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Salt • November 2017
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St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, for example, became the Brooklyn Arts Center, and creative design transformed three adjacent historic buildings at Orange and South 2nd Street into the Children’s Museum of Wilmington. Does George have personal favorites? He mentions 320 Chestnut Street, the recently renovated 1950s office tower next to Thalian Hall. “I love midcentury modern,” he explains. He also loves Wilmington’s bungalows. In fact, the city has so many significant buildings that eight local neighborhoods are National Register Historic Districts, including Carolina Heights, Carolina Place, Sunset Park and the racially and architecturally diverse Westbrook-Ardmore National Register District. These listings help protect vulnerable structures from demolition or encroaching development. “There’s a finite supply of old buildings,” George reminds me. “When they’re gone, they’re gone.” At the Black Sea Grill, which occupies the 1921 Pender Building, George sports a blue blazer and debonair bow tie, and he radiates the gentility of an earlier era. His manners are so polite, in fact, that he even feels the need to apologize when he leans forward to pierce a piece of falafel from our appetizer platter. “Excuse my boarding house reach,” he says, adding, “These are really good.” Dill, mint and oregano infuse the dolmas — stuffed grape leaves — with aromatic flavor. And, in the Veggie Delight, thick strips of eggplant lightly fried with onions, tomatoes and green peppers give the vegan dish an almost carnivorous heft. The restaurant does offer meat dishes, including kebabs and lamb chops. We try the kofte, grilled patties of lamb and beef, and filet of tilapia, which is lightly breaded to create a golden crust. One of the highlights of the meal is a deceptively simple green salad, which has been perfected with hints of sumac. For dessert, we turn to kunefe, a Middle Eastern favorite that dates to the 15th century. A mildly sweet concoction of shredded phyllo stuffed with cheese curd, soaked in simple syrup and topped with ice cream, the dish is both exotic and familiar, as George points out when he notes, “This morning, I had mini shredded wheats for breakfast.” One of George’s proudest accomplishments at the foundation is Tar Heels Go Walking, an educational partnership with the New Hanover The Art & Soul of Wilmington