Blowing Rock, NC: The Food

We arrived in Blowing Rock on a stormy night, coming up from Hickory, pulling a hard left in my Mazda 6 (zoom, zoom) onto the business side of 321 and careening down the hill into town, landing in a puddle, sending a wave of water onto the Homestead Inn's cheery welcome sign.

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We unpacked and immediately hiked up the hill into town. We were searching for breakfast. It is, you know, the most important meal of the day. So we were scouting a location for morning when we tip-toed down this beautiful rain-slicked path and found The Village Cafe'.

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Spectacular, no? I loved the quiet, drenched, lush look and insisted we return during open hours.

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That we did, my friend. That we did.

It was still quiet and lush, but so sunny and warm! What a welcome to Blowing Rock, perfect. The menu is quite unusual, don't come here looking for scrambled eggs and toast. The eggs here are Benedict or Stratford, served alongside crepes, pecan waffles, and oddities like goat cheese and spinach, fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, orange juice or lemonade.
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The Village Cafe' boasts a traditional Argentine sour dough bread called "Fugasa." Fugasa is preservative and dairy free. I ordered the whole wheat version and was not disappointed. The restaurant offers carry-out, a sin with all that ambiance, but.... carry-out redeems itself with... the carry-out Fugasa. A whole loaf if you'd like. I like. Oh yes, I like.

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Sadly, I must report, you pay for that ambiance. You pay dearly. Our total (for 2) was $30. Thus, we did not return, but I insist you go there at least once in your lifetime.

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If you want to save money on breakfast, head through town and down the hill to Knight's On Main. As much as The Village Cafe' is unusual, so Knight's is usual. This is an American diner at it's finest. They claim accurately: "Where good friends meet and eat." The atmosphere is over the top friendly, the staff hustles and everyone seems happy to be there. The orange juice is served in a Mason jar and an entire pot of coffee is placed on the table. They serve omelettes, French toast, biscuits, bagels -- you can even get cereal here if you'd like. Our breakfast here was less than $15. and I left thinking I'd like to work there.
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Now for the best financial deal on a meal in Blowing Rock, with great views, but patchy ambiance . . . eat lunch out of your cooler. Yes, that's a Roma in his hand, nice, plump, juicy. You can do gourmet right from your vehicle, no need to skimp. (although he had to cut his Roma with my eyebrow tweezers)

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We ate all of our lunches from the cooler, usually at a deserted outlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway, which is only minutes from downtown Blowing Rock.

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The view? Priceless.

The ambiance? Sketchy.

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What you don't see are the cars and loud motorcycles buzzing right behind our heads. After a few bites, you stop jumping and settle down a little. By the end of the meal, an 18 wheeler could shave your head and you wouldn't drop a chip.

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But OK, let's say you want a view, but you're too high and mighty to eat out of a cooler amid gas fumes. Canyons might be the place for you. We went at sunset of course. We had to wait 40 minutes or so for a table out on the deck, but it's worth the wait. I didn't get a good shot, but the view of the Linville Gorge is similar to the view we had on the Parkway (photo above). (except when people came out and stood smack in front of us so they could enjoy the view and then our view became their backsides) (riffraff)

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Canyons is always crowded. I didn't think the food was too great, but it was OK and well worth it for the view. They have live music inside at night and our music that night sounded very much like LoverBoy from the '80's. Perfect. Then, in a moment of sublime destiny, we heard most of that same band play the next morning at church, First Baptist Church - Boone. Whoa, dude, most triumphant!