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Frasers Restaurant and Pub

Published: 05/31/2010 by Clint Johnson

Nigel and Barbara Wirgowski traded the hectic pace of city life for the calmer environment of West Jefferson, where they serve hearty soups gourmet salads, and delectable desserts. Inventing dishes like the Mountaineer Spiced Pecan and Pear Salad, Frasers injects flavor and personality into mealtime. Shadowed by Paddy Mountain to the west and Mount Jefferson to the east is West Jefferson's five-block business district on Jefferson Avenue. With 1,000 residents, West Jefferson seems typical of the tiny towns dotting the mountains. Then again, not many towns have a restaurant like Frasers, with prices on the dinner menu ranging from $7.95 to $28.95. How did Frasers end up in West Jefferson, where the next nearest town for fine dining is Boone, 30 miles to the southwest? It all goes back to owners Nigel and Barbara Wirgowski deciding in the wake of September 11, 2001, that living near Washington, D.C., was not the way they wanted to spend the rest of their lives. For several years they'd been visiting Ashe County at the invitation of another couple, who had roots in the area. "Coming down from Washington, we always had to go to Boone or Blowing Rock to find a nice place to eat," Barbara says. The two couples briefly kicked around the idea of renovating an old hotel in West Jefferson into a bed and breakfast but settled on opening a restaurant "that would be the type of place we would want to eat [at] - if we didn't own it."

Even though Barbara, with a background in banking, and Nigel, with a career in food service, knew how to run a business, they admit they were more hopeful than confident that the restaurant would work in a small town. "We had no idea if one customer was going to come in, but by that time, we were all in. We had come here to do this and start a lifestyle change," says Nigel. The site they selected was an old Belk department store. The building had most recently housed a sandwich shop, a tanning salon, and a video store, all of which had closed or relocated. Just peeling back the three layers of carpet glued to the original hardwood floors took weeks, but in June 2003, Frasers opened. The Wirgowskis later bought out the other couple Nigel and Barbara Wirgowski transformed an old Belk department store into a welcoming dining destination. and became the sole owners of the
restaurant.

The name Frasers came from Barbara's brother, who suggested that Ashe County's reputation as a supplier of Fraser fir Christmas trees should be honored. Fanciful, small wooden trees created by a local artist seem to grow out of the restaurant's windowsills. Inside the restaurant, locally milled blonde wood paneling meets the original hardwood floors. Above the wainscoting, light green walls showcase work from local artists, among them Ashe County's Stephen Shoemaker, best known for his paintings and prints depicting the Virginia Creeper train that ran through West Jefferson from 1915 to 1977. Ironically, he once worked
in the same building selling shoes. Some diners share memories from the Belk department store, amusing the Wirgowskis with comments like: "This booth is where ladies underwear used to be." Just five years after opening, Frasers is now one of the oldest of the five restaurants downtown featuring casual family dining. By land and sea Barbara takes care of the front of the house while Nigel serves as executive chef with the help of two other chefs that he's trained, Kelly McNeil and Dan Cannon. The dinner menu, usually set at 17 entrees divided by "land" and "sea," features the standbys of filets, strip steaks, chicken, turkey, pastas, and vegetarian dishes, but Nigel suspects that his treatment of seafood is what brings in the repeat diners. "Crab cakes will get people here," says Nigel. "I use a Maryland crab cake recipe with all jumbo lump crab meat. I only broil them." Nigel says Frasers is the only restaurant he knows of in this part of the mountains that serves grouper or a dish he calls Halibut Baron, which is grilled halibut steak from Alaska topped with sauteed spinach, apple wood smoked bacon, and blue cheese in a lemon butter sauce. Adding items like Chicken McNeil (twin pan sauteed chicken breasts flavored with garlic and herbs created by Chef McNeil) to the menu is simply a matter of experimentation. Nigel is constantly bringing dishes out to regular customers and asking them to taste and critique. Winter time means some menu changes like offering heavier soups to appeal to tourists staying in Ashe County and playing on the ski slopes in Watauga.



Some of the lunch dishes are named after local landmarks or personalities, like the Skyland
Bookstore Burger and Shoe's Bacon Bleu Cheese Burger. Appetizers like the Southern-style chicken tenders with jalapeno fritters blend regional flavors. Nigel loves putting crab into everything he can think of, including the Crab Chesapeake Potato Skins, which is crab meat on top of roasted potato skins topped with melted cheddar and Monterey Jack. Lunch menu
prices range from $4.50 to $8.95. Frasers has its own wine collection, produced by Thistle
Meadow Winery in neighboring Alleghany County, plus a wine list that includes bottles from
California, Oregon, Australia, Spain, and Italy. At least a dozen pies, cakes, and puddings
adorn the tray perched each evening on top of the counter near the entrance. also has 14 bottled beers from micro breweries, including New York's Hook and Ladder Brewing Company, which is brewed by former firemen, and Bell's Brewing from Kalamazoo, Michigan.
A recent ballot initiative approving liquor by the drink allowed the Wirgowskis to convert a banquet room into a bar. Barbara says this has given customers another choice of atmosphere in which to dine. If anything about the success of Frasers has surprised the Wirgowskis, it's that they do a good take-out business with customers ordering complete meals to take home or provide for office parties. Frasers also caters an occasional private party for which they will either fill the bar area or shut the restaurant entirely. The Wirgowskis don't wait until the end of a meal to tempt diners with desserts. At least a dozen pies, cakes, and puddings adorn the tray perched each evening on top of the counter near the entrance. Nigel and his staff make the carrot cake, blackberry cobbler, and bread puddings. Nigel and Barbara collected many pounds of blackberries over the summer, including some they picked themselves, so they could offer warm cobbler this winter. It's further proof that when you come up to Ashe County, you will find a warm, hospitable, and tasty place to dine in an inviting mountain atmosphere.