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.
Lawanna Dowdy really wasn’t cut out for the justice world. After a few years seeing incarcerated juveniles firsthand, she turned back to cooking—something she had done since was 14 at an Easter Seals camp. At Kitchen Notes she started out as a line cook making omelets, then quickly became the biscuit maker after stepping 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—750 to be exact—every morning starting at 5 a.m. Four types of biscuits are served up every day: a sweet, a savory, a buttermilk, and a gluten free. The sweet and savory variations change weekly. How on earth does one come up with new biscuit idea every week? For Lawanna, it’s not hard. First and foremost she loves to see people happy, so she listens to any and all suggestions. But she also goes into mad scientist mode, getting ideas from the leftovers in the walk-in fridge. 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, pineapple, with its high water content, was a challenge. Her first attempt at pineapple biscuits looked more like pancakes, and as a result she perfected a drying process for high water fruits, 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 she doesn’t eat too many biscuits these days.