Worth the Drive
Learn all about the tasty eats at Mossy Grove School House Restaurant By Jennifer Kornegay
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chool is back in session, and no matter your age or cur- be shared family style is there too, as is a chunky, spicy-sweet rent education level, I’d like to suggest that you get on pepper relish. The relish’s rich burgundy hue splashed atop a back to school, too, with a visit to Mossy Grove School plate of milky pale beans looks as good as it tastes. It tastes so House Restaurant in Troy, celebrating its 30th anniversary this good, in fact, that Romero has started making extra and selling December. You won’t need to bring books or pencils with you, it in pints at the register. just your appetite. Mossy Grove is best known for its Southern farm-raised catFounded in 1856, Mossy Grove School was the first thing to oc- fish, which you can get fried (whole or in filets) or lemon-broiled. cupy the original one-room structure that sits beneath two mam- Romero loves the well-seasoned but delicate flavor of the lemmoth trees, their branches dripping with silver-gray curls of Span- on-broiled fish but also favors the charbroiled chicken fingers ish moss. The large dining room, now hosting hungry tummies and the steaks. “We cut the steaks fresh in house every day,” she instead of hungry minds, was built onto the says. And the accompanying steak sauce is side in 1917. Only three years later, in 1920, wildly popular. The thin, tangy, black-asarea schools consolidated and Mossy Grove night condiment is homemade from a seSchool closed. Over the next few years, the cret recipe that Romero refused to discuss, building was used as a community center even if only to rule out guesses on ingrefor special events like town meetings and dients. “Worcestershire sauce?” “Balsamic church functions. In the ‘30s, the land and vinegar?” Peppered with these questions, building reverted back to the original estate the friendly proprietor’s face goes as blank (the family who’d deeded the land over to as a schoolhouse slate. the school), and a Mr. William Bradley lived Sweet potato fries and smoked pork chop I went with the smoked pork chop and in the school house until World War II. For compliment each other. sweet potato fries. Thick and juicy, the chop three decades afterwards, it was rented out boasts deep smoke flavor. A little cup of as a house. In its long lifetime, the space has brown sugar cinnamon butter intended for been a hay barn and a funeral home, too. fry dipping goes equally well with the pork, For the last 29 years though, it has been its sweetness cutting the chop’s saltiness. a restaurant, welcoming folks from all over The restaurant is also famous for a the Southeast with the charm of its counconfectionary creation called Mossy try-living atmosphere and the deliciousness Grove Dessert. It’s a frosty combination of of its simple, down-home food. Much of whipped cream, graham cracker crust and the schoolhouse look is still intact, includeither chocolate, caramel or butterscotch ing the stage from which Mossy Grove’s (or all three) that I didn’t have the pleasure Spanish moss drips from the trees at teachers once instructed their students. of tasting, since by 6:30 p.m. (dinner starts Current owner Katie Romero has run (appropriately named) Mossy Grove School at 5), there wasn’t a bite left on the premHouse Restaurant. Mossy Grove for six years; she bought it ises. Romero said that’s not unusual; on the from her aunt, who owned it for 15 years, and according to her, days they make it, it always sells out early, and some people are most of the regulars at Mossy Grove have been coming in to eat so disappointed, they can’t even enjoy their dinner. “I have had for years. people come in to eat and ask if we have any Mossy Grove DesThey come and come back for the fluffy, crispy hushpuppies sert left,” Romero says. “If I say ‘no,’ they leave!” waiting for them warm on the table. A bowl of white beans to One obvious reason Mossy Grove has repeat business is the food, but another draw may be Sylvia Hughes, a waitress at Mossy Get Schooled Jennifer Kornegay Mossy Grove School Grove who’s been there since the beginning. With a quick smile is the author of House Restaurant a new children’s and quicker moves dashing around delivering dishes to waiting 1841 Elba Highway, Troy book, “The Alabama 334-566-4921 customers, she’s obviously a favorite fixture at the establishment, Adventures of Walter Open Tuesday – Saturand Wimbly: Two swapping jokes with diners and even quieting fussy babies. “She’s day, 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. Marmalade Cats on a not a waitress,” Romero says. “She’s the waitress.” And “the waitMission.” She travels to an out-of-the way ress” could certainly teach some of the staff in other Alabama restaurant destination restaurants the true definition of service. in Alabama every month. She may be If you’re not above learning new lessons either, grab a seat by Troy reached for comment the big blackboard at Mossy Grove, and let them teach you a at j_kornegay@charter. net. thing or two about an enjoyable evening eating out. A 28 OCTOBER 2013
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