We know these are fighting words in a town chock-full of biscuits, gravy and mac and cheese, but the biscuits made by Lawanna Dowdy at Kitchen Notes in the Omni Hotel may be the best in town.
How did a tough girl with a degree in criminal justice end up the biscuit lady at The Omni Hotel’s Kitchen Notes restaurant? Kismet for Lawanna Dowdy. Luck for Nashvillians.
Lawanna Dowdy really wasn’t cut out for the justice world. After a few years seeing it first hand as a social worker, she turned back to cooking—something she always knew how to do. She started out as a sauté cook making omeletes, then quickly became the biscuit maker after subbing in for another cook one day.
But making biscuits suits her just fine. Lawanna’s disposition is about as bright and delightful as the biscuits she makes. And she makes a bunch. …….to be non exact, every morning, starting at 5am. Four types of biscuits are served up every day—a sweet, a savory, a buttermilk, and gluten free. And the sweet and savory variations change daily. How on earth does one come up with new biscuits everyday, we thought. For Lawanna, it’s not hard. She gets inspired from the walk-in fridge for one. Macaroni and cheese from the day before, collards and ham–both end up worked into the light fluffy dough. Most any ingredient works according to Lawanna, however blackberries (and any juicy fruit) were a challenge. As a result she dries pineapple, berries and the like in the “hotbox” in the kitchen for about 24 hours, resulting in less juicy fruit with more concentrated flavor. Her taste testers are the management team, where she sends new biscuit variations for feedback. Lawanna herself always tries them of course, but doesn’t eat too many biscuits these days.
But ingredients aside, it’s the technique that distuingishes a great biscuit from an ok biscuit. That and the temperature of the flour. “Oh it’s got to be cold.” “Warm flour will make your biscuits flat.” Who knew? As we go into the kitchen to watch Lawanna make a batch, she’s right at home. She mixes the biscuits effortlessly while talking and greeting other cooks. As she mixes and pats and gathers the dough, a whole lot of measuring isn’t happening. “Need some more milk,” she tells Executive Chef Harkin, who as her assistant, pours a little into the bowl. Once the dough is to her satisfaction (after 3 additions of milk from Chef), she rolls it out gently into a 2-inch high mound. “You don’t want to roll the dough out too hard, or it’ll make the biscuits tough.” As she flours the dough liberally, she reaches for her plastic biscuit cutter. “It’ took me a while to learn about the twist,” she said. If you twist the biscuit cutter, the biscuits won’t rise high and have the characteristic cracks and ridges along the sides. “Just press down and lift up. I’ve got to teach the helpers about the twist,” she says under her breath. The biscuits go in the oven and no sooner does she start on another batch of her favorites; cranberry orange. We had to try the cranberry orange, she insisted.
Kitchen Notes, may be the best kept secret (to locals anyway) in Nashville. (They’ve won the best Patty Melt in town for and , their shrimp and grits is some of the best in town.) But it’s the biscuits that will keep us coming back.
Lawanna’s Tips to Great Biscuits
Have ALL your ingredients cold, even the flour, particularly the flour.
Mix it gently until you have a shaggy moss. Then gather it up gently.
Roll out gently, don’t pound the dough–keep it about 2-inches high. You want your biscuits to stand tall.
Don’t twist the biscuit cutter, lift it straight up. (Lawanna prefers a plastic cutter.) This makes all the ridges in the side of the biscuit which gives it height.
Chill the biscuits 2 hours before baking.
