Though I no longer do it professionally, cooking is what I do. Just ask my family and friends. And like most chefs, I can pretty much cook anything, given the right ingredients.

One of the concerns I had when I left the urban nightmare that is N. Va for Wythe County was the perceived inability to find the quality of ingredients that I was accustomed to using in my cooking. The overcrowding, 24/7 traffic jams, pollution, and rudeness that make up daily life in the Washington area was partly offset for me by the availability of practically every food stuff imaginable. Top quality meats, seafood, and produce were just a short drive away.

You can imagine my delite when, a couple of weeks ago, I discovered Sunny Daze Convenience Store, proprietors Linda and Michael Dix ‘s little food lover’s paradise on the edge of town. From the outside, the store looks like a refugee from a Carolina beach town.

Sunny Daze’ Linda Dix

Their hand cut steaks come from Sterling Silver Premium Beef, (a division of Cargill, Inc.) Sterling’s website advertises that their beef is chosen from the top 12% of prime and choice/AAA beef. At $9.99 a pound, Michael’s ribeyes are not only among the best I have ever purchased, they are a down right steal. Properly prepared, they are like buttah………..

Their seafood selections are certainly the best in the county if not the entire Mountain Empire. I can attest to the FRESH (never frozen) New Hampshire scallops. Their sweetness is like seafood candy. Michael often offers sushi grade tuna and salmon as well as a wide variety of both fresh and flash frozen seafood. There are many, many other delicacies too numerous to list here at very reasonable prices . Michael welcomes special orders and told me he can pretty much get anything from anywhere given enough time.

If you are serious about good food, forget Wal-Mart and Food Lion, Sunny Daze is where it’s at. Located at 610 West Lee Highway in Wytheville, the phone number is 276-223-0555.