West Nashville Farmer's Market

Well this past Saturday was the very first West Nashville Farmer's Market and I have to say I think it was a great success. I got there about 15 minutes after it opened and it was already packed! I spoke to a couple of the vendors and they said they had folks ready to buy at 8 am while they were still setting up, so I guess I was not the only person who was excited about the new Farmer's Market. I have to say there was very good selection of vegetables to be had, of course this is a great time of year for produce around here, so it's no wonder. I only purchased shitake mushrooms and okra, but both were really good. The okra was nice and small so it won't cook up tough or flavorless and the mushrooms are delish. (I nibbled on one before I stuck them in the fridge) There were squash (many varieties), tomatoes, zucchini, beans, mushrooms, okra, tomatillos, fresh flowers, there was such a selectionI could go on & on. While the selection was good, don't get the wrong idea, it's still pretty small, but I think it will grow as the weeks pass. There were also several artisan booths, hopefully I will become one of them in the near future. Suffice to say it is worth a visit if you're in the area and it is only getting started...

Nothing to talk about at Gabby's

So my mother much more than myself is a sucker for a good hamburger. Any new place that purports to have one goes to the top of the list for lunch visits. (my mother & I work in the same building) There was a blurb in one paper or another about Gabby's over near Greer Stadium, so we decided to pay them a visit.
Big.
Mistake.
Admittedly we went on an extremely hot day, but you never ever want to walk into a business when there is a heat index of 105º outside and it be HOTTER inside the business. No doors propped open, no fans on, just oppressive, grease-filled heat choking the life out of you as soon as you walk in the door of this tiny establishment. Because the griddle and deep fryer were out front with the customers it was just that much hotter. We walked up to the counter and were immediately greeted by a man who has run screaming past "friendly" to dive head first into "obnoxious beyond all human comprehension." Let me just state for the record that 2 words that would best describe me are "loud" & "obnoxious", so I can be fairly tolerant of both in other people (especially the loud as I am hard of hearing) but this man's voice was like nails on a chalkboard and he never stopped. He babbled at us for 5 minutes about the self explanatory and extremely simple menu & method of ordering. Almost immediately after we pick up the menu he asks us what we want. What do I want? More than 30 seconds to read a menu and decide what sounds good, that's what I want. (and maybe for you to turn the volume on your mouth down a little) So under a bit of duress, as he spasticly tries to take our order or tell us to step back so he can take the lady who just walked in's order (she's not ready either) or crack wise (he never really finished any of these thoughts) mom & I place our orders.

Me: double bacon cheese burger with onion, tomato, pickle, wasabi mayonaise, no lettuce, (who wants wilted lettuce? I mean it's gotta be 115º in there easy, that lettuce would be NASTY!) and sweet potato fries.
Mom: hamburger with everything (no ketchup, no mayo) and regular fries.

We sit down at the only table available which is filthy. There are 4 people behind the counter goofing off, yelling inappropriate things at one another and paying no attention as I get up and wipe down my own table and clear off what was left by the last customer. (this is one of those places where you bus your own table, so it's not too much to ask that one of the teenage mouth-breathers come out with a wet rag and get the goo off of the cheap vinyl tablecloths) At no point does anyone say, "Oops I'm sorry that you had to clean your own table." In fact if they had been paying any attention at all I'm sure they would have asked me do a quick once over on the bathroom while I was at it.
I'll give them this, they are fast, which is good because even 5 minutes in this heat feels like eternal damnation. Of course in retrospect I'd have rather they take their time if it meant I would even moderately enjoy what I was eating.
Everything was greasy, and I don't mean in that, "Heck yeah, I LOVE a big, fat, greasey burger!" In that, "Oh my god I can see the bun breaking down into sludge because there is fat flowing from everything in this basket!" sort of way. In the 5 feet from the cooking area to our table everything on my burger had fallen over and oozed everywhere making picking up and eating the burger quite difficult. They also cut their onion into tiny pieces and while I understand that in theory it make sure you get some onion in every bite, but when there is a lava flow of greasey cheese coming out of the back of your burger, the tiny onions get carried away like so many huts from a mountainside village. This burger has angered the volcano gods! The meat was seasoned in a way that reminds me of trying to mask freezer-burned meat, I can't describe the flavor beyond that really. It was a combo of generic seasoning salt and bad meat. (not spoiled, just low quality)
The fries were even worse. I am not a fan of "blackened", "charred" or as I like to call it, "just plain burnt" food. I don't know if they are attempting some culinary innovation here or if they just don't know how to use their fryer properly, but the sweet potato fries were simulataneously greasey, soggy and floppy AND burned to the point that I was picking pieces of carbon formerly known as sweet potato off of the ends. If I wanted to eat greasy charcoal I would just fish it out of our grill after a barbeque, thanks.
As for beverages, mom and I both got sweet tea, which was not very sweet at all. So unsweet, in fact, that I check to make sure that I hadn't gotten unsweetened tea by mistake only to find out that all that they serve is "sweet" tea and fruit tea. I don't want my tea to taste like syrup, but I want to be able to discern some hint of sweetness. I foolishly looked to the ice machine next to the drinks to cool my beverage with icey goodness, but there's a sign pointing me toward a glass-front fridge across the room (much like convenience stores use for sodas) with a plastic tray of mostly melted ice in the bottom. Joy!
I will never go back, not even to give the food a second chance. (which I would normally do) The environment was so oppresive & annoying and food so incredibly lackluster I just don't see the point. In is closing, this place is hot, loud, dirty, obnoxious, greasey, inconvenient and over-all not very good.

In case you don't believe me or (I hope for their sakes) they were having a VERY bad day, you can check them out here:

Gabby's Burgers

493 Humphreys St.
Nashville, TN 37203

There are tacos and for those who know there's Mas Tacos!

With its popularity growing everyday, Mas Tacos is the word on everyone's lips (and the little spot of sauce on their chins), so the Fat Girl just had to find out what the fuss was about for herself.
So you're saying, "Fat Girl, who cares about tacos? There's a Taco Bell down the street & they do just fine, when I want fancy ones, I'll go to Las Palmas or La Hacienda, I mean how good could they be?"
And I say unto you, so good you'll slap your momma or anyone else within arms reach, friend, relative or stranger...

It is hard to believe to look at them that these tacos, so unassuming in the their little red & white paper trays, could be so filling and have such a range of both bold and subtle flavors. They are not the unhealthy, mass-produced fair of fast food using lettuce for filler and banking on you being in too much of a hurry to notice that they don't taste very good. They are not even the sit-down Mexican restaurant standard overflowing with gooey white cheese and greasy ground beef. These tacos are fresh & light but hearty & filling at the same time. You bite into one and get a burst of cilantro as well as fresh squeezed lime juice and wonderfully creamy fresh sour cream dancing a jolly little jig on your tongue and that is just the beginning of what makes these tacos the best. I revel in the surprised grunt from Mas Tacos virgins as they get their first bite. It is a surprise to most (myself included) that a taco could be so flavorful. I have tried the chicken (rich flavors without being overwhelming, moist and rib-sticking good), the Quinoas (seasoned potatoes and corn good enough for even the most stalwart carnivores to make an all veggie meal exception) and the fried Tilapia (I am not even a fan of fish, but these are amazing! there's a mildly spicy secret sauce on these that I would kill to get the recipe for). I have yet to try their grilled corn on the cob, but how could it be bad? Everything else is made with artistry their grilled corn just has to be great! At the delightful aqua and yellow "tacobego" you can even find a fresh and tasty beverage unlike most you'll find. For those of you old enough to remember when Coca-Cola was made with real sugar and not corn syrup (and actually tasted good) there are Mexican Cokes in the old school glass bottle, ice cold and ready to satisfy you with their bubbly goodness. They also offer home made agua fresca, water mixed with fresh fruit juice. Fresh is the word to describe everything that Mas Tacos offers. Fresh ingredients, fresh ideas of what a taco can be as well as the fresh & fiesty proprietress, Teresa. Quick with a joke & a smile and a friendly "hon" or "babe", it is her personality as well as the masterful tacos she creates that bring people back again and again. Mas Tacos even provides a feast for the eyes, you would never expect food from a mobile vendor to be beautiful to look at, but the purple cabbage along with the bright green cilantro on the back drop of sour cream are like tasty little jewels wrapped in wax paper! For such a tiny package to contain such a lovely, delicious and addictive payload must surely be magic of some sort, so I have set about asking Teresa (owner, founder and gourmet taco enchantress) some of the hard hitting taco questions that people are dying to know the answers to. (I left her capitalization alone as it lent an artistic e.e. cummings sort of vibe)

Fat Girl: What inspired you to paint a Winnebago and sell tacos?

Mas Tacos: the winnebago was by chance, i had been looking around at old ice cream trucks and just anything that looked cool that would be big enough for a kitchen and ran across this truck on shelby for sale. its funny because i had been traveling all over tn looking at different things. i bought it from the band danger bear, they were trying to use it as a tour bus, but not having the best of luck on long trips.

(Their loss is our delicious taco gain!)

as far as the taco idea, i have always been crazy about street food, most bigger cities are full of vendors of all types. so its not an original idea, just new to nashville.

Fat Girl: Are these family recipes? created from scratch by you? found as a prize in a Cracker Jack box?

Mas Tacos: recipes came from a lot of trial and error and knowing ultimately what i wanted the food to taste like, so it was only a matter of time until i got it right.

Fat Girl: I know that something this delicious must be a closely guarded secret, but what would you say is the number 1 ingredient to a stellar taco?

Mas Tacos: i think what makes these tacos so good, is just that they are fresh, everything is homemade (except the tortillas..they do such a good job right down the street at la hacienda, why mess with a good thing) and simple.

Fat Girl: Would you ever like to have a stationary taco restaurant or would that destroy the charm of the lone gypsy tacobago wandering the countryside like Caine from Kung-Fu? (feel free to describe your dream restaurant or fleet of tacobagos or whatever, in detail)

Mas Tacos: i do want a permanent place..but its too soon. i love the idea of having a home base to work from though. it would be in the neighborhood for sure. maybe the truck could even still be the kitchen!

Fat Girl: What is the best way for our readers to track the Mas Tacos revolution as it feeds East Nashville and beyond?

Mas Tacos: twitter.com/mastacos facebook or myspace. i like myspace because you can put fun music and photos.


Fat Girl: What's next for Mas Tacos? Any Cinco De Mayo plans?

Mas Tacos: the cinco de mayo party is behind the alley cat, we've got a great indoor and outdoor space..full menu, live music. i'm really excited. if you mention it tell folks to bring thier lawn chair!

(of course I'll mention it, any reason to get these tacos is a good reason!)

oh and i definately am going to expand the menu soon. and you can look for me at movies in the park this summer. (in centennial park)

*****

My only complaint about Mas Tacos is that as a West Sider I have to drive across town to imbibe these little tortilla wrapped beauties. As complaints go this isn't a big one, as a lone tacobego, how many places could she be at one time? I am thrilled to see her at Movies in the Park this year, as it will open up her taco magic to my side of town and further the Mas Tacos Revolution.

Viva la Taco!
-Fat Girl