Not much has changed in the two years since Emmie “Mama Henry” Leach took over the much-loved West Columbia restaurant then called the Backyard Café. A stray cat, Grey, who showed up one day about 10 years ago when Peg Mead ran the place, still makes the front porch his refuge. He has since been joined by another grey cat and a tabby. They are the welcoming committee at a folksy restaurant where clowder and staff are known by name to loyal clientele.
Mama Henry’s devotees swear by the artichoke spinach dip. It is a Backyard Café legacy that reflects the cuisine of a bygone era—a dish that’s still popular but hearkens back to the 1970s and a party on the patio of a ranch home—stylish then, nostalgic now. More an ode to cheese than to artichokes or spinach, it is a filling appetizer, best shared by two or four. Among main courses, the dip serves splendidly as gravy aboard a fried chicken breast in a dish called Chicken Charlie.
