The Shadow
Geraldine Allen of Clifton Forge isn’t quite ready to hang up her cooking apron yet.
Allen, who turned 75 on Oct. 10, has been cooking meals in local restaurants for more than 50 years. She has come out of retirement three times.
“I have been working all of my life. I’m ready to retire again,” she said while laughing.
Known for her famous pies and bread pudding, Allen cooks breakfast at the Mountain View Restaurant, located at the Best Western in Covington.
She arises from bed at 4 o’clock on work mornings and drives to Covington to report to work at 5 o’clock.
“I usually leave home about 4:20,” she said.
Her career started at the C&O Restaurant (Bullpen) in Clifton Forge. From there, she went to the Kmart restaurant at Mallow Mall, and eventually started working at Comfort Inn in Mallow. While working at the Comfort Inn, Allen was cited by Sankar Enterprises for perfect attendance during her six years as an employee. In 1999, she began cooking at the Brass Lantern Restaurant at Best Western and remained there until it closed earlier this year. After the restaurant reopened under the name, Mountain View, she was called back to work as a breakfast cook by managers Mike and Bonnie Keyser.
“Tell everybody who wants a good, hot breakfast to come on up here and I’ll fix them one,”
Allen said.
The restaurant also takes orders for her homemade pies and bread pudding Allen’s specialties are pecan pie and brown sugar pie.
“People always ask me for my recipes, but I’ve never had a recipe. It’s all in my head. I learned to cook from my mama. She would just add a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and I do the same thing as I prepare food,” she said.
Allen’s mother, Theressa Keith of Clifton Forge, celebrated her 100th birthday this year. It was Allen’s mother who helped her land her first job at as a cook at the C&O Restaurants. Her mother also worked as a cook at the restaurant.
“It was a good, family restaurant back then. Nobody but family worked there,” Allen said.
Her husband, Donald Allen, is now semi-retired and works for a local contractor. Allen was a former public works director for the city of Clifton Forge.
Geraldine Allen is an active member of Bread of Life Church in Clifton Forge.
“I’m the church mother,” she said with a smile. “I have been in church all my life.”
She grew up in the Church of God in Christ on Verge Street.
Allen said she travels to Richmond at least twice a month to take food and pies to her son, Attel, who works for CSX Transportation. Her two other sons, Willie and Jerome, are deceased.
“I like to take care of my son in Richmond by taking him food and pies,” she said. “I guess I will stay a cook the rest of my life.”
