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hen I couldn’t shut the bottom drawer in my kitchen, I knew I had a takeout – and corresponding takeout container – problem. I suspect many of your pantries and cabinets look the same, stuffed to the brim with plastic lids and bottoms. During the pandemic, I’ve ordered from as many of my favorite restaurants as my appetite and budget allowed. (These days, I know my credit card number by heart.) Find a few of our staffers’ go-to takeout meals on page 66. I’ve also mourned the loss of some good ones – Lula’s, James Pharmacy – and picked up dinner from newcomers, such as Que Chula Tacos and Napoli Hillsborough. It’s not easy to open or operate a restaurant, let alone in the middle of a global health crisis, so we checked in with the owners of 10 eateries, both the mainstays and the newly established, about their struggles and successes on page 52. These are excruciatingly tough times, but what I find truly amazing is that food and drink businesses have been generous as ever, from Top of the Hill Distillery donating some of its homemade hand sanitizer to first responders to The Picnic Basket Catering providing a whopping 20,000 meals to the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service. Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe, like many other eateries, put out the call for donations to help keep the business afloat and then shared some of that, awarding $1,000 grants to a few other Chapel Hill restaurants. As Rush Greenslade of Vimala’s says, “Everybody’s hurting.” Find more examples of the culinary community giving back on page 50. As for my excess of containers, I consider them a badge of honor for doing my part to eat local. It’s been easy to fill them with chocolate chip cookies and almond scones and pass them on to friends and neighbors – my own small contribution to keeping spirits fed in days like these.
jessica@chapelhillmagazine.com
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