Grow Fresh Local Food will host another pop up restaurant featuring the Southeast Asian flavors of Plate. on Thursday, August 20th, and Friday, August 21st.
The next installment in Grow’s latest pop up restaurant series will feature creations from Mike Young and Plate.
“This menu is inspired by some of my favorite foods I had traveling around Southeast Asia. I’m hesitant to refer to it as any particular country of origin, as it doesn’t make sense to me to wall flavors off behind lines someone drew on a map,” says Young, a West Virginia native who moved to Macon over a year ago at the suggestion of his wife, local musician Kelley Dixson.
With the birth of their daughter, Mike and Kelley decided to relocate to Central Georgia from New Orleans.
“Kelley was right in pitching Macon to me. The sense of community here is truly unique. It is evident even now in Saralyn [Collins, owner of Grow] being kind enough to let people who share her passion for creating good food host events at her restaurant.”
The star of Plate.’s pop up menu is Sai Oua, a sausage popular in Northern Thailand.
“I’ve heard good arguments for making sausage using a variety of mixtures and ratios of meat to fat,” says Young. “But it is hard to beat the simplicity of straight pork shoulder, which has a near-perfect ratio for sausage already.”
Originally, Young learned the base recipe for his sai oua while working alongside Burmese line cooks.
“They told me it was from Myanmar,” remembers Young. “I’ve also heard this sausage attributed to Laos. Lines on a map.”
The Burmese cooks also had a bit of fun at Mike’s expense while sharing more than just recipes.
“They also spent months teaching me Thai only for me to later learn I was only learning Burmese curse words. I’d be at the pass trying to get food runners to pick up food yelling, ‘Hurry up table 38! Your sister’s breasts!’ I’ll never not be impressed with the entire restaurant staff for letting that go on as long as they did!
Make your lunch plans now and enjoy Plate. @ Grow, 1019 Riverside Dr, Macon, on August 20th & 21st from 11am-3pm. Drive-thru will be available while Dine-in will be limited and require masks. Pre-order through Facebook Messenger or call 478-743-4663.
