Making Ripples: post-corporate adventures in Floyd County Virginia

Natasha Shishkevish is back and we are celebrating...

Natasha Shishkevish has been an integral part of the local culinary scene for years, but she has been missing from the restaurant scene since she left Oddfellas Cantina to start her own catering business. Now we can all enjoy the benefits that were enjoyed by her fortunate catering clients.

  Her latest venture is Natasha’s Market Cafe which offers elegant comfort food in a stylish gallery setting; utilizing local and organic food cooked in the “slow foods” style.

She has assembled a staff of 14 and has drilled and polished them to provide a level of service which complements the quality of her food.

We took our Northern California relatives and our daughter Marjorie to lunch last week and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. We had the Buttermilk Fried Chicken Salad, the Quiche of the Day, the Herbed Egg Salad Sandwich, and the Grilled Sausage Sandwich. All were delicious, but the sausage was made in house and is something to write home about. I wish I had ordered two sausage sandwiches, it was that good.

Service was fast and attentive so your patience is not tried while your food is cooked to order. Natasha has come up with a winning formula for fine food and service. We wish her many years of success.

Floyd has been very fortunate in that it has been able to attract outstanding chefs for many years. It is part of Floyd's unique charm that this town with only 431 citizens has restaurants that can provide food for the most discriminating palates.

More on Natasha from her website:

Natasha  Shishkevish was an unemployed theater major who began catering and attended to the Culinary Institute of America, graduating in 1988.

She worked at the 1789 Restaurant in Georgetown in Washington, DC, where she learned the art of fine dining. After 4 years teaching baking and baking science at Baltimore International Culinary College, she headed for the Murphin Ridge Inn in West Union, Ohio, where she cooked with local ingredients and used a several acre garden to provide menu items. She spent seven wonderful years there until the owners retired.

After a year at the Boone Tavern Hotel in Berea, Chateau Morrisette brought Natasha to the Floyd area as its chef.She served as chef at Oddfellas Cantina for five years before starting her own catering business.

We look forward to enjoying her food for many years at her new location.

Mickey G's - Focaccia Burgers and Split Pea Soup

On a snowy Monday in Floyd Virginia, what will lift your spirits more than a visit to Michael Gucciardo's newest restaurant, Mickey G's Italian Bistro and Pizzeria. 

Don't laugh! In Floyd, we celebrate life as it comes.

Some of our friends have not been able to leave their homes for days at a time because of snowdrifts and ice blocking their way to the main roads.When we see them in town it is like a reunion.

So anyway, Gretchen and I decided to celebrate being able to drive into town again with lunch at Mickey G's. The Focaccia Burgers attracted our attention and they really hit the spot. They taste as good as they look.

The big surprise, however, was the split pea soup! This was an amazing creation! I have had split pea soup all over the United States and Michael's version knocked my socks off!

I should have ordered a quart of it and taken it home for the next time we are snowbound. I will have to ask Michael how well it freezes as it is just the kind of a restorative you need after working hard outside in this weather.

I'm sorry that I did not get a picture of the split pea soup. It was as photogenic as it was delicious, but I had scarfed it down before it occurred to me that you all might enjoy a photo. I will try to remember next time before eating the food. Note to self: shoot first, then eat.

Mickey G's Italian Restaurant is a big hit with Floyd diners

When you walk in to Micky G's, the first thing you see is an immaculate kitchen with highly professional staff turning out authentic Italian dishes. The next thing you notice is that every seat in the place is filled with your neighbors who got there first.

Fortunately, the kitchen and wait staff are true professionals and food keeps coming out of the kitchen on a steady stream of steaming platters. The fragrance makes your mouth water in anticipation of the feast to come. When you finally get seated and your food arrives, you find that it is every bit as good as you imagined. The wait to be seated is soon forgotten.

Gretchen and I have already decided that we are going to eat our way through the menu this year. After we ordered, we spotted our next few choices being delivered to neighboring tables.
 
The restaurant has been experiencing overflow crowds and it will be a relief for all concerned when warmer weather comes and the outside tables come into play.

Mickey G's Italian Restaurant is located next to the Floyd Fitness Center on Parkview Road. It offers a cheerful ambiance, fantastic food and the prices seem to be pretty reasonable. Check Mickey G's website for menu details. You have to use the links at the top of the menu page to navigate. There is an extensive menu, but the website only shows a page at a time.

For a mouthwatering description of the food and some history of the restaurant's owner, check out Colleen Redman's article, Michael Gucciardo is Back!

Starting the day with a good country breakfast

The Blue Ridge Restaurant in Floyd, Virginia, is the right place to begin a long day of hard work. This veggie omelet with home fries was just what I needed to bring peace and harmony into my day.

Tom King, who was sitting across the table, started his day with the Oatmeal breakfast.

Breakfasts like these and good conversation are what living in Floyd is all about. If you ever spend a night in Floyd and wake up ready for a country breakfast, check out the Blue Ridge Restaurant.

They offer friendly service and good food. What's not to like?

The Daily Grind Coffee House in Rocky Mount

David and Susie Pegler run a hospitable little cafe next door to the Franklin County Courthouse in Rocky Mount, VA. It's called the Daily Grind Coffee House.

I wandered in there last Wednesday after attending the Tax Day Tea Party.  I was starving. Something about the place attracted me and I was not disappointed.

David greeted me and made me feel right at home. When I asked what he would suggest for lunch, he promptly responded, "Anything you want!"

A cheerful response like that appeals to me on many levels. I knew I had come to the right place.

I asked for a BLT in a wrap and it was in my hands in a matter of minutes. This was one of the best BLTs I have ever tasted, sweet and crunchy and all of the goodness that a BLT can provide when done to perfection.

I was on my way a few minutes later, but the hospitality and the good food made my afternoon.

I found out while writing this that there is a Daily Grind franchise organization that has been around since 1995.  That surprised me because this coffee shop had the unique feeling of a hometown coffee shop and cafe.

UPDATE: David Pegler informs me that they are an NOT part of the Daily Grind franchise. No wonder the place felt so hospitable!

Franchise operations may be efficient, but they lack the personal touch of an individual enterprise where the owner greets you like an old friend, even if you have never been in the store before.

David, I will be in to see you the next time I am in Rocky Mount.

New Chef Heats up Floyd Food Scene

Scott Hutchinson has taken over the kitchen at Margie Ryan's Over the Moon Cafe and Gallery and he brings new variety to the Floyd County dining scene. I found his entries to be uniformly excellent and the presentation of each dish complemented the quality of the food.

I had the Buffalo Chili Nachos yesterday and they were so good I returned to order them today so that I could photograph the dish and several others.

On this visit, I was able to capture Scott's Sauteed Shrimp and Dirty Rice which was very tasty.

I was also attracted by two other dishes, a chicken salad and a bowl of chili soup. They looked inviting and will be on my list for the next visit.

With Scott's arrival, we have a significant addition to the culinary talent pool in Floyd. Scott, whose resume includes cooking at the White House and a catering business in Salem, VA, favors freshly prepared local food with Asian and Southwestern overtones.

Scott lives in Salem where he and his wife Suzette, own and operate Valley Fresh Gourmet Catering, but he has taken on the challenge of developing a seasonal menu based on Slow Food principles for the Over the Moon Cafe and Gallery.

When Scott was in the Navy, he did a three year stint at the White House Mess as part of the elite team that prepared meals for President Clinton and the senior White House Staff. Following that, he spent several years in estate management and as a private chef before launching his own catering business in Southwestern Virginia.

If you have already sampled the meals in our other Floyd County restaurants, you should take the opportunity to do lunch at the Over the Moon Cafe.

The menu is still evolving so you may not find other meals than the ones I have described and photographed. But I would recommend that you give the Cafe a try.  Call 540-745-2782 for hours of operation.