Return to Greenville

Ten-ish years ago, when I was still attempting to tweet for a living, I played one season with the Greenville Symphony. I also got runner-up for a spot in the Knoxville Symphony around the same time, so I was on the sub list there. The plan was to move to Atlanta, commute once a month to Greenville, and to freelance in Georgia, the Carolinas, and Tennessee.

But I realized that the south was not the place for me, and as it turned out, neither was the depressing, insanely competitive classical music scene. The odds of getting an orchestra job is about the same as an actor getting a gig, except an actor doesn't have to practice four hours a day, every day. I'm glad I hung in there as long as I did (hey, at least I won an audition before I decided to quit), and I think I could have been moderately successful, but going to culinary school in Boston was much more fun, as is the world music - er, world.

So there it is. Had I zigged instead of zagged, I might still be in the south, or even worse, stuck in New Orleans (that story is much too long and boring to tell).

Anyway - the food:

Ten years ago, Greenville was not nearly so diverse. There are quite a few pho, sushi, and Mexican places, and Alex and I just saw quite a few Asian people at the Whole Foods, and there was even a Japanese woman at the Petco, who had a crazy-cute Jack Russell puppy dressed in a rhinestone-studded green hoody. But I digress...

Island Blend Jerk & BBQ Grill, downtown Greenville - a mom & pop hole-in-the-wall Jamaican lunch place; mom was front of the house, pop was back. The beans & rice had a nice kick, the jerk chicken was yummy, and the beef patty was salty, HOT, and awesome. It was crowded, and the regulars were quick to recommend their favorites. Loved it. Would totally go back.

Sticky Fingers BBQ, downtown Greenville - a chain, but yummy. Unremarkable but solid eats.

R.O.'s BBQ, Gastonia, NC - 50+ year old local institution, the type of place that Alton Brown would go to on his motorcycle tours. Great onion rings, but the hush pups were a little dense. The bbq was just chopped pork (no rub or sauce) with a pickley, mayonnaisey, ketchupy sauce on the side. We got there at 11:30, and the parking lot was already filled with pickups. And one Prius.

Whole Foods, Greenville - the shrimp & grits from the prefab food bar is by far the best thing I've had here. More butter than grits, and with sausage, to boot! I would've taken a photo, but the WF people get angry if you take pictures in the store (really, they do).

Photos later (but not of the grits)...