Triad City Bites — May 2019

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MAY 2019

Twin City Hive

Curated By:

Also featured in this month’s Issue: Facts of Garlic

Dinner Guest

That thing I ate

I

by Brian Clarey

still remember the first time.

I was 7 years old, at my grandparents’ house in New Jersey, with no fewer than 20 members of my extended

Italian family.

Someone suggested we all go to a restaurant, something we rarely did — this was 1977, and the female members of large Italian families in New Jersey were basically kitchen conscripts. But that night they got a break from boiling pastas and rolling meatballs when we all went to… Umberto’s? Ignacio’s? The name is so close, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

But I remember the calzones. It was the only thing we ordered, enough for all of us.

“They deep-fry them here,” my uncle stagewhispered to me as we filled every single table in the tiny basement restaurant. I was still too young to get excited about such things, but that would change on this day.

The calzones, as they came out to the tables, were the color of honey. A half of one was slapped on the table in front of me, on a paper plate stained with grease. In the cross-section, I could see the mounds of flowing ricotta and mozzarella, but also sliced Italian sausage, peppers, onion and pepperoni. No sauce — Italians don’t put sauce on calzones.

It was sweet and crispy and meaty and I swear to Christ I can still taste it if I concentrate hard enough.

It was the first time I ever ate something so good, so enlightening, that I will remember the moment forever.

I had my first soft-shell crab at a restaurant on a family vacation when I was 11. At 13 I ate a bowl of peanut soup at a restaurant in Virginia that I will never forget. When I was 16, I ate a cheeseburger at a drugstore counter in Quebec, in February, made on a bun but grilled

like a patty-melt. The first time I had unagi was on a not-a-date with a new friend my freshman year of college, and no variation of the dish has ever tasted the same.

In 1992, I ate sweetbreads for the first time at Susan Spicer’s Bayona restaurant on Dauphine Street in New Orleans, paired with a gewurtztraminer, also a first for me that night. That meal hit me so hard I still remember the exact table and seat I was in. I even remember the shirt I was wearing that night.

I remember the third course of a seven-course meal prepared by my friend Nick Gile in 1996: a single oyster cooked in a tiny souffle with broiled cheese crust atop it. I remember a cold sandwich from a place called Butcher made with shaved rare lamb and fresh mint leaves. And I will remember a restaurant dessert of carmelized chocolate ice cream with carmelized phyllo shards for the rest of my life. Charles Barkley was at the next table. And I remember the first time I ate the hot glass that came off the pig at my first pig pickin’, held in a backyard off a canal somewhere near Edenton.

I’ve been incredibly fortunate in my culinary life, enough so that my sense memory is loaded with meals that I can call up with ease. But I think everybody has a store of experiences like this, moments made indelible by the flavor, the company, the perfection of the moment.

Maybe that’s why I still remember the calzones: the joy in being part of a loud Italian family, the novelty of filling up a restaurant and eating a dish that neither my grandmother nor my aunts and cousins nor even my great-grandmother would make at home — and she used to make her own ravioli.

I can still remember that first bite, the sweet ricotta and crisp peppers, the way it exploded all over my fingers. I can still see it; I can still taste it. And in a way, I’ve been looking for it ever since.

Meals so good I’ll remember them forever...

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Triad City Bites

6th and Vine $-$$

6thandvine.com 209 W. Sixth St. WS, 336.725.5577

When springtime comes to Winston-Salem’s Arts District, 6th and Vine responds like a flower opening itself to the sun. Downtown’s living room doubles in size as the back and side patios make perfect spots to take in afternoon sun or warm evenings.

And that means more space in the dining room, on the vintage sofas, at the long and welcoming bar. A new menu and wine list will launch with the seasons and as local ingredients become more available, but for now the chef still makes an incredible blackberry duck and signature mocha sirloin with a white chocolate cognac cream sauce. Brunch service on Saturdays and Sundays from 11-3 is a great option, plus Sundays offer half-price wine by the bottle.

Craft beer and signature cocktails round out the list, as well as an extensive wine selection by the glass, upon which Sixth & Vine has built its reputation.

May 2019

North Point Grill $-$$ Small Batch $-$$

burgerbatch.com 2760 NC 68 HP 336.875.4082 237 W. 5th St. WS 336.893.6395

The burgers at Small Batch have become legendary — an array of crafted designs that stand out, even though great burgers are everywhere. The Figgy Piggy has fig jam, bacon and goat cheese; the Hellboy brings salami, fresh mozzarella and cherry peppers to the party. The hand-cut fries are appropriate with any burger, and also on their own. Now, along with its bespoke brews, Small Batch has a craft-cocktail menu, a wine list and shooter board. They even have milkshakes that truly test the limits of the form. One of them is garnished with a slice of cake. Brunch has become a big deal at Small Batch in both downtown Winston-Salem and High Point, with a menu that adheres to the ethos of the brand. A workday lunch following appreciates the timeliness and quality of the orders. And dinner has always been a good call at Small Batch, with something for everyone in the crew. But perhaps Small Batch is at its best at night, after the dinner crowd has gone home and the place becomes what it was always intended to be: a really great bar, with an interesting menu and fantastic beer.

May 2019

7843 North Point Blvd, WS 336.896.0500 northpointgrill.com North Point Grill is one of north WinstonSalem’s hidden gems. This award-winning, family-owned eatery near Wake Forest University and Silas Creek Parkway has been serving up fresh, homestyle sides along with an extensive list of sandwiches, salads and soups since 2005. Butch and Karin Eddinger welcome guests to dine as if they were visiting their own home. Open six days a week, the lunch and dinner menus boast tried-and-true favorites such as baked spaghetti with a robust Bolognese meat sauce, salt-and-pepper catfish and a daily soup cadre that features an awardwinning vegetable beef soup. Served in a fresh-baked bread boule, this potage of juicy chunks of beef and fresh vegetables was the recipient of the Golden Ladle award from the 2019 Empty Bowls fundraiser for NWNC Food Bank. “It’s truly an honor to find out our soup came out on top considering the competition,” Butch says. The soup beat out more than 30 favorites from around Forsyth County. Prepare to be impressed and delighted with the quality and quantity of the food and hospitality at this understated restaurant.

Greensboro Farmers Curb Market $-$$ 501 Yanceyville St. GSO gsofarmersmarket.org

Greensboro Farmers Curb Market season is in full swing, with Mid-Week Market happening every Wednesday morning from 8 a.m.-noon, and a slate of latespring and early-summer events on regular Market Saturdays. On June 8, a special Music Makers edition of the market features the Zoo City Pickers at 8 a.m. Blueberry Day on June 22 spotlights this noble fruit, with blueberry pancakes from cheesecake king Alex Amoroso with Neese’s country sausage, coffee from Gate City Coffee and, of course plenty of fresh blueberries at the peak of freshness. It runs from 8 a.m.-noon. Every farmers market day sees local artisan goods, fresh and local farm products, goods prepared by local chefs and local food tastings almost every week at 10 a.m. in the market or on the lawn.

Triad City Bites

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Triad City Bites

May 2019

Twin City Hive Open since 2014, Twin City Hive Coffee Lounge sits between the intersection of innovation and history.

2014 was a pivotal time in Winston-Salem’s transformation to the City of Arts and Innovation. During the same time period, the Brookstown District found its identity as a new neighborhood of opportunity. With Innovation Quarter to the east and Downtown to the north, owner Terry Miller envisioned the shop encompassing three aspects: coffee, community and conversation.

TCH is more than just a coffee shop. Over the past 6 months, Miller has transformed the space from a small enterprise to a center for coffee education, quality whole beans and a scene where the neighborhood and atmosphere are woven into the fabric of the establishment. The outdoor patio invites patrons to bask in the glow of the sun rising over the historic Indera Mills cotton mill across the street. It’s prime for watching the neighborhood unfold as it wakes up. Some of the patio and lounge furniture was commissioned by Sunnyside Millwork, one of many ways TCH supports local business and entrepreneurial economic activity.

To hear Miller discuss the nuances of his singleorigin offerings is like listening to a symphony of science and art come together. The soul of the coffee program at TCH is the espresso roast. It’s a custom blend of three beans: the Arabica Peaberry, a handpicked cherry which provides flavor and exclusivity; the Trebollios from Mexico, which adds body and a deep flavor; and the Kappi Royale, with an intense caffeine concentration and a smooth finish that contributes to the crema that rises to the top of a perfectly pulled shot.

“While coffee is all about the caffeine, what most people don’t know is the lighter the roast, the more caffeine is present,” Miller says while sipping on a demitasse of the house brew.

“Judging coffee by its tasting notes is better than deciding what a coffee will taste like based on dark or light roast.”

The coffee footprint of TCH extends far beyond its walls.

The community is a large part of Twin City Hive’s success.

Partnerships with Indigo Hotel, UNCSA and Twin City Sweets in Winston-Salem and Vida Pour Tea in Greensboro are results of Miller diversifying his coffee portfolio. Proprietary blends at the newly minted Indigo Hotel have fun names like Deacon Decaf, Wake Up Winston and Winston After Dark, which is part of a tableside French press presentation where the course ground coffee is steeped and pressed to release “liquid gold roasted by air” which is the company’s motto.

When new empires rise, others must fall and another new partnership has formed from this edict. While Colony Urban Farm on West End Boulevard is ceasing operations, the popular brand of honey, Fools Gold, will find new life on the shelves at TCH beginning the second week of June. A nook devoted to beekeeping merchandise, bee education, honey-related merchandise and honey on tap will find a new home inside TCH. The construction of the new Salem Parkway has cast a red-clay pallor on nearly everything in the Brookstown District. The road closures, bridge construction, road detours and decreased flow of traffic has slowed down the flow of the vibrant, bustling neighborhood.

None of that has stopped community nor the conversations surrounding the shop’s success.

When asked about his thoughts on the current construction schedule, Miller laughs, “It’s going to be great when it’s all done!” he says. “When I see online comments where another business has closed, it makes me want to continue to connect people with the coffee and put us in the forefront of their minds so they continue to visit.”

The landscape and footprint of the Marshall Street-Brookstown Road intersection has changed The customers who visit the physical location know and realize what a special place it is. The Roastery, the open coffee-education center and roaster, is visible to every patron. The effort to connect people with coffee will continue all around the city for a long time to come.

Twin City Hive Coffee Lounge $ 301 Brookstown Ave.,W-S twincityhive.com

May 2019

Triad City Bites

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Taste Carolina Gourmet Food Tours $$ WS and GSO tastecarolina.net 919.237.2254 Tours start at $59 per person

2019 is the Taste Carolina Gourmet Food Tour’s 10th anniversary, and its eighth serving the foodies and restaurants of the Triad. Every Saturday, rain or shine, these walking tours in WinstonSalem and Greensboro are led by highly enthusiastic, knowledgeable local guides. Along the way, guests are treated to anecdotes about city history, unique architecture and fun facts about each locale. Tours include food and drink tastings at five to eight different restaurants, bars, breweries, bakeries and shops. All featured restaurants are independently owned, source locally and give a different perspective of what being a restaurant patron means. Talk to chefs, owners and managers, and get to know your own city or a new one through its cuisine. Chefs prepare substantial tour tastings paired with a splash of beer or wine at most places. More often than not, the food presented is off-menu and prepared especially for the tour, creating an inimitable experience for locals and tourists alike. Alongside weekly public tours, custom private and corporate tours are available for companies, civic groups, fraternities, social gatherings, organizations and more.

Burke Street Pizza $

burkestreetpizza.com 1140 Burke St. WS, 336.721.0011 3352 Robinhood Road WS, 336.760.4888 A traditional New York pizzeria with all the trimmings, open for lunch, dinner and latenight feasts. The menu goes beyond thin-crust pizza with salads and subs, specialty pies and appetizers. Both the Burke Street and Robinhood Road locations deliver — order online at burkestreetpizza.com or call the restaurant. Look for upcoming renovations to the Robinhood Road location. Find them on Instagram at @BurkeStreetPizza.

Local 27101 $

thelocal.ws 310 W. Fourth St. WS, 336.725.3900

The Quiet Pint $$

facebook.com/quietpinttavern 1420 W. First St. WS, 336.893.6881 Straddling the Ardmore and West End neighborhoods, the Pint debuted a new brunch menu in early April complete with new salads, burgers, frittatas, Benedicts, skillets, small plates and more. Liquid refreshment comes as beer, wine or choices from the full-service bar.

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Triad City Bites

There’s nothing revolutionary about Local 27101. It’s a lunch place on Fourth Street, right in the heart of downtown Winston-Salem’s Restaurant Row. The menu, as created by Executive Chef Patrick Rafferty and owner Greg Carlyle, has a stable of classic lunch dishes: Burgers with seasoned crinkle-cut and sweet-potato fries. A legendary hot dog. Fresh shrimp and oysters for po-boys. Made-to-order salads that go beyond the basic. It’s fresh food made fast, and Local 27101 stands by that promise with in-house delivery throughout downtown and the West End during lunch service — order from the restaurant or online at thelocal.ws for speedy and free service. Catering is available either through the Local or on-site at the Millennium Center. Call for details.

May 2019

Flash in the pan

The Facts of Garlic

T

his time of year, the biology of garlic becomes impossible to ignore.

A green shoot appears inside every clove of every head of garlic in the Northern Hemisphere. It’s a reminder that a clove of garlic isn’t just

by Ari LeVaux some lily-white bulb that exists solely for our eating pleasure. It’s a complete plant, with goals and habits, not to mention a set of roots, a stem and leaves.

The white, fleshy part of the clove — the part we typically eat — is a modified leaf that functions as a food-storage organ. The flat scab at the bottom of the clove is technically the stem of the plant. And on one edge of the stem, a tight cluster of tiny root bulbs waits for a signal to grow.

This time of year, on the other side of the stem, inside the white part, a green spear appears, consisting of about 10 tightly-wrapped leaves.

Many cooks will pry out this offending growth and cast it aside. They are wasting time and garlic, in my opinion, because that green core is the freshest, most nutritious part of the plant. It has a reputation for being bitter, but I don’t taste that.

Or maybe I just don’t mind a little bitter with my vibrant, green, garlicky zing.

With the appearance of the shoot, the clove around it begins to soften, but it remains usable as long as the clove doesn’t turn yellow, which is the first stage of rot. Eventually it will shrivel and be shrugged off like a snakeskin by the growing shoot inside. Until that time, it’s all edible. It all tastes like garlic.

I slice my sprouted cloves lengthwise to display their insides, drawing attention to those internal parts like a jazz musician hitting a funky note extra hard, so everyone knows he meant it.

Pan-fried, in butter and olive oil, these beautiful bits of garlic anatomy gain sweetness without losing their savory garlic gravitas. I add these nuggets of flavor to pizza, omelets, sandwiches and soups, scattering them across my meals like fistfuls of pine nuts atop a bowl of pasta.

Aspiring gardeners will sometimes be moved by a sprouted clove’s obvious desire to grow, and they will plant sprouted cloves in the ground, or on the windowsill. This act will be rewarded, months later, with something like green garlic. A 10-inch tall leafy stem, but no bulb.

If, on the other hand, the clove that is currently sprouting in your pantry had been planted last fall, you would have a real garlic plant on your hands, tall and robust, with fat cloves forming on the below-ground stem.

I planted a big garlic patch last fall, which is

May 2019

one of the reasons I have no interest in planting sprouted cloves. I am a lot more interested in eating the sprouted cloves. But even if I didn’t have a patch, I wouldn’t bother. It’s as much of a waste of time as digging out the green shoot. I keep it in the kitchen, and celebrate its quirky beauty and deep flavor as if I’ve been waiting all year for sprouted-garlic season.

But if growing garlic is something you want to take on — and you should — now is a perfect time to get started. Just not with sprouted cloves.

It’s too early to start digging or planting anything, but is a great time for scheming and planning.

September sounds a long way off, but we all know it will pounce on summer’s bubble like a cat. We might as well be ready.

Aspiring garlic-growers must identify a spot that will be vacant and ready to go in October, by which time the garlic should be planted. Another important off-season task is to identify which kind of garlic to plant. Check the farmers market for examples of varieties — preferably hardneck, the flowering kind — that grow in your area, and ideally purchase your seed garlic locally. The garlic for sale in August should be fully cured and ready for planting, but if you have any doubts, ask the farmer, who will most likely be flattered by your interest in growing their garlic.

One of my favorite ways to cook garlic as the centerpiece of a dish — garlic as vegetable — is flavored with oyster sauce. When the scapes come next month, and the new garlic a month later, I will apply the same recipe to those other lovely parts of the garlic plant.

Sprouted Garlic in Oyster Sauce Although it contains no added sugar, this recipe tastes sweetened thanks to all that sweet, old garlic. The dish can absorb most any other vegetable or protein you might want to add, and swell into a larger meal if you choose. This recipe makes four tapassized portions.

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon butter ½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil two heads of sprouted garlic ½ x ½ inch cube of fresh ginger, peeled and minced 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce 1 pod of star anise ¼ teaspoon black pepper 1 tablespoon soy sauce ½ cup water or stock Trim the bottoms of the cloves if you wish.

Slice each sprouted clove lengthwise, as thinly as you safely can. Fry the garlic halves slowly in the butter and oils on medium/low, along with the ginger, anise and any extra proteins and veggies you may be using.

When the garlic slices are lightly browned all around and thoroughly sweet, add the oyster sauce, black pepper, soy sauce and stock.

Stir well, and cook slowly until the sauce thickens to your liking, about 10 minutes. Remove the anise pod and serve, perhaps on rice.

You could garnish it with a green herb, like cilantro or basil, but it’s hardly necessary.

Sprouted garlic garnishes itself.

Triad City Bites

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In the Weeds

Life’s a poach

J

ohn’s telling me about his types. The most concentrated brand of entitled new gig. frat boy was our demographic for a time. So some He’s on his fourth ESB weekends I would publicly berate and physically and it’s been a while since remove the same people I served sangrias to the he’s stopped by. I had become next morning as they contemplated their chicken accustomed to seeing him on and waffles. random late nights; sometimes The routine changes on graduation weekend. he’d close out the bar with me Because this time they bring their parents.

by James Douglas after a long shift. But I haven’t The life-givers accompany them to brunch before seen him since last summer, at least. Hey: Sched(or after) their ”Pomp and Circumstance.” The same ules change, lifestyles alter. People come, people girl who mistook your back office for a bathroom go. a month ago is now in her best sundress with Dad I generally don’t take it personally when a regular sitting across from her, and she’s not meeting your disappears; usually it’s for the best. eyes as you take her order because we both know But now he’s back, and not the worse for wear exactly who she is, even if Dad doesn’t. Everyone either. knows, because you told every one of your coworkJohn’s been a line cook for as long as I’ve known ers who she was the minute she walked in. him. He’s currently getting broken in at a new resBut this is one of those times in the city where taurant, a new system, a new headache. A good litthere is money to be made. So we mark it on our mus test for a new restaurant gig is to see how they calendars with a red sharpie as “Hell Week.” And deal with stressful shifts. So he’s giving we deal with it. me the lowdown on last Sunday’s John downs his fifth beer, pays out For the restaubrunch while I’m closing up bar. and starts poking around on his phone Last weekend was Wake Forest Uni- rant industry, for an Uber. He’s going to “wait and versity’s graduation. For the restaurant graduation see” how this new place works out. industry, graduation weekends in a Just like the customer shouldn’t weekends in a college town have all the makings of judge a place the first couple weeks of college town a complete shitshow. Especially for it being open, a cook shouldn’t decide someone two weeks into a new posiwhat to expect at a gig they’ve started have all the tion. the week before the busiest weekend markings of a “So, it’s like 1 p.m. and we’ve got of a downtown restaurant. complete hour-long ticket times, the GM is There have been times when I’ve shitshow. having a meltdown and I’m on egg seen what a crew is made of during detail,” he says, as I pour him another. high-stress situations. It’s eye-opening, “Meanwhile I’ve got a server just staring at me like but not entirely an indicator of what to expect. that shit’ll go faster if they give me the headlights If anything, it gives you a taste of who to look to up and down my back.” when things go downhill. Sometimes the only reliI’ve been on both sides of that. When it’s anarable soul is the dishwasher who never talks, yet you chy and there’s absolutely NOTHING you can do wonder what they listen to all day on those wireless but wait for food to cook. It’s those pesky laws of earbuds. Sometimes it’s the owner, rolling up their physics. So you wait. It’s a terse ballet, the line cook sleeves and diving in like a war vet, sick of telling apologizing to the server, so they can apologize old stories about how “you damned millennials to the customer, not knowing whether it’ll be sent don’t know what the weeds are!” back by someone particular to a runny poached And sometimes it’s you. egg.

There will be a time when that poached egg Graduation brunch for any college town is a profneeds to be done so precisely that when the side itable, yet messy, affair. I once worked at a popular of the fork bears down on that egg, the yolk floods college bar and sidelined as a server at a popuout and mixes with that tangy hollandaise like lar brunch place. At the bar we dealt with many golden lava, saturating that Benedict so richly and students who we would kick out on a weekly basis. thickly that the customer decides that they couldn’t The bar hosted parties of frats and sororities who possibly complain. would sustain every expectation of the worst stereoAnd that, when you’re in the weeds, is a win.

Uncle Buzzy’s Fried Food $ Find them on Facebook.

1510 First St. WS

Spring is the season for Uncle Buzzy’s! Winston-Salem’s only carnival-food stand has classic roast beef sandwiches, a full menu of fries and tater tots, poutine, smoked mac and cheese, pulled-pork meat cones, and the best burgers, wings and hot dogs in town. Now, in addition to ice cream tacos, Uncle Buzzy’s serves ice-cream cones hand-dipped in cherry, blue-raspberry, butterscotch or chocolate shell. There are box lunches, sandwich trays, wing platters and more on the catering menu — hot dog trays are great for cook outs and birthday parties alike. And Uncle Buzzy’s proudly introduces in-house delivery — order directly from the store or at the website with no delivery charges.

Interested in Triad City Bites? Call Brian at 336.681.0704 to find out more.