A cold night calls for a hot meal, so Kim and I, with my mother who was in town for the holidays, went off to meet Graham for dinner at Southern Accent. I had my mandolin with me, as I was going to be part of a show nearby afterwards. I suppose that’s rather pointless detail, but there you are.

We found Graham settled in with a pint at the nearly empty bar (it was a bit early for the dinner crowd) and moved to a table where we got a few Creemores and ordered appetizers of cornbread and hush puppies. Our server was wearing a button with Casey and Finnegan on it. It was explained why, but I forget the story now. Something heartwarming and Christmasy, I’m sure. Feel free to make something up yourself.

The appetizers were fantastic. The cornbread was warm, light, and fluffy. It’s hard not to make it too dense, and the cooks here have obviously studied wisely in the cornbread arts. As for the hush puppies, we ended up getting a second plate of them, they were so good. Rich and comforting, with a light crispness on the outside. They were especially good with a few dribbles of the two kinds of hot sauce provided (picante and jalepeño).

Graham and I each got jambalaya as a main. Holy mama, that’s spicy! I was happy to have a bit of cornbread left. It comes as a huge lump of the stuff on a big collard leaf, topped off with some sautéed shrimp. It was great, though so filling that I could barely eat half of it (especially after all those hush puppies). Even as I was getting full, however, I was sure to hunt out the amazing and plentiful andouille sausages.

My mother ordered the “greens and whatnot” and let me try a bit of the accompanying crabcake. It was a bit bready, but still light and very tasty (a qualification: this is high praise coming from someone who has spent more than a few years in Maryland, land of crabcakes). Kim ordered the blackened chicken breast, which she reported was quite satisfying, but personally I would stick to some of the more exciting things on the menu. I think next time I go, I’ll try the chicken fried steak, just to say I’d done it.