Exploring Northwest Arkansas

Granny's Cafe' - Huntsville

It seems like every moderately sized town in the Ozarks has its “signature” restaurant. In Huntsville, it appears to be Granny’s Café.

Granny’s Café serves souther home-cookin’ food  -- so if pot roast, fried chicken, ham & beans and chicken and dumplings are your thing, then you’re going to be pretty happy at Granny’s.

Michelle ordered the Pot Roast special (came with mashed potatoes and “brown beans”  which were also tasty).  I ordered the open-faced roast beef sandwich – that was served on bread and mashed potatoes all covered in brown gravy. Yum. While I may have gotten shorted on the pot roast on my sandwich, Michelle had more than enough so I stole some of hers and it worked out perfectly.  I will say too that while often the gravy with these dishes is overly salty – not so at Granny’s.  And while we were proud of our orders, the gentleman next to us ordered the chicken and dumplings and I had a little envy.

But while people may enjoy the food at Granny’s, they come for the pies. I think EVERYONE had a piece of pie, and the couple on the other side of us came just for the chocolate pie (although they ate lunch too, they also each had a piece of pie and ordered more to go. Chocolate pie. Strawberry pie. Cherry pie. Apple Carmel pie.  Reece’s Peanut butter cup pie. You name it, Granny’s had it.  Or, until they sold out, and then that was it.

We had the Reece’s Peanut Butter cup pie - -a peanut butter filling topped with a chocolate filling topped in whip cream and then topped with Reece’s chunks. It was worth it – although I can’t imagine eating a whole piece for myself. 

So when in Huntsville, I recommend stopping at Granny’s. Everyone was having a great time and enjoying some tasty home cookin’ before they continued their travels elsewhere.

Low Gap Cafe

The Low Gap Cafe is a new addition to the Buffalo River area scene -- but it is a welcome addition. It opened in November of 2011 in the former Low Gap General Store - in the community of Low Gap just south of Ponca and in between the Steel Creek and Kyles Landing river access points.

The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Tuesday-Saturday -- and Sunday for brunch brunch (10-2).  This is truly a family-owned and operated place with the husband and wife team cooking up dinner and providing friendly service.

The menu is much different than many in the area. It varies somewhat daily, and is written on the chalk board at the back of the restaurant, but usually features a series of pasta dishes such as chicken (or eggplant) parmesian, balsalmic chicken and chicken alfredo, and some southern favorites like frog legs and chicken friend steak (that is panned fried).  They also usually have several steak cuts including filet mignon and a ribeye and sometimes prime rib. They also have less expensive items like PB&J and hamburgers for the kids.

 Most dishes are served with mashed potoatoes and a side of sauteed vegetables (the vegetables are amazing -- and you will seldom see this writer rave about veggies).

A couple of our favorites are the chicken fried steak, the fried catfish, and the balsamic chicken (which is chicken, mushrooms and other veggies with penne pasta served with a balsamic sauce. The chef here specializes in unique sauces and I've never had anything like this balsamic sauce and it is excellent. Sunday brunch is fantastic also. 

Meals are served with a salad and they usually have some great options for dessert also including pies, cakes and cinnemon rolls.

The Low Gap Cafe is probably a bit more expensive than the other options in the general area -- but you do get what you pay for. Means range from about $12-15 for most dishes to $24 for the filet mignon - but it does include the salad and the meals are outstanding and very homemade.

So go check out this great little find in the heart of Buffalo River country. So go check out the Low Gap Cafe. It's a regular stop for us now, in part because of the convenient location, and always for the great food.

The Art of Photographing Water

One of the big draws to NW Arkansas is the water -- lakes, rivers, streams, and of course during the wet season, waterfalls.

This is a very good, and fairly short video on photographing water. The visuals themselves are worth watching for, but as you view the pictures, Chris Tennant give ideas of how he captured different effects of water -- slower exposures to capture motion, light, color, quick shutter speeds to capture impact, etc. 

It's a good presentation and hope it inspires you to explore and take your own photos.

 

The website where I found this can be found here.

Hat tip to psfk.