I’ve rewritten this column more times than I care to count.
The process of writing something I care deeply about has not been easy. But I don’t think it’s easy for Erik Zilen, owner and head baker of Niedlov’s, either. I don’t think it’s easy to wake up at the crack of dawn and wrestle flour, yeast and water into a warm cloudlike loaf of bread – something organic that will nourish the people of Chattanooga day by day.
I don’t think it’s easy for Kelsey Keener and the four generations of his family living on the land at Sequatchie Cove Farm, moving herds of sheep and flocks of chicken to different pastures to rotate the crop cycles in a practice our ancestors knew called regenerative farming. Harvesting corn by hand, ruby red kernels glistening in the sun, one step in a long process toward becoming grits and cornmeal.
It’s not easy raising funding or searching for a brick-and-mortar space to open a beloved restaurant as chef Kenyatta Ashford of Neutral Ground has been doing this past year, creating beautiful dishes like Louisiana smoked chicken and andouille gumbo with creole potato salad for Thanksgiving meals and catering events, never giving up on the process and the dream of running his own kitchen.
There are a million examples all over the Scenic City of folks who are not taking the easy road. You see it when you walk through the doors of Zarzour’s, with cash in your pocket and a paper menu on the table as you sit at the counter of the 106-year-old restaurant and know that a lot of hard work has gone into keeping this place open. Manager Mary Smith carries out that legacy with every plate she brings out — people want a home-cooked meal. People want to know someone cares.