I spent a pleasant hour yesterday afternoon, masked and sitting on the sidewalk in front of Lantern on West Franklin St. Chef Andrea Reusing and company had decided to experiment with new service options by having a pop-up ice cream social. This was actually their second evening, and word had spread. Lots of old friends, wild-eyed from confinement, showed up for adult beverages disguised as ice cream sodas and for the company of people that they hadn’t seen in ages. Proceeds from these events went to support the Food for Students program of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro School System. For a moment, things almost seemed normal and I think it’s fair to repeat the cliché that a good time was had by all.
But things are not normal. I talk with my colleagues a lot, and virtually no one believes that things will go back to the way they were. Restaurants are realizing that all bets are off, at least for now, and that they are going to have to figure out their own new operating protocols if they are going to pull through this. The Restaurants Act, meant to help them through all this financially, seems to have vanished somewhere in the Halls of Congress. That was a bill introduced a month or so ago intended to prop up these small businesses until we get the all clear to open for real. It had bipartisan support in both houses, but it seems to have gotten lost in the squabbles over the post office and the second stimulus bills. I sent a polite, if scolding, letter to both of our senators yesterday telling them to get a move on. We will see, but clearly our independent restaurants can’t count on government help right now. It’s up to us. I know I sound like a broken record, but when we finally get turned loose by a successful vaccine, I’m pretty sure that people around here will want more dining options that those offered by corporate chains.
Places around town had begun deciding how they were going to proceed this fall, but then the University opened and the closed again in the space of a week. Once again no one knows quite what to do. There has been a lot of shifting of gears. My friends at La Residence on West Rosemary St. had planned a soft opening for this past weekend as well but decided it might be better to wait one more week for things to settle down again. The latest news is that people leaving the dorms on campus are moving into apartments here in town. The new question is, are they going go out or eat at home?
One of my companions at Lantern last night was Spring Council from Dip’s Country Kitchen. She said that she and her staff had been grappling with these issues like everybody else. They started out with take out, but now have in-house dining, much of which is actually out, on their nice, big covered porch. They’ve been able to hire back some of the people who were laid off as well. She’s decided to put more effort into their online business, expanding the offerings that already include sauces, mixes and pies. Apparently, Dip’s has a large fan club all over the country of former Chapelboro residents who are encouraging her to do this. They are all especially homesick right now it seems.
Our townsfolk have already been champs when it’s come to supporting our local farmers markets this summer. It’s been a very good year for agriculture making this an easy choice. The selections now reflect the agriculture of late summer. There are big piles of peppers and melons in addition to the last of the corn and tomatoes. The fig crop has been as startling — as were the blackberries.
Everyone should keep in mind our producers of meats and cheeses as well. Several years ago, we had a wine tasting dinner at Crook’s Corner. I decided that a cheese course would be appropriate and I remember that I looked down at the platter as I walked out into the dining room, and I realized that I could well have been in France. It was almost as if I hadn’t noticed before that moment the embarrassment of riches all around me. I’ve been a fan of Celebrity Dairy’s goat cheeses for years and recently have started getting weekly deliveries from Box Car Dairy in Hillsborough, working my way through their excellent repertoire. More than once the Calvander cheese from Chapel Hill Creamery has stopped the show somewhere. An evening a few years back with lots of Italian diners at the Charleston Food and Wine Festival comes to mind.
The excellent charcuteries made by Sam Suchoff at The Pig and Eliza MacLean at Cane Creek Farm deserve a column all their own. Both places also offer hams and fresh meats. I’m thinking about Sam’s Lady Edison Country Ham and Eliza’s prosciutto as I write this but check both websites for the full selections. I guess that if we have to sequester, we can do so in style.
“Just The Bill, Please” is a regular column on Chapelboro.com penned by local culinary legend Bill Smith. Born and raised in New Bern, Bill Smith spent 25 years heading up the kitchen in Crook’s Corner — and over the years, he accumulated the accolades to match his incomparable takes on classic Southern food.
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