SIERRA DINING

Cosy Cabin Café: “It’s a Great Place to Visit”

By Antoinette May Herndon

Some people get a big kick out of elaborate brunches at upscale hotels or sophisticated spreads served in posh country clubs—but not me. Not Charles either. Our tastes are simpler. We like the emphasis to be less on presentation and more on the food itself. Good food, fun food. It helps if the people cooking and serving it are fun too. And, as far as ambience goes, you can hold the attitude along with the ketchup.

Many mornings Charles and I decide we need a little Cosy Cabin Café in our lives. Of course that means getting up a little earlier and allowing plenty of time for the drive to West Point because our destination coffee shop stops serving breakfast promptly at 11. The Cosy Cabin’s lunches are good too, but breakfast is the main event.

The eating spot lives up to its name. It’s snug all right and does look a bit like a cabin with its low ceilings and paneled walls. A hand-painted

mural of the High Sierras dominates one wall and that’s it for art work. Food and friendliness are the eatery’s main attractions.

Donna Clark, the café’s owner, does the cooking--excellent. Her daughter Nichole serves as does a friend, Marie Reese. The three women have a good time together and so do their customers. The Cosy Cabin feels like the town living room.

Last Sunday morning, after passing a sauntering doe, two sweet fawns and a sassy squirrel on the road, we arrived just in time to make the 11 a.m. deadline. Whew! The place was filled with customers chatting amiably amongst themselves and with the busy wait staff. What can I say? The cafe really is cosy.

Charles ordered the café’s Pancake Special ($6.50) which included two eggs, link sausage and coffee. His syrup was heated, a welcome touch. I had a difficult time choosing between two long time favourites, the Gold Panner’s Special and the Portuguese Omelette, both $8,95. The Panner’s Special includes ham, sausage and bacon fried with onion,

bell peppers and fried potatoes topped with a choice of gravy or salsa and served with eggs cooked any way you want them. The Portuguese Omelette brims with Linguica sausage, onions and cheese. This time I chose the latter and loved it.

For me at least, getting to the Cosy Cabin is half the fun. I love the wild, winding ride through the forest, through the trees to West Point. It’s so far away. Sometimes I wonder: Why do people live way out there? Invariably I decide that, with a coffee shop like the Cosy Cabin Café, they don’t need anything else. Besides, Kit Carson stopped in West Point and didn’t go any farther. Why should anyone else?

VITALS: 277 Main St., West Point. 293-7232. Breakfast served every day but Wednesday from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m., lunch until 3 p.m. Credit cards accepted.

amherndon@sierralodestar.com

Pictures:

2 pictures of Marie Reese serving. She’s tall and fair

2 pictures of Nichole Clark serving.

One picture of the dynamic duo Marie, left, and Nichole.