Escape to the Southeast - 2009-10 Edition

TENNESSEE

Saffire, in the historic town of Franklin, is unpretentiously cool with floor-to-ceiling windows shedding light on exposed brick walls inside The Factory in Franklin complex. The restaurant’s most popular dish is the day’s fresh catch atop creamy mascarpone grits. The Factory is home to the popular Viking Cooking School, where culinary instructors teach beginner and advanced cooks how to whip up mouthwatering dishes at home. ( There’s a location in Memphis, too.)

East of Memphis in Collierville, Fino Villa Cucina Italiano serves up exquisite Northern Italian fare in a beautiful setting. You’ll feel like you’re dining at the edge of a European piazza as you dig into piping hot pasta and top-quality steaks, chops, veal and seafood.

Romantic Inns in America” by America’s Historic Inns. Gather in the lakeside dining room each evening for a five-course dinner featuring items like coconut-crusted tilapia or grilled rib eye smothered with gorgonzola and sweet onions. Wake up after a night in one of the inn’s quaint rooms to an expansive hot breakfast buffet.

For a first-class experience in

Johnson City, savor contemporary fusion cuisine at Wellington’s in the Carnegie Hotel. Southern Living heaps praise on Chef E. Scott Philips’ fried green tomatoes served with crab remoulade. After dinner, enjoy a premium selection of dessert wines, cognacs and other cordials to the sounds of soft music.

The blending of elegance with comfort continues at The Inn at Hunt Phelan, a Memphis mainstay where you can enjoy a meal before hitting Beale Street. Order the skillet apple crisp with homemade butter pecan ice cream.

Chez Philippe, Memphis

A Great Meal and Comfy Bed

Sometimes a meal is so memorable you don’t want the experience to end after dessert. At the state’s top lodges and inns, it doesn’t have to. Many have earned culinary reputations that draw overnight guests from near and far.

Whitestone Country Inn is in a picture-perfect setting in Kingston. Situated on 360 rolling acres overlooking Watts Bar Lake, it has been call one of the “ 10 Most

Down-Home Favorites

After a few days of haute cuisine, there’s nothing like Southern comfort food to soothe the soul. Lucky for discriminating

palates, there’s mouthwatering barbecue around every bend. Rendezvous is tucked away in an alley off Beale Street, with finger-licking ribs that are the very essence of Memphis barbecue. Another great spot here is Neely’s where owners Pat and Gina Neely slow-cook meats over hickory wood. Their show, “Down Home with the Neelys,” is among the Food Network’s top-rated programs.

Brooks Shaw’s Old Country Store Restaurant in Jackson welcomes travelers with three giant buffets daily. This popular spot in Casey Jones Village brings back memories of Sunday dinner at grandma’s with a bounty of homestyle favorites. And, no stop here is complete without a piece (or three) of BaBa’s famous cracklin’ cornbread.

Travelers stop in the Loveless Café outside Nashville to enjoy its famous fried chicken and buttery biscuits, country ham-and-egg breakfasts and supper platters piled high with hearty “meat and threes.” Shops with arts and crafts, whimsical gifts and Loveless food and merchandise make the experience extra special.

And, for every place mentioned above, there are countless other gems hidden along the way where you’ll find good food, comfortable surroundings and Tennessee’s warm Southern hospitality.