MARION, N.C. — One western North Carolina man is known for not just one, but 130 varieties of cheesecake.
Bruce Brown makes them, along with other delicious foods, using locally sourced ingredients.
What You Need To Know
Bruce’s Fabulous Foods has been in business for more than 20 years
Bruce Brown is the chef and owner
The restaurant can make more than 130 variations of cheesecake
Bruce's Fabulous Foods has sat in downtown Marion for 20 years. The man behind the well-known establishment has been cooking for as long as he can remember.
"I got thrown in the kitchen when I was four years," Brown, the chef and owner, said. "I cooked for the family, I cooked for everybody all the way up through high school.”
Then it was off to culinary school and meeting his wife, who was from western North Carolina. After several visits to the Tar Heel state, they found a reason to stay when Brown was offered a job in textiles.
After what he considers a much-needed break from restaurants, he found himself back in the kitchen at a restaurant in Marion. But then he decided he wanted to start making money for himself.
“We opened up first, at first intentions were just as a catering shop," Brown said.
But that had to grow, once people kept coming in asking him to make signature dishes he was known for from the previous restaurant. That's how Bruce's Fabulous foods was born — out of local necessity.
The restaurant is unique. It's only open on the weekdays for lunch and only offers catering on weekends. They make more than 130 flavors of cheesecake — what they're famous for — which they also offer mail orders for across the country.
There's also no deep fryer in the kitchen. "I hate deep fryers," Brown said.
Many of their ingredients are locally sourced right here in North Carolina.
"I absolutely love being able to use local products like this because it helps the local economy, it helps local families," Brown said.
Local items they use include red peppers they fire roast to go in their homemade pimento cheese, sweet potatoes for their sweet potato walnut cheesecake, and bananas they use in their banana cake.
"The local produce stand absolutely loves us because they hardly ever have overripe bananas go to waste," Brown said.
The restaurant is busy from open to close. Brown said they do anywhere from 150 to 170 covers a day for lunch. Even families from Raleigh drive in weekly to get meals to take home. One woman from Raleigh will buy pimento cheese in bulk and sell it to her neighbors, Brown said.
"For a mom and pop restaurant in these days in this situation that we're in and everything, to still be around after 20 years — I'm pretty proud of that fact," Brown said.
You can learn more about Bruce's Fabulous Foods restaurant or place an online cheesecake order here.