If I’m ever on Death Row, I want my last meal brought in from Cotham’s
Mercantile.
Cotham’s is a café on Highway 161 in Scott, Arkansas, about thirty minutes south of Little Rock. Geoff and I discovered it at the tail end of our Christmas road trip on our way back to New Mexico from Asheville (his mom) and Atlanta (my parents.)I wish we’d discovered it on our way east, because then we could have eaten there twice. It’s that good.
It’s not fancy. In fact, the building, which was built in 1917 and has served as a gas station, mercantile and a jail, sits on brick pilings over the waters of Horseshoe Lake and looks like it could fall in at any moment. The sign is so weathered it’s illegible, so you have to know where you’re going. Just look for the gravel field full of pickup trucks, cop cars, motorcycles and most every other kind of vehicle by which folks could arrive here.
The interior design features interesting junk, everything from rusty farm implements to old television consoles to a small box that purports to contain Hitler’s mustache. You may have guessed that this is not a place where you go for carpaccio or portobello mushrooms. They don’t do whole grain or extra virgin or low fat. They especially don’t do low fat. What they do is down home, Southern style cooking and they do it extremely well. Geoff had a jalapeno burger, which probably isn’t technically Southern, but it was good and juicy and came with crunchy brown fries.
I had to have the chicken fried steak, and I’m grateful that I did. It was everything chicken fried steak is supposed to be, but so seldom is—fork tender, perfectly cooked, in a light golden crust without a trace of grease. It shared the plate with cloud-light mashed potatoes under a generous dollop of blonde, pepper-flecked gravy, and a small dish of perfectly seasoned black-eyed peas spiked with chewy nuggets of ham. Heaven.
We couldn’t leave without dessert, so we split a fried apple pie…flaky crust, tender apples and a healthy slab of vanilla ice cream…guess they were out of frozen yogurt. Oddly, after consuming more food than I would normally eat for dinner, much less lunch, I didn’t feel stuffed to the point of discomfort. I felt happy in that way that only really good food can make you. I felt satisfied.
That’s what you want for your last meal on earth.
Yes, that's a full sized dinner plate.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one other specialty of the house—the Hubcap Burger—so named because it’s roughly the size of a hubcap. No joke. Check it out on their website. I was only sorry that we were there on Friday, because we missed the Thursday special–Southern fried chicken.
Next year.
I love your writing, Judi! Makes me want to go to Arkansas, which NO ONE had ever done before ;~) !!
Thanks, Donna–
Arkansas was probably the last place I expected to find a meal that good…but I’m happy to be proved wrong! And I’m happy you enjoyed the post. Thanks for the comment.
Let’s meet there sometime!
Hi Judi! Finding a little off the road place is something that just doesn’t happen much anymore, does it? Looks great!
Now that’s my kind of place! If I ever came back to the US for a visit (I live in Ireland now), I have made a promise to myself to do a proper cross-country adventure (east to west, and then hopefully north to south). There are so many incredible, amazing places in the US I should have (and could have, having lived there for most of my life up until we moved across the pond) travelled to and explored. But I didn’t. More fool me. This is definitely one of the places I’d check out – chicken fried steak, when it’s done ‘properly’ is fried food nirvana (I remember it from when I visited Birmingham, Alabama many, many, many years ago – at a truck stop cafe/diner).
Thanks for sharing this little bit of good-food heaven, Judi.
And…emmm…one more thing I wanted to say. You’re probably sick to the back teeth from what I’ve no doubt everyone who has read your brilliant novels has already asked you, but I feel compelled to ask, anyway. When is the follow-up and next chapter in the lives of Wyn, Mac, CM and of course, the bakery itself, going to hit the bookshops (and our collective bookshelves)? I loved those two novels, and am so eagerly anticipating the next book. Please tell me (and all of us) that it’ll be sooner rather than later.
Hi, June–
Thanks for the comment and I’m so glad you enjoyed reading about Cotham’s Mercantile! It was a fun place…not to mention a delicious find.
In answer to your question about the citizens of Bread Alone…I really appreciate the kind words, and I’m currently hard at work on Part 3; in fact I hope to finish a draft this month. Of course, I’m not sure how long before the book actually appears, but at least it now exists (almost.)
Warm wishes,
judi
Hurray for Part 3 to Bread Alone…..have been waiting forever….a good thing is hard to leave behind….sort of like the chicken fried steak….thank you for your gift of storytelling to all of us.
Patty–thanks so much for your nice message…yes, it has been a long time and this year is flying by so fast! I totally agree about the chicken fried steak! I’m now working on revisions for the book, so stay tuned for further updates.
best, judi