
DATE: Sunday, April 13, 1997                TAG: 9704110207

SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN             PAGE: 10   EDITION: FINAL 

COLUMN: ON THE TOWN 

TYPE: RESTAURANT REVIEW 

SOURCE: Sam Martinette 

                                            LENGTH:   89 lines

MENU'S SIMPLE AT C & C: GOOD, OLD-FASHIONED HOME COOKING

After Jessie Copeland gave up her lease on Duke's Sandwich Shop in downtown Suffolk after operating it for two years she was at loose ends, dreading the thought of going back to the warehouse job she never had liked.

``I was listening to a religious station on the radio and a voice told me to open this restaurant,'' Copeland explained, indicating her C & C Restaurant in the Whitemarsh Plaza. That was four years ago, and today she has a thriving operation, serving up good, old-fashioned home cooking.

``I came by here several times, and this spot had never been rented,'' she said. ``It looked awful.'' The restaurant, now bright and cheerful, has two rooms, a dining area with a half-dozen booths and another half-dozen tables, with a second room for parties and banquets. Together, the rooms accommodate up to 200 people, Copeland said, and are often rented on Sundays for, ``family reunions, church parties and wedding receptions.'' The C & C also does off-premise catering, she said.

Born in Newport News and raised in Chuckatuck, Copeland was the eldest girl of 10 kids, and learned to cook from her grandmother.

The C & C uses family recipes modified by years of experience, and she does most of the cooking, Copeland said. She has two helpers and her family also works with her from time to time.

Living in Suffolk over four decades has given her an easy familiarity with customers, some of whom come in for a late lunch and a visit. After the lunch rush is over there seems to be more time to catch up on neighborhood news.

During the busy noon hour, however, customers drive from downtown to have lunch at the C & C, according to Copeland, and include, ``lawyers, doctors, and business people. We've even had a state senator and former judges in here.''

As for the food at the C & C Restaurant, call it soul food, Southern-cooking, or comfort food, if you like. It's as local as Mr. Peanut himself - fried chicken, barbecue, pork chops, pig feet and chitterlings - done home-style and with lots of it to a plate.

My wife Julie is an excellent cook, but she's a California girl and doesn't do fried chicken or butter beans, so that's what I had - a fried chicken platter ($5) which came with two vegetables - a choice that day of string beans, cabbage, black-eyed peas, beets, rice, potato salad, fries or the butter beans and slaw that I chose. The chicken, a breast, a wing and a drumstick, were lightly fried with a slightly peppery batter and done right, not heavy, as can happen.

The lunch special that day was tenderloin tips over rice, with vegetables ($4.79), and vegetable soup with hush puppies was also offered ($3.29). Other dinner-size menu items (with choice of vegetables and rolls) include a Carolina-style, vinegar-based barbecue plate ($4.50), a T-bone ($7.50) or ribeye ($5.95) steak, a pair of pork chops ($5.95, or $4.95 for one), beef liver ($4.59), a two-piece chicken plate ($4.59), fried fish ($5.25), chitterlings, or pig feet ($4.59), and yock-a-mein ($4.59).

Every Friday and Saturday night from 5 to 8 p.m., C & C features an all-you-can-eat fish fry - perhaps spot, croaker, trout, perch, whatever's available - fries, slaw and tea for $7.99.

Sandwiches include the C & C Big Boy, a quarter-pound burger with lettuce, tomato, and cheese ($2.25, or $2.95 for a double); Smithfield ham ($2.25); a regular burger ($1.30); barbecue ($1.95); fried fish ($2.50); ham salad ($1.75) or tuna salad ($1.65); or a chicken breast sandwich ($2.50).

C & C is also open for breakfast, offering bacon ($3.95), ham ($4.25), or sausage ($3.95), with two eggs, fried cinnamon apples and toast; and herring, hash browns, and hush puppies or corn bread ($3.69), as well as hot cakes and other breakfast staples.

Jessie Copeland seems glad she listened to that inner voice and went back into the restaurant business, especially on Friday and Saturday when she draws a big crowd for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

``It's hard work, but I enjoy it,'' she said. ``I like meeting and talking with people.''

But being the boss has its own set of responsibilities. Does she have any regrets about not going back to the warehouse job?

``No!'' she laughs. ``Not at all, never.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II

Jessie Copeland, owner of C & C Restaurant in the Whitemarsh Plaza,

also does the cooking.

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AT A GLANCE

WHAT: C & C Restaurant

WHERE: 1226 White Marsh Road (facing Davis Blvd.)

FOOD: Country cooking, breakfast, lunch and dinner, no ABC

PRICES: most dinners $4-5 range

HOURS: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Tuesday-Thursday; 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.,