Chef Stan Chamberlain at Crippen’s than a half-century after its 1959 start. Recent magazine accolades praise its overflowing spreads of country cooking served family-style. Hound Ears Lodge and Club opened in 1964 and still serves meals to residents and lodging guests. No one would claim that Antlers Bar in Blowing Rock was a gourmet dining spot, but it had a following for food from the 1930s to the ‘80s, when famished folks from all over the dry High Country came to wet Blowing Rock for beer, wine and an ABC store. Dockside Ira’s followed, a tasty, seafood-forward eatery. Today, one of Blowing Rock’s popular dining spots occupies the space, Bistro Roca—and the restaurant’s bar preserves the old Antlers name.
Chefs and Owners
High Country dining history might not be full of nationally known celebrity chefs, but there is a who’s who list of tal-
Owner and Chef Sam Ratchford of Vidalia’s ented chefs and owners who populate our past and present. Fabian Botta was a legendary light in the darkness of High Country dining in the early resort years. His Tack Room in Foscoe was a special experience from the first step over a gushing stream on a dimly lit wooden bridge. It was cozy, with equestrian gear on the walls and what some remember as the first spoken menu they ever heard. The Buenos Aires-born chef’s food was “light years” ahead of the competition. Gone, but not forgotten. He later founded The Village Cafe and Louisiana Purchase in the High Country, Fabian’s in WinstonSalem, and most recently, The Ruddy Duck in Morehead City. When I first moved to the area in the mid-1970s I often found myself dining at The Corner Restaurant in Banner Elk, run by Eva and Bruce Jones. Their friendly atmosphere and good food put the perfect face on High Country din-
Kitchen staff Matt Vetter, Matt Murphy and Zach Martin at Cafe Portofino
ing for me. Then the restaurant burned down, later the Corner Palate arrived, and now the space is empty. It’s hard not to sing Mike Sollecito’s praises. Famous for his silver curls and tableside crooning to Dean Martin tunes, “Mr. S,” and “Mrs. S” too, were High Country classics at Sollecito’s Pizza. Frederick Coffey ranks high. When he opened Coffey’s beside the Blowing Rock bar called Clyde’s, his restaurant was one of the most refined in the area. Coffey reprised his sophisticated sensibility too briefly in Boone at Coffey’s during the first decade of this millennium. Today, Char occupies that location with similarly crisp decor and great outdoor seating. Add Cha Da Thai next door, and this little Howard Street strip in Boone has choices. Randy Plachy, one of my favorite local chefs, probably debuted in the area at New River Inn. Later I was a big fan of his Riverwood Restaurant in Blowing Rock. One of my favorite area eateries of alltime—Heidi’s, near Sugar Mountain— was run by Swiss restaurateurs Heidi and Walter Vollenweider. They retired, but memories still have my mouth-watering. On a snowy evening, overhearing the accents of local European ski pros—you coulda been in the Alps. Other names crop up in my notes. German chef Harald Gesser cooked at various spots. Eventually he offered takeout entrees and even cooking classes in his own storefront gourmet butcher shop in Foscoe, Enzian. I chronicled Doug Usko’s great qualifications through his offerings at Banner Elk’s Corner Palate (where he served the area’s first sushi) and now in his popular eatery Zuzda, with its amazingly diverse small-plate, tapas-style menu and an upstairs bar with live weekend music. Makoto’s in Boone, another High July 2011
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