By Stephanie Edwards

The capital of comfort food would be an excellent name for downtown Chattanooga’s Blue Plate.

Imagine heaping portions of creamy macaroni and cheese, whipped potatoes and gravy and a huge slab of boneless fried chicken breast.

From the second that these juicy morsels hit my tongue, I was in love. Not a fleeting infatuation, but actual love.

The macaroni and cheese was my favorite part of the entire meal. It was a decadent take on this traditional American favorite. I couldn’t quite put my finger on the ingredients. But I am willing to bet there were at least three different kinds of white cheeses mixed together.

If I had been driving back to Knoxville immediately following my meal, I would have ordered a large container of this extremely comforting dish. I would not have shared even a single bite. Maybe that sounds stingy, but believe me, you wouldn’t want to share either.

The whipped potatoes were definitely homemade and had small chunks of potatoes in them. They were topped with a delicious wine-infused, spicy gravy.

Biting into the boneless fried chicken breast, which is marinated in buttermilk, breaded and fried, is a delicious experience. The chicken somehow stays incredibly juicy, even after it has sat on your plate for several minutes.

The special of the day when my husband and I dined at the Blue Plate was a meatloaf wrap served with homemade potato chips.

The meatloaf had a zesty flavor, which made us both want to try the meatloaf dinner, in order to get the full effect of the entree.

An enormous stack of homemade potato chips was quite intimidating considering the large amount of food we had already consumed. Thankfully, they were very crispy and not at all greasy.

Typically, I would start out a restaurant review talking about appetizers and end it with dessert.

But I was least infatuated with our appetizer — fish tacos — out of all the items we ordered. They were very good, but I just didn’t feel that they went well with the comfort food theme. My husband is a fish taco aficionado so he absolutely had to try them, despite their lack of comforting qualities.

Because most of the menu items are comforting, I knew the dessert would most likely be the same. Peanut butter and coconut cream pies, both favorites of mine, were mentioned on the dessert menu. However, I could not possibly east another bite.

There’s always next time, and there will definitely be a next time.

I have even considered the possibility of driving down for dinner and coming back home. That that tells you that it’s good!

The Blue Plate is located at 191 Chestnut St., next to the Tennessee Aquarium in downtown Chattanooga.

For more information, visit www.theblueplate.info.