I don’t know how Virginia Cofer does it. She just opened her third restaurant in the Chattanooga area, she owns a thriving catering business and she continues to make food that’s drop dead delicious. If other chefs in the city could get a hold of just one of her recipes, they’d probably choose her recipe for success.
If you’re a fan of her food – and it’s likely anyone who’s ever put something she’s prepared into his or her mouth is – you might be wondering if my counting is off. There’s Petunia’s Silver Jalapeno on Signal Mountain Road and the Silver Jalapeno at Warehouse Row, but her sit-down establishment, Virginia’s Southside Cafe on Cowart Street, closed months ago.
That was a sad day, especially if you’d tasted her scrumptious club sandwich with jalapeno bacon, or eaten her hearty Cobb salad, or had enjoyed any of her daily specials, which had kept her selections fresh and compelling. (The woman does things with salmon that are inspired.)
Well, I’m sad no more because Virginia has opened a new restaurant on Signal Mountain called Gin Gin’s. It offers most of the lunch menu that was featured at Southside Cafe, a dinner menu that makes the steep drive up the mountain worth the gas, even in his economy, and a Sunday brunch buffet that could make a grown man cry. (Fried chicken and quiche can have that effect on human males.)
Although I’m a Silver Jalapeno regular and I was known as “the Club man” at Virginia’s, I told my general manager here at the newspaper I had a professional duty to check out Ms. Cofer’s new establishment and present a hard-hitting report to our readers. She’s new here, so she bought it.
I then hopped in my car, headed north out of downtown Chattanooga, headed up Signal Mountain Road, waved at the silver Airstream trailer that houses Petunia’s Silver Jalapeno (and is currently closed for the winter), and drove five-and-a-half miles to Gin Gin’s. My iPhone navigation app told me I’d find it on the left, but it’s on the right. If you see Amoco, you’ve gone too far.
Apparently, word had already spread that Gin Gin’s was open, because what passes as a parking lot was full. Cars were parked alongside the restaurant, on the road and in the parking lot of The Pumpkin Patch next door. It was the lunch hour on Friday, and people wanted Gin Gin’s.
As I entered through the front door of what appears to have once been a house, I saw four small dining areas on either side of the main hall. A sweet, silver-haired angel handed me a menu and sat me in a cozy room with four tables. Although it was cold and wet outside, it was warm and dry in Gin Gin’s.
Before I had even placed my order, a waitress plopped a basket of freshly baked corn bread and butter on my table, took my drink order, and promised to return in a jiff. “You should watch Virginia make our corn bread,” she said before she bolted off. “She pours in the butter.”
The cornbread was so good, it distracted me from the menu, so when my waitress returned a couple of minutes later (the service was fast, despite the size of the crowd), I was caught off guard. She suggested the Reuben, which comes with slow roasted corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Gin Gin’s special sauce on rye bread.
Let me give you a tip. Whenever you see the words “Gin Gin’s special” on a menu item, you can’t go wrong. It’s going to taste great.
As I waited for my Reuben, I struck up a conversation with a nice couple across the room. I rarely do that, but the intimate setting encourages it.
The sandwich was terrific. It was steaming hot, tangy, covered in melted Swiss and toasted to perfection. Best of all, I could taste the fat in what must have been a choice cut of corned beef. For those who want to eat light, Gin Gin’s offers an excellent selection of healthy choices, including an exceptional Greek Salad and a tasty Mediterranean Pasta. But if you don’t mind occasionally indulging, Gin Gin’s is a good place to do it.
As I ate my Reuben and munched on crispy homemade chips, I sent my wife a text message informing her we’d be having brunch at Gin Gin’s on Sunday. Your definition of “occasionally” might differ from mine.
I polished off my lunch with the bread pudding. Topped with pecans and cinnamon, and soaked in a buttery, sugary sauce, it must have weighed a pound-and-a-half. I couldn’t finish it, so I took the rest home. Famous Dave’s finally has some competition for the best bread pudding in town.
Actually, the menu at Gin Gin’s competes with just about everyone. Virginia offers plenty of lunch fare, including burgers, an all-beef hot dog, a shaved prime rib sandwich, a pork butt sandwich that’s to die for, and more.
Her dinner menu includes more exquisite fare, but also a lot of comfort food. Whether you’re in the mood for spaghetti with meatballs, Shepard pie, chopped lamb steak, prime rib, beef tenderloin kabobs, grilled salmon fillet, or something she’s intriguingly called “Daddy’s Chicken” (half of a grilled chicken marinated in “daddy’s secret recipe”), you’ll find something to satisfy your pallet. And since Gin Gin’s a short ride up the mountain, dinner will feel like an excursion.
Appetizers are on the menu as well. I plan on trying Virginia’s “Ultimate Nachos” and her wings, which are deep-fried and tossed in a buttery hot sauce. Deep-fried mushrooms and peel-and-eat-shrimp are on the menu, too.
I started this week’s column by writing, “I don’t know how Virginia Cofer does it.” And I don’t care how she does it; I’m just glad she can.
Her cooking elevates the dining experience in the Chattanooga area, and is one of the many things that make living in the city enjoyable. However she does it, here’s hoping she’s able to do it for a long time.
Email David Laprad at dlaprad@hamiltoncountyherald.com.