This is a blog of my five-week exploration of culinary experiences in North Carolina. Baaswell Sheep is accompanying me and offering his own commentary on the trip, although he refuses to go into any place that serves lamb chops.
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Please note that all restaurant names are used simply for referential purposes and links provided as a courtesy. Reviews are the sole opinions of the reviewer: no restaurant has paid to be listed here, and no restaurant is being explicitly endorsed. In other words, go out there, try them all, and form your own opinions!
After so many years, we made it to Chef and the Farmer, or more precisely, "The Counter at Chef and the Farmer". Not so sure about Chef Howard: she was eyeing me with that "mmm ... new lamb entree" look in her eye … okay, okay, I kid you like a goat. I'd imagine that Vivian Howard probably wasn't even in the building today, but my companion got to try her pork samosas and I nibbled on her watermelon salad, which to my surprise was pretty good (a combination of watermelon and avocado with a hint of jalapeno). From what we came to understand, the space being used for "The Counter" was previously the Chef and the Farmer gift shop. Which, basically makes the place rather unpretentious, as there's no gift shop at all now, no mention of her cookbooks anywhere, and no mention of her PBS shows. If you didn't know about those things, you'd have no idea that this place was special in any way. Still, the food was great, even if we didn't get to see the actual restaurant space that was featured on "A Chef's Life" for so many years. We'll be back the next three days for more southern goodness before heading out to our next destination. My companion already has his menu planned, but you'll just have to wait and see what he's going to order next.
Downtown Kinston, NC
It was hot as could be today, but we took a brief walk along Queen Street (more or less Kinston's main street) to see what the town is like. 'Dead' about sums it up in a single word. There's a few businesses left, but not many, and a lot of storefronts that have been empty for quite a long time. In one sense, that makes it interesting seeing all the remnants of the past, but in another way it makes it really eerie, especially with the distinct lack of people on the streets. Also strange was looking in the old bookstore and seeing that the back half had collapsed completely. On the other hand, we looked through the doors of an old bank and saw the biggest vault we'd ever seen in our lives (and no, that's not me sitting on the table in front of the vault – even zooming in on the original size hi-res image, I can't figure out what that thing is, but it's not an animal, real or stuffed). There seemed to be more life on the neighboring parallel street, Heritage Street, but it was too hot to keep exploring. Instead, we sought refuge in the air conditioning of the Lenoir County Library, which was a decent place to rest while my companion got some of his IT work done.
After a hot day we stopped in another North Carolina chain fast-casual restaurant, Smithfield Chicken 'N' Bar-B-Q. As I was tired, I let my friend Savannah the Fox go in with my companion, and she was so taken by the barbecue chicken that she forgot to make sure my companion took a picture of the meal. Never send a fox in to do a sheep's work. Well, they told me that the food was pretty good – I'll have to take their word on that.
Day Nine: Kinston
Slow day today – my companion took some time to just do some IT work, so we didn't explore much, but it was also still hot, hot, hot followed by a pretty good thunderstorm.
My companion wanted a quick, small lunch so we went back to Smithfield and tried their Carolina Bright Leaf Hot Dog and some slaw. The strange irony was that the hot dog, with chili, onions, and mustard, cost less than the side of cole slaw, go figure. It was all good, though.
We returned to Chef and the Farmer tonight to try one of their 'after 5 PM' dinner dishes: the shrimp and grits. My companion says he's never seen a shrimp and grits that looked like this one, but it was quite good. He meant to bring Vivian Howard's "Deep Run Roots" cookbook with him on this trip, but forgot to pack it, so he can't look into it right now to compare the dishes in the restaurant to the ones in her cookbook. We were surprised that the restaurant only had three other parties while we were there – we'd figured the place would be super busy on a Friday night, but the server said it was probably the weather keeping people away. In any case, we'll be back again tomorrow (Saturday) and Sunday before we head off to our next destination, wherever it might be.
Day Ten: Kinston
It's the weekend, meaning a chance to unwind and relax … as much as you can when the temperatures remain in the mid-nineties. Lunch was had in our hotel room today, so only one food report in this post.
Twenty miles from Kinston is a state park set along the banks of the Neuse river, which runs through Kinston. The park is moderate in size but has some nice trails, a lovely large but secluded group picnic shelter, some camping facilities, and even a lake that is open to swimming and boating. I opted to stay off my hooves and keep out of the sun, but my companion did a couple mile hike (in two segments with a break) and managed not to roast himself. He said the views were nice and that it would be a fun place to explore more thoroughly if it were not so hot. He brought back a few pictures of what he discovered.
We returned to Chef and the Farmer tonight to try another of their 'after 5 PM' dinner dishes: the freeform lasagna. My companion says the dish was definitely a unique form of lasagna: the outer edges of the noodles seem to have been purposely allowed to dry out and get a little crisp, and the mozzarella bechamel was an interesting derivation from traditional ricotta cheese. The whole time, we were staring at two different cake slices under glass, and I convinced him to try the hummingbird cake, which is like an iced banana bread. It was good, but even between the two of us, we couldn't finish that large slice. Amusingly, they're getting to know my companion now: you can see what name they put on his cake receipt. I hope this doesn't go to his head or I'll never hear the end of it (and he thinks my bleating is bad …) In any case, we'll be back again one last time tomorrow (Sunday) to try one of Vivian's best known dishes before we head off to our next destination.
Alas, all good things must come to an end, and so we returned to Chef and the Farmer this afternoon to end up our experience there with Vivian's famous tomato pie. It was quite an interesting dish – a little bit like a pizza, yet not really what I'd call pizza either. Definitely unique, but I wouldn't expect anything less from Vivian Howard, and I was glad my companion finally ordered something vegetarian so that I could enjoy it with him. I'm going to miss this quaint little place that I've come to know so well, but it's time to move on and explore more of North Carolina, though we won't be heading anywhere until tomorrow morning.
Our last stop in Kinston was a return to this fun little classic 50's style diner with the pale blue and pink seats. Unfortunately, Savannah the Fox insisted on going in instead of me, and she gobbled up the jalapeño jack cheesesteak before reminding my companion to take a picture of the meal. He said she left the side salad for him – how nice of her …
Day Twelve: To Roanoke Rapids
This was an unusual day, reminding me that we really should get something to eat before leaving the area of our hotel, because you never know what, if anything you'll find when traveling the backroads of America. We headed north from Kinston, expecting to get lunch somewhere along the way, but there were not a lot of decent options. As we often do, we let a few places slip by during the first hour of the drive, expecting there would likely be something better to come, but this time luck was not with us. We stopped for gas and my companion was ready to just have lunch in the convenience store: it was one of those nicer, bigger chain stores, and they even had Cheerwine on the fountain, but dagnabit they didn't have any inside seating, and we were not about to sit outside in 94 degree heat, nor were we going to sit and eat in the car. So, we went on and in one small town we saw a Hardee's and decided to stop there: it turned out to be take-out only (never seen a take-out only Hardee's before), so we got back in the car and kept going. Ended up going all the way to Roanoke Rapids and having lunch at 3 PM at a Chick-fil-a. Not exactly a North Carolina specialty, but certainly familiar and it gave us something to eat.
Downtown Wilson, NC
I'd dare say the highlight of our day was going through downtown Wilson, North Carolina this morning on a whim and discovering a park full of crazy wind-powered contraptions up on poles. Color me impressed that my companion knew off the top of his head that they were "whirlygigs". We found a sign that explained that a local man named Vollis Simpson made all of these whirlygigs and displayed them on his farm, but as he got older he couldn't maintain them, even though people were coming from all around to see them. So locals got together and raised money to build this park and to carefully restore and maintain his many creations so that they can continue to "fly" in the park year after year. It is definitely a sight to behold, and somehow still pictures just can't do it justice.
Roanoke Canal, Roanoke Rapids, NC
For a moderate size city, we didn't see a lot to do in downtown Roanoke Rapids when we drove through. We went all the way north to the river and across then came back and stopped at the Roanoke Canal Trail for a brief walk. Unfortunately, on the part we went on, we really couldn't see much of the old canal. We got a nice view of Rochelle Pond, but the one bench was a bit too weed covered for our tastes, so we just stood until we were ready to walk back to the parking lot. Drove back to our hotel area near I-95 and went out to Weldon, which is smaller but somehow more appealing. We'll be going back there tomorrow to work in their library and check out a couple of antique stores there.
Cracker Barrel, Roanoke Rapids, NC
So, sorry to burst anyone's bubble, but as you might expect from the start of this post, we aren't going to bend over backwards to eat every meal at a North Carolina based restaurant. Trust me, we'd like to do that, but it's hard to find decent locally run restaurants in every place we visit. Tonight, we ended up at Cracker Barrel, which has really lost its appeal as a chain. For probably the third time in the last few years, we were asked to wait for twenty minutes because of a "kitchen hold". Why they can't properly staff their kitchens anymore is beyond me. Since we had lunch late, the wait wasn't such a big deal, but then once seated we were informed that they had no lemonade, and no salad dressings other than blue cheese. We ended up getting a caffeine-free soda, a bowl of turnip greens, a bowl of mac-and-cheese, and an order of biscuits. On the upside, the food we got was good, and the waitress gave us a discount, but overall they made a lousy impression on us. Have to wonder if this chain is destined to go the way of so many other well-known brands that have up and disappeared over the years …
Day Thirteen: Weldon
Instead of going back into Roanoke Rapids today, we spent a few hours in nearby Weldon instead, which made for an interesting experience.
Sunshine Grill, Weldon, NC
I knew that at some point on this trip my companion would drag me into one of those hole-in-the-wall places, and today that finally happened. We went into this former gas station now known as the Sunshine Grill and he had a BBQ sandwich and a Cheerwine and an ice cream sandwich. I chided him about the nutritional value of that meal, but he said it was good, quick, and cheap. I decided to graze on the grass out back, especially when a construction crew came in to have their lunch. Perfectly nice people according to my companion, but you might imagine what they were like after a hard morning's work on a 94 degree day.
Downtown Weldon, NC
Another small town that's lost a lot of its lifeblood over the years. It seemed like the only two shops left were side-by-side: a giant antique mall and a mercantile of sorts. We checked them out right after lunch, finding that the antique mall went much further back than we could have ever imagined. Still, we found nothing of interest and most of the rest of town was vacant, though we found a cute little out-of-place mini gothic building attached to the end of one of the regular buildings. We finally went over to the library, only to find the front door propped open, which was highly suggestive that the A/C was not working. We didn't bother to go inside – my companion took care of his IT work from the parking lot and then we went on down to the Riverside Mill "antiques and outlet" center. Never have we seen so much 'stuff' under one roof. Last year my companion visited a place in Virginia that claimed to be the largest antique mall in the country, but this one is definitely giving that one a run for its money. The only problem was that there were hardly any customers there, which always makes a huge place seem a bit, well, eerie. We traipsed through the three floors of merchandise then returned to our hotel for the rest of the afternoon so I could rest my hooves while he resumed his IT work.
Logan's Roadhouse, Weldon, NC
We had dinner at one of those chain roadhouse style places. Nothing spectacular, but nothing to complain about either – my companion had a nice meal and I grazed on the caesar salad and the rolls. Sorry, we forgot to get a picture of the food – that was baaaad of me, but it had been a long day, and sometimes even sheep forget.
P.S. please forgive any typos or spelling errors in these posts – you try typing with two cloven hooves!
Day Thirteen: To Roxboro
Our stay in Roanoke Rapids / Wheldon was interesting, but it's time to move on and head west.
Wanting to get back into our North Carolina cuisine journey, and learning from past mistakes, we started the day at Biscuitville for a good brunch. This is a chain restaurant, only open for breakfasts and lunches, but it has its roots in Burlington, North Carolina and its headquarters are now in Greensboro. One of their store features is the "Biscuit Window" where you can watch as the biscuits are being made each day. My companion got a sausage and gravy biscuit and I nibbled on his hashbrown. I tried to convince him to get a nice, healthy orange juice, but he spotted Cheerwine on the fountain and this was the first opportunity he'd had to get fountain Cheerwine the whole trip (he is sensible enough not to drink that kind of caffeine in the evenings, yet the only time we seemed to find Cheerwine on a fountain was in the evenings until now). I at least made him stop at one 21 ounce cup. Overall, not a bad place, other than the TV set blaring the news at a level where you couldn't get away from the sound no matter what corner of the restaurant you retreated into.
Downtown Oxford, NC
Made a brief stop in Oxford, just west of Henderson, and walked around the downtown, which still has some life in it. I love the architecture you find in these old towns – there's a charm to seeing the rows of buildings that in their heyday had their business spaces at ground level and residences or offices on the upper levels, harkening back to a time when shopkeepers lived in town because it was simply too much to travel into town every day to run a business. And, of course, it's always nice to see a classic theater that's still being used as a theater.
Downton Roxboro, NC
We made it into Roxboro after a day of rain, and after resting up a little we ventured into the downtown area -er- excuse me, "Uptown Roxboro" as the locals call it. Honestly, it's a pretty nice looking town and does still seem to have some life in it like Oxford. Bear in mind we were there at six o'clock, so most of the businesses (other than a few of the restaurants) were closed for the day. Loved seeing that the town's classic theater is an actual performing and visual arts center – I'm always happy to see efforts to keep the arts alive in small towns.
The challenge of checking out the local food scene is that you never know what you're going to actually get until you're seated and the food arrives. We picked this place out via the maps and went over to it, and we really were not sure what to make of it as we went inside. Definitely a few steps up from a "hole-in-the-wall", but certainly not in the same ballpark as a chain seafood place. The menu was shrimp heavy, so my companion tried the shrimp alfredo while I grazed on the salad bar. It wasn't all that bad, though it remains to be seen how my companion will feel overnight, if you know what I mean.
After so many years, we made it to Chef and the Farmer, or more precisely, "The Counter at Chef and the Farmer". Not so sure about Chef Howard: she was eyeing me with that "mmm ... new lamb entree" look in her eye … okay, okay, I kid you like a goat. I'd imagine that Vivian Howard probably wasn't even in the building today, but my companion got to try her pork samosas and I nibbled on her watermelon salad, which to my surprise was pretty good (a combination of watermelon and avocado with a hint of jalapeno). From what we came to understand, the space being used for "The Counter" was previously the Chef and the Farmer gift shop. Which, basically makes the place rather unpretentious, as there's no gift shop at all now, no mention of her cookbooks anywhere, and no mention of her PBS shows. If you didn't know about those things, you'd have no idea that this place was special in any way. Still, the food was great, even if we didn't get to see the actual restaurant space that was featured on "A Chef's Life" for so many years. We'll be back the next three days for more southern goodness before heading out to our next destination. My companion already has his menu planned, but you'll just have to wait and see what he's going to order next.
