Country boy makes good, eats food

Back in southern Virginia, after a long day of wandering the woods with just my thoughts and trusty hound Samuel, Ma would ring the dinner bell and the family would congregate for supper. For weeks now away from home, I have been without the cookin' that made me strong and virile. Understandably I was eager to head to Sandra's Place, a local bastion of "soul food," hospitality, and decorative re-creations of the Last Supper. The meat is fried, the greens are collard, and all the Apostles have afros.

YOO SUN CHEONG/YH Food, fun, and a mirror to make you seem popular.

Sandra's Place is notable for both its tasty homecooking and warm, comfortable atmosphere. The hodge-podge of African and Southern décor (masks, vases, paintings, cotton, portraits of civil rights leaders) is muted by low lights and soft R&B. Profiles of African women hang over the drink dispenser, almost exactly like those a graduate painter has recently hung in the Holcombe T. Greene Art Gallery. Eating at Sandra's, however, is an experience miles away from the postmodern objectifications and miscellany of the Thai restaurants that clog Chapel Street. My dinner was indeed like returning home to Virginia, as much for the food as for the simple and sincere hospitality.

I made the walk out past the Medical School on Tuesday with my suitemate. Tuesday's special is ox-tail, but my stomach spoke to me with a confident and heavily affected southern accent: "Feed me fried chicken." The menu, on the other hand, told me that I could order this dinner in four sizes: Church Plate (which comes with four sideorders), Large Shandrea's, Small Shante's, and extra-small Shar'wyns. Other entrées include fried pork chops, fried fish, chopped BBQ, meatloaf on Wednesday, turkey wings with dressing on Thursday, chitterlings on Friday, and ham on Saturday. Side-orders include green beans, collard greens, candied yams, black-eyed peas, baked macaroni and cheese, cornbread, fried okra, and potato salad. I asked for collard greens and black-eyed peas with my Large Shandrea's dinner.

Eating that chicken was the one pleasure in an otherwise shocking and disturbing day. The three pieces were crispy, tender and good. The collard greens, however, left much to be desired: too sweet and watery. Any self-respecting Southerner knows that cooking the greens with ham makes the dish, and these were cooked with no meat at all. I double-checked with my mother that one cooks collard greens with ham, and black-eyed peas as well. "Of course, you cook meat with everything," she responded. "You cook meat with meat." While my vegan suitemate was satisfied with his veggie plate (any four veggie side-orders) and the overall dining experience ("This place is pretty chill"), Sandra's is not the place to go to and skip meat. In addition, the hot sauce was not nearly hot enough.

Sandra is the wife of Miguel Pittman. They have owned and operated the restaurant together for the past 10 years. Their restaurant stands as a community icon, and they have thrown block parties for the last four years.

Their restaurant has served the likes of Jesse Jackson (who visits the restaurant annually and has a corner named for him) in addition to such celebrites as R. Kelly, Mary J. Blige, and Bobby Brown. Sandra credits her success to the years she spent watching her mother cook at her old home in Alabama.

While her "soul food" is rather standard fare back home in Virginia, here in the Haven it is a rare treat. The inviting atmosphere and change of pace that Sandra's Place offers is well worth the cross-town stroll and $11 price tag.

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