What's Cooking: New book takes you inside the kitchens of Savannah's 'Unique Eats and Eateries'
To be honest, Rebekah Faulk Lingenfelser had me at Brown Butter-Bourbon Peach Cobbler, a recipe posted on her Some Kinda Good food blog.
“Some Kinda Good” also is the name of her first book, an independently published memoir-cookbook that includes some greatest hits of the columns she’s penned during her decade-plus as a freelancer for the Statesboro Herald.
Lingenfelser filled both the book and (still fills) her columns with stories from her family’s kitchen, culinary adventures with her husband who shares her appetite for deliciousness, and brushes with celebrity chefs during her stint on Season 14 of Food Network Star, where she encountered Bobby Flay and Giada DeLaurentis. But her restaurant reviews in the book and on the blog have garnered the most attention.
“Those were some of my most popular posts,” Lingenfelser said over a cup of joe at Savannah Coffee Roasters. “I learned very quickly this is what people enjoy reading. It brings the traffic, so let me write more of these.”
Her reviews rarely are critical. Rather, she chooses to shine positive light on “people who are doing amazing things.”
And no, the self-described “food enthusiast” doesn’t have a secret blog called “Some Kinda Bad” for the places she finds less than amazing. “I’m not a food critic. I don’t enjoy highlighting negative experiences, and I don’t want to tear down a business or someone who’s out there working hard. The restaurant business is complex, …and I always wanted to show off the great food I was experiencing or a place that had wonderful service or delicious food and draw attention to that.”
An insider's guide to Savannah restaurants
Her positive takes captured the attention of Reedy Press, which asked Lingenfelser to pen “Unique Eats and Eateries of Savannah: The People and Stories Behind the Food,” which published in early April and launches on April 27 with a signing and celebration at Cohen’s Retreat, 5715 Skidaway Road.
The book is not another food tour geared toward visitors; rather, Lingenfelser has written a wide-ranging insider’s guide of more than 80 restaurants that takes readers all over Chatham County. It reads more like a valentine to the unique (The Burger Boat), the tried-and-true (The Olde Pink House), the hidden gems (Ogeechee Meat Market), and the new (Dottie’s Market) – everything from the white tablecloth to the waterside dive.
She selected restaurants to capture the breadth of tastes beyond the typical Southern cuisine as well as get people out of downtown and into the neighborhoods and enclaves, such as the Moon River District and Sandfly.
“I wanted it to be diverse, to really show a lot of ethnic cafés and what Savannah has to offer.”
She also kept tabs on whether places were likely to stick around so that her book wouldn’t be dated before it even hit shelves. She had wanted to celebrate Pearl’s Saltwater Grille on LaRoche Avenue, one of the city’s few waterfront restaurants, but it burned during her early research.
That research led her to some interesting backstories, such as how, after months of planning and preparation, Driftaway Café delayed its Sept. 11, 2001, opening, or how Erica Davis and her husband Dwight consider themselves “accidental restaurateurs.”
Davis grew up in the catering business, and her fishmonger-grandfather was the founder of Russo’s Seafood, but Davis had not envisioned opening a brick-and-mortar site until COVID-19 hit and she opened a takeout window in what would have been the catering kitchen she was repurposing from the former Charlie Teeple’s in Thunderbolt. Now, Erica Davis Lowcountry is the place to go for fresh, local-caught seafood and from-scratch sides.
While writing the book, Lingenfelser left a career in public relations and marketing to finish the book and earn an associate’s degree of Applied Science in Culinary Arts from Savannah Technical College’s award-winning culinary program. She still has a side hustle as a personal chef in addition to promoting “Unique Eats and Eateries.”
When we spoke, Lingenfelser was getting ready to cook with Paula Deen for Deen’s YouTube channel. It was her second time cooking in Deen’s kitchen, and it hints to the future.
Before her Food Network experience, Lingenfelser took a bite out of Hollywood on ABC’s The Taste, where she made—what else?—shrimp and grits for Anthony Bourdain and Nigella Lawson.
“I thought [Bourdain] was going to be mean because of everything I had seen,” Lingenfelser recalled. “But when I met him, he actually was one of the nicer judges, and he was very kind to me.”
She laughed at the memory of only being able to find "Southern-style grits" in a California Whole Foods Market. And despite the order in which the show aired, Lingenfelser’s dish was the first up for tasting that day among the mix of 36 professional and home cooks. “When he tasted my shrimp and grits, he was surprised that I was not a restaurant chef, so I’ll take that!”
Although she didn’t advance in that competition, the moment was enough to fuel aspirations for her own cooking show. In the meantime, there will be more columns and more cookbooks.
If You Go >>
What: “Unique Eats and Eateries of Savannah: The People and Stories Behind the Food” Launch Party
When: 2 p.m., April 27 (champagne toast at 3 p.m.)
Where: Perennial Dining Room at Cohen’s Retreat, 5715 Skidaway Road
Tickets: Event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be provided, and books will be available for purchase and signing.
Info:allevents.com
Lingenfelser will also be part of a book signing with Paula Deen at the Lady & Sons restaurant, 11 a.m., June 22, at 102 W. Congress St. Wristbands will be distributed to those who make any purchase in the Paula Deen Store, beginning at 9 a.m. that same day. For more info, go to pauladeen.com.
This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannah writer captures people and stories behind city's restaurants
