Oldenburg eatery nationally recognized
Feb. 24—OLDENBURG — It was announced Tuesday, February 22, that a longtime area business has been selected as just one of six recipients of a national award.
The James Beard Foundation's Restaurant and Chef Awards category includes Wagner's Village Inn, 22171 Main Street.
According to the James Beard Foundation website (https://www.jamesbeard.org/blog/2023-americas-classics-winners), this award is given to locally owned restaurants that have "timeless appeal and are beloved regionally for quality food that reflects the character of its community."
This year's honorees join the ranks of more than 100 restaurants across the country that have received the Award since the category was introduced in 1998. They will be celebrated at the James Beard Restaurant and Chef Awards ceremony on Monday, June 5, 2023 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago.
Wagner's was the Foundation's pick for the Great Lakes Region.
A news release on the Foundation's website states:
"For generations, Kentucky's fried chicken tradition has overshadowed neighboring southeastern Indiana's. Blame Colonel Sanders—who was, in fact, a native Hoosier. Some of the best fried chicken in the Midwest sizzles in cast-iron skillets at Wagner's Village Inn in Oldenburg, population 674, otherwise known for its German-American history and its historic churches.
"The elements of the fried chicken at Wagner's are as unpretentious as the wood-paneled dining room: chicken, salt, pepper, flour, lard. There is no recipe. But, as in other southeastern Indiana kitchens, the cooks are heavy-handed with the coarse-ground pepper, adding so much that the chicken could almost be called au poivre.
"The gentle heat of the pepper pairs well with the farmhouse fixings that make up a family-style dinner: coleslaw, green beans, and mashed potatoes with gravy. With Midwestern frugality, the kitchen serves each bird in 10 pieces, including the back and ribs.
"Former owner Ginger Saccomando's parents opened Wagner's Village Inn in 1968. According to Saccomando, the roots of the signature recipe run even deeper. Her parents learned to fry chicken from the owners of the Hearthstone in Metamora, a now-closed restaurant that she says pioneered the regional fried chicken style."
