Nannie's Kitchen

After moving to Nashville, Yvonne and I stumbled on a restaurant that served breakfast and lunch. It was called the Picnic. We didn’t think much about the place, because, honestly, most  people who ate and served there were older.   

What a mistake.

Several years later, a friend suggested that he and I meet there for lunch. I thought the location seemed odd, but my friend knew his food, and I had to admit I was curious.  

It was a small, old-fashioned place in which the customers and waiters were still older. As we settled into our table, I checked out the menu and, to my pleasure, found something very much like lunch at the house of my grandmother, Nannie.   

The waitress smiled at me and said, “What’ll you have, darlin’.”

We ordered, and a few minutes later our food arrived. My friend had macaroni and cheese, and I had a BLT. Sure enough, the dishes were like having lunch at Nannie’s house.  

My friend and I finished up, but I couldn’t get the Picnic out of my mind, or my stomach. So Yvonne and I drove there a short time later, not for a sit-down meal but for take-out food.   

What a treat!  

With the help of some people behind the counter, we bought wonderful egg salad for sandwiches. There was tuna salad served just right. Chicken salad was delicious. We found all kinds of Southern foods made perfectly.  

Today, the Picnic is in a new location, but the food tastes as great as ever. The menu is one of our favorites, and we sample it frequently. And every time I dig into the wonderful foods of the Picnic, I get a double treat—their terrific foods, and the sweet memory of Nannie.