Provenance to bring creative dining concept to Raleigh

Another chef with impressive credentials has chosen Raleigh as the location to open a new restaurant.

Teddy Klopf will be executive chef at Provenance at SkyHouse, a restaurant and bar in the new high-rise condo and retail complex under construction at 308 S. Blount St. He left a year-long stint of cooking at Herons at The Umstead this month to focus on developing his creative concept and building his team for a scheduled October opening.

The 31-year-old chef has ambitious plans for Provenance, which will start with breakfast and lunch service in the downstairs bar. Upstairs, Klopf will feature a "subscription" dining option, which he says will be tailored to preferences of individual members, and themed pop-up style dinners on weekends. The latter will be something like Next in Chicago, where fans follow social media postings to jump on ticketed events.

"There is nothing else in the area doing what we will be doing. It's for people who are looking for a little more in their dining experiences," says Klopf, noting that the tasting menu-style meals will change daily based on seasonal availability. Themed events under consideration include a Don Quixote series, which will pair Spanish "wine and cuisine with elements of the fantastical," suggesting the high-tech gastronomy of the famed El Bulli.

After working as a pastry chef and certified sommelier from 2005 to 2008 at a handful of award-winning restaurants in Sante Fe, Klopf enrolled at the prestigious Culinary Institute of America. The experience allowed him opportunities to learn at top New York City restaurants, including Thomas Keller's Per Se, Eric Ripert's Le Bernadin and Daniel Humm's Eleven Madison Park. After he graduated in 2011, he cooked for two years at McCrady's, one of Sean Brock's Charleston restaurants.

"I've had a lot of extraordinary experience to learn in great kitchens," Klopf says. "But there was no question for me that Raleigh was the place where I wanted to have my own restaurant."

Klopf credits the increasingly vibrant downtown restaurant culture and accessibility to farmers as primary draws.

"I did my homework and felt that my concept would be a good fit for the area. After a year at the Umstead, I'm quite certain about it," he says. "It's a very exciting time for the food scene and the sheer bounty and excellence of local goods is incredible. In my estimation North Carolina offers one of the best and healthiest agricultural centers in the country."

This post first appeared in Indy Week.

North Carolina Military Veterans Join the Ranks of the State’s Brewers

When North Carolina troops return from military deployments, they often crave the familiar flavors we take for granted. After an extended diet of ready-to-eat meals, few things taste better than a grilled burger dressed with Duke’s, a second serving of strawberry shortcake, and an ice-cold beer.

 

For a handful of enterprising veterans, beer has become more than a sip of freedom. It’s their livelihood, earning them opportunities to translate leadership skills gained through service to our country into the creation of quality craft brews.

 

Since April is North Carolina Beer Month, it’s good to note that at least six breweries owned or operated by veterans have opened in North Carolina in recent years.

 

Beer Army Combat Brewery is located in New Bern, just down the road from the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. Among its award-winning beers are Fire in the Hole, an Irish-style red ale, and Heroes Never Die!!!, an American-style IPA. At The Mash House Brewing Company in Fayetteville, a double IPA recently debuted with the name Intrepid, a salute to the courageous fighters at Fort Bragg.

 

Railhouse Brewery in Aberdeen has KA-BAR, a brown ale named for the combat knife adopted by the Marines during World War II. The brew won a gold medal at the 2013 International Craft Beer Awards. Sold across North and South Carolina, it’s also popular around Camp Mujuk in South Korea, one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the world, offering a taste of home.

 

These military brethren caught the craft-brewing bug the same way most of the state’s top brewers did: by making small-batch beer at home. But there is more that unites them.

 

“They all seem to agree that their military training gave them the know-how and confidence to become craft beer entrepreneurs,” says Margo Knight Metzger, executive director of the NC Craft Brewers Guild.

 

And they all observed a lack of local breweries in friendly territory near the state’s many military bases. Several veteran-led start-ups were in discussion when Railhouse led the charge and was established in December 2010. Not far from Fort Bragg and Fayetteville and near Aberdeen, Camp Mackall Army Base is where soldiers train to become members of the elite U.S. Army Special Forces.

 

Ratkowski's business partner is Brian Evitts, a former home brewer who served as a nuclear propulsion chemist in the Navy. “That’s why Brian is the CEO and brewmaster,” quips Ratkowski. “We figured if he could handle nuclear physics, making craft beer on a commercial scale should be a breeze.”

 

Ratkowski says the structure and rigor of military service develops job-ready skills that are essential to success in the public sector.

 

“None of us are afraid of getting our hands dirty,” agrees Vernardo “Tito” Simmons-Valenzuela, a former Army medic turned brewmaster at Dirtbag Ales in Hope Mills. “Everything at our brewery, except what we’ve needed commercial permits for, we’ve done ourselves. Lead-from-the-front and be-the-example definitely came into play,” he adds.

 

Micah Niebauer, co-founder and CEO of Southern Pines Brewing Co., says his partners have a clear sense of mission and experience that lets them “adjust on the fly as we operate the brewery.”

With support from a Patriot Express Loan available only to military veterans, Niebauer created the company with fellow Green Berets who served in his unit. “From our perspective,” he adds, “opening a business and becoming an entrepreneur is part of the American dream.”

 

Niebauer’s team calculated that the Sandhills could support two breweries. Southern Pines Brewing is located along the same rail line as Railhouse Brewery, even having used Railhouse’s equipment before acquiring its own gear. More comrades than competitors, the two recently collaborated on a black IPA called Ties That Bind.

 

Like members of the armed forces, microbrewers say that they are stronger when they pull together. “We’re all on the same team,” Ratkowski says. “Our goal is to share our passion for craft beer. We think it’s more important for people to know and buy from their local brewer than some big faceless corporation.”

 

Richard Young developed his brewing skills on the West Coast before landing at Fayetteville’s The Mash House last November. Once a member of the distinguished 7th Infantry Division at California’s Fort Ord, he has fond memories of time spent training at Fort Bragg with the 82nd Airborne.

 

“It makes sense to me do something I love in a community that I really appreciate,” says Young, who started brewing beer in junior officer quarters at Fort Ord. “Technically, it wasn’t quite legal,” he admits, “but let me say this: Up and down the halls, no one was complaining.”

 

Young is working on a new beer that will be sold to raise money for a nonprofit that assists members of the armed services. “We’re testing a few with our customers now,” says Young. “Once we settle on a winner, part of the proceeds will go straight to helping veterans.”

 

There’s little about the upscale taproom or list of classic Belgian-style ales at Charlotte’s Sugar Creek Brewing Company to suggest that it’s run by veterans. “We don’t market our military experience,” says CEO Joe Vogelbacher, a graduate of Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy and current member of the Naval Reserve. His partners include a Marine Corps infantry machine gunner who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, a Navy submarine electronics technician, and a former nuclear engineer with Newport News Shipbuilding.

 

“When people learn our story, they come and introduce themselves,” adds Vogelbacher, whose brewery is not far from the Air National Guard 145th Airlift Wing. “Birds of a feather, right? We all want to see people who served their country succeed when they get back home.”

 

With a logo that depicts an American eagle with a wild-eyed Devil Dog on its chest, there is no mistaking Beer Army Combat Brewery’s pedigree. The image combines the motivational nickname for the Marines with the look of Beer Army founder and “General” Dustin Canestorp’s beloved late Doberman. He says it’s a constant reminder that making and selling beer is a means to doing good in his community.

 

“Philanthropy is the reason I started this,” says Canestorp, a retired Marine who has directed more than $90,000 to local charities through his nonprofit, Beer Army Foundation. “We are part of the fabric of our community. Our mission is to help.”

 

Canestorp was inspired to create the brewery and the foundation following the combat death of a close friend. This year, he will expand the foundation’s reach by providing small scholarships through events proceeds and sales of logo goods. For a college student in need, it’s an entirely different way to think about “beer money.”

 

“I believe education is key to solving a lot of our country’s problems,” says Canestorp, who put himself through college by joining the Marines. “If our foundation can help a kid get ahead, become successful, and give back to their community, I’ll be very happy.”

 

Application information will be posted on the foundation’s website, BeerArmy.org.

Military branding also plays a big role at another veteran-owned and operated brewery. Being called a “dirtbag” might not strike you as a compliment, but Simmons-Valenzuela says fans of Dirtbag Ales recognize the intended fellowship.

 

“We call people dirtbags when they’ve kicked around” various deployments, explains Simmons-Valenzuela, who met his business partner and fellow Army medic Gerald Montero while they were assigned to a small hospital in Baghdad, Iraq.

 

Dirtbag also brewed beer at Railhouse before opening its own production site. Railhouse’s Ratkowski says Dirtbag is making one of the best Kölsch beers in the state. It’s on tap at super chef Ashley Christensen’s popular Beasley’s Chicken + Honey in Raleigh.

 

Simmons-Valenzeula credits an unused gift for Dirtbag’s success. He and Montero returned to North Carolina after their deployment, buying houses next door to one another. He gave Montero and his bride a beer-making kit as a wedding gift, but a year later, it was still in the package.

 

“I took it back, and I guess the rest is history,” Simmons-Valenzuela says. “There’s just no reason to let good beer go to waste.”

 

This story first posted in Our State Magazine.
NOTE: The Sun Journal of New Bern reported that Beer Army has closed. Founder Dustin Canestrop says he hopes to continue the work of the Beer Army Foundation.

 

Fire in the Triangle winner Ryan Conklin honed skills in healthcare kitchens

Ryan Conklin of Rex Healthcare
(photos courtesy Got to Be NC
Competition Dining Series) 

Early in his career, Ryan Conklin used to ditch his logo-emblazoned chef's jacket before walking into a grocery store or business where the company name might be recognized.

"I didn't want people knowing I worked in a hospital kitchen," says Conklin, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America who landed his first executive chef job at age 24. "I was embarrassed about the food we were serving and wanted to avoid anyone stopping me to talk about it."

With a win at the recent Fire in the Triangle portion of the Got to Be NC Competition Dining Series, Conklin is no longer concerned about the stigma of hospital food. For the past six yeares, he has served as executive chef at Raleigh's Rex Healthcare, which provides nearly 4,000 meals daily. He previously earned two gold medals, in 2010 and 2012, representing Red at the Association for Healthcare Foodservice Culinary Competition.

Conklin planned his Fire in the Triangle dishes—which featured a vast range of surprise ingredients—on his study of competitor entries that had scored best with culinary judges and paying guests. "It's not about what’s the complicated thing a chef feels like making," he says. "We focused on cooking food that would make people want to lick the bowl. I told our team, 'Every dish should make people feel like it's date night.' " 


Conklin’s winning dessert course included Uno Alla Volta
ricotta-toffee cornmeal upside down cake, ricotta semifreddo,
Meyer lemon-blueberry compote, ricotta-vanilla bean cannoli
cream, pine nut crumble and a balsamic-white peach coulis.

Good advice. With a $2,000 prize and a new handmade chef's knife in his kit, Conklin will advance to the statewide finals to be held in October.

"How cool is that?" he says of his victory over a dozen competitors, many of them well-known chefs at critically acclaimed restaurants. "Who would have thought a hospital chef would win this thing?"

Conklin has been honing his skills in healthcare kitchens for about a dozen years. In addition to cooking for appreciative patients, chefs who work in this field have more stable work schedules than colleagues who work in public restaurants, especially those who cater to the late-night crowd.

"We're all out of here after 8 p.m. We trade weekends and we're off most holidays," says Conklin, who has cultivated a staff of former chef-owners and restaurant cooks who were glad to leave the daily grind. "With what we can accomplish here, I really don't miss working in a restaurant."

Conklin believes his team—as well as talented chefs who cook at assisted living centers and other medical facilities—has a responsibility to do more than just respond to a checkmark indicating a specific dietary need.

"We think of our operation as a hotel-style kitchen within a hospital. It's how we think about food and create new items," he says. "When I first transitioned from the restaurant industry to healthcare, it was a huge culture shock to me. Things were just thrown in the steamers. There was no passion about developing dishes or flavors. No one gave any thought to presentation.

"Today," he adds, "as far as being a chef in this field, I look at it as an untapped market dripping with opportunity and potential."

Conklin blogs about his career and collaborations with other healthcare chefs at NewSchoolHospitalFood.com. “We've become leaders in our field at Rex, and I don't take that lightly," he says. "I like to share information with people who are also committed to reinventing healthcare cuisine.”

While dedicated to thinking outside of the box, Conklin is not offended by having to produce daily batches of that most ubiquitous hospital snack: Jell-O.

"I've got to be honest, Jell-O is a very comforting food. People want it," he says. "But we don't treat it as 'just Jell-O.' When we serve it, we make sure it's the best Jell-O you've ever had."

This post first appeared in Indy Week.

When in North Carolina, eat as the locals eat

Bob Garner, author of "Foods That Make You Say Mmm-Mmm," will speak at 7pm Wednesday, March 18, during a meeting of Culinary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina (CHOPNC) at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill. The event is free and open to the public.

Even with the different options available from east to west and back again, Bob Garner has learned that man cannot live by North Carolina barbecue alone.

Since he wrote his first book in 1996, North Carolina Barbecue: Flavored by Time, Garner has become one of the state's best known bbq experts. He's written extensively on the passions of those who choose vinegar or tomato sauce - or vice versa - and featured hard working, traditional pit masters in countless WUNC television programs.

In his new book, Foods That Make You Say Mmm-Mmm (Blair Publishing), Garner takes readers along for a journey that stretches from the coast to the mountains - with plenty of pit stops in-between to fill up on local specialties.

"I decided to focus on foods that really are special to North Carolina, as opposed to things that are loved throughout the South," Garner says. "We all eat a lot of mac and cheese and chicken and dumplings, and wash it down with sweet tea. But there is a kind of cabbage collard grown here that is limited to the coastal plain. It's so good that has its own festival in the little town of Ayden, which calls itself the Collard Capital of the World. Now that is truly special."

The pale yellow leaves of the cabbage collard and sweeter and more tender than its stiff, dark-leaved cousin. It's also more precious giving its limited growing season. "I do get a little sad when you can't get them anymore," Garner says, "but then all the spring and summer produce arrives. In North Carolina, there is always something to look forward to."

Garner strived to introduce readers to some traditional foods that are less well-known outside of their native habitat. Ocracoke Fig Cake, which is generally available up and down the Outer Banks when figs are plentiful, is one such example.

"It's perfect for the winter holidays," Garner says of the cake, which uses a jar of fig jam for its rich flavor and distinctive texture.  

"I don't think most people know about that, but they should," he says with a trace of the familiar "mmm-mmm" he uses to accentuate foods he adores.

And while many North Carolinians are familiar with Brunswick stew, Garner would like to see them boldly try some Neuse River fish stew.

"It's a very localized fish made in no more than four counties along the Neuse," he says. "Unless you live there or know people - or are a food historian or a really clued-in foodie - you've probably never tried it."

Garner includes a recipe for Authentic Eastern North Carolina Fish Stew in the book. He warns that it's an ugly bowlful of often boney rockfish, layered with potatoes and onions, and topped with eyeball-like poached eggs slipped in at the last minute. The stew is not to be stirred while cooking - typically outdoors, or in a sheltered garage if it's too cold and windy - to ensure that fish stays in large chunks.

"It's been going on for years and years, but it's a little known dish outside of the immediate area," Garner says, noting that some renegades doctor their stew with crushed saltines . "There are only a couple of places where you can get it commercially, like Ken's Grille on Hwy. 70 in LaGrange.  But only on Fridays."

Another fish Garner originally thought to leave out but couldn't resist in charcoal mullet. Once dismissed as bait fish, sustainable oily mullet - especially jumping mullet - has become popular inland thanks to providers who rush fresh catch from the coast to grateful local consumers.

"Charcoal mullet is food for the common people, a thing locals always ate when others wouldn't," he says. "There's a lesson here. If you eat what the locals eat, you're going to eat well."

 

 

Carolina Crossroads to celebrate 90th year with Commemorative Chef's Dinner

 

Carolina Crossroads Executive Chef James Clark. For information
about the Commemorative Chef's Dinner or to make reservations,
call 919-918-2735 or email crossroads@carolinainn.com

When Executive Chef James Clark took over the kitchen at the Carolina Crossroads three years ago, he surprised some regulars by replacing the upscale fish long featured in signature dishes with lesser-known sustainable species. It took courage then to print words like grunt and jolthead porgy on the famously elegant menu, but now it's the norm.

 

Over its 90 years of operation - the restaurant began service when the Carolina Inn opened on Dec. 30, 1924 - each executive chef has had made his mark on an institution that has seen its share of academic all stars, blushing brides and assorted word class dignitaries. Their efforts will be celebrated at 6:30pm Saturday during the Commemorative Chef's Dinner.

 

The four course meal with wine pairings will reflect the contributions of Clark and two of his predecessors, Brian Stapleton and Jimmy Reale. All three are expected to cook side by side to produce the meticulously researched meal.

 

"We have been looking at a lot of the menus that dated back to the 1950s," Clark says. "It has been fun to see the food they did during this time. We have had some laughs on the prices in those days, but what's been the most fun is taking the old ideas and doing some more updated versions of those dishes. 

For example, a popular dish from the 1960s was a Jellied Madrilène, a cold consommé with Tomato. That has morphed into  Celery Tomato Gelee Garnished with Crawfish Salad, one of the nibbles that will be passed before the meal formally begins.  

Here is the rest of the menu:

• Passed Items:  Pickled Salmon and Sour Cream on Rye; Crispy Oyster with Leek Country Ham Reduction and Artichoke Relish; and Cured Duck Foie Gras with Macerated Raisins and Brioche
• First course:  Sea Salt and Sorghum Brined Shrimp served with Celery Root Black Truffle Puree and Chervil Ruby Red Grapefruit Salad
• Second Course:  Braised North Carolina Bison Short Rib Ragout, Old Mill of Guilford Creamy Grits, Walker Farms Butternut Squash, Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Hillsborough Company Chevre
• Third Course:  Tea Spiced Muscovy Duck Breast served with Acorn Spoon Bread, Confit Mushrooms along with Pear Watercress Emulsion and Smoked Honey
• Dessert:  Chocolate and Salted Caramel Hazelnut Torte and Chocolate Frangelico Ganache 



Undated vintage photo of Carolina Crossroads (above) and
the dining room today (below). Photos courtesy Carolina Inn.

Artifacts from the Carolina Inn's storied history are featured in a display that stretches from the lobby down the North and East Halls past the restaurant entrance. It was built in 1924 by UNC alumnus John Spring Hill and designed by award-winning architect Arthur C. Nash, who also designed other campus landmarks. According to its website, Hill donated the hotel to UNC in 1935 with the stipulation that all profits were to be used to support the university's library system.

 

This article first appeared in Indy Week.

Durham's role in civil rights struggle documented in 'Counter Histories '

This weather-delayed event has been rescheduled for 7pm April 7.
Culinary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina is proud to present "Counter Histories: Durham's Royal Ice Cream Sit-Ins" at Flyleaf Books, Chapel Hill.

Royal Ice Cream, Durham, is focus of
a documentary short in "Counter Histories,"
a project of the Southern Foodways Alliance

Because of the 1960 Greensboro sit-in that forced Woolworth's to set aside its policy of racial discrimination in the South, most people know that North Carolina figures prominently in the civil-rights timeline.

Fewer are aware, however, that Durham also played a pivotal role. Three years earlier, a group of eight African-Americans decided to challenge the segregation policy that limited them to buying treats at Royal Ice Cream's back door while white customers were welcomed to sit inside.

"We weren't sure what would happen, but we knew it needed to happen," recalls Virginia Williams, who shares her recollections in one of five documentary shorts that compose Counter Histories, a project of the Southern Foodways Alliance. "We knew it was time to test the establishment."

Williams will join Kate Medley, Durham photojournalist and producer of Counter Histories, at the rescheduled April 7 meeting of Culinary Historians of Piedmont North Carolina (CHOPNC). Jesse Paddock of Carrboro, who directed the Durham feature, also will participate in the event at Flyleaf Books in Chapel Hill.

Medley says the focus on youth-led protests at segregated lunch counters was envisioned as a fitting way to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Civil Rights Act, which President Johnson signed just before Independence Day in 1964. The act made segregation in public places illegal.

The other films document events in Jackson, Mississippi; Rock Hill, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee and Cambridge, Maryland.

Medley produced the piece on Jackson, her hometown, where many still feel the scars of the especially brutal incident. "A lot of the racial tensions still are pretty raw," she says. "It's not something people want to talk about." 


Frank Blackwell photo of the brutal sit-in
at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Jackson, Miss.

Two weeks after the May 1963 sit-in at the local Woolworth's lunch counter, which commanded national media attention, NAACP field agent Medgar Evers was shot in the head after parking in his own driveway. His assassination galvanized national interest in racial discrimination in the South, leading to adoption of the Civil Rights Act.

"One of the underlying goals of the project was not to just tell a story of yesterday and stop the conversation there," says Medley, who discussed the film on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in the context of youth leadership, with students at the North Carolina School of Science and Math in Durham. The school has a permanent display featuring part of the lunch counter at the old Durham Woolworth's, where a sit-in occurred one week after the more famous one in Greensboro.

"I asked, 'Can you imagine being among these people?' We're still facing a multitude of civil rights issues, but these young people are empowered to make change," Medley adds. "We were insistent in our mission that these films are very forward-thinking and relevant to 2014, 2015, tomorrow. We wanted the ideas to be relevant to what's happening in our world today."

This article first appeared in Indy Week.

Small Italian eatery Gocciolina creates a stir in Durham

 

The CLOSED sign was on the door at Gocciolina, Aaron Benjamin's little Italian restaurant in an unassuming plaza on Guess Road, but the phone was ringing nonstop on a recent Monday afternoon.

 

Pork with radicchio, fennel and orange salad.
Gocciolina has quickly established itself as a must visit.
Indy Week photo by Jeremy M. Lange

Intermittently, a cell phone in the chef-owner's pocket would also jangle. With an apologetic sigh, he'd glance at the screen and put it away.

"Sorry. It's been a little crazy here lately," Benjamin says, referring to Gocciolina being named 2015 Triangle Restaurant of the Year by The News & Observer. "Our phone system can only hold 50 messages. I think we're going to have to get a new one, or hire someone. Or both."

In the hot-and-cold restaurant trade, these are good problems to have. The buzz about this 45-seat eatery—55, counting the small bar—has been building since it opened last summer. Many diners showed up right away because they appreciated Benjamin's work at popular spots such as Pop's Backdoor, Nana's, Watts Grocery and, most recently, Rue Cler, Pizzeria Toro and Guglhupf.

"We probably won't see some of our loyal regulars for awhile," Benjamin says. "They might not want to deal with the crazy rush, but they'll be back. And just like before, they'll bring their friends."

Word of mouth has been important to the restaurant's success. Much of it also stems from the year Benjamin spent training in Italy, where his plans for Gocciolina were formed.

Thanks to an inheritance and his family's encouragement, Benjamin enrolled in 2007 in a program that focused on Old World ways of preparing traditional foods. The experience forever changed his approach to cooking.

"It was unbelievable. The best year of my life," says Benjamin, adding that he also trained and traveled in Spain, France and Croatia. "I'd never been exposed to so much beauty and different ways of cooking."

He briefly considered staying in Italy, but was homesick for his mother and sister, both of whom live in Durham. "It's something the Italians understand," says Benjamin, whose sister, Talitha Benjamin, recently starting working with him. "Family is everything."

While meals are not served family style at Gocciolina, the menu is designed to encourage sharing at table. There are nine nibblicious antipasti listed on the menu, including creamy marinated corona beans, meatballs with tomato sauce and parmigiano, and crispy fried eggplant with fresh tomato and gorgonzola. They're just $3 each if you order at least three. Vegetable sides range from $4 to $6.

"A lot of people come in, order a bottle of wine and share a bunch of small plates," says Benjamin, who insists that servers ensure a relaxed, hospitable vibe in the cozy dining room. "It's a fun and affordable way to spend an evening."

Main courses are budget friendly, too. Most pasta dishes are $8 or $9, with everything but spaghetti made from scratch in the large prep kitchen downstairs. A grilled steak can be had for just $9, with local pork and lamb chops topping the menu at $19 and $22, respectively. Different daily specials are posted in the dining room.

Benjamin hopes to grow the bar's offerings of Italian beers, wines and spirits, but is limited by the ABC Store system. Amaro and grappa flights are available, as are cups of stiff espresso to go with house-made panna cotta, chocolate almond torte and freshly filled cannoli.

While Benjamin tries to keep at least one table and the bar open for walk-ins, reservations are strongly encouraged as there is nowhere to wait while diners understandably linger over meals. He's already thinking about adding a raised deck to make room for more seating out back when the weather warms.

The phone rings again and Benjamin stares as its screen flashes 50 MESSAGES. He rubs his tired eyes and smiles. "I better start making more pasta for all these people."

Gocciolina
3314 Guess Road, Durham
919-973-4089
www.gocciolina.com
Hours: 5:30–10 p.m., Tuesday–Saturday

This article first appeared in Indy Week with the headline "Buzzy and busy."