These Chattanooga restaurants loom large in memory, recipe requests

One of Colleen Fehn's favorite stories from her years in the restaurant business with her husband, Don, is the memory of a couple's anniversary celebration at their Fehn's 1891 House in Dayton, Tennessee.

(READ MORE: Fehn's 1891 House restaurant to close its doors for good)

"This elderly couple told me they ate dinner on their wedding night at Fehn's in Fountain Square (which was open 1948-1958). They were staying in the Read House and had walked up the hill for dinner. For their 60th anniversary they wanted to eat at Fehn's again, so they came to Dayton for their anniversary," she recalls.

Restaurants hold places of nostalgic importance for anniversaries, birthdays, weddings, graduations, promotions and other life celebrations. They are warm memories kept alive through family and online reminiscences, along with requests for recipe favorites from beloved dining spots.

Jane Henegar has compiled Fare Exchange, this newspaper's reader recipe request column, for 51 years. Even though longtime landmark restaurants such as Town and Country, Mount Vernon, Fehn's and Bethea's have been closed for years, readers still hunt for the recipes they remember enjoying there.

"There are some things that get stuck in the collective memory of this city," she says. "It's interesting it's pies: Mount Vernon's amaretto pie and Fehn's macaroon pie. I get requests several times a year for those."

Mount Vernon, at the foot of Lookout Mountain, was run by four generations of the Evans-Messinger family for 63 years before it closed in 2017.

(READ MORE: Mount Vernon Restaurant says goodbye after 63 years)

Town and Country Restaurant, which was at the corner of Frazier Avenue and North Market Street in North Chattanooga, opened in 1947 as Parkway Drive-In, before changing its name two years later when dinner service was added. It was run by the uncle of the late Bill Hall, who went to work there in 1955. After Hall took over as owner, his son, also named Bill, joined the business full-time in 1972. The younger Hall operated the local landmark until it closed in 2005. He now spends summers in Chattanooga and the remainder of the year in Suwannee, Florida.

(READ MORE: Remember When, Chattanooga? This was North Chattanooga in 1960)

"I get asked all the time when I am going back in the restaurant business," he says, laughing. "Or they ask for recipes for our bleu cheese dressing, broiled snapper and the 6-ounce fillet that was our top seller for so many years.

"We made our bleu cheese dressing 30 gallons at a time. It's hard for me to make just a pint," he says.

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These Chattanooga restaurants loom large in memory, recipe requests

A friend called at Christmas to ask if Hall would make some of the restaurant's au jus for his family's holiday meal. Hall responded that at the restaurant they started with 25-quart stockpots, but he'd give it his best shot to make a smaller batch.

What does he believe causes such customer loyalty almost two decades after closing?

"I think we survived so long because we did what we did for so long," he says. "People liked the consistency."

(READ MORE: Long Horn to close after 65 years of operation in North Chattanooga)

Don Fehn, third-generation restaurateur, agreed quality and consistency were hallmarks of Fehn's food that kept families coming back.

The original Fehn's was opened by his grandfather on Tremont Street in 1938. Don's father, Alfred, worked in that kitchen. After returning from World War II, Robert Fehn, Alfred's brother, opened a Fehn's location in Fountain Square in 1948. The two brothers partnered to open the popular Fehn's on the banks of the Tennessee River in 1958. It was a common sight to see a waiting line 30 feet or more back to the front door on Friday nights when clam chowder was on the menu.

When Fehn's on the river closed in 1984, Don Fehn, wife Colleen and Don's brother, Bill, opened a new Fehn's location on Highway 153 in 1986.

(READ MORE: These 3 Chattanooga restaurants give a new meaning to 'home-cooked meal')

Don's background was in horticulture, although he had worked at the restaurant while in school. He studied at the Culinary Institute of America in New York to learn as much as he could before launching the new restaurant. Colleen was from a restaurant family in North Carolina. Many of the old Fehn's staff rejoined the restaurant, and Don says the owners learned from them as well.

The 153 menu was anchored by the same favorites their customers had enjoyed at the river, bolstered by more fresh vegetables and breads.

In 2004, they made the move to Dayton, Tennessee, and opened Fehn's 1891 House, which they ran until 2014.

Don Fehn feels the family involvement was a strong component of the restaurant's 70-plus-year longevity.

"Whether it was dad, Robert, me, Colleen or Bill, we were always there working, part of the production and greeting people coming in. There was that personal touch."

"I still get requests all the time for clam chowder. I don't give out the recipe, but I will make it at home for friends on request. We've done a little catering privately for friends, but I'm not trying to start another business. Now I'm interested in gardening, reading and exercise."

Fehn says he still gets requests for macaroon pie, chowder and chocolate fudge pie, and he will fill a limited amount of requests when time allows.

At Vine Street Market on Hanover Street, manager Thomas Skinner is now serving the children and grandchildren of the baby boomers his father served when the original market was on Vine Street near the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus.

The restaurant was opened by Diane Van Cleave in the late 1970s. Skinner's mother, Sharon, went to work there as night manager in 1979. In 1984, she bought out Van Cleave and became owner. His dad, Norman, left Cracker Barrel to join her at Vine Street in the early 1990s. The eatery moved to Riverview in 1999.

(READ MORE: Cook in search of vintage recipe when Chattanooga's Vine Street Market was on Vine Street)

"Because we are in such a community location with students at GPS, Baylor and McCallie who come in on lunch breaks and after school, we've gotten to know them. We've seen them grow up, start families and come back through with their children," Skinner says.

He has customers come in asking for the Chive Butter Turkey or Cheese Please sandwiches their parents ate on UTC's campus.

"I generally keep ingredients on hand that I can make something like the Cheese Please," says Skinner. Other favorites, like the decadent Chocolate Sin Pie, he will fill with advance notice of at least 48 hours.

One of the most requested Fehn's recipes is always macaroon pie. For years, customers tried to no avail to find out its ingredients and replicate the dessert.

Following is the recipe, verified by Colleen Fehn, who made the pies at the Highway 153 and Dayton locations. She adds a word of advice about the correct whipping cream to achieve that memorable Fehn's pie taste.

Fehn's Macaroon Pie

1 cup chopped pecans

1 1/2 cups (about 12) chopped dates

12 saltine crackers, broken

1 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon almond extract

3 egg whites

1 cup heavy cream, whipped

In medium bowl, stir together pecans, dates, crackers, sugar, baking powder and extract.

In larger bowl, best egg whites until frothy, soft peaks form. Fold nut mixture into beaten whites.

Pour into well-buttered pie pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve topped with whipped cream.

Note: Do not substitute Cool Whip or an aerosol can cream for whipped cream. It will affect the taste.

Contact Susan Pierce at spiercetn@yahoo.com.