Restaurant Roundup: A peek at Chef Point Café

Who would have thought....fine dining in a service station and convenience store? In Watauga there definitely is. Speaking of worth the trip, fight the traffic, do whatever it takes, but go there. 

Drive up to Chef Point Café and the first thing you see is the large Conoco Phillips sign with posted gas prices and at the bottom ‘Duck a l'Orange.’  A bizarre surprise factor sets in.  Walk into the café and see a blackboard with specials of the day beginning with duck breast appetizer served on a black bean sauce with fresh spinach.  Try to be seated back by the open kitchen to see and smell steaming pesto pasta being poured out into a bowl or the whole red snapper sliding out of the skillet onto an oval café style plate.

Try What Nots - mushroom caps hand-stuffed with three cheeses and baked in garlic butter so deep in the dish that you can’t soak it all up with two large slices of garlic herb French bread. That’s decadent!  Go with a crowd so you can taste the blackened rib eye, the stuffed New York strip, and the grilled sea scallops.

There are soups, salads, and pizza, but Chef Point Café is known for burgers. Tables were filled with locals, many who had the cheddar burger with Wisconsin cheddar cheese, bacon, barbeque sauce, and fried onions in front of them (but not for long!). Another of the most popular dishes is Italian nachos — go figure.

We are heading north out I-35 for their desserts....the warm rustic apple flaky pie with ice cream or bread pudding with Cognac sauce. If you want to see the bread pudding, tune into Diners, Drive-ins & Dives on the Food Network in April when Chef Point Café will be featured.

Franson and Paula Nwaeze created this food adventure. Chef Franson in his quiet, talented way, has created a renaissance of indigenous dishes that are alive with flavor and as soft as your pillow with comfort. It’s a family affair with both their son and daughter helping at the café.

Alcohol is not served at the moment but there are plans of expansion which will allow that. Call and talk to Paula about your catering needs.

Open at 11:00a.m. except Saturday at 7:00a.m. for breakfast and Sunday at 10:00a.m.