Buckhead Resturant Capital Circle?

[Go Gators]

With all due respect, I think Tallahassee has a LACK of country cooking places, both in quality and sheer number. I'm talking about places that serve the casseroles, the butter beans, lima beans, rutabagas, collards, chicken livers, steamed squash... When you think about it, what is there really? Cracker Barrel? C'mon. Brooma's (not very good or extensive)? That buffet way up near Lake Jackson Station? Barnhill's (a chain restaurant that is more a generic buffet than a proponent of passed-down recipes). For a city that's located at least tangentially in the South, Tallahassee has a serious dirth of good down-home country cooking given its size.

Anyone who's been to the original Farmer's Market Diner up in Thomasville knows that it's some of the best homemade southern cooking one can find anywhere in the South, period. Here in Raleigh/Durham, NC...those who know Market Diner wish we had southern food that good. Tallahassee would be blessed to get a second location of that in town.

You know, just because it's down-home cooking doesn't mean it's by any means inferior; the genre shouldn't be excluded as a class en masse when one can achieve wondrous excellence within the genre.

It's true that Tallahassee really needs to refine its restaurant tastes in terms of haute cuisine as well. It's pathetic to see how not one gourmet restaurant in Tallahassee has an atmosphere that wouldn't be an embarrassment if transported to San Fran or NYC (or even Raleigh). Examples of "looks" we should have:

Modern chic: http://www.mythsf.com/Gallery/Pop-up_6_Reservations.jpg

(and don't say Andrews 228 accomplishes this - it's a joke)

Understated refinement: http://www.mccradysrestaurant.com/01/galle...ing/imgs/03.jpg

http://www.cyrusrestaurant.com/dining_gallery.jpg

Old-world formal: http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/travel...at-Woodands.jpg

Back in the 80s, we were a lot better off in this regard with such settings as The Golden Pheasant, Andrew's Second Act, Jacques' Upper Crust, and even Angelo's downtown. Seems a huge regression since then.

Anyway, I don't think that refining our haute cuisine options has to necessarily mean turning away from improving the down-home aspect as well. Both could stand a lot of improvement, and one doesn't have to be sacrificed to achieve another (example: Charleston, SC).

Frankly, I think a lot of it has to do with the preferences of individuals who choose to live in Tallahassee. By definition, those who have chosen to move here or stay here have decided that in their personal utility function, going out to eat gourmet meals at places at the culinary forefront just isn't as important to them as the other aspects that make the area attractive. So you have basically a self-selection thing going on where people by their very nature don't care to spend money on outstanding restaurants, as opposed to not having the financial ability to do so (take a drive up Thomasville Road and notice all the subdivisions with huge multi-million dollar McMansions if you don't believe me). Otherwise, they wouldn't be here. So how do you create something out of nothing? That's why we have such inertia. The same can be said for performing arts. You don't move to Tallahassee if one of your priorities is attending world-class symphonies or seeing world-renowned performers. And because you don't care, it's difficult to attract an audience for such things. In the past year, Tallahassee attracted a total of perhaps two or three classical music artists that could be considered at the top of their game.

So how do you change things here? You create an attractive force in Tallahassee so great that people who inherently value very highly great dining and performing arts move here anyway even though they have to give up a performing arts or dining scene. If Tallahassee has an X factor wherein people see the benefit of X > performing arts (Y) + dining scene (Z), for example, people will move here. Then, you have individuals here with a craving for Y and Z, and you can bring Y and Z to town and have it be readily supported. That's why building a relevent economy is the vehicle for change. Example: Raleigh/Durham has RTP, which attracted a lot of top professionals from NYC and California. Raleigh/Durham now has two restaurants in its metro. area ranked in the top 50 in the nation by Gourmet Magazine. Over the past year, we saw performing artists/groups with names like Gil Shaham, Cleveland Orchestra, Susan Graham, Wynton Marsalis, Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra...and on and on. You don't normally find such a dining and arts scene in metro. areas with Raleigh's population, but it's all about the preferences of those who live there, not merely numbers. Bottom line: build Tallahassee's economy in smart ways, and the rest will follow, as you're creating a market for those "complementary inputs," so to speak.

Alright, I'm done with my epicurean, symphonic, and behavioral economics rant.

[blueheronNC]

I understand your economical talk, and it may apply in some cases here. But what that doesnt take into account is that Tallahassee is the Capital City, and the ONLY capital city in Florida. Therefore, you take away choices from the consumers who have worked hard on campaigns and are rewarded with higher level government jobs. They are being rewarded for their work, but dont have an alternative choice.

[Go Gators]

You're absolutely right about that aspect. It's impossible to satisfy the Tiebout hypothesis and "vote with your feet" if the city has a monopoly on your occupation. However, I think other smaller state capitals (population-wise) around the country prove that the demand created for higher-end places cannot be satisfied alone from those here on government jobs. Honestly, government positions don't pay all that much, not enough to create a steady stream of people going to gourmet restaurants for reasons other than special occasions. Raleigh is a state capital is well, and the dining and arts scene didn't take off here until well after RTP was established. I think these things are lagging inputs as opposed to prospective ones.

[laneyj34]

I really do not think any of you bashing the Farmers Market have ever eaten there. It is nothing like the country cooking chain stores. The food at the Farmers Market in Thomasville was amazing, and well worth the drive. Having one in town... I might get fat!

[Go Gators]

Besides, there is a farmers market in Thomasville.

[Florida]

I'm still not certain "Farmer's Market" matches the exterior of the building. It can serve Country-Style food, but we should call it something like "The Lodge" or "The Log Cabin".