Kevin Sheedy of the Wichita (Kan.) Eagle and his wife, inspired by a recent Food Network episode of “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” went from Wichita to Stroud, Okla.
Two Route 66 restaurants — Cafe on the Route in Baxter Springs, Kan., and the Rock Cafe in Stroud — were the highlights of their trip.
On the Cafe on the Route:
For lunch, we tried several items featured on the TV show: Apple Smoked Salmon, a seven-ouncer with apples, bacon and chives served with Mandarin orange glaze. I’m no Joe Stumpe or Denise Neil, but I know good food when I swallow it, and this was good eatin’.
For dessert, we shared Fried Cheesecake. In a word, supercallifragilisticexpialidocious.
Amy Sanell, the co-owner with gourmet chef/hubby Richard, and a young waitress made our party feel at home and shared personal details — some astonishingly sad — that you don’t learn from a chain restaurant’s staff on the Interstate.
On the Rock Cafe:
Once again we ordered items that the hefty host sampled on the TV show: a Ruben Sandwich and Jagersnitzal and Spaetzle. What the heck is a Jagersnitzal and Spaetzle? To quote the menu: breaded and fried pork cutlet topped with creamy bacon, onion and mushroom sauce served with small German homemade and hand-cut noodles.
It’s not something you’d expect in a roadside diner, and it’s the kind of food I’d whiz past while scanning the menu, because in general if I can’t pronounce it, I don’t eat it.
In this case, my lack of vocabulary would have cost our tastebuds one heck of a treat. And in some sort of culinary zen, the Ruben and the Jagersnitzal and Spaetzle worked nicely together as we shared our plates.
For dessert, we shared Peach Cobbler with ice cream and Bread Pudding. Cholesterol? Never heard of it.
As wonderful as the food was it might have been topped by the zany characters running the cafe. Welch, who was one of the inspirations for the character Sally the Porsche in the animated movie “Cars,” was the chief jester in a court full of fun folks.
To Sheedy’s dismay, he learned the Rock Cafe was gutted by fire shortly after his visit. But he promises to be back when it reopens, probably sometime next year. You can check the progress of the cleanup and rebuilding here.