Cottonwood Eatery is now serving

COMFORT: David Athanacio serves Carson and Riley, sons of Cameron Gillham of Cottonwood.

The Cottonwood Eatery opened Aug. 3 to the pleasure of many Cottonwood residents who frequented the location's former establishment, Old Town Eatery, which closed in March.

"I'm so happy it's open," Cottonwood resident Terri Basinger said, who was dining with her mother, Jeanette Flynn.

"We've been eating here since it was called Rosie's Cafe," Flynn said. "That was in the 1980s."

The sense of loss that accompanied the closing of the restaurant at 20828 Front St. was one of the main reasons to open a new restaurant at that location, said new owner and chef Nanette Berning-Pate.

"I came in here as a diner and always thought it was the perfect location," the 12-year Cottonwood resident said. "The community has a need for this - there are not a lot of restaurants in the area."

Even after opening a restaurant at the Redding Hilton Inn and operating it for more than 4 years, Berning-Pate said the style of food at Cottonwood Eatery would remain "country, good cooking."

She said the restaurant would soon sell beer and wine from local micro-brewers and wine merchants.

Pastry chef Brandon Edgmon earned his credentials from the Western Culinary Institute in Portland, Ore. Edgmon's peach cobbler sold out early on opening day. The restaurant is open daily 6 a.m.-9 p.m.