a tiny backwoods discovery: steph's tea room and dining. make it the reason you go to tennessee.
ian and i have never been so glad of our "no chain restaurants" rule as we were last night, driving across eastern tennessee. we passed through a sea of red lobsters and outback steakhouses on the main route 40 and braved an evening drive on 70N past cookeville. a tiny white sign with pink letters pointed us a little ways down the country road and brought us to stephs, a culinary paradise in an old depot, tucked just back from the street. if you drive past it, don't give up. turn back.
stephanie salcedo started the restaurant almost a year ago, but moved with her husband, luis, two years ago to escape miami's urban life for the country. he says they would never want to co back to a city. given their beautiful set-up, i can see why. the restauarant sits in a wooded area, and the giant windows look out on trees and nothing else to interrupt the peace and quiet. the building is charming and the little bit of alteration they have done to the depot has only enhanced it. authentic details remain, including a lovely pressed tin ceiling in the dining room.
and then there's the food. stepahnie is a graduate of johnson and wells and her cooking is a testament to what she learned there. at 22 years old the maturity and sophistication of her dishes is delightful. with a commitment to freshness alice waters would be proud of, stephanie constructs new specials each evening based on the ingredients available to her and in season. her fish is delivered fresh daily and she often doesn't know what she's getting until the night before. her menu the evening we were lucky enough to eat there included a range of options: pork chops, lamb, chicken, southwest seasoned steak and a lemon and almond grouper. All were very resonably priced from 18-22 dollars and included a fantastic beef consumme, salad and two vegetables: potato in a modified latke and mixed seasoned vegetables.
we both ordered the chicken and looking back i wish one of us had ordered something different because the chicken was so good i can only imagine what stephanie can do with any other ingredient thrown at her. the seasoning was perfect, the texture of the chicken firm and juicy and the creamy sauce delicious and savory without being heavy.
the desserts, while none were made in house that night, were also excellent. we enjoyed cheese cake with raspberry and red velvet cake, something i have enjoyed since playing anelle in steel magnolia's in high school. ian had never had it, but a video of his face while eating it- and any of the meal for that matter- would have been an excellent testament to its flavor.
by the end, we were considering setting up our tent outside the restaurant and camping there to eat for the next few days before having to drive like mad to get west in time. not only for the food, either. the service was outstanding and we loved the touch of having the menu read to us by our server. stephanie and staff were very accomodating of our desire to photograph and ask lots of questions and we were even offered internet access by luis in case we didn't get any at our next stop.
this restaurant is a treasure and we hope to come back to tennessee to see what new menus stephaie dreams up. if you are wise, you will make it a point to do so as well.
stephanie kindly agreed to let us photograph her in the restaurant:
I am planning a trip to Tennessee with my family and Steph's Cafe will definitely be a stop we'll make! We've heard so many great things about this restaurant.
Posted by: Tia Goya | 12 September 2006 at 17:22