Rocheport is one of those quaint little destination villages in central Missouri along both the Missouri River and the Katy Trail bike path (see map). Full of shops and little restaurants, Rocheport is one of our favorite places to go to when we're in the Columbia area.
During our recent vacation, we stopped in to see our longtime friends, Dave and Teri Haack, who live outside of Columbia. Dave is an avid cook/chef and it's always fun to see what he cooks up for us when we visit.
Before we left to go back home, I offered to take them out to lunch at a place of their choice. Teri didn't even flinch when I asked and she immediately said, "Oh, Dave, we should take them to Abigail's."
Abigail's is located in the downtown area of Rocheport not too far from the river. The interior is rustic and funky, with a lot of older pictures and antiques throughout the place. The plastered walls have large sections that are unpainted and there are a lot of fish figurines all over.
The kitchen is in the open, so you can see them preparing the foods as you sit on the funky seats and benches they use at the tables. Nothing really matches at Abigail's, including the plates, silverware, salt and pepper shakers, etc. And that adds more charm to the place.
Abigail's is owned by Todd and Susan Schapira (right) who met while both were working as servers at the same restaurant in Columbia (about 20 miles from Rocheport). Todd didn't have any culinary training, but learned some things while working around some chefs at the restaurant. Susan basically learned from Todd. The restaurant is named after the couple's daughter.
We got there just after they opened for lunch on a Sunday and Susan brought over a chalk board easel that had the day's lunch menu on it. There were six or seven entrees to choose from, as well as some appetizers.
I started off with a bowl of the roasted pepper tomato soup - highly recommended by Dave and Teri. It was served hot, but I think it would have been better served cold, especially on a hot summers day. Still, it was very good.
For our main entrees, Cindy went with a chicken and cous cous dish, Dave got the chicken and chili quesadilla, and Teri and I both got the bow tie pasta with a lemon cream sauce.
I don't know about everyone else, but I thought my dish was outstanding. Well, actually, everyone else said the same thing. Dave's quesadilla had a nice little spicy bite to it, Cindy thought her chicken was prepared perfectly, and Teri and I both thought the pasta was very good.
Each of us shared a couple of desserts - homemade tiramisu that was good, but not the best I've had, and a chocolate-based dessert that I didn't try.
Abigail's does take credit cards and it does skew to being moderate in price (although there were more expensive items on the menu board). I think our bill with tip was around $85 bucks. But it was worth it.
Rocheport is definitely a destination, and places like Abigail's make it worth going.
