Luxury Travel Advisor - December 2007 - (Page 38) ACCESS: Greenville, where the famous Yazoo and Tallahatchie Rivers meet, is the starting point for pilgrimages dedicated to the Blues. In addition to southern hospitality, hound dogs, cotton fields and grits, it boasts sophisticated shops and galleries and good restaurants. Getting There: Private aircraft land in Greenwood. Otherwise, travelers can fly into Jackson, MS, or Memphis, TN, and drive 90 minutes to Greenwood. Blues Pilgrimage: A daylong itinerary to celebrate the birth of the blues is available from the Greenville Convention and Visitors Bureau (www.gcvb.com). It starts with a visit to the tomb of Robert Johnson and includes the birthplace of B.B. King, the Delta Blues Museum in Clarkesdale and Club Ebony in Indianola, where Ray Charles, James Brown, B.B. King and Bobby Blue Bland performed. LOCALS SOCIALIZE in the lobby lounge, which has a piano bar. Dining Cotton Row Club (Ramcat Alley, behind Cotton Row; 662- 453-1180) is very funky and fun—they sell beer out of a Coke machine in this casual establishment. The Crystal Grill (423 Carrollton Avenue; 662-453-6530), which the Ballas family has owned for decades, is known for its “mile high pie.” Lusco’s (722 Carrollton Avenue; 601-453-5365) is an Italian restaurant with curtained booths from Prohibition times. Mattie’s (114 W. Market Street; 662-453-5753) is recommended for breakfast and lunch, offering soul food, pure and simple: fried chicken, catfish, neck bones, yams and collard greens. were consumed in secrecy within a private draped room for each table. Today, the vintage setting allows wicked diners to eavesdrop on their neighbors at the next table, or have a romantic rendezvous out of sight of prying eyes. (There are some tables out in the open – just ask for one when booking). The menu combines Italian, steak and seafood choices, reflecting the Italian heritage of a group of local families (the restaurant opened in 1936), as well as the proximity of the Gulf Coast. Chef David Ferris does a good job with both meat and fish (we recommend the baked oysters Giardina), and the wine choices are pretty good for a state where alcohol is tightly regulated (something the owners are working to change). Ask manager Frank LaFlore (giardinas@giar dinas.com; 662-455-4227) for the best wine choices and make reservations a week in advance for weekends. Upstairs is the new Alluvian Spa, managed by Amanda Gibson (spadesk@alluvianspa. com; 662-451-6700), with seven luxury treatment rooms. Here, groups of women often spend “girl weekends” being soothed by the Mississippi Mud Pie treat- ment, a warm mud brew, or the Delta River Rock treatment, a hot stone massage. Couples enjoy the private, dimly lit room for two, with its twin massage tables and whirlpool tub. There also is a separate men’s area, where the guys can watch football in front of a plasma TV in camouflage robes, in a sort of refined-hunting-cabin atmosphere. Luxury travel advisors: For weekend appointments, you’ll need to book at least a month in advance. Greenwood’s Main Street went from being deserted to hopping with the arrival of The Alluvian, now featuring sophisticated antiques shops and independent bookstores, along with funky local shops selling blues CDs, Mississippi Fudge Pie and furniture made from things like cow horns. We walked down the sidewalk, humming a little B.B. King, and poked into doorways to discover another goodie: Viking’s own mouthwatering cooking store and teaching kitchen. In addition to displays of Viking stoves and bright red countertop appliances, the store offers all the kitchen essentials we never knew existed and now can’t live without. One of our favorite finds, right next to the hotel, is the Mockingbird Bakery (662-4539927), which showcases the culinary skills of chef Martha Hall Foose, who came home to Mississippi after studying under bakers Nancy Silverton and Sum Chang in L.A., and schooling at Ecole LeNôtre in France. Martha has put together a siren of a bakery and lunch place—the aromas alone coming out of that kitchen drew us inside. We recommend a booth under the old-fashioned pressed-tin ceiling with its slowly rotating fans, and indulging your cravings with a flaky pastry. Viking hosts cooking weekends with visiting chefs from around the country. The Greenwood Experience at The Viking Cooking School (www.theallu vian.com/viking-cooking-school/ index.php), includes classes with such chefs as Fred Thompson, David Leathers, Jimmy Ishii, Susan Spicer and Elaine Trigiani. 38 LUXURY TRAVEL ADVISOR | December 2007 http://www.gcvb.com http://www.thealluvian.com/viking-cooking-school/index.php http://www.thealluvian.com/viking-cooking-school/index.php http://www.thealluvian.com/viking-cooking-school/index.php
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