. He enlisted McCain, who became it through a fine mesh sieve and bottling it.”

Elvie’s COO and manager, and they were able to open Flavors include Honey Habanero, Blood Orange, and a Elvie’s in the transformed space of a former residential newly released Strawberry Barrel-Aged hot sauce. “The home that dates back to the 1940s. Naturally, the hot base recipe we use for all of our sauces is just peppers, Hunter Evans sauce bearing the Elvie’s name has become one of their salt, and vinegar,” says Evans. “Depending on the idea claims to fame. “I have always enjoyed hot sauce,” says or product, we will infuse fruits or other ingredients in Evans. “I wouldn’t call myself a ‘hot sauce head,’ but I do stick to a various ways. From Steeping fruit in the vinegar to adding a last-minute few favorites: Crystal, Louisiana, Tabasco, Valentina’s, and our own. sweetener, we can play around with various flavor profiles.”

Growing up and visiting my grandmother, Elvie, there was always a Sauces are available at the restaurant in Jackson, Mississippi. “It’s bottle of hot sauce on the table, whether we were at home or had gone perfect for our guests who love coming to eat at Elvie’s and want to out to eat.” have something in their cabinet they can use often,” says Evans. “It’s That ever-present bottle of hot sauce is something that inspired the two also really great for gifts—lots of people come buy hot sauce to give to create and bottle sauce for the restaurant, and then make it availaway as gifts.”

Written by Liesel Schmidt

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H O M E

LITTLE LIGHT CO. For do-it-yourself-er Beth Hughes, the origin story of her business A far cry from the days when her candle making created havoc, traces all the way back to her “how-to” project of candle making in Hughes’s creative process is about more than just pouring wax. “For senior high school. “I made a straight mess of Mama’s kitchen—ugly me, the candles all start with a connection, a Southern story plucked blue wax everywhere!” she says with a laugh. Adding to right from my own life experiences,” she says. “I think that was her early love of apothecary, always a product about a place, a name for the inspiring botanical or girl who was looking for homemade natural remedies. location, the feeling it gives me—and it grows, little But whatever she was doing—reading, cooking, lisby little, from there. Knowing which essential oils are tening to vinyl, or soaking in the bath—all of it always directly related to that emotion and connection is the seemed better when a candle was lit. beginning of my recipe. Our Porch Swing doesn’t smell Her segue into professional candle making came in like the wood and wicker you sit on, but everyone who 2015, after she realized that her hobby had viability smells it smiles, tilts their head, and says, ‘This realas an actual business. “I started pouring our Lavender ly does remind me of sitting on a porch!’ The techni& Lace, the original candle, in 2014 and giving it as cal process is to melt the organic soy wax chips in a gifts,” says Hughes, who now is the sole owner of Little large melter; and once an ideal temperature has been Light Co. in Athens, Georgia. “By 2015, the demand reached, we add essential oils, let the oil and wax was high, and I created our signature line ‘7 Scents blend, then add the wick and pour your heart out. Then Beth Hughes Inspired by the South.’ I stayed up many a night teachI go make a Bloody Mary and enjoy the aromatherapy ing myself how to build my own website, going through high while the candles cure overnight.” color wheels, and researching label and packaging companies—but I All Little Light Co. candles are made with natural botanicals, organabsolutely loved every minute of it.” ic soy wax, coconut oil, and a 100% all-natural cotton wick. Future Inspiration runs deep, and is immersive, as her greatest muse is found plans for the company includes expansion into room sprays, reeds, in her surroundings. “I’m incredibly inspired by the natural setting of and unique melts. Hughes also gives back to the community by prothe South,” she explains. “The woods I played in when I was young, viding local charities with soy candles for them to sell and keep 100% the deep conversations on a porch, the women in my family, and my of the profits. Products can be purchased online @ littlelightco.com. spot in the world, Athens, a town with an incredible creative resume.”

Written by Liesel Schmidt

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FOOD

Y’ALL SWEET TEA For Southerners, sweet tea is like an old friend. It flavors our summer many people fix it however they’d prefer—even with no sugar at all. days and sweetens long conversations on the porch. And for Darien I’ve heard seasoned sweet tea drinkers say that ours is the best they’ve Craig, that constancy inspired him to create his very own. “I was born had in all their decades of drinking sweet tea, and first-time drinkers and raised in Alabama, so from a very early age, I was inare now repeat customers.” troduced to Southern sweet tea,” he says. “It was always The near future of Y’all Sweet Tea is one that considers the drink of choice at each meal, out at dinners, birththe needs of its consumers: subscriptions. “Our biggest days, after playing outside…Simply put it’s a Southern focus for the future is building a monthly subscription way of life!” service so that our great customers will never look in the Coupled with his entrepreneurial spirit and his desire pantry and be out of tea—that’s the worst thing ever!” to make an impact on the world, his love of sweet tea Craig says with a laugh. “We want to make Y’all Sweet seemed the perfect reason to launch a business. Y’all Tea a household name that everyone loves because Sweet Tea was born in the summer of 2015; and by Noof the flavor of the tea and the Southern roots of the vember of that year, it was officially an LLC. His probrand.” cess, of course, is the thing that makes his sweet tea While Craig is the founder and CEO, Y’all has become a something to remember. “I worked with a manufacturing family affair, with his entire family—including his wife, team to develop the best blend of teas that matched Hannah—involved in the company. Craig’s childhood Darien Craig the Southern sweet tea flavor we were used to drinking: best friend is also his business partner. Clearly, family smooth throughout, with a wonderful aftertaste that and friends are an important part of this recipe—as is makes you want to take another sip,” Craig explains. “We get the tea the region and all the things that it brings to way of life. “The South bags in from the manufacturer, then package them into our retail bags is inspiring to our brand because this is where sweet tea originated,” in Hayden, Alabama.”

Craig notes. “Every family in the South makes great sweet tea, so While the product line is focused on their bagged tea, that singularity having a product that families with long-standing histories of sweet is something that allows them to strive for and maintain excellence. tea will admit that ours is better than theirs...Well, that means a lot All it needs is water, sugar, and love. “Our tea is great for everyone,” to us!” Y’all Sweet Tea can be purchased online at yallsweettea.com. says Craig. “Although our recipe calls for almost two cups of sugar, Written by Liesel Schmidt

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SOUTHERN COMFORTS

Q&A WA F F L E

H O U S E

V I S TA S

A photographer’s view onto the cultural and physical landscape of the South through the windows of Waffle House..

Photography courtesy Micah Cash Q : What compelled you to travel throughout the Southeast with the sole pur-

systemic causes of those situations needed to be discussed as national issues.

pose of visiting Waffle House restaurants? Why that region and why not McDon-

We own those as a society and it is our commitment to stop them whenever we

ald’s, IHOP or even Burger King?

see them, educate ourselves as to why they occur, and work to enact change. In

A : My work circles around narratives of class, economics, and politics as

addition, when something happens at a Waffle House, the media tends to sen-

seen through the built environment. These stories are told through spaces and

sationalize it and use tired stereotypes of who eats and frequents Waffle Houses

places in the South with landscape and architecture as the predominant visual

which is something that this book and its success has pushed back against.

language. As a Southern cultural icon, Waffle House is seen by the masses as a

Q : The point of view of your photos represents the view out onto the surround-

uniquely Southern thing, and its presence and wide-

ing landscape. What was the idea behind that?

spread reverence made it a perfect place to locate

A : This project was to draw attention to the

my inquiry. People feel strongly about this restaurant

landscape and architecture that we ignore: strip

chain in a way that is not equaled to some of the oth-

malls, gas stations, interstate exists, and motels.

ers we may see neighboring it, and I think its regional

We are so accustomed to looking inward or look-

nature aids its popularity. This book discusses Waffle

ing to where we’re going that we seldom look at

House as a metaphor for working class people. It is

where we are. These images show my America. A

a place that is equitable and egalitarian at its best.

vantage point of people who feel left behind, or

A place where one can be themselves without fear of

working to chase a dream, or finding solace in a

reprisal, and a place where diverse people and voices

Waffle House in between shifts. For some, they are

can coexist over hash browns. I was able to make

images of discontent and loneliness, to others, vis-

images about our vernacular architecture—what we

tas of confidence and identity. The framing of these

value, what we build, where these restaurants are

vistas from inside a Waffle House positions them

located—by showing the viewer where I was seated.

as extensions of people who eat and work at such

That frame was necessary to the images and the sto-

a restaurant. The images lean into the stereotypes

ry. That repetition holds the project together.

and metaphors that that iconography brings to the

I was eating breakfast at a Waffle House in December

table but affirms that Waffle House is for everyone.

of 2017 when I looked out the window and saw an

This restaurant chain is beloved and visited by a

adjacent Dollar General. I thought to myself, “I wonder how many Waffle Hous-

multiethnic, multiracial, economically diverse group of people. The story is

es are next to Dollar Generals.” A normal person would look at maps or crunch

right: we can look at these images and talk about Waffle House or dig a bit

some data to answer that question, but I got in my car and visited around 65

deeper to discuss economics, culture, or identity.

Waffle House restaurants in eleven states because I wanted to see what was

Q : How did you choose the locations that you photographed from?

next to them.

A : Many of the locations were chosen at random. I would be on the road

Q : Waffle House faced some controversy in 2018. Was there one specific

and pull off at an exit when I felt like it. Others were more targeted. I knew I

thing that prompted you to do this piece?

wanted an image from Birmingham, Alabama, for instance, so I visited every

A : This project was already underway when a string of violent and racially

Waffle House in Birmingham and included the one I liked the most. It was also

motivated incidents occurred at a few Waffle Houses the spring of 2018. I was

important to make photographs from Waffle Houses in different environments,

certainly sensitive to those events, but I continued the project because the

including urban, suburban, and rural locations.

20 okramagazine.com

FALL 2021