THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 7, 1996 TAG: 9607030080
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
SERIES: MILES TO GO BEFORE I EAT
``Miles To Go Before I Eat'' is a bi-weekly series spotlighting
restaurants with special food or special atmosphere that are worth
some extra driving to get to if you're on a road trip. If you know of
such a restaurant, give us a call at 446-2949; we'd like to check it
out.
SOURCE: BY RUTH FANTASIA, FLAVOR EDITOR
DATELINE: CAPE CHARLES, VA. LENGTH: 80 lines
WHEN RAIN PUMMELS the Delmarva Peninsula and a northeast wind blows so hard that Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel officials won't let the big rigs roll over the Bay, drivers on the north shore congregate at the red, barn-shaped Cape Center.
The combination gas station/souvenir shop/cigarette store, located on U.S. Route 13 a few miles north of the Cape Charles lighthouse, has been a haven for truckers, tourists and townies for about 40 years.
But behind the fireworks and T-shirts hides Sting-Ray's Restaurant. Its food is the center's attraction among locals and a few indoctrinated passers-by.
From 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily (till 9:30 on Fridays and Saturdays), Sting-Ray's serves up fresh seafood and down-home fare.
Eggs, sausage, grits and mugs of hot coffee to start the day. By evening, platters of golden fried softshell crabs, shrimp, scallops, crabcakes and flounder; slabs of charbroiled tuna and racks of barbecued baby-back ribs hit the tables.
Diners can start the meal with a dozen steamed clams fresh from the Chesapeake Bay or a half-dozen mushrooms stuffed with lump crabmeat. A garden patch behind the restaurant yields fresh cucumbers for side salads that are served with juicy-red, locally grown tomatoes.
One customer after another lines up at the counter to order. Menus are handwritten on a message board on an easel near the cash register or displayed overhead on wall-mounted signs. After ordering, patrons pay and find a seat in one of two dining rooms. Soon, a server will arrive, food in hand.
When it's time for dessert, the server might just take down the sign and bring it to the table. It's easier than reciting the offerings.
Owner Ray Haynie - tall, slim and baritone-voiced - is as likely as any employee to be cleaning tables. Ten years ago, he bought a third of the business. One partner sold out, another died, and Haynie purchased the company.
The restaurant had 40 seats in 1985 but now boasts 104. The menu has grown from burgers to crab imperial.
``I always liked to cook, and started to experiment,'' says Haynie, who formerly worked at a scallop processing plant. ``Now, we have 25 to 35 items on the menu at night.''
They include baby-back ribs with a sauce that isn't tomato-, vinegar- or brown-sugar-based. It's a coffee-infused concoction Haynie tasted in Texas and is working to improve.
His restaurant is famous locally for its chili, a hearty dish with a deep, smoky flavor that lingers on the palate and slowly burns.
``I just don't think people should have to add hot sauce when they order chili,'' Haynie says.
Southern drawls and Boston clips are sometimes heard side by side at Sting-Ray's - a convenient stop on the migration from New England to Florida.
Here, folks are at ease in T-shirt and jeans; a man doesn't even have to take off his hat. And it's comfortable place to weather the storm. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
JIMMY WALKERr/The Virginian-Pilot
``I always liked to cook, and started to experiment,'' says owner
Ray Haynie. ``Now, we have 25 to 30 items on the menu at night.''
Map
VP
HOW TO GET THERE
Take U.S. 13 to the Eastern Shore and travel 3.5 miles north of
Fishermans Island National Wildlife Refuge. Cape Center will be on
your right.
Photo
FILE/The Virginian-Pilot
Sting-Ray's, at Cape Charles on the Eastern Shore, serves up fresh
seafood and down-home fare. by CNB