2008 Woodie Awards
Now serving: comfort
Central City Café serves home-cooked meals to Huntington residents, TV audiences
Sarina Lopresti
Issue date: 7/3/08 Section: Life
BY SARINA LOPRESTI
The Parthenon
Nestled in the heart of Central City is Central City Café, a small restaurant that's been serving up comfort food to local residents since owner Dave Luther decided to open the eatery 16 years ago.
On a warm summer morning in June, about 25 minutes before the restaurant opens for the day, Luther is placing crisp white tablecloths and the day's menu on all the tables in the restaurant. The walls are covered in framed newspaper clippings and old photos that show the city in a different time.
"I can talk and work at the same time," Luther said.
At around 10:45 a.m., the front door boasting the "closed" sign swings open and a couple of regulars stroll in and take their places at the counter, ready to have something to eat, calling greetings to everyone they see.
The comfortable eatery is expanding its business - now selling to customers trekking to town just to eat there - all because of a short clip that aired on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" earlier this month.
Luther said he owes thanks to another local eatery - Hillbilly Hotdogs.
"(The Food Network crew) was here filming Hillbilly Hotdogs and Rocco's and the truck stop in Olive Hill, Ky., and they asked the people at Hillbilly Hotdogs where they could film another place in the area and they sent them down here, so we're very thankful for that," Luther said.
The clip originally aired on the Food Network on June 15, and Luther said he's seen a bit of a change in the amount of customers he's had.
"We've had a small increase in the number of people coming," Luther said. "I'm excited about the phone calls I get...I've gotten calls from St. Louis, Denver - you name it. People just say they're going to be in the area and they want to stop by and they want to know my menu. I don't have fax machines or anything like that so I try to explain to them over the phone what we have here. It's exciting to know that people 2000 miles away are thinking about you."
The Parthenon
Nestled in the heart of Central City is Central City Café, a small restaurant that's been serving up comfort food to local residents since owner Dave Luther decided to open the eatery 16 years ago.
On a warm summer morning in June, about 25 minutes before the restaurant opens for the day, Luther is placing crisp white tablecloths and the day's menu on all the tables in the restaurant. The walls are covered in framed newspaper clippings and old photos that show the city in a different time.
"I can talk and work at the same time," Luther said.
At around 10:45 a.m., the front door boasting the "closed" sign swings open and a couple of regulars stroll in and take their places at the counter, ready to have something to eat, calling greetings to everyone they see.
The comfortable eatery is expanding its business - now selling to customers trekking to town just to eat there - all because of a short clip that aired on the Food Network's "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives" earlier this month.
Luther said he owes thanks to another local eatery - Hillbilly Hotdogs.
"(The Food Network crew) was here filming Hillbilly Hotdogs and Rocco's and the truck stop in Olive Hill, Ky., and they asked the people at Hillbilly Hotdogs where they could film another place in the area and they sent them down here, so we're very thankful for that," Luther said.
The clip originally aired on the Food Network on June 15, and Luther said he's seen a bit of a change in the amount of customers he's had.
"We've had a small increase in the number of people coming," Luther said. "I'm excited about the phone calls I get...I've gotten calls from St. Louis, Denver - you name it. People just say they're going to be in the area and they want to stop by and they want to know my menu. I don't have fax machines or anything like that so I try to explain to them over the phone what we have here. It's exciting to know that people 2000 miles away are thinking about you."
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