April,
2007
Small-Town
Dining: Revitalizing Main Street, USA
By Sharon Palmer, RD
Today’s Dietitian
Vol. 9 No. 4 P. 28
Ever heard of Winters, Calif.? How about
Floyd, Va.? Small-town America is undergoing a dining renaissance,
which is beginning to put these and other humble communities
on the food map.
Roughly 45 minutes from Sacramento, the capital
of California and the heart of its agricultural boon, sits the
small, rural town of Winters. On crisp October mornings, store
fronts on Main Street are festooned with scarecrows, Indian
corn, and plump pumpkins. And inside the Putah Creek Café,
a mix of locals and out-of-towners rub shoulders as they await
a coveted breakfast table, where they will sip a steaming cup
of jo and dine on freshly baked zucchini bread and the house
specialty, Putah Creek Scramble, the restaurant’s version
of Mexican Migas. The Putah Creek Café has become not
only a favorite haunt for locals but also a popular stopover
for bicyclists and wine country tourists.
Humble towns like Winters, once overshadowed
by the urban coolness of their big city brethren, have become
all the rage, and part of their allure can be traced to dining.
“The restaurant scene is very much an emerging part of
the city revitalization,” says Dan Maguire, community
development director for the City of Winters. Maguire adds that
Putah Creek Café’s sister restaurant, the national
award-winning Buckhorn Grill, has become an icon for Winters.
At a recent conference hosted by the California
Walnut Commission/Walnut Marketing Board, Clark Wolf, contributing
authority for Food Arts magazine and president of Clark Wolf
Company, a New York-based food and restaurant consulting firm
with clients such as the Hard Rock Hotel and the Kennedy Center
in Washington, D.C., said he believes one of the next big trends
in cuisine will be a celebration of the small towns scattered
across America. From timber towns in the Northwest to fishing
towns in New England, America is a quilt sewn together with
the fabric swatches of small towns, each fashioned with their
own colorful history and tradition.
This newfound appreciation for small-town dining
echoes many changes across our landscape. On July 31, 2006,
in a major address, Sen Hillary Clinton called for a rural renaissance
to restore the promise and prosperity of main streets and rural
communities, speaking specifically of the need to develop rural
farms and businesses to build economic opportunities. “We
can make the American Dream real again in rural communities
and small towns. We can create a rural renaissance and restore
the promise of Main Street and make our whole country stronger
in the process,” she said.
In part, the small-town dining renaissance is
fueled by folks splitting the city scene in hopes of the simple
life, lower house mortgages, better schools, or retirement.
Often, these newcomers bring their appetite for sophisticated
dining with them, as well as their spending habits. They don’t
mind shelling out good money for good food. “Baby Boomers,
families moving to the country, and equity flight from urban
areas are leading people to discover our town,” says Maguire.
The small-town dining experience has its own
unique draw. Whether it’s friendlier staff, fresher food,
home-style cooking, the absence of a valet, or a good table
on a Saturday night without a reservation, there is plenty to
love about small-town restaurants. And where else can you expect
to find something as precious as fresh buttermilk biscuits baked
by a cook who’s been churning out her grandmother’s
recipe at a third-generation family restaurant for the past
25 years?
A Return to Main Street,
USA
Perhaps the greatest benefactor of small towns has been The
National Trust for Historic Preservation. In 1980, this group
started The National Trust Main Street Center, designed to revitalize
historic and traditional commercial areas. Each year, the trust
grants Great American Main Street Awards. Scores of small towns
are basking in the afterglow of the “Main Street USA”
designation, which has created new economic opportunities for
towns while still allowing them to maintain their small-town
heritage and culture.
Today’s revitalized, small-town main streets
are crowded with an eclectic mix of old-fashioned family diners,
ethnic and fusion dining spots, and trend-setting restaurants—all
equally appreciated by visitors and locals.
Okmulgee, Okla., 45 miles south of Tulsa, once
enjoyed the spoils of black gold. But when the oil money disappeared,
so did the town’s livelihood. By the ’80s, only
a handful of businesses remained. But thanks to the persistence
of local leaders, Okmulgee became one of Oklahoma Main Street’s
first communities. Now, restaurants fill the downtown, many
of which reflect local and cultural food traditions.
“We are highlighting different towns with
a culinary standpoint to a significant degree. I think in many
ways people want to reconnect, they want authenticity, a sense
of place. It is driving people to get out and explore. After
9/11, we saw a spiked increase in getting off of the path. People
want a pedestrian experience. They want to get out of their
cars and walk in town and bike,” says Kerri Post, vice
president of new development for Visit Florida, a program implemented
in 2005 that promotes small towns and downtowns of Florida.
Chefs Put Out Their
Shingles in Small Towns
Chefs have also made the move from the city to the country,
establishing fine restaurants that have single-handedly revived
the economies of entire towns. Post calls the restaurant 32
East, located in Delray Beach, Fla., “one of the real
movers and shakers” of restaurants. “It was a direct
catalyst for revitalization of the town. It had a really different,
outstanding menu that led traffic into town. It was a leader
in the community,” says Post. At 32 East, Executive Chef/Partner
Nick Morgan, named by Food & Wine magazine as one of the
nation’s best new chefs, offers a creative menu highlighting
fresh, seasonal ingredients.
“Little restaurants are cropping up in
small towns that are very good. You have chefs returning to
their parents’ or grandparents’ towns and renovating
restaurants,” says Krista Reese, food critic for Georgia
Trend magazine. “There is a phenomenon of retirees with
money leaving Atlanta and moving to coastal Georgia and the
mountains,” says Reese, who notes that the influx of people
who can afford to frequent high-end restaurants has increased,
supporting the demand for fine dining.
Cartersville, Ga., a historic city in the hills
of northern Georgia that has experienced a vibrant revitalization,
is an example of a small town that hosts great dining experiences,
according to Reese. Chef Derek Morgan, a guest chef at New York’s
James Beard House, offers fine cuisine at D. Morgan’s
in downtown Cartersville.
The Tourist Factor
Perhaps the United States is following in the footsteps of Europe,
which has always enjoyed the spoils of tourism due to the lure
of their charming country hamlets and villages, where some of
the best regional cuisine can be found. It doesn’t get
much better than a respite along the back roads of Normandy,
Tuscany, or the English countryside in pursuit of a small bistro,
cucina, or pub offering a taste of local heaven.
Now, tourists plan trips around American towns
and their restaurants with equal anticipation. And it’s
not just in pursuit of humble, home-style fare. Thomas Keller’s
restaurant, The French Laundry, which won the 2006 James Beard
Foundation Award for Outstanding Restaurant, is set in the small
town of Yountville, attracting travelers en route to California’s
wine country. Thanks in no small part to Keller, Yountville
is now unofficially known as the Culinary Capital of Napa Valley,
drawing tourists from all over the world to sample its cuisine.
Small-town tourism is not only confined to the
borders of California; it’s also happening in other parts
of the country. In Pennsylvania Dutch country, sojourners take
picturesque jaunts into Amish country and stop at restaurants
such as Char’s Bella Mundo in Harrisburg, a town known
for its restaurant resurgence. There, Executive Chef Ed Montuneaux
serves dishes such as Artichokes Francaise and Seafood Creole.
“Fine dining is coming to smaller towns. There is more
expendable income in smaller cities now,” says Montuneaux,
who moved to Harrisburg because it was his wife’s hometown.
Taking its name from a dramatic wooden bridge
that straddles Box Death Hollow, a rugged corridor in Utah,
Hell’s Backbone Grill opened in the tiny community of
Boulder, Utah. The restaurant is perched near some of the world’s
most breathtaking vistas, such as the Grand Staircase-Escalante
National Monument, Capitol Reef National Park, and Bryce Canyon
National Park. Co-owners Blake Spalding and Jen Castle chronicled
their experiences of opening their award-winning restaurant
in the book With a Measure of Grace — The Story and Recipes
of a Small Town Restaurant (Provecho Press, 2004). Hell’s
Backbone Grill attracts diners for miles with their regionally
based food with an emphasis on Western Range, Pueblo Indian,
and Southwestern flavors. The restaurant is also committed to
seasonal, local, and sustainable food sources and practices.
Slow City Dining
Nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains’ moonshine territory,
Floyd, Va., is a small town with a soft spot for eco-friendly
ways. Floyd enjoys a slower tempo of life—where cattle
graze on bonafide pasture lands, families pluck fresh chickens
for dinner, and small farmers grow local produce without pesticides
or fertilizers. The local hot spot, the Oddfellas Cantina, specializes
in “Appalachian Latino” cuisine, vegetarian dishes,
Floyd County raised beef, and vegetables from local farms.
Floyd embodies much of the ideology behind Slow
City, inspired by the Slow Food movement. The Slow City movement,
with its focus on good food, sustainable living, and local community,
is spreading across Europe. Some of the Slow City principles
include cutting noise pollution and traffic, increasing green
spaces and pedestrian zones, supporting farmers who produce
local goods and the shops and restaurants that sell them, and
preserving local traditions.
While the Slow City movement has yet to officially
appear in the United States, many rural restaurants are finding
much in common with their ideals. “We are seeing more
restaurants interested in organic food, heirloom vegetables,
and natural and local farming in small towns. Authenticity and
freshness is what makes it unique in small-town restaurants,”
says Post.
One of the most cherished aspects of small towns
is the cultural and regional food traditions they preserve by
serving up local dishes generation after generation. Small towns
authenticate the feel and flavor of America’s classic
foods. For some reason, the experience of dining on “Baptist
Barbeque,” a dish of pulled, wood-smoked pork on white
bread with a spicy tomato sauce, takes on new life when digging
into it at Fresh Air Barbeque in the town of Jackson, Ga. Perhaps
it’s because they’ve been preparing that dish since
1929 in one of America’s treasured rural towns.
— Sharon Palmer, RD, is a contributing
editor at Today’s Dietitian
and a freelance food and nutrition writer in southern California.
Armchair Guide to Discovering
Small-Town Dining
Best Food in Town: The Restaurant Lover’s
Guide to Comfort Food in the Midwest by Dawn Simonds (Emmis
Books, 2004)
In Search Of Mayberry: A Guide To North Carolina’s
Favorite Small Towns by Scott Dickson (Parkway Publishers, 2004)
National Trust Main Street Center, www.mainstreet.org
On the Back Roads: Discovering Small Towns of
America by Bill Graves (Addicus Books, 2001)
Rediscovering America: Exploring the Small Towns
of Virginia & Maryland by Mary Burnham, Bill Burnham (Hunter
Publishing, 2003)
RoadFood.com
Visiting Small Town Florida by Bruce Hunt (Pineapple
Press, 2003)
Whole Wheat Pancakes
With Apple, Raisin, and Walnut Compote
If you don’t cook all the pancakes at once, the batter
will keep for a day or two, covered, in the refrigerator. Subsequent
pancakes will not be quite as fluffy, but they will still be
good.
For the compote:
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup flour
Pinch of salt
5 Golden Delicious apples (approximately 21/4 lbs), peeled,
cored, and thinly sliced
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter
3 cups warm water, and additional water if needed
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup (2 ounces) chopped toasted California walnuts
For the pancake batter:
11/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 T brown sugar, tightly packed
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 large eggs, separated
11/2 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
2/3 cup milk, at room temperature
Vegetable oil or nonstick spray
To make the compote: In a large bowl, place
the sugar, cinnamon, flour, and salt, then stir them together
with a fork or whisk until evenly mixed. Add the apples and
stir and toss (your hands are the best tools for mixing) to
coat them evenly with the sugar. Set aside for 15 to 20 minutes
or more, tossing once or twice, until the apples look wet and
have exuded some juice.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over moderate
heat. Add the apple mixture, along with any exuded juices, and
cook, stirring frequently and scraping the bottom of the pan
so the apples don’t stick for roughly five minutes; the
mixture will become quite thick. Add the water and raisins and
continue to cook, stirring until the liquid is smooth and any
bits of flour have dissolved. Lower the heat and boil gently
for roughly 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the raisins
are plump and the apples are tender. The mixture should have
a syrupy consistency; if it is too thick, add more water. Stir
in the walnuts. If you are making the compote ahead of time
to reheat later, add the walnuts just before serving.
To make the pancakes: In a medium bowl, place
the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking
powder, cardamom, baking soda, and salt. With a fork or whisk,
stir the ingredients together for one minute so they are evenly
mixed.
In a small bowl, beat together the egg yolks,
buttermilk, and milk. In a separate clean bowl, using an electric
or handheld beater, beat the egg whites until they stand in
stiff, glossy peaks. Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients
and stir just until combined. The batter should look lumpy at
this point. Scoop the beaten egg whites on top and quickly fold
them in using a spoon or rubber spatula.
Heat a griddle or skillet over medium-high heat
and grease it lightly with vegetable oil or nonstick spray.
When hot, scoop 1/4-cup blobs of batter onto the skillet for
each pancake (the pancakes will spread to approximately 4 inches
across). Cook for roughly two minutes on each side; they are
ready to turn when they no longer look wet around the edges
and you see a few bubbles on top. Serve with the apple walnut
compote. Cooked pancakes may be kept for a short time in a low
oven, but the sooner you eat them, the better they will be.
Serves 6
Nutrition information per serving: 550 calories,
11 g protein, 94 g carbohydrates, 5 g fiber, 800 mg sodium,
96 mg cholesterol, 16 g total fat, 5 g polyunsaturated fat,
4 g monounsaturated fat, 7 g saturated fat
— Recipe courtesy of Putah Creek Café
& Bakery, Winters, Calif., for the Walnut Marketing Board
Raspberry Yogurt and
Walnut Fruit Dressing
This is lovely over fresh, baked, or poached fruit. If you are
making the dressing ahead of time, stir in the walnuts just
before serving.
2 cups plain yogurt (low-fat is OK)
2 to 4 T raspberry preserves or jam*
2 T raspberry vinegar
1/2 cup (roughly 2 ounces) California walnuts, toasted
* Note: For a sweeter dressing, use the larger
amount of preserves.
In a large bowl, whisk the yogurt, preserves,
and vinegar together until evenly blended. Cover and refrigerate.
Chop the walnuts very finely, either by hand or in a food processor
or blender. (If the walnuts have been stored in the refrigerator
or freezer, wait for them to reach room temperature before chopping.)
Just before serving, stir them into the yogurt mixture.
Makes approximately 2 1/2 cups, serving 6
Nutrition information per serving: 120 calories,
6 g protein, 10 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber, 60 mg sodium, 5
mg cholesterol, 7 g total fat, 4 g polyunsaturated fat, 1 g
monounsaturated fat, 1.5 g saturated fat
— Recipe courtesy of Putah Creek Café
& Bakery, Winters, Calif., for the Walnut Marketing Board
