ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, January 3, 1996 TAG: 9601030032
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: STAUNTON
SERIES: Taste of Virginia
SOURCE: The Daily News Leader
Many who have been to Rowe's Family Restaurant think the experience is more like attending a family reunion than going out to eat.
Mildred Rowe's hearty greeting for each entering customer immediately sets her patrons at ease. At 82, she still prides herself on quality home-cooked cuisine.
``We don't have anything really fancy. We serve the kinds of things that people eat at home. So often people don't take the time for a good healthy meal. We try to give it to them here,'' Mrs. Rowe said.
Mrs. Rowe has been in the restaurant business for more than 40 years. She started out working in a small restaurant in Goshen, where she met and married Willard Rowe in 1953. At the time, Rowe operated Perk's BBQ in Staunton. After the wedding, the Rowes changed the name to Rowe's Steakhouse and ran the restaurant together until his death in 1973.
Determined not to let the business die, Mrs. Rowe decided that she would change the business slightly and offer more of the home-cooked foods that her more loyal customers were requesting. She opened Rowe's Family Restaurant in 1973, and it has been successful ever since.
Patrons can choose from a variety of simple country dishes that are made from scratch every day by Mrs. Rowe and her staff. The menu changes daily to reflect each day's special dishes. The variety of foods on the menu ensures that Rowe's will have something appetizing to offer every customer.
One of the things that distinguishes Rowe's from other restaurants is its impressive selection of pies and other desserts. Mrs. Rowe offers 10 different kinds of pies to her customers, but the one she is most famous for is her mincemeat pie.
Mrs. Rowe tells the story of a very pregnant Boston woman who stopped at the restaurant as she was returning home after a vacation with her husband at a resort in West Virginia. The woman had heard of Rowe's fried chicken and mincemeat pie and persuaded her husband to stop there for dinner. She immediately went into labor.
While the father-to-be frantically asked for directions to the local hospital, his wife was trying to persuade him to allow her to stay until she got her chicken.
Mrs. Rowe, herself, drove the couple to a hospital in Staunton. She promised the woman that, if the doctors kept the family at the hospital for very long, she would bring the mother her order from the restaurant.
The family flew back to Boston before they were able to sample Mrs. Rowe's cooking. But the mother brought her daughter back to the restaurant about 10 years later, and they both ate chicken and mincemeat pie.
Rowe's serves about 400,000 customers every year and sells 400-500 pies, either whole or by the slice, every week. Mrs. Rowe begins making mincemeat pies in November and offers them through fall and winter.
The place routinely is packed by a loyal clientele from Charlottesville, Staunton, Roanoke, Waynesboro, and Harrisonburg. And because Rowe's is just off of Interstate 81 and is close to Interstate 64, the restaurant is frequented by travelers heading in every direction.
Rowe's Family Restaurant offers its patrons a rare place where they can relax and socialize in a stress-free atmosphere that many wish Rowe would bottle so that they could take an order home with them.
Rowe's Original Coconut Cream Pie
- (Makes 1 pie)
Filling:
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup coconut
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 tablespoon butter
Meringue:
3 egg whites
4 tablespoons super fine sugar
Filling
Mix eggs yolks, sugar and cornstarch together with enough cold water to make a paste. Heat milk to boiling; add egg mixture and cook until thick. Remove from heat and add coconut (reserve 1/4 cup for top), butter and vanilla.
Pour into baked crust. Top with meringue (see recipe below), sprinkle with remaining coconut and brown in preheated 300-degree oven (about 20 minutes).
Meringue:
In a stainless steel or copper bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Add 1 tablespoon sugar. Continue to beat until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in remaining sugar, taking care not to overwork the meringue.
- Recipe supplied by restaurant; tested by members of the junior elemen of the Tidewater Chef's Association, American Culinary Federation and Johnson and Wales University College of Culinary Arts.
Rowe's Family Restaurant
Address: Rt. 4 Box 88, Staunton. Phone: (540) 886-1833. Specialty: Traditional home-cooked Southern foods on a daily changing menu.. Price range: Dinner entrees $6-$14. Hours: Summer: Monday-Saturday 6:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Winter: Monday-Saturday 6:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Reservations: Parties of 6 or more only. Average wait of less than 15 minutes. Dress: Informal. Payment: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, local checks only. Alcoholic beverages: Beer and wine. Non-smoking section: Yes. Handicapped accessible: Yes
LENGTH: Long : 106 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: AP. "Rowe's Original Coconut Cream Pie" as prepared fromby CNBa recipe provided by Rowe's Family Restqaurant. color.