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It took us a while to come up with the name of the café, but we finally decided on the “Traveler’s Table” since, not only do you have to travel a while to get to us, but also because we feature food from around the country and around the world. We have been lucky to be able to travel quite a bit in our lives and have tasted lots of different kinds of food. We have taken the meals we have enjoyed on our trips and have put our own spin on them. The “table” at our restaurant hopefully reflects all these different cooking styles.

Our focus is on fresh, classic dishes from different regions in the United States and a variety of cultures from around the world. In the spirit of the “slow food” movement, we try to feature seasonal and locally produced food whenever possible. Our food is made from scratch and lot of what we do is made to order, which sometimes takes a little more time. (We really appreciate our customers being willing to wait a little longer than they would in a fast food place!)

Greg loves to barbeque, so one of the menu staples is the house-smoked pulled pork sandwich. A grilled half-pound burger is always on the menu as well. We do not do fries, but his famous homemade potato salad and rainbow slaw are our regular sides.

Friday and Saturday night we feature “meat and potatoes”: a grilled to order 8-ounce filet mignon with a side of potatoes “du jour.” On Friday and Saturday we also plan to have a grilled panini sandwich, and look for fresh salads in the summer months. The rest of the menu changes daily, depending on what ingredients are available and in season. We often have Asian influenced cuisine, as well as Italian and “Californian” with a Mexican twist. In addition to some of the more exotic menu items, we also include familiar American comfort foods and casseroles as well.

The Dining Room is Ready to Open

Since opening the café, the question that we get asked the most is, “How in the world did you end up in Dillard?” The short answer is, “The car broke down at the Huzzah Bridge.” The slightly longer answer this: I (Christine) had never been to Missouri and had some vague idea that it was a giant, flat cornfield. (This is, unfortunately, what many California kids are told the Midwest looks like.)
 

Greg had grown up in St. Louis and then had gone to college and spent 13 years in Kansas City before heading to San Francisco to go to the California Culinary Academy. During those years in Missouri, he spent a lot of time exploring the state and floating many of its beautiful rivers. He wanted to show me how wonderful his home state was, so he brought me out to float the North Fork River and take a long road trip on the back county roads. The plan worked—I fell in love with Missouri. We were coming from Johnson’s Shut Ins and stopped to take a picture of the bluff over the Huzzah Creek. When we got back in the car it wouldn’t start, so we wandered down Dillard Mill Road looking for help. We met a wonderful couple, the Porters, who gathered several neighbors to get the car started again, and we were able to make it to the airport and fly back to California.

Proscuitto, fig and melon

The next year we were planning another road trip to Missouri and decided to stop by and thank the Porters (as well as to see the Dillard Mill State Historic Site we had to miss the last time.) The property next to the park was up for sale and, on a whim, we jotted down the phone number for the real estate agent. We didn’t think much about it until we got back to our California apartment and had to start dealing with the impossible landlord we had at the time. We realized that we really wanted a place of their own, and, although we didn’t think they could afford to buy anything on our combined social worker/chef salaries, we made the call. We found out we could make the down payment, so we jumped on it. After a few years of going back and forth between Oakland and Dillard we made the big move. We had other plans for making a living initially, but when they didn’t pan out, we kept thinking about having our own restaurant. The building was nothing but four walls, but our friends Cate and Will (who is a contractor) offered to come and help get us started. After they left, we kept working on the building—lots of improvising and “learning on the job”, but we ended up with a little café.

We are open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 11:00 am to 8:00 pm. from late spring until late fall. If you have a party of 6 or more, please call ahead so we can reserve a table for you (573-244-5300). The café is available to rent and we would also be happy to cater your event on-site during the week. Check our website or call for special events and cooking classes. We look forward to seeing you at “the finest restaurant in Dillard”!

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