One of my favorite things about going home (aside from seeing family) is the excellent food, both home-cooked and in local restaurants. Southern food is really quite amazing, and I think the girth of the Bible belt will attest to this. Daddy Bim's is at the top of my list of restaurants to visit when I am in my hometown. They serve incredible food at outrageously good prices and even grind fresh beans for each pot of coffee. The place may seem like a hole-in-the-wall barbecue joint, but it is for real, with a great chef to top it off. Among other stints, Daddy Bim went to the Culinary Institute of America, was the personal cook for Don Johnson (of Miami Vice), and was the executive chef at Mountain Lake Hotel, while they were filming "Dirty Dancing" there. (He also found time to direct my mom in a stage performance of "On Golden Pond" at the local community theater.) When I ate there just a few days ago, I stuffed myself to the brim with North Carolina style pulled pork barbecue, made from scratch spoonbread, spiced baked beans, sweet tea, and for dessert, homemade root beer (less sweet but full of flavor) and to-die-for chocolate bourbon chess pie. I ate so much I felt ill, but this was one of the few instances where behaving so gluttonously was worth it.
So why, then, is this a requiem? First, let me tell you about my eating-out experience a few nights prior. A few friends and I decided to catch up and grab a drink, which required going to on of the few establishments on our side of town that serves alcohol, the local Applebee's. I was a little hungry, so I ordered a basket of onion rings for the table. They weren't great, and I soon paid for my poor decision - my stomach was quite upset for the next 16 hours. I have a had a few questionable meals at Applebee's, and I think this was the final straw. I am swearing that particular chain restaurant off for good.
But the real tragedy here is that, at my visit to Daddy Bim's a few days ago, I found out they were permanently closing their doors in the next couple of days. In fact, at the writing of this, I think they have already shut their doors. I was pretty sad when I heard this news, but then my sadness turned to anger. I mean, seriously, what on earth!? How is a restaurant with incredible homemade food prepared by a legitimate chef closing down while a mile away, Applebee's seems to be doing just fine? You'd almost certainly pay more at Applebee's, too! And the service would be worse. Does Applebee's even have a real chef? I imagine most of the food is basically pre-prepared, frozen, and delivered by truck from the nearest Applebee's warehouse. And this is the kind of establishment consumers keep in business with their patronage over a Daddy Bim's? It's mind-boggling and heart-breaking! Aren't there enough over-priced chain restaurants out there? Why not patronize one local establishment with great food to keep it in business? Have we really done so much damage to our sense of taste with all of this processed food that we cannot appreciate natural, expertly made from scratch cuisine?
The economist in me is whispering supply and demand, but this, I feel, must be an exception. Sometimes consumers make poor decisions (like buying houses they can't afford - I hear that is going around). Now you have driven an excellent establishment out of business, but at least you have your Applebee's. Part of me wants to wish on all who eat there a curse of food poisoning similar to my fate. Alas, I am not that vindictive. Punishment enough will be that, when you have a craving for some delectable chocolate bourbon chess pie, you will have little luck in finding it.
R.I.P. Daddy Bim's
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