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Tasty Tuesday: The Colorful Chameleon brings home cookin’ to the Alleghany Highlands

Anne Adcock’s homemade recipes bring a taste of home to downtown Clifton Forge

CLIFTON FORGE, Va. – A loveable personality and loveable food combine to make The Colorful Chameleon a great spot in downtown Clifton Forge. Anne Adcock waves to everyone who drives by with a smile and a laugh.

Her love for life and for food started when she was very young. She tells me, “We were snapping green beans at age 4.”

The Colorful Chameleon is more of a recent development from humble beginnings.

“We were doing shaved ice from a table and then just progressed from there.”

Now, it’s a centerpiece of Clifton Forge just like food is.

Adcock explains, “When you’re thinking of any type of event, whether it’s blissful or sadness, we are a culture that food is the centerpiece.”

The breeze of a fall day in Alleghany puts the smell of the smoker in Adcock’s advantage. There’s no stopping what she’ll smoke!

She says, “We always have our smoked pulled pork and our smoked wings. Potatoes, vegetables, apple pie. We have smoked pretty much everything you can think of.”

The mountain views and the railroad museum just yards away make for a quick and quiet oasis. Specials like peanut butter cobbler remind you of simpler times, but are also so good that you might get down on one knee for Adcock.

Reminiscing, Adcock tells us, "I made it about five years ago. And about a month later, I was proposed to. So, the peanut butter cobbler…it’s pretty good.”

Now, she’s slowly passing the torch to her teenaged son. With COVID-19 affecting school scheduling, Adcock says this is something they can do together.

“When you put your heart, soul and love in a dish, and you give that to someone and that’s reciprocated with ‘This is amazing. This is so good,’ if makes you feel absolutely amazing. That’s how I feel at least.”

The menu changes from week to week and the hours depend on the season. You can find all of that information here.