THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, June 23, 1996 TAG: 9606200031
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY STEPHEN HARRIMAN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: TAPPAHANNOCK, VA. LENGTH: 157 lines
THERE'S NO BETTER place with which to begin this sort of series than Lowery's Seafood Restaurant.
For years, particularly since steamboat travel faded out and roads got good enough to drive on, people have been converging on Tappahannock - folks from Hampton Roads headed north toward Washington on U.S. 17 and Richmonders headed for the Rivah.
And since 1938, the Lowery family has been feeding them, generation after generation of them, some of the best Tidewater seafood you can eat. It was just a little place at first. Today it seats about 350 and has a staff of more than 80.
Lowery's, which actually has a lot more than seafood to offer, is a Tappahannock tradition, a local legend.
Excuse me? Back up a minute. Richmonders headed where?
Well, of course. It's always nice if you understand a word or two of the local language. Let me explain.
Rivah is derived from the English word written as ``river'' and is pronounced the way many Virginian pronounce the word written as ``river.'' Rivah. Common usage: What are you going to do this weekend? Weah goin' to th' Rivah.
It is a somewhat abstract term used to describe the lands and waters of the Northern Neck and the Middle Peninsula, bounded on the north by the Potomac and the south by the York and bisected by the Rappahannock.
The bridge at Tappahannock is the western gateway, the Coleman Bridge at Yorktown the eastern gateway.
In other words, when you's at Lowery's, you're in the heart of Rivah country.
For your further enlightenment, I commend to your attention a tabloid visitor's guide published jointly by the Southside Sentinal of Urbanna and the Rappahannock Record of Kilmarnock. It's called The Rivah!, it's free and it's available in newspaper boxes throughout the Rivah region - including one at Lowery's.
The restaurant publishes a promotional flyer listing 101 reasons to eat at Lowery's. Among them: Your mother-in-law is visiting, your mother-in-law is not visiting, you owe it to yourself, E.T. ate here and plenty of high chairs available.
The 102nd is that I recommend it, and I hardly ever take eateries that seriously.
The food and the service, of course, are the reasons this place has been going strong since Wesley and Lorelle Lowery opened up nearly 60 years - an eternity in the restaurant business - ago. The Lowery family has thrived because they care.
``People coming through that door have pretty much told us what they want, and we do our best to put it on the menu,'' said William Lowery, a son of Wesley and Lorelle who runs the place today with his brother Robert. William IV, the next generation, is busy learning the business.
They offer stuff people like, cooked the way they like it cooked.
Not long ago when I was here, I heard a traveling Pennsylvania couple, both natives of seafood-gifted Maryland, say that the oysters were the best they'd ever had. A local lady at the next table told them she thought so, too, although they were almost as good over at Coles Point on the Northern Neck.
William Lowery told me that his oyster supplier insists the oysters he brings to Lowery's are the same quality as those he takes home for his own table.
Currently they offer oysters at $12.95 a quart, $6.19 a dozen, $3.19 a half-dozen or 49 cents each on the half shell. Prices do vary slightly according to the market.
On my latest visit, determined to describe to you the most delightful epicurean experience possible, I picked the $15.89 seafood platter, which included a large flounder, oysters, scallops, shrimp and either a crab cake or a soft-shell crab, plus a choice of two of 14 vegetables, plus a choice of salad, juice or fruit cup, plus rolls and butter.
Since I don't care for oysters - I can eat snails but not oysters - I had hoped for BOTH crab cake, which I know from previous visits to be excellent, AND soft-shell crab. The chef said no, but offered extra scallops instead of oysters.
For an appetizer, I had a pair of frog legs, which might seem a bit pricey at $3.29, unless you've ever gone frog gigging and know just how difficult it is to get a pair to the table.
The problem with frog legs at any price is that, if you like them (they do taste like chicken), it's almost impossible to stop at two. Two dozen is more like it.
Lowery's offers Ingleside wines from the Northern Neck - Popes Creek white, Chesapeake blush or Chesapeake claret - at $2.95 a glass or $11.95 a bottle. They also offer Carver's ginger ale, made in Montross on the Northern Neck since 1926, at $1.25.
I opted for iced tea. It's 95 cents a glass, with free refills. Jennifer, the waitress who tended to me as if I were her only customer, brought a pitcher and left it on the table.
So, how was it? The flounder filet was of melt-in-you-mouth quality, the scallops plump and delicious, the shrimp tasty even though the larger ones were slightly tough. I had chosen the soft-shell crab because I'm still trying to learn how to appreciate this popular Chesapeake Bay treat, but I remain bothered by the little legs sticking out and that yucky yellow stuff you have to scrape away. It was OK, but I should have stuck with the crab cake.
Dessert was a real challenge, a choice of more than a dozen. I asked Jennifer for help. She said that the most talked about desserts were the pecan or apple pie with ice cream, the hot fudge cake, the peach cobbler with ice cream or the apple brown Betty with rum raisin ice cream. That narrowed the choice to a mere five.
She said sometimes they have gingerbread cake with lemon sauce, and that was REALLY good. But they didn't have it then.
So, from the five, I picked the apple brown Betty. It is entirely possible that this dessert is a sin. It is good enough to be.
Total bill, including tax: $23.32. That's what I call excellent value for your dollar. In New York, this meal probably would have cost about $135, but I would have been paying for that special New York ambiance. In Tokyo, it probably would run about $985. . . more than that if I wanted the fish cooked.
Next time, and there WILL be a next time, I have already decided that I am going to have the Hobbs' Hole dinner. That will be fried quail, frog legs, oysters and Virginia ham, plus salad, two vegetables and rolls for $13.99.
``We figure's that probably what they ate around here many years ago,'' said William Lowery.
By the way, if you like quail and are having trouble finding it, Lowery's offers all you can eat on Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The dinner's formal name comes from what this town was originally called. In the mid-1600s, Jacob Hobbs established a trading post and warehouse here and called it Hobbs His Hole. Ol' Jake must have been a piece of work. By 1682 other residents realized that the name had little real charm, so they renamed the growing port New Plymouth.
By 1705 it appeared on maps at Tappahannocke Towne. It's the county seat of Essex County. Tappahannock was the Indian word, as the English understood it, meaning ``on the rise and fall of water.'' Rappahannock meant ``rise and fall of water.'' Today we just say Tidewater. MEMO: Lowery's of Tappahannock
The late Wesley Lowery was something of an antique car collector. Two
from his collection - a 1910 Cadillac and a 1926 Chrysler - are on
display in the restaurant, along with other historic memorabilia.
There's also a gift shop, where you can buy Lowery's popular salad
dressings and other food items along with T-shirts, sweatshirts and
baseball caps, most of which carry a Rappahannock River Rat motif.
Also, there is a 6-year-old Mynah bird called Jake. I'm not sure
whether it's the kids or the adults who like him most. He can wolf
whistle as well as talk.
If you don't have to eat and run, within walking distance of the
restaurant are more than a half-dozen antique shops and 13 interesting
old homes and buildings included in the Tappahannock Historic Landmark
District. The restaurant has a map on a table mat.
Getting there: From South Hampton Roads, take I-64 west, then U.S. 17
north to downtown Tappahannock. It's a little more than a two-hour drive
if you observe speed limits.
Open: Every day except Christmas for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Prices: Modest to moderate.
Parking: Plenty. Don't be put off if the lot appears full, as it
often is; there's another lot 30 yards down the street.
Dress: Casual.
Reservations: Not necessary.
Carry out: Yes (also doggie bags).
Phone: (804) 443-2800 ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by VICKI CRONIS, The Virginian-Pilot
Lowery's...
A sampling of Lowery's home-cooked meals...
Photo by VICKI CRONIS, The Virginian-Pilot
Joyce Commins of Walkerton has been going to Lowery's, her favorite
restaurant, for nearly 40 years. She especially likes the crabcakes. by CNB