in medias res

As you may know, I am a proud alumnus of Belmont University, the location of tomorrow’s second presidential debate. The news teams have already swarmed into town, and from what I understand, McCain’s going to be bedding down in Nashville tonight. Obama will be arriving sometime tomorrow.

I went to get dinner with a friend at Barbara’s Home Cookin, my favorite restaurant (local or otherwise), and was delighted to find that NBC Nightly News had been in at lunch today to interview her for her take on the current political goings on.

Not that Barbara’s doesn’t get national attention already. She’s been the focus of at least one Food Network segment, and there are several framed magazine articles on the wall. Behind the checkout counter, there were somewhere between 25 and 30 signed head shots of celebrity patrons, ranging from the obvious country stars to several Fox News anchors and even Snoop Dogg. (Yes, I just had to ask about that one. He was recording a country/blues album at The Castle back in the spring, and the locals all told him to take himself and his entourage down to Barbara’s for dinner. Apparently Barbara called him Snoopy. And Snoopy told Barbara that he hadn’t had a meal that good since his own grandma passed away.)

In re-telling the story, Barbara seemed a bit taken aback that a national news outlet would think that she’d be the person to ask about such things. “I’m a simple person,” she told me. “The economic crisis hasn’t affected our business at all. It’s cash based, just like it’s supposed to be.” Dave Ramsey’s head shot is one of the lucky few to have made it through the most recent head shot wall clean-up, positioned closest of all to the cash register if I remember correctly.

I’m proud to see Barbara’s getting the more attention. To folks who might be in Nashville for the debate, do yourself a favor and check her place out. It’s a classic Southern meat ‘n three style restaurant, and though it’s a bit outside the city, it’s worth every minute of the beautiful drive to get there.

1232 Old Hillsboro Rd
Franklin, TN 37069
Phone: (615) 794-9533