There’s a strange alchemy involved when people gather at a kitchen table. Maybe it’s the symbolic — and literal — breaking of bread. Maybe it’s the commonality of primal need meeting gustatory pleasure. Maybe it’s the way no matter what changes, this remains the same: Food equals fellowship, and in an increasingly impersonal world, fellowship is the one thing that can’t be shrink-wrapped, freeze-dried or vacuum-sealed.
For the patrons of Kountry Kitchen, that’s what the restaurant has been for three decades — a slice of home served up with authentic, stick-to-your-ribs food and good conversation.
Thursday afternoon, between bites of “the best fried chicken in town” and mashed potatoes and gravy, everyone agreed: When Kountry Kitchen moves from Fairlane Shopping Center to its new location at the intersection of Highway 50 and Sand Road on Jan. 3, they’re going with it. Some are even taking their favorite table with them.
Knights of The Round Table
Dan Cunningham and other regulars at The Round Table (which is really oblong) gathered for their next to last meal in the old location, reminiscing about the tales they’ve told and the memories they’ve shared at that table over the past 20 years.
When their ragtag group outgrew their original table, Cunningham cut a larger one, capable of seating nine, from a piece of wood and brought it in as a replacement. Monday through Friday, they can be found talking about everything from local gossip to national politics. They’re there so often, their table is now reserved at noon just for them.
A big part of the appeal is the food, which cook Bobby Brewer said often bears the signature ingredients of the person who prepared it.
“Each one of the cooks does special stuff,” Brewer said. “Sometimes they keep it to themselves, and sometimes they’ll let it go.”
He paused and grinned. “I have a special batter,” he said conspiratorially. “But I can’t tell you what’s in it.”
“It’s all about the seasoning,” said Bill Lancaster, assistant director at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle and a longtime regular at The Round Table. “That’s what distinguishes it from similar places. It’s like grandma’s. You come because of the food, but you stay for the conversation.”
And oh, the conversations they’ve had.
Columbus City Councilman Bill Gavin sat at the end of The Round Table Thursday wearing a maroon Jimmy Buffett baseball cap and sunglasses.
“I’m incognito,” he quipped.
Over the years, there have been times when he made a council decision his friends disliked, but he never shirked lunch with them. For one thing, he enjoys it so much. For another, they’d pick up the argument whenever he returned anyway, so he may as well get it over with.
“We solve all the national problems and then the city. We’re usually at the state level by the time it’s time to go,” he said.
The restaurant is such a landmark in town and such a place to see and be seen that it’s a natural magnet for local and state politicos during election season. Even gubernatorial candidates have showed up at Kountry Kitchen to shake hands, kiss babies and enjoy one of the few remaining mom and pop diners where a meat and three sides can be had for under $10.
That’s Kountry with a ‘K’
Another part of the appeal is the atmosphere. The walls are made of wooden planks, where faded newspaper clippings jostle for space among rusting farm implements. In the back corner are steaming pots of freshly-brewed coffee and a row of white mugs — not the cheap, thin ones, but the chunky, old-fashioned kind that a man could really wrap his hands around and get comfortable.
There’s an easy familiarity to the restaurant, which customers say makes them feel at home.
“It has the atmosphere of an old country kitchen,” said Virgil Kimbrell, who has been a loyal patron for more than 20 years. “You come and you wear your hat if you want to wear it. And you see everybody here.”
Former owner Dot Reichle knew the business was special when she bought it in 1993 from the original owners, Jean and Bob Colvin, who started it in 1980. After all, she was a customer herself.
But once she really got into it, she came to appreciate the uniqueness even more. Just like today, many of the staff had worked there most of their lives. Then there were the customers. That’s what she misses most, she said. She misses them all, especially her coffee drinkers.
“I loved the crowd and being busy, but the time I cherished was the down times with my coffee drinkers,” she said Thursday evening. She stopped, lost in thought. “M.L. Pitts and Jay McCrary, they would stop by. Mr. Pitts would eat two meals there, and there was a time we opened at night so he ate three meals there a day. If I was open, he was eating there. He would come for breakfast, then come by for coffee, then come by for lunch and come back for coffee again.”
“I loved them,” Reichle said.
She attributes the success of the business over the past three decades to a commitment by all the owners to make customers feel welcome, respected and appreciated.
“I tried to treat them the way I wanted to be treated,” she said.
Getting his restaurants in a row
Current owner Glenn Baldwin has that same love for his regulars. They’re the ones who made him decide to change locations rather than close the business completely. He bought Kountry Kitchen in 2007, and he also runs Pit & Cone, a barbecue restaurant, Cattleman’s Steak & Fish, and Baldwin’s Produce.
Every day, at 4:30 a.m., he goes to Kountry Kitchen to let the breakfast cook inside. Around 7 a.m., he begins making his rounds, checking on the barbecue restaurant and the produce stand. At 4 p.m., he heads to the steakhouse, where he stays until it closes at 10 p.m.
Seven days a week, those are his hours. It wears a body out.
“I’ve got too much going on for one person,” he said Thursday, after the lunch crowd had thinned at Kountry Kitchen. “It’s tough. Very stressful.”
With the economic downturn, it’s become harder for small businesses to survive, and with all the franchises coming into Columbus, it’s even harder.
But when he told his regulars he planned to close the restaurant, they all had the same reaction: “Glenn, what are we going to do? Where are we going to eat?”
He thought about his staff. Many of them had worked at Kountry Kitchen most of their lives. With a sluggish job market, where were they going to go?
Then he saw an obvious solution: He already owned the Cattleman’s Steak & Fish building, and it was closed until 4 p.m. He could serve lunch there if he reconfigured the kitchen setup. And even better, he could continue to serve all the same favorites that made Kountry Kitchen a hallowed institution among fans.
He won’t serve breakfast, but otherwise, little will change aside from the location. He’ll continue serving the infamous cucumbers and vinegar people love so well, along with the beets that are popular with his senior crowd. He’s even changing the decor at the steakhouse so he can bring in the rustic farm equipment from Kountry Kitchen.
Like Reichle, his customers have become family. Every day, he tries to make time to bus tables so he gets the chance to visit and talk.
On an average day, he feeds around 200 to 300 people. On Sundays, the crowd swells to 350.
Those are his favorite days, he said. Sundays, when both rooms are full and people are happy.
“That’s a good memory,” he said.
And Tuesday, without missing a beat, he’ll be open at the new location, waiting to welcome his regulars home.
Carmen K. Sisson is the former news editor at The Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.