Nanny’s Country Cookin’ brings home-cooked meals to your table

*STORY BY ANGELA CUTRER AND PHOTOS BY DELANEY SCALF*

WWhen you visit Nanny’s Country Cookin’, you’ll not only be pleased with the delicious home-cooked meal, you’ll be blessed to find neighbors and friends at the next table, happy to see you. That’s how Nanny’s Country Cookin’ works: The restaurant is Kim Scalf’s ministry.

“We’re Christians,” Kim said of herself and her family, many of whom work at the restaurant. “The Lord is No. 1 in front. We are family oriented and we want our customers to enjoy each others’ company. That’s why we don’t have televisions here – even when a table has people looking at their phones, I’ll walk by and say, ‘hey, y’all visit with each other!’ We don’t want anything that takes away from family time.”

Kim said that everyone who comes to her restaurant always comes back, so she knows her efforts are worthwhile. The way she cooks means a lot to people who eat there.

“We have a lot of elderly who come here to eat,” Scalf said. “They have certain dietary issues and I home cook my meals. There isn’t all that premade stuff you might find somewhere else.”

The reason this restaurant is Kim’s ministry is because it started out as a family endeavor. Back in 2000, the Scalfs had a restaurant in another location and worked with another restaurant for about four years.

When Kim opened her standalone restaurant that sits at 112 E. Elk Ave., she named it after her grandmother. “I wasn’t sure what to name it, but I thought when the Lord tells me, I’ll know,” she said. Apparently, the Lord thought Nanny’s cooking was superior and that’s the name Kim found fit the place best.

They’ve been open about eight years now, offering soup beans, varieties of country favorites such as fried chicken and catfish, sandwiches and dinner specials, pinto beans, chicken and dumplings and so much more.

Kim’s husband, Reggie, and their children – Joshua, Sheena and Autumn – continue or have in the past worked at the restaurant. These days, the granddaughters do, too. “It’s a good way to get prepared for the real world,” Kim said.

Kim said she wouldn’t charge a dime for the meals if she could, but then again, food doesn’t (always) grow on trees. “I’m not rich, but God provides and we are able to pay our bills,” she said. “It’s not about any profit; it’s about the people. I love them so much and I want to show them Christ, so I smile and love them all.

“There aren’t many restaurants like this left; the family environment is harder to find. And my customers pay good money for their meal, so I make sure I cook from scratch as often as possible.”

Kim makes her own hamburgers and steaks with the best ingredients, she said. “It’s real mashed potatoes and mac and cheese here,” she added. “Cornbread is fresh-baked every day. By making things homemade, it helps those who have allergies.”

Kim said she knows there are bad people everywhere you go, but she thinks the people of the region are “the best people in the world. They are the most loving people and I thank God for letting me be born here. Nowhere is like here and we’ve been blessed by Jesus to live here.”

Kim said her children have their own lives, mainly in Christian ministry, so when Kim’s time on Earth is through, that will probably be the end of Nanny’s Kitchen. “It’ll be over when it’s over,” she said. “I already wish I didn’t have to charge for these meals – if I could just cook for everyone and not charge, well, that would be my dream for one day.”