Back From The Ashes: The Best Cellar In Blowing Rock: New Beginnings, Same Style
Story by Sam Calhoun
Just over one month ago, Rob Dyer and Lisa Stripling awoke to their worst nightmare. At 6:30 a.m. on Monday, May 1, the co-owners of The Best Cellar restaurant in Blowing Rock received a phone call that their business of 10 years – a business that had flourished in the High Country for three decades – was burning out of control.
A delivery worker making his morning rounds at Food Lion noticed the blaze along with two construction workers. Immediately, the delivery worker called 911 while the two workers rushed up the hill with a small fire extinguisher in tow. Thinking that the fire began on the deck, the workers focused their attention on that area, but nothing could be done. Without hesitation, the fire spread from the deck to the awning to the building and all points in between.
The Blowing Rock Fire Department arrived within four minutes and had water on the fire within seven. According to a fireman on the scene, it was a defensive fire from the get-go – it could just be contained at that point, not saved.
It took the Blowing Rock Fire Department, who received assistance from the Boone Fire Department, over a day to completely subdue the blaze. After the smoke cleared, all that was left was the separate office building and the charred remains of a former Blowing Rock landmark.
Yet in the short amount of time since the fire, Dyer and Stripling have created a new page in The Best Cellar’s history.
On Monday, June 12, The Best Cellar in Blowing Rock – (there is also a Best Cellar of Linville that opened last year) – will open its doors again in a new location - The Inn at Ragged Gardens, located on Sunset Drive in Blowing Rock. Lee Hyett, owner of The Inn at Ragged Gardens, has arranged for the Blowing Rock eatery to inhabit the restaurant space left in his inn – a space that hasn’t been dismantled since his original restaurant closed down two years ago.
“I can remember, I was walking to Knights on Main at 5-minutes to 7:00 a.m. [on Monday, May 1] and from the parking lot of the post office I looked up and saw flames. I couldn’t get my bearings, so I couldn’t figure out what was on fire. By the time I got up to Knights on Main, they’d already said that the building was a loss,” said Hyett. “The first thing I thought about was ‘hey, maybe there’s something I could do to help.”
There was. But first, Hyett made a few phone calls to make sure he wasn’t promising something he couldn’t fulfill.
At 12:15 p.m. that day, Hyett went to see Dyer who was standing awestruck in The Best Cellar’s parking lot. As it turns out, one of Hyett’s calls was to his accountant – the same accountant that Dyer used. Thus, Dyer already knew of the possible offer.
“I thought of it as a really bad situation and taking it and making it a win-win for both of us,” said Hyett.
“When the fire was going on, Lee came up, gave us a hug and said ‘once you settle down, come talk to me,’” added Dyer.
The next weeks would prove to Dyer and Stripling just what it takes to be a successful business.
First-and-foremost, the “50-50” duo of Dyer and Stripling learned how important it was to have fire insurance – not just any fire insurance, but comprehensive fire insurance from an agent they both trusted.
“He’s a Godsend,” said Dyer, referring to his agent and high school pal, Skip Tapia.
Because Dyer and Tapia were family friends, Tapia received The Best Cellar’s account and, beyond the friendship, maintained the account through diligent service to Stripling and Dyer throughout the years.
“He’s kept the account because he’s most probably the best insurance agent somebody could ever ask for,” added Dyer.
In the past year - after the heavy hurricane season and mixed with the fact that The Best Cellar was an old wooden restaurant with no sprinkler system - fire insurance prices doubled for Dyer and Stripling.
“We were sick of what we were paying for insurance, but the fact that we did – well, it saved our butt,” said Dyer. “Skip had us right where we needed to be.”
Dyer recalls Tapia making trips up to Blowing Rock and taking Dyer and Stripling out to eat chicken wings just to explain all the ins-and-outs of their fire insurance.
“My advice to other owners: pay the money,” said Dyer.
And he’s glad he did. The insurance company, Saint Paul Travelers, told Dyer and Stripling that they looked to have the incident settled within a month.
“It’s been a month and we’re about 90 percent settled, which gives us the ability to look at other options,” said Dyer. “Building that building back was hard for them to look at; it’s like insuring an antique boat or car.”
His advice is tangible. “If you don’t know your fire insurance agent and your just paying somebody for fire insurance – go to somebody that you know, that you can talk to and ask the questions because if Skip hadn’t been the agent that he is, I guarantee you that Lisa and I, years ago, would have said ‘screw it’ and gone down to the minimum,” added Dyer.
But that wasn’t the only lesson that Dyer and Stripling learned from the whole ordeal.
Because of the service that the Blowing Rock and Boone Fire Departments provided for The Best Cellar, Dyer, Stripling and Hyett have decided that the first night they are open they will host a fundraiser for the local fire departments.
“We wanted to do a soft opening, but we just felt that with the support that we got from the fire department – I mean, those guys were out there for a day and a half and secured it for 24-hours for the insurance guys,” said Dyer. “I definitely want to give these guys a huge pat on the back.”
“You can’t say enough about the fire department, you really can’t. For the size of the town that we have…” added Hyett.
As of this moment, the fire at The Best Cellar is labeled undetermined, having been signed off by the county, town, SBI and arson squads. In the coming months, the file will be turned over to the Blowing Rock Police Department.
Although Dyer, Stripling and Hyett look at the new move as a semi-permanent situation, plans are already in the works for the reconstruction of The Best Cellar on the same footprint.
“[On the day of the fire] David Patrick Moses gave me a call on the phone and said ‘Rob, I know what’s going on, call me when you want me to put pen to paper.’ David Patrick Moses, Tom and Raeford at Enterline and Russell and Mike Truett at Municipal Engineering got us a packet together in one week because I had a deadline with Kevin from the Town of Blowing Rock. I had to make the June planning board meeting to get a conditional use permit. Kevin and them bought us about two and a half weeks and in two and a half weeks, we have re-drawn the restaurant – same footprint, same rooms, same atmosphere and everything,” said Dyer, who adds that small changes, noticed in years past by Stripling and himself, will be made, such as bigger bathrooms and more storage space. “In the building process, we’re definitely going to implement the logs and bark siding.”
“I cannot tell you right you right now that ‘it will be built,’ but we are pursuing that heavily,” said Dyer.
Dyer and Stripling hope to get an ‘O.K.’ from the Blowing Rock Planning Board this month, at which time they can go to the Blowing Rock Town Council to get a building permit. If that happens, then they can begin building in August.
But for the time being, Dyer and Stripling feel right at home in their friend Hyett’s abode. They will begin serving dinner 6 nights a week this Monday, June 12, with the same menu, made by the same chefs, served by the same employees and with the same atmosphere as The Best Cellar. The first night is already sold out, but the threesome invite all new and return guests to book reservations for following nights by calling the regular number 828-296-3466.
The Best Cellar at The Inn at Ragged Gardens will be open 6 nights a week starting at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 12, and closed on Sundays. The Best Cellar at Linville is still open and serving lunch 7 days a week and dinner 6 nights a week, excluding Sunday. For reservations in Blowing Rock, call 828-295-3466. For reservations in Linville, call 828-733-4747. More information on The Inn at Ragged Gardens can be found by clicking to www.ragged-gardens.com.
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