Restaurants come and go. It is significant though when a restaurant, that has been gone for over 35 years is still remembered so fondly by so many that it has a following on social media. If you are local or have been since before 1994, you’ll know the place as soon as I name it.
Photo: The original Kathryn’s Cheese House.
Kathryn’s Cheese House started in 1963 when Kathryn Weaver and her husband, L.N., opened a small gift shop in a rented 500 square-foot space within Circle Drive Restaurant on Highway 70, then 64/70 in Longview. One day, L.N. who was retiring as an Army recruiter, walked into Bell’s Cheese Box, up in Hendersonville. The owner of the restaurant told L.N. that the place was about to close and offered an opportunity to buy the place. L.N. didn’t go that far, but he brought the equipment and brought it back down the mountain.
The family, that included sons Lorin and Nelson, sold their house and moved into the business in Longview in an effort to keep expenses low while they tried to get the new enterprise off the ground. Quickly, the gift/cheese shop expanded to include a delicatessen/restaurant. L.N. named the place for his wife after repeatedly hearing other travelers say, “I’m goin’ over to Kathryn’s.”
In reality, the operation was very much a Weaver family venture. L.N. handled all the logistics while the namesake “spent her time researching items, trying new recipes, and handling the catering side of the business.” Lorin grew into the position of managing the restaurant, while he developed new avenues, like the wine shop.
As he recalls, it started with one small display. While in college, Lorin put in orders to restock the wine rack on the weekends before heading back to Gardner Webb on Mondays. The restaurant grew to include a selection of fine wines and gourmet food, which made Kathryn’s even more popular. As the matriarch of the business put it, “people who came in to eat would tell other people up the road, and that’s when we started growing.”
In addition to word of mouth, the Weaver’s had two important factors that helped spur growth. In those days, Interstate 40 remained incomplete from Hildebran to Rock Barn. Drivers had to exit at Henry River Road and follow Highway 70 (64/70 then) before returning to the completed portion past Conover. One of the inviting places along the way was Kathryn’s Cheese House, which had the name emblazoned across the front of the building. Folks stopped, ate, enjoyed themselves, and came back again, and its reputation spread. Travelers all over the state and beyond stopped in.
With industries like furniture at its zenith, the business community embraced the gourmet food and wine list that offered menus not generally available in western North Carolina. Kathryn’s catered parties (especially during furniture market) that offered something for every palette.
As patrons soon learned, there was so much more to offer than just cheese. Don Coleman, retired head of Hickory Springs once said, “I loved going to Kathryn’s to eat, but there were so many things to buy, too. She could sell you anything. I left one night with a woman’s watch.”
Like the restaurant and all else it encompassed, there is so much more to tell about Kathryn’s Cheese House. Make a reservation for next week.
