Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, January 13, 1993 TAG: 9301120291
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETH MACY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
COMFORT FOOD
IT hasn't been so long that Donna Evans doesn't remember her favorite comfort food - warm bread pudding with ice cream and vanilla sauce, from a cozy warm spot inside the Peaks of Otter Lodge.Before she had her two children, Evans would drive up there for the treat from her Bedford home on gray winter weekdays, when the tourists are few and the view peaceful.
"We could go up there now, but it's just not the same cozy feeling with two kids," she said, laughing. "I've been eating standing up for the past two years."
Presenting: different eats for different treats.
Inspired by the biscuit-sopping solace of chicken pan pie at K&W Cafeteria, we asked readers to share their favorite area restaurant fare, providing us with a handy clip-and-save map for the next time we need comfort food in a hurry and on the cheap.
Indeed, none of the entrees suggested cost more than $5, proving that when you need food for your mood, it's not necessarily quality that counts. It's cholesterol (and starch . . . and grease).
Just ask Arthur Moles, a Salem claims adjuster who wouldn't dream of starting his day any place other than the\ Bee Bum Cafe in Salem. For breakfast he prefers pancakes just like his mother makes - with sausage gravy on top.
But you won't find it on the Bee Bum's menu. The dish is a traditional Pennsylvania-Dutch dish his mother made, and his grandmother and his great-grandmother,and so on.
That's what makes the Bee Bum so great, Moles says. Owners Fran and Paul Spangler will fix anything you want - as long as they have the fixings in their kitchen.
"Their secret is quality food for a fair price, and the service is perfect," Moles says. "In today's hustle and bustle, to find somebody who truly wants to do a good job is rare."
Moles also eats dinner at the Bee Bum - and recommends their soups, grilled-cheese sandwiches and individually formed meat loaves.
And so with an appetite his that you can't blame us for asking.
"I'm 6 feet tall, 145 pounds," the 39-year-old Moles replied happily. "As my mother says, `Son, you eat like you've got a hollow leg.' "
The joke at Fibercom Inc. is, "If you're having a bad day, go to\ Dave's for a Fat Daddy and a beer," according to Fibercom worker Sherry Siska. The Fat Daddy is a hamburger fit for two - an 8-ounce chopped sirloin with bacon, lettuce, tomato, mayonnaise and Swiss cheese - plus fries.
But the real draw to Dave's for Siska is on Thursdays, when owner Dave Canode features his specialty soup, a creamy potato soup with a hints of bacon and peppers - rich and heavenly. (Dave's is on Orange Avenue East with a landmark '50s sign out front.)
We couldn't quite bring ourselves to try this breakfast, but take Jeff Farris's word for it: The aptly named Round Man at\ Gary's Little Chef makes coming off the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift at Virginia Cotton Mills worth staying up for breakfast for Farris.
It features chopped sirloin steak, scrambled eggs, hash browns smothered with gravy, toast or biscuits and fried tomatoes. Farris adds a dash of Tabasco to the steak and gravy - and washes it all down with a Budweiser, or three.
Fran Hart, Bedford's parks and recreation director and a Christiansburg native, prefers the food she grew up eating at her favorite hometown place,\ Dude's Drive-In in Christiansburg. "I get a Dudeburger with slaw, large French fries with salt and one of those skanky little ketchup packets."
And to wash it down, a cherry Pepsi - diet.
"You have to ask for slaw on your Dudeburger," Hart explains. "The slaw comes automatically on the double burger, but you have to ask for slaw on your Dudeburger. Or, you can get a doudle-Dude with slaw."
And now for the expert opinion. When it's a cold, rainy day that calls out for a comfort-food lunch, Roanoke mental health prevention specialist Judy Williams goes to\ Parlor Days in Old Southwest for a bowl of chili with cheese.
"At first I ordered it with cheese on top, but by the time I got back to my office, I had a hard time getting the cheese mixed through," Williams says. "So I get them to put the cheese on the bottom, and you can work up through it."
And to wash it down, a vanilla Coke - diet.
We don't normally approve of anonymous tips, but this one sounded so good, we had to try it ourselves. The woman's voice on the phone said to go to\ The Sunnybrook Inn Restaurant for "good home cooking and all the good things you're used to."
Then she added the magic words - "macaroni and cheese, with a melted-cheese crust on top" - and we were on our way.
It was exactly as promised, an ooey-gooey cheesy delight. It came in the vegetable plate special - with vegetable soup, salad and a host of other all-you-can-eat meat-soaked vegetables and starches. For $3.95.
We didn't have room left over for the Sunnybrook's specialty items - custard peanut butter pie or Chesapeake Bay oysters - but take our word for it. A place that can make even carrots unhealthy (with its broccoli-cheese-carrot casserole) is definitely worth a return trip.
"The Loaded" says it all on the menu at\ Mary's Kitchen in southeast Roanoke. An omelette with bacon, ham, sausage, onions, tomatoes, cheese - "and anything else she has leftover on her counter" - The Loaded is Carlton Mabe's favorite food for filling up.
"You won't want anything else the rest of the day," Mabe swears. "I have to save up for it [to have it] for lunch; I don't eat breakfast."
Even though Jana Fedele has only been south of the Mason-Dixon line for 17 months, her favorite comfort food is over-easy eggs with grits and biscuits with honey at\ Buddy's Family Restaurant in Bedford.
"I go a couple of times a week; I need a lot of comfort," Fedele says.
Her father-in-law, also Yankee-born, won't touch grits, though. "He had a stroke in August and they served him grits in the hospital before he was able to communicate his menu choices," Fedele said. "Later, his speech was labored, but he was able to tell us what he thought of grits - that they were poison."
In Molly Bratton's job as a management and technical recruiter, "You deal with everything from the ridiculous to the sublime, from the pocket-protecting nerds to the cigar-smoking good-old boys."
In other words, "you need a lot of comfort food." And for Bratton there is nothing better than the egg drop soup at the\ Shanghai Restaurant in Salem. "It's gotten me through some pretty bad colds and some pretty bad business deals," she said.
Another stress-reducing favorite is a side dish of Italian broccoli, drenched with butter and garlic, at\ Luigi's Italian Gourmet Restaurant - with a Scotch.
Some other recommended comfort foods:
A Shoney-burger, iced tea and a hot fudge cake at\ Shoney's is M.B. Campbell's favorite food - "when I'm feeling low or when I'm feeling great."
Bread pudding at\ K&W's Crossroads is Mrs. W.E. Preston's comfort food of choice.
The baba ganoush at\ Cafe Jano's makes Barbara Rigg's day.
The public-relations staff at Roanoke College swears by the French fries at \ Ben Franklin's lunch counter in downtown Salem - "greasy enough, but not too greasy," reports Teresa Thomas, media relations director.
And of course, no story on comfort food would be complete without mentioning downtown Roanoke's top comfort foods. The stuffed potato from the\ Asian-French Cafe is wickedly good - and large - with its rich, creamy filling and melted cheese on top.
And the mega-sized muffins at Star City Cafe make dessert worth saving up for. Especially the coconut-chocolate chip, re-heated just enough to get the chips melted and gooey, and served with real butter and an orange wedge. In fact, we think we'll go get one, with a cup of coffee, right now. . . .