Chomp!

By Ron Aiken
Food! Pics! Yay!

For as much as Chomp! Cooks at home – and with a new family of three, it’s more than he ever has in his life – Chomp! Also eats out. And enjoys it. And takes pictures. And compiles them to share with you.

It can be a bit shocking when Chomp! Looks over his archives of food photos, and upon doing just such a thing this week he realized a good, old-fashioned photo dump was in order. What follows are pictures of amazing food I’ve had recently both here in town and in parts beyond – Chomp’s hopeful you’ll be bold enough to venture out and try them – for you to enjoy!

In no particular order and governed only by my whimsy, here they are:

Blueberry Basil Cupcake w/ Lemon Icing, Magnolia’s Natural Market, Aiken, S.C. Magnolianaturalmarket.com. This baby was a succulent delight. SO moist, SO fresh, SO decadent, it made you want to put more clothes on, as if somehow while eating it your clothes had been removed and things had happened. I’m not saying exactly what, but things took place. The icing was so thick it was the consistency of cream cheese, which was a debauched (and welcome) departure from the chemical sting of grocery-store frosting and soul-swellingly good.

I could talk for a while about this cupcake. Instead, but I’ll end by saying more combinations need to be made using basil and blueberries, and they need to be made starting right now.

We’re staying in Aiken with this one, which is the Mango Shrimp Salad, also from Magnolia’s, a place I could not be a bigger fan of if it was required of me. I’m already there. The Edisto Island shrimp alone bring the salad to immediate life, and paired with the diced hearts of palm, mango and fresh cilantro – Magnolia’s has its own herb garden behind the house – the cold salad complimented perfectly the warm spring sun under which it was enjoyed.

And before you say, “Hey, Chomp! Shouldn’t it be ‘complemented’? Don’t you know your verbs???,” I say to you shut your mouth, I choose my words here, not you. The salad paid a compliment to the day, and that’s that. Did it ALSO bring the day to perfection, well, yes, indeed, it did. But before it did that, it was an expression of praise not just to the day but to the sea, to the earth and to life itself, and isn’t that a bigger dang deal? Glad we agree; you can go back to being quiet now.

Now we come to the pies. This beauty is from Nikki’s Family Restaurant in Vidalia, Louisiana. They don’t have a website because they’re too busy making sensational food, as this pie testifies. It’s their chocolate meringue pie, and just look at the meringue on that thing! Nikki’s also has a sensational breakfast, lunch and dinner buffet that has the best fried okra and fried catfish I’ve ever seen on a buffet, but I won’t go into that too much because it’s unlikely you’ll make it there. Not impossible, of course, just unlikely.

Chocolate Meringue Pie, Mammy’s Cupboard, Natchez, Mississippi.
If the previous pie was a feat of meringue expertise, this one belongs in the Louvre. It’s as if a pie ate another pie. Words fail me to describe just how sensationally moist and light and yet crispy-on-top this meringue was. Eyes rolled back in the head. Sounds were made that were inappropriate for the table or children’s ears. It was an expression of joy that tingled every part of the mouth and tongue and left nothing unappreciative or unappreciated. Just a perfect bite of pie, the most perfect I’ve ever experienced or hope to.

Nicky’s Pizza, Five Points. Closer to home, Nicky’s nails the New York-style pizza, as evidence by this photo of two slices of mushroom-and-pepperoni pizza. Made to be folded, they hit every note you could ask for in a slice, including size, which we all know IS important. People who say it isn’t, well, we all know a little something about them, don’t we?

By now, you know Chomp!’s love of steak. One of Chomp!’s favorite steaks in town is and always has been that at The Kingsman in Cayce. This ribeye has been their specialty for 40 years, and it is incomparable not only for quality but for price. This HUMONGOUS baby is $18.99, which is about half of what I’ve paid for steaks of similar sizes at fancier places. It is a bargain for $20 and is SENSATIONAL. I want one right now just looking at that picture. I may just go get one, in fact, so so long, suckers! See ya next week!