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Kanab's Rocking V Cafe Makes News With Fine Food, Atmosphere | |
| By Nancy Hobbs Special to The Tribune |
04/25/2003 | |
| KANAB -- It used to be that finding good food in rural Utah was an exception, but baby boomers searching for serene, beautiful settings in which to launch a second career are improving those once-bleak gastronomic landscapes. One example is the Rocking V Cafe on Utah's southern border, within 90 minutes of Zion and Bryce national parks and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon in neighboring Arizona. In four years, owners Vicky and Victor Cooper have earned, from scratch, a reputation for good food and a welcoming atmosphere. The Coopers are former journalists -- she a television news reporter and anchor, he a CBS cameraman -- who recognized they were better cooks than the ones they often came across while on assignment along America's blue highways. After quitting the news business, the couple looked for a place to start their own restaurant. They had married at Zion National Park and so were partial to Springdale until they discovered the real-estate prices there are steeper than the trail to Angel's Landing. But about 45 miles southeast, on Highway 89, they found an old, dilapidated brick building for sale. They bought and renovated what was originally Kanab's general mercantile, built in 1892, and now serve lunch and dinner there 10 months of the year. (The cafe is closed in January and February.) Though lacking formal training, Vicky spent many summers of her youth in Fillmore, working at her grandmother's truck-stop restaurant, where "really good food" was a staple. That and years of cooking on her own, adopting and adapting from gourmet magazines and cookbooks, have obviously made her an accomplished cook. In addition, the Coopers have hired experienced chefs to work the kitchen and help hone the impressive menu. Diners' first taste of Rocking V is memorable: warm, crumbly squares of herby focaccia, delivered to each table with a creamy balsamic vinaigrette dipping sauce. The focaccia also can be ordered as bruschetta for an appetizer, topped with tomatoes and abundant fresh basil for $5. Soups aren't listed on the menu, but soup or salad comes with every dinner entree. Though either choice is good, the soups definitely were a highlight on the couple of nights we visited. The minestrone was delicious, full of vegetables in a rich broth. The tomato and basil soup was creamy, with a nice bit of tang and plenty of diced tomatoes. The house salad was better than most, too, with lots of sliced mushrooms, carrots and summer squash mixed with fresh greens. Dinner entrees include several pastas, including the cafe's popular chicken and mushroom alfredo ($13), and the delectable Rocking V shrimp, with lots of tender shellfish, peas and pine nuts in a creamy garlic and Parmesan sauce over angel hair pasta ($16). Also on the menu are a chargrilled Anasazi ribeye, with a rub of roasted cumin and garlic ($18.75), and filet mignon, grilled and served with roasted baby red potatoes and a melange of fresh, sauteed vegetables ($21). The Utah trout, a filet coated with cornmeal and pumpkin seeds, is tender and flavorful beneath the crunchy and slightly spicy crust ($15). Lunch is more casual, with sandwiches, wraps, burgers and salads, in addition to a kid's menu with corn dogs, quesadillas, grilled cheese or spaghetti, all $5 or less. The children's menu also is offered at dinner. Several specials are offered at each meal, including options
for vegetarian and vegans, who make up an ever-growing segment
of Kanab's
tourists. Rocking V has a full liquor license, but other than wine and beer, serves only limited cocktails, such as margaritas and Bloody Marys. They also have gourmet coffees and teas, thick malts and shakes. Rocking V is a welcome refuge from the fast food and mediocre eateries that are too often a traveler's only option on the rural road. -----
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