OLDENBURG, Ind — A small Indiana restaurant has won a big honor in the world of cooking.
Wagner's Village Inn in Oldenburg has been awarded a James Beard Award in the American Classics category. The awards are given annually to "locally owned restaurants that have timeless appeal and are beloved regionally for quality food that reflects the character of its community."
Wagner's Village Inn originally opened in 1968, specializing in fried chicken made in cast-iron skillets.
"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," the James Beard Foundation wrote in announcing the award. "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 ten pieces, including the back and ribs."
Wagner's former owner, Ginger Saccomando, told the foundation her parents, who opened the restaurant, learned to fry chicken from the owners of the now-closed Hearthstone in Metamora, Indiana, a restaurant she said "pioneered the regional fried chicken style."
13News anchor Julia Moffitt visited Wagner's Village Inn in 2018.
Six restaurants across the United States won America's Classics Awards. Wagner's Village Inn was named the winner for the entire Great Lakes region. The winning restaurants will be celebrated at a ceremony in Chicago in June.
