Homemade with love

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Homemade with love

When Track's End General Manager Stacy Cofer arrived to work one morning last week, she found her kitchen transformed into a honky-tonk.

"My cooks had the music going; they were dancing around. It was a happy kitchen," Stacy told me during my recent visit to the diner. "I've just got to brag; I've got the most phenomenal cooks right now."

Track's End's all-star kitchen team includes Julie Hudson, Christy Shrader and head chef Victor Rodriguez - all three of whom, Stacy said, are seasoned veterans of the culinary craft. And the proof is in their pudding - and their pot roast, soups and desserts.

This winter, said Stacy, the kitchen crew is focusing on hot, hearty and scratch-made meals. For example, its pot roast, featured every Wednesday and generously served with hunks of tender beef and red potatoes, is always a best-seller. Its new broccoli-chicken-cheese soup offers a meatier take on a tried-and-true favorite.

The restaurant's vegetable plate, made with the diner's choice of four fresh sides, is a surprisingly satisfying meal. Sides include options such as mashed potatoes with gravy, mac and cheese, vegetable casserole topped with crushed Cheez-Its, or - brand new to the menu - tater tots. But be sure to save room.

"We are the place for coffee and dessert," Stacy likes to say.

Recently, Track's End upgraded its coffee selection to Royal Cup, and its dessert selection is ever-evolving. During my recent visit, the glass dessert display was stocked with homemade slices of peanut butter pie, oatmeal cake with caramel icing and white cake with cream cheese icing.

I had arrived too late to try that day's most popular option: Christy's apple dump cake, served hot from the oven and with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. It had already sold out by lunchtime, but the idea of it alone was enough to make me want to turn up the radio and do a little dance.

"When you have people in the kitchen who love what they do, the food just tastes better," Stacy said.