Clarksdale,
land of blues and great food Actor Morgan Freeman's restaurant
is just part of the destination.
BY Jim Harris
the Arkansas Times - October 24, 2003
CLARKSDALE, Miss. - "There he
is, there he is," an excited traveling companion whispered
as we approached Madidi, which has garnered the reputation
in its two-year existence as the restaurant in this region
of the Mississippi Delta. Our traveling companion is usually
as cool as a cucumber, except when it comes to celebrity sightings.
Catching a glimpse of a famous Hollywood
actor is routine in these parts. Morgan Freeman, the 66-year-old
star of such movies as "Driving Miss Daisy," "Unforgiven,"
"Seven" and "Deep Impact" and who has
played everything from the president to God, lives in his
off time about 30 minutes away in the tiny community of Charleston.
He's also co-owner of Madidi, along with local lawyer Bill
Luckett.
Unlike many Hollywood stars who may
invest in a restaurant and make a rare appearance on special
occasions, Freeman actually visits regularly. After all, it's
the only game in town, and on our recent visit, we found the
food great. The roast duck, served over black-eyed peas and
a corn bread muffin, was the best we've had (we can compare
this with similar dishes at much-acclaimed Bayona in New Orleans
and Restaurant 1789 in Washington, D.C.).
"Have you told our chef? He'd
be glad to hear it," Freeman said to us. That conversation
was part of our second visit with the actor. After Freeman
arrived at Madidi, having met a fan outside at the corner
of Delta Avenue and 2nd Street who presented him with a painting
that perfectly captured Freeman in a cowboy hat, he was suddenly
standing at our table, inquiring as to whose birthday it might
be. Turns out, the birthdays were at two nearby tables, but
it gave us the chance to extend hands anyway. Freeman, Luckett
and their wives were taking in a 7:30 p.m. dinner.
Afterward, they urged us to saunter
two blocks up Delta, where it dead-ends, to enjoy Ground Zero
Blues Club, which Freeman and Luckett also own. It's a smoky
Mississippi juke joint in every sense of the word: it's got
a few pool tables, a kitchen that serves plate lunches, large
tables and metal chairs, graffiti and old concert posters
all over the walls, party lights strung about and Clarksdale
native John Lee Hooker's guitar enclosed in glass above the
bar. Live music is featured on weekends.
If you're going to stay late at Ground
Zero and see the sights the next day - the best being the
Delta Blues Museum about 50 yards from Ground Zero next to
the railroad tracks - you'll need a place to stay. Lillie
and Billy Strohm provide that with the Belle Clark Bed and
Breakfast at 211 Clark St.
The antebellum mansion was built by
John Clark, the founder of Clarksdale, in 1859. His daughter
Blanche (the inspiration for native son Tennessee Williams'
Blanche Dubois in "A Streetcar Named Desire") had
the mansion placed on logs and rolled from its original site,
overlooking the Sunflower River, to a spot about a quarter
of a mile away, where it sits today.
Two years ago, the Strohms found the
home in serious disrepair. Today it is spectacular, earning
a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in July.
The downstairs features a faintly lit library, a living room
with antique piano, an immense foyer and a dining room where
Lillie serves a Southern-style breakfast of egg casserole,
bacon, biscuits, grits and fruit. The upstairs has four bedrooms,
two with king-size beds, and separate, immaculately tiled
baths. Lillie imported a number of antiques from Paris to
fill the house.
On the foundation of an old schoolhouse
behind the mansion, the Strohms built a three-room addition.
Rooms inside the main house rent from $95 to $195 a night;
rooms in the addition are $95.
All these wonderful destinations - including
the blues museum, which features a must-see sculpture of onetime
Clarksdale resident McKinley Morganfield (a.k.a. Muddy Waters)
that looks as if it might start speaking to you - belie the
rest of the town of 20,000, which is no better or worse than
the usual Delta burg. Buildings are boarded up on old Highway
61 leading into town, and if you blink you'd miss the city's
significant landmark: the two blue crossed guitars at the
branch-off of U.S. Highways 49 and 61, marking the infamous
"crossroads" where legend says blues great Robert
Johnson sold his sold to the devil for the ability to play
guitar and hence changed music forever.
The blues museum has plenty of legends
to laud, like Son House, Hooker and hundreds more who lived
around Clarksdale or passed through on their way to Memphis
and Chicago. At $6 it's well worth the stop.
Freeman's restaurant
Luckett and Freeman met about seven years ago, Luckett said,
when Freeman needed some legal help. They struck up a friendship,
started thinking about bringing something special to the decaying
downtown of Clarksdale, and came up with Madidi two years
ago. Luckett got the name from a South American national park,
but the menu is strictly fine American cuisine with some European
flair here and there. It's also a limited offering - four
salads, six appetizers, six entrees, five desserts. The wine
list has some notable vintages and some tasty by-the-glass
selections.
Madidi draws regulars from Memphis,
and on this night there were diners from New York having a
private party upstairs. The first floor has about 70 seats,
while private rooms are available on the second floor and
can also handle the overflow. The red brick exterior features
New Orleans-style gas light fixtures. Inside is a more modern
world with big-city service, impressive local art on the walls
and a seductive feel to the mahogany bar and dining room.
Along with the exquisitely tender pen-raised
duck, some of our highlights included a ravishingly rich shrimp
bisque with a balsamic vinegar drizzle, cornmeal fried oysters
with a brandy cream sauce, a large top-of-the-line filet of
beef, and a strawberry Napoleon dessert. If you want Freeman's
favorite dinner capper, it would be the Grand Mariner creme
brulee, which was perfect in our book.
Entrees all were great, and the quality
of the side items were impressive to our foursome. For example,
accompanying the fried trout were hominy and okra; the hominy
had a nice smoky flavor, while whole piece of okra was quick-fried,
leaving it still firm and fresh. Even the cole slaw that came
with the fried oyster appetizer was different and delicious.
The kitchen, under the guidance of Chef
Lee Craven, who trained most recently at the Peabody's-Memphis'
Chez Phillippe, obviously put much effort and attention to
detail into each portion of appetizers, salads, entrees and
desserts. The Anapamu Vineyards Central Coast pinot noir,
at a high-end $8 a glass, was refreshing, and by-the-glass
wine choices ranged downward to $5 for such as Turning Leaf.
The by-the-bottle prices were fair. Those looking to splurge
might look to a French Bordeaux, Chateau Lafon Rochet at $112.
Aperitifs such as tawny port ran for $4 a glass. If you're
in a celebratory mood, the Moet and Chandon White Star champagne
is $70.
Getting there
Under most traffic conditions, Clarksdale is a two-and-a-half-hour
drive from downtown Little Rock. Our suggested route, one
that avoids most construction work in Interstate 40 and is
a zig-zag approach but guaranteed to save time, is to take
I-40 to the Biscoe exit (Highway 33), travel 33 to U.S. Highway
70, then right on state Highway 17 to Highway 79, then to
the intersection of U.S. Highway 49 and a right on 49. Take
49 across the Mississippi River bridge at Helena and travel
to its intersection with U.S. Highway 61. Go left and follow
the signs to Clarksdale. Taking a right and heading north
on U.S. 61 will take you to Tunica and its gambling oasis
of eight casinos and hotels. Much has changed in the three
years since the Arkansas Times visited Tunica, with more and
larger convention halls now in place for live music and events,
and one less casino (Isle of Capri shifted its entire operation
downriver to Lula, across from Helena, and Sam's Town took
over Isle's tower of suites). The locals still say that the
Sheraton offers the best rooms, but we think you'll enjoy
the Gold Strike's tower and its amenities and Sam's Towns
array of room sizes. For gambling, the card players should
first go to Jack Binion's Horseshoe, but we've had surprising
success at Hollywood and Harrah's on their craps and blackjack
tables. Tunica is divided into three sections, with Sam's
Town-Harrah's-Hollywood making up the grouping closest to
Clarksdale and the Grand and Bally's being closest to Memphis;
Horseshoe-Sheraton-Fitzgerald make up the center portion.
Along with two existing golf courses on the south and north
ends, a third golf course has opened near Sam's Town and built
with tax-payer money.
