Good afternoon. Welcome to real January, and the taking of our collective mind off it.

Our assistant: Pretty Southern, a Southern-as-strained-through-a-Brooklyn spot for takeout or real casual dates. It’s opening today, courtesy of Sam Talbot, of Top Chef and Surf Lodge fame. It’s in the Five Leaves–Sauvage district on the Williamsburg/Greenpoint border.

Before we spin a tale of fried chicken and not-fried chicken and the holy union of pie and biscuit, with visual aids, we’ll first—no, let’s just get right to that.