- Hey, everybody, welcome to
actually, this is Paula's.
I'm gonna say "Paula's Home Cooking"
'cause that's where it all came from.
But this is my mom's YouTube channel.
It's a great instructional cooking
and I'm her youngest son, Bobby,
here to help her today make co-cakes.
Wait, co-cakes?
Not co-cakes, hoecakes.
Hoecake corn bread is a
great Southern cornbread
that we served in our restaurant
from the beginning up until, you know,
real recent history.
But hoecake corn bread is,
people are familiar
with, in the South here,
we eat lace corn bread
and we like casserole thick
caky style corn bread.
And we also eat hoecake corn bread.
Hoecake corn bread is probably, well,
I'm not gonna say it's the most popular,
but it's very popular and it's
kinda like small pancakes.
It's just great.
It's sort of the same
shape and consistency,
and they're really good with pancakes too.
And when we originally
opened our restaurant
here in Savannah,
we would just, we had somebody who just,
that was their job was just to walk around
and pass out hoecake corn
bread and cheese biscuits,
and it was immediately
popular and well received,
and it was just something
that we became known for.
People just absolutely love
going to The Lady and Sons
and getting hoecakes and
cheese biscuits before,
during, and after their meal.
They kind of almost make up even like a
dessert with the syrup on them.
But there are different
ways to do hoecakes
and today my mom and I are
going to make okra hoecakes.
So this is very interesting.
It's another Southern staple.
Of course, we love okra down here.
We like it fried well,
gosh, we like everything
fried it seems down here,
but we like okra boiled,
we like it in our peas
and in our like stewed tomatoes
and okra with crowder peas, it's great.
And there's just a lot of different things
you can do with it
and one of those things
that you can do is to
fold it into your cornbread
mix and make hoecake cornbread.
So today we're going to
show you how to do that.
And what I'm doing is,
I don't know why mama gave
me the chicken cutting board.
It's such an odd shape.
So what we're going to do is
we're going to slice our okra
into just kind of, I'm going
to say like dime sizes.
So it was pretty thin,
you know, just like that.
So, and we'll fold this in
to the cornbread last thing.
After we get our mix all put together.
And so I'm just going to
cut up, I've probably got,
this is maybe five or six
pieces of okra right now.
My mom thinks--
- [Paula] Good, son, you've got it going.
- [Bobby] I'm doing the dirty work.
- [Paula] Okay!
- [Bobby] Mama thinks we're
going to use all of this okra,
but I don't think we're gonna need it all.
- [Paula] I dunno, it gets,
you know okra's slimy.
- [Bobby] Allow me to introduce my mother.
Paula Dean, everybody.
- Hello!
- My mama.
- I'm with Bobbylicious.
- Nobody calls me that.
- Your mama can.
- You can do whatever you want.
So I was just telling the folks out there
that hoecake cornbread
is a staple in the South
and it is something that we've
always just given away in our restaurant
from the early days.
And a funny story that
has been told many times,
but I'll tell it again for those
of you who've not heard it.
When we opened our restaurant
in downtown Savannah at
311 West Congress Street,
January 8th, 1996.
All these numbers, it's
crazy that the things,
there are things that I could not remember
if you held a gun to my head.
- I know.
- Then there are things
that I just can't forget--
- You can't get out of your head.
- if you held a gun to my head.
So we opened our restaurant
January 8th, 1996,
on Congress Street, downtown Savannah.
And it was gosh, just a
wonderful time in my life
and in my brother's life, I know,
and then my mom's life too,
'cause we were so proud.
We were just most definitely
working class people,
which we still are and always have been,
but just so happy to be
opening our restaurant
in downtown Savannah
and to introduce the folks to, you know,
what I considered at the time to be
good old Albany, Georgia style cooking.
But shortly after we
opened downtown, there was,
you know, we've had just so much
all kinds of luck in our life.
Some of it has been really, really good
and our timing was
really good when we moved
into downtown Savannah,
because the book had just come out.
"Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil"
which everybody knows the book
and Clint Eastwood and
Kevin Spacey and that group
just came from Hollywood right on time
to make the movie "Midnight in
the Garden of Good and Evil"
in downtown Savannah.
And our restaurant was
sort of newly opened.
We were getting lots of local acclaim.
If you walked down the street
and asked a local, excuse me.
In '96 or '97, "Where should I eat?"
You ask a police officer any,
which is what I do whenever I travel.
I just ask a local "Where should I eat?"
All of them would have
said The Lady and Sons.
"You need to go to Lady and Sons."
- Most of 'em would have said that.
- Some of them.
- Even ours or Miss Whilks
- Yeah, of course.
We're not the only restaurant in town.
(coughing)
Sorry, I gotta tickle in my throat.
But Clint Eastwood was no exception
and he and his wife, Dina at the time.
- So sweet.
- Came in to our restaurant to eat.
He sat down and ate.
I remember he called to
make the reservation.
Called to make the reservation.
We closed at that time
at 10 o'clock at night.
Phone rings at about 10 minutes to 10.
- "Hello, thanks for
calling Lady and Sons.
Can I help you?"
"I'd like to make a reservation."
"Okay, for when?"
"10 o'clock, 10 minutes from right now."
Its like, we close at 10.
"What's the name?"
"Eastwood"
" All right, we'll take the reservation."
So our places is, we're winding down,
our place is pretty much empty.
There was two tables.
Do you remember the table full of ladies
sitting in the middle of the room?
There were three ladies sitting there
and there was one other
table in the house too.
And so they came in and he,
Clint Eastwood is how old?
Do you know how old Clint Eastwood is?
I think that you and he are
like right in the same--
- [Old Woman] Yeah, he's 89.
- He's 90 or more.
- [Paula] And Dina was,
gosh he was about my age,
I think a little younger.
(muffling)
- She was (muffling)
because when they came in, remember this,
now when they came in,
they had their small baby with them.
Do you remember that?
- Oh yes.
- They had an infant baby.
So yeah, he was, he had to, he
was in his 70s at that point,
late 60s, early 70s, had to be.
And his wife, so they
had a brand new baby.
Anyhow, they came in to eat
and the ladies who were there
were not going anywhere after
they saw these two walk in.
And so he had the buffet and he loved it.
But here's the story that I'm getting at.
We were serving hoecake cornbread to him.
He loved it.
He and Dina both loved it.
They loved the hoecakes.
They loved the cheese biscuits.
And mom went out, we all
tried to leave them alone.
We did our best to leave them alone.
But mom eventually went
out to talk to them
and see how them--
- To thank 'em for coming in.
- Which she did and they loved everything.
And he said, "I'd like some
more hoecake cornbread".
So mom yells out "We need some more hoes"
and from the kitchen run
three of our kitchen staff,
females, all wanting to get a glimpse of
Clint Eastwood and his wife.
Each of 'em had a plate of hoecakes.
(laughing)
And it was funny because it was a ladies
and mom said "We need some more hoes"
So you see how this was funny at the time.
- This is playing--
- And I'll never forget.
I'll never forget Clint
Eastwood got the big,
his head went back.
- Did it?
- Yes, you don't remember?
And he just laughed.
He laughed the most genuine laugh
and he said, "Wrong kind of hoes, huh?"
And it was just the funniest thing.
But he and his wife and as
just kind of a side note,
Kevin Spacey played Jim
Williams in the movie.
- Yes and he looked much like--
- And he would come in--
- We may need some more okra,
son, if you keep cutting.
- Okay and he would
come in quite regularly.
- I got to stop your story.
I got to stop your story,
son, just for a second.
Now I'm having mixed all
of our ingredients together
and this is what you want
your okra to look like.
Real thin because self-rising hoecakes
cook very, very fast.
Unlike the lace hoecakes,
they take a long time.
So I'm going to add our okra in now
and these are incredibly,
incredibly wonderful.
You may be able to stop Bobby.
let me get this stirred in
because okra is known for a little slime.
All right, now I'm going
to add a bit more water.
Our ingredients for this was
cornmeal mix, which is important.
Flour, buttermilk,
a teaspoon or so of sugar, an egg.
Did I say it at all?
I think I did.
- So, let me finish.
So Kevin Spacey, would come in
and he would eat lunch pretty regularly.
And I remember him sitting
up front and he would,
we had three chairs lined up in the window
for people to sit in that
were waiting for a table
and I can remember like it was yesterday
and this was 1997?
Late '96, early '97.
And we had--
- Ooh sorry, did a I make
you jump out of your skin?
- It right there in that
window '96, '97, '98
when they made that movie.
And he would sit there with
his Savannah Morning News up.
He would have on his Ray Ban Wayfarers
and I remember he had
on his Puma California's
and he'd be sitting there
with the newspaper--
- See you remember stuff
like that that I don't.
I don't know anything about brands.
- If you came, well I
was paying attention.
I was 26 years old.
I'm 50 now.
I was 26 years old and yes,
Kevin Spacey is a huge star.
I was paying very close attention.
Plus, I was running that
restaurant like a top.
- I mean, you were, son.
- If you came to The lady and
SOns restaurant in Savannah,
between the years of 1996 and 2006,
you would have encountered
me before anybody.
Well, the host.
You would have seen our hostess,
then you'd have seen me.
And so I was on top of everything
that was going on there.
So he would sit up front and
he would read his newspaper.
- Dust, or anything.
Bobby was on it.
- While he would wait for his table,
waiting for his table,
'cause we were always busy.
And he would read a newspaper.
and I remember him sitting at his table
with his friend that he was there with.
Maybe it was another actor, I don't know.
And I remember him reading an article
and he was reading out
loud what the article
said about him in the article.
And he was looking over his friend going
"That's totally not true.
That is completely not true."
And I just, I have the
snapshot of him doing that.
There's no telling, there's no telling.
- [Paula] He didn't know that
you took a picture of him,
did he?
- Picture?
- I thought you said you took a snapshot.
- No, it's a snapshot in my mind.
- [Paula] Oh, in your head.
I was gonna say!
- 1996, nobody had a cell phone.
There were no cell phones.
No, there was no pictures of this.
It's just me remembering it.
Now, two--
- [Paula] I was gonna say we'd never slip
and take pictures of celebrities.
- Never, are you kidding?
I would have broken somebody's
arm if they would have
been trying to take anybody's
picture in our restaurant.
And if you came to the
restaurant between 1996 and 2006,
it would not have been
unusual to see celebrities.
We had lots of politicians.
I remember one day we had a table full
of four star generals
in there having lunch
and that was a very,
I'll have to get back to
that story a little bit.
I've got any plenty more to tell you,
so let's make these hoecakes
and then we'll come back.
All right?
Those look delicious.
So it smells like butter,
but that's a butter oil mix?
- [Paula] I used, son, I
used half vegetable oil
and half butter, actually a
little bit more oil than butter.
- [Bobby] Well they smell great.
- [Paula] Don't they smell delicious.
- [Bobby] You could make
these with jalapenos.
- [Paula] Oh yeah, I do hoecakes
with jalapenos fairly often for Michael.
- [Bobby] You could put,
you could put real corn,
like niblets in there if you wanted to.
- [Paula] I can do anything you want to,
but you finish telling me that story.
- The funny thing about
cooking is, not funny thing,
the good thing about cooking, one of them.
The good thing.
Something great about cooking is
you can use your imagination in there.
So anyhow, I remember so
many people coming to us,
so many people come through our restaurant
and I just, I don't remember
which generals they were,
but I remember we had a
table full of four stars
in there one day and there
was nobody in there but them.
- Oh, why?
- Well, because I don't
think that was an accident.
Those are very important people.
- Oh, okay.
- They were in uniform and--
- They were four star generals?
- Yes.
Had everything.
So anyhow, but we had more sports figures,
we had celebrities.
- [Paula] Oh my gosh.
- [Bobby] Just about anybody
that you can think of.
- [Paula] I remember the
day Jerry Seinfield came in.
- Jerry Seinfeld came in.
He was gonna be performing
at the Savannah Civic Center
and he came in
and enjoyed our food.
And lots of, lots and lots
of pro football players.
- A lot of athletes.
I remember Sean Jones came in one day.
I can't remember who he played for,
but I just sat down
and we were just having
a great conversation
and I said "Sean, what is your?
(phone ringing)
Excuse me, I have to answer this.
- 'Ello.
- Hello!
(beeping)
- Wow.
- [Paula] It's engaged.
- Wrong number.
- No, it was engaged.
And so, I asked him, we was just talking.
- It looks perfect.
- Yes.
Look at that.
- Ooh flip 'em away from you.
- [Paula] I know.
- [Bobby] What are you doing?
- [Paula] 'Cause I can't stand it.
(dog barking)
I don't know why that gate is open.
(phone ringing)
- Hello.
Hello?
- Just open the gate for anybody to come?
- Yeah.
- Surprise guests coming?
Gonna appear with us?
- Yes.
All right.
- So we had lots of
famous athletes come in
and in 1999, this has nothing
to do with an athlete,
but in 1999, we had the writer
from USA Today Food come in
and he awarded us the meal of
the year in the entire world
at The Lady and Sons.
We won meal of the year
in the entire world.
- We beat out Paris, Chicago.
- London, Paris, Tokyo.
He came in, he announced,
he said that he was coming,
we knew he was coming.
- He wasn't coming in.
He wasn't coming in for that, son.
- No, not for that, he was just there,
Believe me, I knew he was coming.
- Yeah, but when we weren't on the list
for him to pick us for meal of the year.
- He was just blown away.
- He actually came in because he wanted,
he had asked where he could
get some good Southern cooking
and somebody sent him to us.
So it was, that was a life changer for us
because in USA Today
in the December issue,
I can't remember on the
19th or something like that.
- I think it was the 19th.
- [Paula] On the front page.
- [Bobby] You holding a chicken leg.
Meal of the year in the world.
That was a real feather in our cap.
- It was, it was wonderful.
All right, so y'all look
at these gorgeous hoecakes
would you?
I mean, aren't they delicious?
And like I said, I used
half oil and half the butter
and I've turned these back down
'cause I won't pack okra to cook it.
I hear you're swallowing.
- I am swallowing.
You can do this with like
potato cakes too, with that.
- Oh my gosh, yes.
Son, you can do anything that you want.
- You know what, this is going to be--
- It's whatever your taste.
Whatever your taste is about.
- What are we having with our hoecakes?
- Hoecakes and syrup.
You know, when we served
these at a restaurant,
we had a little pitcher
of syrup on every table.
And for some reason,
when I was not there on a daily basis,
they opted to do away with the hoecakes.
But when we reopen, son.
Hoecakes and pimento cheese is gonna be
one of our appetizers.
- I know.
- We're trying to get The Lady and Sons.
We have scrubbed that
place from top to bottom
to make sure it's safe.
It's beautiful.
- Looking forward to reopen.
- And we're waiting on
table tops to come in
and then we're gonna finally get reopened.
- [Bobby] But we're gonna do it right.
- [Paula] So exciting.
- [Bobby] Those just look so, so good.
- [Paula] Don't they look delicious.
So delicious.
(humming)
- [Bobby] You just making sure that?
- [Paula] Yeah.
That they all get, you know,
I messed up Bobby.
I actually messed up with the temperature
because while we were cutting the okra,
I came over here and turned it down
and then I turned it back up.
- Look like you're doing fine.
- But I put the batter in there before,
before I got it turned back up.
- You know who else came
into our restaurant?
And I was thinking about this.
I was like do I say, or not,
but I'm going to say it anyway.
- Kevin, Kevin, that one
that's got that bladder thing.
On TV, he does bladder commercial,
so he doesn't get infected.
Star Trek.
- Oh, Shatner.
- Oh, yes.
- Oh my gosh, William Shatner.
Oh boy, do I have a William Shatner story?
- Well tell it!
- I'll save it for another time.
I'll save it for another time.
But I will tell you this
and this is more notorious
than anything, so--
- [Paula] Notorious?
- [Bobby] It just is.
It's just interesting.
Nobody who ever came to our restaurant
came on an invitation--
- You ought to do a tell-all.
Lady and Sons tell-all.
- We were often surprised by people
that would walk in the door,
let me just say it that way.
- Yes.
- And we had two people
come in totally separately,
totally unannounced.
I don't even think it
was in the same year,
but two people who played,
who were central figures in
the crime of the century.
And we had--
- Oh oh.
- Yeah.
- I was so scared.
- OJ Simpson came into our restaurant.
- I was so scared.
And they came in after three o'clock.
We had closed.
- He came in when it was closed.
He and five other people.
- They came and got me from the kitchen.
- And that's all I'm gonna say.
He came and he enjoyed
the food, that's it.
Not gonna say anything more about that.
But another person that
came in was Johnny Cochran.
Johnnie Cochran came in
and he pulled up in a
big black limo out front
and walked through the doors,
and he was just as sharp as
you could imagine him being.
That man smelled like money.
- He did!
- Just looked impeccable.
Had his suit on and was
just, he was just perfect.
He was perfect.
And he came in and he was
getting a buffet to go.
So he fixed himself a
styrofoam box of the food.
- [Paula] Oh my gosh.
- But he and I began to chat at the buffet
and rather than take his box
and go get in the limo and eat it,
he sat down right there at the table,
right next to the wait station
and he and I chatted
while he ate his lunch
and he was so interesting
and really, really,
really enjoyed the food.
- What did you talk to him about?
Anything you can divulge?
- No, I mean.
- He's no longer with us.
- No, I mean, it was just,
you know, it was chit chat.
It was just chit chat.
He was in Savannah.
He said, you know, I heard
this was the place to eat.
You know what I remember
about Johnnie Cochran.
He was about your height.
- He was a very short--
- He was just--
- Well, five five is
kinda short for a man.
- He was not tall, I remember that.
People say that about me too.
- Well, you're five nine.
- Taller than him.
(laughing)
- You love it when somebody has to
look up at you, don't you?
- Yeah, happens rarely.
My head is full of stories
from that restaurant.
- [Paula] Well, son,
I am so glad because--
- [Bobby] We oughta--
- Most of the time I was in the kitchen
and then I'd run out
with hoes and biscuits,
you know, and speak to people.
- In hindsight, I definitely had the most
fun of all of my jobs
'cause I got to see everybody.
- You got to see everybody
that came in that door
and Bobby tended to that dining room
like you would not believe.
- If you came to The Lady
and Sons during that era,
please let us know, please leave a comment
if you remember coming
to The Lady and Sons
in the late 90s and early 2000s
when we were back at 311
West Congress Street,
'cause you might have some
stories that I forgot.
So those look great.
- [Paula] I remember one day--
- [Bobby] And I don't think
I can try one just yet,
you probably could.
- Yeah, I remember one day,
this man, and he and I were
about the same age at that time,
although he may have been
a little older than me.
I can't remember how many people--
- More butter?
- You better hush up.
Are you my moral compass? Are you my--
- Not at all.
(laughing)
Just watching you pull out
your butter after you--
- But so anyway, let
me tell you this story.
He was with other people and he was eating
and I saw him, he started to cry.
So I walked over and I
put my arm around him.
I said, "Sir, is everything okay?
Are you okay?"
And he looked up at me with them tears
running down his face and he said,
"Oh yes." he said, "I'm fine."
He said, "I just thought I would never
taste my mother's cooking ever again."
And oh my gosh, I thought that was
the sweetest sweetest story.
- That's a good one.
- To be able to bring those kinds of
memories back to people.
- [Old Woman] Did he have
name attached to him?
- I don't know his name.
But I was so touched.
So touched.
- All right well--
- So that's some of the good things
about being in the restaurant business
and getting to meet so
many wonderful people.
- So next time maybe we'll
do some more stories.
- Love and best dishes.
These are some good hoes y'all.
