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Some places are all hype. Some places become popular as a result of somebody else's hype. When Willie Mae
won the James Beard award I was thrilled for her but have to admit I had never heard of her or her little restaurant before
the hype. I finally got to Willie Mae's today. All the hype is true. Today I had the best fried chicken
I've ever tasted (except for my Momma's). Willie Mae wasn't in the kitchen today. Word
is that her family is keeping the place going and if my visit today is any indication of how it's going, the cooking is
going great.
Perfect fried chicken in an unfocused photo that does it no justice. The crust is very thin and very crisp. The meat
-- tender and juicy. The taste is fresh, almost like farm raised/organic chicken. It is well worth a trip to
St. Ann Street to enjoy this wonder.
We shared three orders of fried chicken. Each order comes with three pieces and a side. Here is the red beans
side order. It didn't blow me away but mostly just needed more salt (the salt factor was inconsistent across the
board -- some chicken pieces were over salted, others just fine). Nice consistency straddling the line between thick
and thin.
The butter bean side (of the chicken order). Again, not too thick or thin and with some good hunks of meat.
String bean side order so obviously from-a-can I think they should be ashamed of themselves. And the beans weren't
even doctored-up much but the rice and gravy was really good.
Here's the smothered veal chop (I'm not sure what they call it because there is no menu). Fork tender and
delicious but a bit fatty.
We also had a paneed pork chop that was as perfectly fried as the chicken. The service was friendly but
there was apparently a glitch in the kitchen; we waited about an hour before our food was served and noticed that most everyone
else waited about as long as we did. Once the food started coming out, it came out quickly. I'm bugged by
the fact that a second set of ice teas were brought out without our requesting them and that they were charged to our bill.
And the canned string beans ought'a be nixed. But these are small potatoes compared to the heavenly fried chicken.
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