Four Winds Cafe is the best restaurant "in Greensboro".

 Something I learned while living in Europe was how to spot a good restaurant. Rarely are they where you expect them to be. In this case, you'd expect the best restaurant in Greensboro, to actually be in Greensboro. While, yes, Leblon or Print Works (my leading favorites within the city limits), are both excellent restaurants, with good food, and always remain a fine choice for that special night out- they're both missing something. The problem is, they're exactly what you expect when you go out to a nice restaurant: too proper, in an obvious location, and everyone goes there. I want something unexpected. In Europe, those restaurants that are obvious, are often for tourists. The good restaurants are in basements, down hidden streets, or in people's living rooms. So who would think that you would find the best restaurant in Greensboro, not actually in Greensboro?

It's still real close, just outside the city limits by only a few miles. It's called Four Winds Cafe, and it has all the feeling and flair of a French bistro in the basement of a Paris quartier. Except it's an old truck-stop off Old US-421 in Climax, NC. What happens out there under the clear moon-sky and southern stars is nothing short of magic. When you shut off your headlights, it's dark, pitch black, but the night feels alive. The warm cozy lights of the cafe beckon you in on a cold night, to its quaint dining room of less than twenty tables. Mind you this is still upscale, candlelit, and romantic, with a charm and appeal no city restaurant can give.

When we arrived, I was offered my choice of tables. I prefer corner tables for their unique acoustics and warmth. We settled into our nest, and ordered a bottle of French wine, and with it came homemade, fresh bread. What restaurant in Greensboro, bakes their own bread? I ordered their prime rib, Shannon their plat-du-jour: stuffed tilapia. Almost immediately dishes come flying in to our table, dancing to the gentle Christmas music playing in the room. First soup, a wonderful chicken melody, followed by salad: a simply combination of lettuce, carrots, and mushrooms. Then, around the time you're severely tipsy from French Bordeaux- feeling all warm and cozy inside, with your face red, laughing and giddy, comes the a plate of monster proportions. I'm not even sure where you buy plates this big. A steak, the size I've never seen before, with potatoes, and vegetables. Every bit of it cooked to perfection. The charred and juicy steak with the perfect pink inside, covered in blue cheese and fried onion crisps. It was sexy, delicious, and outstanding. 

Who are these people? Who takes an abandoned truck stop, and makes me rethink my entire idea of local cuisine? These heroes of my dinner are Peggy and Steven Holmes. Every facet of our dinner was superb, and I can't recommend this place enough. For price, taste and atmosphere, Four Winds Cafe is by far the best restaurant in Greensboro.

We came out for just about $80 for the two of us, including a whole bottle of wine (it was 1/2 price wine night). Well worth every dollar.