Loose Leaf Notes

The following recently appeared in a special section of The Floyd Press, Who’s Who in Floyd County 2011. Read Part I HERE.

On the Route 8 side of town Natasha’s Market Café and Mickey G’s Bistro and Pizzeria are Floyd’s newest dining establishments. Natasha’s opened in the spring of 2010 with a slow food, farm-to-table focus. Chef/owner Natasha Shishkevish incorporates locally produced seasonal ingredients in her dishes. She currently has a good source of local mushrooms and recommends the savory cheesecake for lunch (not a dessert), made with a breadcrumb and parmesan crust and filled with smoked Gouda and cream cheese, local shitake mushrooms and roasted peppers. Stuffed ravolli with shitakes in a creamy mushroom sauce with herbs and sherry is a good choice for dinner this season, Shishkevish said.

The atmosphere at Natasha’s is a blend of elegance and comfort in a spacious art gallery setting. The wine and cheese bar, the banquette seating against one wall (upholstered benches accented with throw pillows) and the café umbrella seating outside adds to the relaxed dining experience. Shishkevish, who cooked at Château Morrisette and Oddfellas before opening her own restaurant also makes “grown up mac and cheese,” hosts a monthly sushi night, teaches cooking classes and does catering. Fall events at the café include a fashion show, dinner theater, and live music on Friday evenings.

 Chef Michael Gucciardo, owner of Mickey G’s Bistro and Pizzeria, has a way with capers and roasted red peppers. He also has a dedicated Floyd following from his past years cooking at the Pine Tavern, so when he opened his own authentic Italian food restaurant in the winter of 2010, it was well received.

A chef’s special at the old world-themed restaurant might include pan seared sea scallops in an orange rosemary sauce with roasted garlic and caperberries, or a signature pasta like rigatoni in an asiago cream sauce with asparagus tips and porcini mushrooms. Gucciardo’s pasta sauces, whether tomato, creamy or olive oil based, are always flavorful. His brick oven pizzas are popular, both for in house dining and for take-out, as are his homemade cannolis for dessert. The restaurant is open on Monday’s when many other Floyd restaurants are closed.

Floyd also is home to a Hardees and a locally-owned Pizza Inn and Subway. Several convenient store/gas stations serve short order favorites. Midway Grocery in between Floyd and Willis is “the hot dog capital of Floyd. “People stop from all over because of the sign out front: 864,000 hotdogs sold,” a member of the family that owns the restaurant said.

In Willis, Dino’s is a family-owned diner billed as a “Greek Hillbilly Restaurant.” “We make the best gyros because my dad is from Greece,” said the owner’s daughter/manager, Vana Sopikiotis. Jim’s Grill has been serving short order country cooking in Willis for 16 years.

County restaurants along the Blue Ridge Parkway include Tuggles Gap Restaurant, Mabry Mill Restaurant, The Woodberry Inn and Château Morrisette Winery. Villa Appalaccia Winery (milepost 170) serves local bread and cheeses, salamis, olive and hummus with their wines, made on-site from mostly Italian grape varieties that have been grown on the owner’s Patrick County winery since 1989.

Tuggles Gap Restaurant and Motel was built in 1938 in preparation for The Blue Ridge Parkway. Initially a gas station that sold snacks, the motel was added later. Today the restaurant, just off the Parkway near milepost 165, serves a menu of Southwestern and all-American food. Open every day for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the restaurant also sells travel supplies and hosts live music most weekends and Art on the Parkway in the fall.

Owned by David Morrisette since 1986, Chateau Morrisette Winery (milepost 171) offers fine dining Friday and Saturday night and lunch Wednesday through Saturday (except for the month of October when lunch is served every day). Ala carte brunch is served on Sundays from November through May and the restaurant’s June through October brunch buffet is a crowd pleaser.

A dinner meal paired with one of Château Morrisette’s award winning wines might include cashew crusted, locally farmed rainbow trout, truffled honey butter, “Southern Style” collard greens, sweet potato hash with Vidalia onions and apple-wood bacon. Visitors can tour the flower gardened grounds, enjoy scenic mountain views, partake in wine tasting at the Winery and gift shop next door, and participate in the Chateau’s seasonal festivals.

Meadows of Dan’s Mabry Mill Restaurant and Gift Shop (milepost 176) is known for its buckwheat pancakes that up until recently were made from flour milled onsite at the 1910 water-powered gristmill. Opened from May to October 31st, the restaurant dates back to the 50’s and serves full breakfasts all day, as well as sandwiches and dishes like Parkway pork chops, pot roast and more. Visitors can tour the gristmill, sawmill, blacksmith shop and other cultural exhibits on the grounds.

Woodberry Inn is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway at milepost 174.1. Tucked in the woods with a small lake on the grounds, the Inn is owned by Angie and Shep Nance. “Our Woodberry burgers are popular,” said Shep Nance. He noted that the Shrimp and Grits, shrimp and andouille sausage over polenta grits, topped with a spiced ham and mushroom gravy, is another customer favorite. The Inn has a full service bar and serves lunch on weekends and dinner Thursday to Monday.

With its bistro, café, cantina, roadhouse, tavern, wineries and grilles, serving everything from gourmet to home-style cooking from countertops, tabletops or curbs, Floyd County has something for every taste.

~ Colleen Redman

Read part I HERE.   Photos: #1 & 2 are Natasha’s. #3&4 are Mickey G’s. #5 is Villa Appalaccia. #6 is Tuggles Gap. #7 is the Château Morrisette Winery.