PEARISBURG, Va. – Teasha Watkins is feeling good about herself and her new adventure just weeks after opening the doors at Silver & Salt. While owning a restaurant is a recent endeavor for Watkins, cooking up homestyle dishes is far from it.
She tells us, “I’ve cooked forever and I would just post pictures of my food on Facebook.”
After looking into a food truck and starting a GoFundMe, it seemed as though all hope was lost. That was until a friend told her about a corner lot in downtown Pearisburg.
“I had seen this spot, but I have never been in here.”
It was too good to be true. With the help of her mom and best friend, Misty, Silver & Salt became a reality. Watkins went into opening day with low expectations, but she recalls, “There were so many people, and then I was like ‘okay.’”
On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, you can find her cooking up “Real food like we all eat.”
It’s a sense of home for a place she’s called home all her life, giving back to the community through its stomach with special dishes. She rattles them off, starting with the pot roast and fried chicken.
Co-owner and manager, Will White had this to say about the fried chicken, “Make you want to slap your Momma.”
No Mommas were slapped or harmed during the filming of this segment. Instead, we learned about everything else Watkins puts on the menu each week.
“Pork chops, salmon cakes like mackerel, green beans, sweet potatoes, pasta salad, macaroni salad.”
We snuck in a taste for good measure, grabbing a forkful of the most flavorful collard greens I’ve ever tried. Finish the meal off with a refreshing bite of banana pudding or cheesecake, and you’ll be left saying (in Watkins’ words) “Dang!”
Watkins still has a GoFundMe page to help keep things running smoothly at Silver & Salt. You can donate to that here.