March 17, 2008
By: Ken Alan
kalan@aroundphilly.com
In 1993 and for a period of five months or so, I worked as the manager of a hippy-dippy coffee house that used to be nestled in the village of Kimberton, just west of Phoenixville.
It was a time when I could go to work in a cotton peasant shirt, faded jeans and hemp sandals. I had a wavy Peter Frampton mane, wore a tiny hoop earring and poured espressos and lattes a couple years before they were to become culturally ubiquitous.
During that care-free time I had formulated a dream that went something like this: Save enough money to buy (or rent) a place in Kimberton where I could serve breakfast, light lunches and heartier dinners, a café to call my own within that town’s historic 19th-century setting.
Practicality soon kicked in. I didn’t have nearly enough food service savvy (or barely any money at the time) and thus, my dream became as distant of a memory as that Boho soul patch I wore on my chin during those happily grungy days.
Thankfully though, I wasn’t the only dreamer who noticed the potential hidden amid Kimberton, a small town that has so many nearby communities surrounding it.
It may have taken another fourteen years, but finally, the café I once envisioned has more or less appeared in the form of The Station Bistro, with Nancy and Craig Miller running their three-meals-a-day/six-days-a-week show. The Miller’s are both from the upper management chain operation side of the business, having almost two decades of collective food service experience between them.
Situated adjacent to Kimber Hall, an historic circa-1787 former boarding school, the Bistro resides in a structure that may have been built in the 1930’s, though its foot-thick stone walls, locally mined blue granite floor and tongue-in-groove pine ceiling beams provide a look and feel of a much earlier time in our nation’s past.
But the road to this cottage-y enclave hadn’t been an easy one for the Miller’s. For more than two years they searched for the right spot, going into 11th hour negotiations on a former bank building in Pottstown, and nearly cementing a deal in Exton. After looking at nine potential properties, they finally found their dream place in Kimberton, ironically, just over a mile from their home.
The bistro came to life in October of last year. During the day it serves coffee and typical breakfast fare--eggs, breakfast sandwiches, pancakes and French toast--and then lunch--soups, salads, sandwiches and pasta dishes--all in a sunny setting thanks to those high windows, the impressive ones with 18-inch wide sills.
When the sun ebbs, Station Bistro turns into a different entity, a cozy BYOB restaurant. The fare then can still be as simple as the lunch menu, or visit-worthy due to a small yet concise list of specialty entrees.
I’ve had the chance to dine there several times since the doors opened last fall, and for the most part, I’ve enjoyed each experience in a setting that is a far cry from the chain-y environs my hosts had been so used to in their own pasts.
Visit No.1 was a solo lunch where I relaxed with a satisfying veggie-stuffed portabella mushroom topped with provolone cheese. The sandwich, served on a kaiser roll, was tasty. Instead of fries, I asked for a side salad which was just-out-of-the-fridge cold, like a banquet hall salad, a few flecks of carrot and red cabbage on a pale pile of iceberg lettuce.
I met my wife there a few weeks later and we each enjoyed our lunches within a buzzing room of moms with kids and a few corporate drones like ourselves. A worthwhile crab cake sandwich for me (served with another one of those blah salads) and a tangy BBQ pork sandwich for her plus two cups of some of the more memorable coffee (called Mayan Mocha) I’ve had in a long time.
Weeks passed and then dinner with the family resumed. Starters were a savory bowl of French onion soup and an orange pecan salad with fresh mixed greens and raspberry vinaigrette that was obviously a far cry from our pre-shelved side salads of yore. Entrees included a hearty bowl of rich chicken and broccoli fettuccini Alfredo and a perfectly grilled herb salmon filet lightly brushed with olive oil and served with two sides. A shared hefty wedge of chocolate thunder cake and we vowed a comeback.
Which we did later that week, and that’s when things got really interesting. See, I had been hearing tales from a couple neighbors, some fellow chowhounds and a magazine food editor friend of mine about the spectacular--nay, mythic--quality of the smoked-on-premises baby back ribs at the Bistro.
Upon initial examination of the menu there, I guess I was expecting Texas Roadhouse-caliber ribs which turned out to be a complete underestimation of Craig’s BBQ-ing talents.
These baby’s are not only meaty, they’re virtually fat and gristle free with a sweet (though not cloying) cloak of delicious sauce. I know it’s cliché to state, but the suckers are falling-off-the-bone tender. “Truly Best-of contenders” or so estimates my eating and editing acquaintance. Two more trips back for them to-go and I can’t agree more.
Though it’s a few clicks from Phoenixville and its burgeoning Restaurant Row, Station Bistro brings another dimension to the area’s dining scene. Like a chain restaurant, it has practically something for everyone and the crowd is pretty much comprised of everyone: solo java sippers tapping the lap top, coworkers on lunch, and pairs out for an unfussy BYOB dinner. And rib lovers. (‘Cause man those things are good!)
Though it has this new dining addition, Kimberton still looks pretty much the same as ever.
Me, I ended up trading in my casual ways and barista job for a suit, tie and polished shoes, becoming a concierge and a restaurant reviewer instead of a café owner, which is really cool since I get to tell people about this place without having to pay its bills or wash the dishes.
