Blue Ridge Country May/June 2023 - 78

FLAVORS
PLUS 50-POUND-YIELD TOMATO PLANTS!
Gravy after the Flood, Depression-Era Chili
Superlatives for Eastern Kentucky cuisine include the Heritage Kitchen's heroics in the
face of flooding, Tommy's five-generation chili and Baker Farm's world-class tomatoes.
By FRED & JILL SAUCEMAN
hen we first met Brad Shepherd
and Daryl Royse in December
of 2015, their new
restaurant, Heritage Kitchen
in Whitesburg, Kentucky,
had been open for only three months.
They told us then that they selected the
restaurant's name because it conveys a
sense of home and comfort.
W
Little did they know how much
those two qualities would eventually
mean to them, their business, their customers
and to the town of Whitesburg.
In late July of 2022, flooding of historic
and catastrophic proportions devastated
sections of Eastern Kentucky.
Homes were washed away. Businesses
were destroyed. Water and electricity
remained unavailable in some parts of
the area for weeks. The death toll exceeded
40 people. Longtime Eastern
Kentucky residents said they had never
seen anything like it.
Since Heritage Kitchen sits on a hill,
the front of the building sustained very
little damage from floodwaters. Out
front, the only thing out of place was
a jet ski in the middle of the street. But
the back of the building was a different
story. It was once a place of great
joy for the children of Whitesburg,
who looked forward every year to visiting
that basement, in the old Hoover's
clothing
" It was an absolute nightmare, "
Shepherd recalls. Heritage Kitchen lost
two of its propane tanks, but in less
than a week, the restaurant was up
and running again, providing at least a
small sense of normality to downtown
Whitesburg.
But about 2,000 yards away, in
the offices of Appalshop, the media,
arts and education center founded in
1969, it was a different story. In addition
to being a partner at Heritage
Kitchen, Royse is Appalshop's financial
director. In the organization's 54year
history, water had never reached
its offices. But this time, the North
Fork of the Kentucky River rushed
in, depositing ankle-deep mud and
threatening valuable archives that
documented the entire history of the
Appalachian region.
While they were dealing with the
water at their restaurant, Shepherd
and Royse retrieved Appalshop's financial
records and computer systems
and relocated them to temporary
quarters.
" Over at the restaurant, people
came out to help, " Shepherd remembers.
" They said, 'We know you're
struggling. We're here to eat.' "
Soon Royce was back in his usual
store, when it was transformed
into a Christmas wonderland.
Shepherd and Royse chose the
building for their restaurant back in
2015 in part because of its history and the memories associated
with that downtown location. When the 2022
floods hit, water rushed into that basement, reaching
levels almost five feet high.
78 BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
spot at seven o'clock on Saturday
mornings, making two gallons
of
sausage gravy. " People come from all
over for it, " Shepherd tells us.
Soon, too, chicken and waffles returned.
And so did chicken salad, a customer favorite
made with pecans, grapes, apples, craisins and a sweet
and tart dressing. And comfort returned in the form of
French toast with bananas and brown sugar.
GRANT BAKER
GRANT BAKER
http://www.BLUERIDGECOUNTRY.COM
Blue Ridge Country May/June 2023

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