There is nothing more southern than a made-from-scratch country biscuit. The only thing better is having that delicious biscuit topped off with some homemade jam. Fortunately, you can get both at The Loveless Cafe located just west of Nashville, Tennessee.
The Loveless Cafe is well-known to all the folks in Tennessee and has gained widespread notoriety all across the country. News of the biscuits and jam served up at The Loveless Cafe reached the ears of Iron Chef, Bobby Flay in New York City. Bobby Flay is famous for challenging cooks and chefs to a throwdown and tries to out-do the best of the best.
I happened to watch the episode of Bobby Flay on The Food Network as he stepped out from the crowd and challenged the chief biscuit maker at The Loveless Cafe to a throwdown. It seems that those famous made-from-scratch biscuits put The Loveless Cafe in the cross hairs of Bobby Flay. With southern hospitality and graciousness being what it is, Bobby Flay was pronounced the winner of the biscuit and jam throwdown. However, everyone knows that The Loveless Cafe had the best finished product in that competition. It just isn’t nice to treat a guest poorly, so Bobby Flay won the throwdown. That’s just the southern way, bless your heart!
The Loveless Cafe has quite a history. What is now a large southern style cafe that serves both breakfast and dinner, had its very humble beginnings in 1951. The owners at that time ran a motel for people who traveled along highway 100. Lon and Annie Loveless ran the motel together and Annie started cooking up her famous secret recipe biscuits to serve to those road weary travelers. The food was served on picnic tables that were set up in the front yard of their home and motel.
Shortly thereafter, the Loveless’ home was converted into a kitchen and dining area and travelers had a much more comfortable place to enjoy those biscuits and jam with all the fixins. As the building expanded so did the menu. Breakfast became a full meal with country ham, sausage or bacon as well as grits, eggs, and hash browns.
In 1959, the Loveless Cafe was sold and the new owners maintained the reputation created by Lon and Annie Loveless; even keeping its original name and baking biscuits using Annie’s secret biscuit recipe.
Fourteen years later, the Loveless Cafe was sold once again. In 1982 a mail order business called “Hams and Jams” was added to the business. Eventually the Loveless Cafe left the motel business completely and concentrated on the task of cooking and serving delicious made-from-scratch meals. With a growing population in Nashville and the start of the interstate highway system, business at The Loveless Cafe continued to grow as their reputation was spread far and wide. Anyone who chose to eat at the Loveless knew they could have as much as a two hour wait, but they waited anyway.
In 2003, the Loveless Cafe (including that biscuit recipe) was sold again to a Nashville couple. By this time, the business had completely outgrown its 75 seat cafe, so in 2004 the Loveless Cafe was closed down temporarily for the first time in nearly 50 years of business.
The building underwent a very extensive remodeling and restoration process. The dining room was enlarged, the kitchen was completely updated and more rooms were added to keep up with the demands of the growing mail-order business.
Even though the Loveless Cafe has been sold many times throughout its history, the famous biscuit recipe of Annie Loveless is still being used today. And, even though Bobby Flay won that biscuit throwdown, everyone knows you just can’t bake a better biscuit than The Loveless Cafe.
The Loveless Cafe is located at 8400 Highway 100, Nashville, TN and is open 7 days a week from 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM. (615) 646-9700
If you are traveling in the vicinity of Nashville, here is a LINK to the location of The Loveless Cafe, which includes a clickable link to their menu as well.
Source: http://www.lovelesscafe.com/index.html
