Hughies was a renowned local restaurant, opened in the seventies by a retired local boxing legend, Hugh Devlin. It was a mecca for garlic lovers. The boxing glove shaped menus had a note at the bottom of the first page: "All our dishes contain garlic, unless requested otherwise". Hughies was famous for it's Love Salad, a pretty simple salad that consisted of cubed iceberg lettuce dressed in a garlic laden Italian dressing with chunks of tomato, strips of cooked salami, provolone cheese, topped with a copious amount of grated parmesan cheese and served in a wooden bowl. One of the favorite dinners there for a garlic lover would be a Love Salad with garlic bread and shrimp scampi. I had forgotten about that salad. It has been years since they closed, due to a controversial eminent domain land dispute.
On a recent visit to my local brewery for growler fills, Deb got a "Hughie's Love Salad" to go from a newly opened pizza place next door. We took it home, transferred it to a wooden bowl, of course, and a door to history suddenly opened. I had forgotten how much I loved that simple salad and knew I would be putting it back on our menu at home. Last night we had Love Salads with pappardelle Bolognese and both loved the meal. I remembered the garlic bread in the oven after putting the camera away.
HC
