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The Stable on East Culpeper Street in Culpeper is rumored to be the former stable for Robert E. Lee's horse Traveller.
Anna Clatterbuck (left), Helen Brown and Crystal Pierce chat over lunch at The Stable in Culpeper. |
BY DONNIE JOHNSTON
Rex Harper's plan was to provide Culpeper with something he thought it didn't have.
"I felt that no restaurant in Culpeper made a really good sandwich," the 53-year-old entrepreneur says.
So, with the help of his old friend and high school football teammate George Fotenos, Harper set out to correct the situation.
The result is The Stable, located at 129 E. Culpeper St., and if the restaurant's first six weeks of operation are any indication, Harper's quest for the perfect sandwich may be termed an unqualified success.
"We call them 'monster sandwiches,' and the corned-beef Reuben is our signature sandwich," says Harper. "People seem to love them."
If you don't believe that statement, just stop in one day during the lunch rush. Customers who have discovered this quaint little restaurant keep crowding in, waiting for a table.
"One day we emptied three times during lunch," says Fotenos. "We thought somebody had parked a bus out front."
Harper smiles, declaring that customers visit The Stable because of Fotenos' culinary talents.
"George makes a helluva sandwich," the businessman says.
teaming up
Fotenos' father, Pete, was in the restaurant business (he did his own cooking) in Culpeper three decades ago, and Harper operated Rex's Sports Bar on Davis Street from 1997 to 2002.
But Harper says he didn't like operating a sports bar, and sold the operation prior to moving into real-estate speculation. When the real-estate market dried up, he decided to get back into the restaurant business.
About a year ago, Harper conceived the "good sandwich" idea and asked his old football teammate (Harper was a linebacker at Culpeper High, while Fotenos played on the offensive line) if he would be interested in working with him.
Fotenos, then cooking for a now-defunct restaurant, jumped at the idea.
Harper was attracted to the Culpeper Street site because of its size and location--one block off Davis Street and half a block off Main. What he didn't know at the time was that the old building's history would contribute significantly to his restaurant's success.
"I found out that this part of the building, essentially a lean-to, was part of an old livery stable," Harper says. "Then I was told that while Gen. Robert E. Lee stayed at the Hill House in Culpeper, he stabled his horse Traveller here."
That did it. The new restaurant could have no other name but The Stable.
a galloping start
Harper renovated the lean-to, which had housed mowers for a lawn-care operation until about two years ago, in a rustic decor and collected a number of Civil War artifacts that now are on display.
Harper and Fotenos have even named their sandwiches after Civil War heroes, including Gens. Lee, Stone-wall Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant.
And no, Lee's horse has not been left out. But the Traveller sandwich is not made of oats and hay, but rather tuna salad and cheese.
"One thing people like is that we make our own chicken salad, potato salad and macaroni salad," says Fotenos. "And we make them fresh every day, with no holdovers."
And an ever-increasing number of health-conscious diners have learned that Harper's eatery has no grill or deep fryers. It doesn't even serve hamburgers.
The Stable's success has been so overwhelming, in fact, that now Harper and Fotenos are looking to expand their lean-to operation into the adjacent main building.
"The tremendous number of large business carry-out orders in addition to the sit-down trade has created the need for more space," says Harper.
Fotenos smiles with a sense of satisfaction.
"I never thought we would take off like this," he says. "This is just tremendous."
Old Traveller would be proud!
Donnie Johnston:
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com
