Join 97.9 The Hill for an exclusive interview series with the Merchants at Midway – a more detailed look at the eclectic variety of businesses located where Chapel Hill meets Carrboro. This week we’re featuring Mike Benson, owner of Lapin Bleu – a new bar featuring art and jazz on Graham Street.


Andrew Stuckey was joined recently by Mike Benson to discuss his latest entrepreneurial endeavor. Lapin Bleu just opened at Midway and brings new vibes to the community with their full bar offering art, jazz, and hockey games!

Listen to the full conversation or read the transcript below, which is lightly edited for clarity.



Andrew Stuckey:

We are joined now in the studio by a familiar voice to listeners- photographer, entrepreneur, and general man-about-town Mr. Mike Benson. Mike, how are you?

Mike Benson:

I’m doing fantastic. How are you?

Stuckey:

I’m good. I’m glad to have you on. This is actually the first conversation that we’ve ever had, I think. So that’s exciting.

Benson:

And we’re not drinking beer.

Stuckey:

I know. Well, I’ve got coffee and you’ve got a Coke, so I guess we’re going caffeinated here. So I’m also noticing that you’re here to talk about Lapin Bleu, and [my sheet] also lists you as an entrepreneur. I’m seeing a lot of French going on here. What’s going on with all the French influences all of a sudden?

Benson:

Well, you know, in Carrboro and the Midway, we are in the Paris of the Piedmont.

Stuckey:

That’s the Paris of the Piedmont! There it is.

Benson:

Yeah. So, you have the Lapin Agile in Malt Martin in Paris, the City of Lights. And, then you have Lapin Bleu and the Paris of the Piedmont right here in the Midway in Chapel Hill Carrboro.

Stuckey:

It makes sense. It’s all coming together now. I wanted to talk about Midway a little bit because I’m new to the area still. I’m just completing my first year living in this area, and I’ve actually spent a lot of time where Carrboro meets Chapel Hill, but I wasn’t aware until recently that was Midway. I’d even heard the word “Midway,” but I hadn’t even as a community professional here, I hadn’t put that together. What is it that makes that area so special, and why did you want to put another business there?

Benson:

Well, in 1942, the United States had an outpost. No, that was, Midway Island <laugh>. So, it was the Midway is all independent. I mean, you do have a Jiffy Lube and a Papa John’s, so it’s not totally independent. But other than that, you have, everything from Local 506, Beer Study, Italian Pizzeria III, Pho Happiness, Franklin Motor’s Beer Garden, Al’s Burger Shack, Tin Cup Joe- the little coffee caravan. Who am I missing? You know, Syd’s Hair Shop right next door to me and Rumors, the Baxter, and Brandwein’s Bagels. And, we got the magic shop, which is right there, Lynn’s place.

Stuckey:

Right. Quantum Soul.

Benson:

Quantum Soul. There’s so much going on, and when you walk into any of these businesses, there’s the owner, it’s not like, ‘Hey, I would like to talk to the owner.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, they’re in Dallas.’ Yeah, they’re, ‘Oh, he’s right there,’ or, ‘She’s right there.’ So, the whole notion of these independent retail hospitality businesses all on one corner is fantastic. It’s the kind of the vintage fabric of Chapel Hill and Carrboro that’s still alive and, you know, we’re not trying to knock what’s going on on the 100 block of Franklin Street or anything else, but it’s just, there’s so many chains and franchises out there, and it’s just so nice that you could park your car and you can walk to any of these businesses. You can go shopping for vintage clothes, get your haircut, have a beer, a glass of wine, a slice of pizza, all right there, all within, you know, a couple hundred yards of each other.

Stuckey:

And I’m noticing when you’re listing those businesses, it’s a really nice mix of new and interesting businesses and just iconic Chapel Hill Carrboro locations.

Benson:

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I worked at Local 506 as a bartender in 1994, and IP3 was open. I used to go get their cheese steak and then walk up to Crook’s and get a, you know, some shrimp and grits back in the day from Bill. So, it’s very familiar. It’s a great place. And, with the additions of things like Franklin Motors out on the corner, and Quantum Soul. I mean, Lynn’s doing tarot card readings and sells magic crystals. And, before I opened, you know, kind of gave me the, like, ‘You should open it this time, because this is good vibes.’ Like, thank goodness you’re on my sideline. Don’t, please don’t put any voodoo curses on me.

Stuckey:

Speaking of the opening, we’re talking with Mike Benson, his latest adventure is Lapin Bleu. And, where are we on the opening there? Are we in a soft opening period? Is everything up and running? How is it?

Benson:

Everything.  Everything is up and running.

Stuckey:

After your auspicious opening under the right moon?

Benson:

Yeah. The hardest thing about opening a business, particularly anything that’s like a bar or restaurant in Chapel Hill, or even Carrboro, is you go through a permitting process. It’s… you jump through this hoop of fire, then this hoop of fire, and then this hoop and everything is in order. And then you get your C of O, then you go to ABC in Raleigh and you do the liquor license. It’s not a point where you can just pick a date and go, ‘Hey, we’re gonna be open on April 26th.’ You really have to kind of go through these hoops. So, we finally last Friday did open, and we have been open every day since. So, we’re seven days a week- Monday through Friday. We open at 1:00pm on Saturday. Sunday, we open at noon because obviously in the fall there’s football games that start at noon. So, we wanna make sure we are open for those.

Stuckey:

So, if I’m walking down the sidewalk at Midway and there’s all these great options available to me there and I’ve only got time to stop at one place, what makes Lapin Bleu the place that I should stop?

Benson:

Well, it’s an art gallery and it’s a bar. So, it just depends on what you’re feeling. I mean, if you’re feeling the vibe like you wanna play video games, I would say go to the Baxter. If you’re feeling like ‘I want to go in somewhere,’ we’re not a restaurant so you can bring outside food. We already have people who have been bringing in burgers from Al’s and pizzas and they love it ‘cause our patio, it looks like the Hungry Like a Wolf set from Duran Duran.  It’s got big palm fronds and flowers and stuff. And, of course Barry from Surplus Sids is usually sitting out there in his Simon Labon hat. So, we’ve got a great place to just chill and sit you can have anything from your glass of wine, or you could have a Pepsi, doesn’t matter.

Stuckey:

So it’s an art gallery. Is there art up on the walls right now?

Benson:

Art is going up as we speak. I’ve been in construction mode. Mandy Brown is gonna be the first artist in June, who owns Imbibe and Zog’s and Mandy’s fantastic and she’s a great artist as well as a restaurateur. And, so in the meantime, I’m just slinging a bunch of my stuff up onto the walls to carry us to June. So the good news is I’ve sold a couple of pieces already. I was not expecting that ‘cause they’re not even hanging. They’re just kind of sitting on the drink rail, leaning against the wall. Not the best presentation.

Stuckey:

It’s the presence of art. Is there a plan for how often the art’s going to rotate? Is it going to be a monthly thing?

Benson:

Every month. And we’re lining up, so we’re already booked through September. I think Tom Middleton is doing September, Chief is July. Edward Max Finley is August. So yeah, we’re booking through, we’re gonna do a group show in November. So, I like that because everybody who can’t wait for, you know, what’s happening months from now, it’s like, look, you can pick two or three pieces and be in a group show. Surprisingly we have, I’m working on a couple of international artists to come in. I went to Savannah College of Art and Design and graduated in 93. Still friends with a lot of amazing painters who are doing very well. I reached out to them and everybody’s receptive and wanting to do it. We just didn’t have an opening date. Now we’ve opened and a lot of local people are like, can I have, can I please be Miss June? And I’m like, of course you can, Mandy! And, uh, so we will have people in. I’ve been talking to Chris Stein from the band Blondie, he’s a photographer has amazing photographs. So, getting Chris to do a photo show down here. Peter Turnley lives in Paris. He’s a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer. So, we’ll squeeze them in when they can figure it out and when I can get them in. But, in the meantime, yeah, every month new artist.

Stuckey:

What about other arts? You got room to have bands in there?

Benson:

We are doing, so if you want to hear kind of loud rock stuff, we got Local 506 around the corner, one of the, you know, the 506, the Cradle and the Cave are the three powerhouses in Chapel Carrboro, but we are doing jazz. Last night, Chris Frank from Red Clay Ramblers was playing piano and singing. And, the night before Perry came in we had like some Cajun Zydeco out on the patio just playing, and Griffanzo and Danny Grin will come in and do some jazz. So, it’s just kind of light music. It’s kind of Paris, cabaret easygoing, no cover. There’s never cover here, you know, just come on in. It’s just, you know, enjoy.

Stuckey:

We’re speaking with Mike Benson. We’ve been talking mostly about Lapin Bleu, which is now open at Midway, but of course Mike’s always got a whole bunch of stuff going on. And, we now know that there’s going to be an open mayor seat in Carrborro. As a previous candidate, will you be putting your name in to be the next mayor of Carrboro?

Benson:

No, no.

Stuckey:

You heard it here. You heard it here first folks.

Benson:

The last time I ran it was, I, even now it’s too, it’s too late. They broke ground and they’re building it. The Carrboro Library. I was against the cost of what the library is going to end up being. And, as a lot of people know, you can go to an alderman meeting and speak for two minutes and everyone nods and thanks you and you sit down and that’s the end of it. You run for mayor and all of a sudden, you know, WCHL comes calling you and says, ‘Hey, you want to talk about the library?’ And, so I got to, I got to vent my views on what was going on. And, let me tell you, if you do decide to run for mayor, it’s $15 and you get invited to all of these like wine things, like meet the candidate dinners, breakfast with the candidates, and I even went to the Angus Barn, there was a whole thing and it was like $120 meal all comped because you were meeting the candidates. All you gotta do is go up and talk for five minutes and then sit down and eat some more of that prime rib <laugh>.

Benson:

So, best $15 I ever spent, running for mayor.

Stuckey:

That’s how you get $15 prime rib from the Angus Barn. Run for Mayor of Carrboro. Excellent. What else have you got going on right now?

Benson:

Well, we are in the Stanley Cup playoffs and so we do have TVs at Bleu. So, the whole thing is cranking right now with the Canes just crushing it tonight at eight o’clock. So, it’s so excited. You have places like Italian Pizzeria III – soccer, football, Beer Study –  soccer, football, you got lots of places showing NFL in the fall, but hockey, I mean, basically you kind of got the Hickory Tavern in Carrboro to catch your hockey game. So, we’re gonna take up that mantle and be a hockey bar. So, if there is hockey, ‘cause two of my partners are avid hockey players. I love hockey. We are a Caniac bar, but we are also happy to just, you know, show the Toronto and Montreal, just not Florida, please.

Stuckey:

<laugh> No Florida hockey, please. All right, we’ve been visiting with Mike Benson. We’re just about out of time. Is there anything else that you wanted to mention before we wrap up?

Benson:

I just, I love this time of year. This is, to be in Chapel Hill this time of year is spectacular. I mean, we’re still getting, it’s May and we’re still getting cold nights, sweaters, and sweatshirts. You can still make a fire and a fire pit. In the days it’s t-shirt and shorts, the pollen is just starting to kind of go away, which is nice from some of the rain we’ve taken. It’s not too high, you know, the heat’s coming. So if, if you work at a desk or anything else, for god’s sake, go outside, get out, because it’s gonna be brutally hot soon. And then we’ll have the Fall and then all things shall change again and be nice and wonderful and football but yeah. Support local businesses. If you go out to eat and drink and shop and get your hair cut, it really matters to keeping the fabric of Chapel Hill and Carrboro alive.

Stuckey:

Meet me at Midway. Get to know the eclectic variety of businesses located where Chapel Hill meets Carrboro. Lapin Bleu is a new art gallery that features a full bar where you can celebrate local artists and catch games, especially hockey. Now open at Midway. Follow the Blue Rabbit!  Mike, thanks for being here.

Benson:

Merci


Don’t know Midway yet?  Be a lot cooler if you did.  Learn more about Lapin Bleu, and all of the Merchants at Midway, on The Record Shop page. Meet us at Midway!


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