W H AT WE’RE EATING NEWS FROM OUR RESTAURANT COMMUNITY, PLUS A DISH WE LOVE
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hef/co-owner Garret Fleming felt a sense of relief at the end of the first night of service at Bombolo. “The fact that we were able to serve 70 people tonight in over four hours, and we made everything that came out in the kitchen – we did every piece of prep, we did every piece of meat, every piece of pasta,” he says. The restaurant was a culmination of a year and a half of work after Garret and his sister, pastry chef/ co-owner Eleanor Lacy, shuttered their barbecue venture Big Belly Que in Blue Dogwood Public Market and focused on transforming the former Kitchen space in Midtown Market. The first few nights served primarily adventurous eaters and restaurant folks during the soft opening for friends and family, and Garret wondered if Chapel Hill palates would follow suit. “The first seven tables we saw today, all of them got anchovies, which I love,” he says. “That was something I thought: ‘Who the hell in Chapel Hill is gonna order anchovy-stuffed anchovies?’ It hasn’t been an issue. Turkey neck ragu? Hasn’t been an issue.” Dishes like the halibut khao soi and homemade pasta offerings are just as eye-catching as the vintage china tableware they are plated on. “It’s a small restaurant, so the tables are close, and people are excited to see what goes by,” says managing partner Muihrienne Leggat, who pitched in during service on opening night. “Any time I go to this corner, everyone’s sitting And save room for Eleanor’s skillful, scratchhere saying, ‘OK, we’ve seen that, we’ve seen made desserts – the namesake chocolate bombolo BOMBOLO that,’” she says, pointing to the menu. topped with a crunchy hazelnut-praline feuilletine 764 MLK Jr. Blvd. 919-914-6374 Garret, a graduate of the Culinary Institute and a cloud of orange-chocolate mousse is a must. bombolochapelhill.com of America in Hyde Park, New York, says Another standout is the tiramisu dacquoise. that the menu is a balance of both familiar Garret is proud of what he and his sister have and fresh takes on dining. “Everything comes accomplished but is also keeping an open mind from an experience that I’ve had, where it’s opened up my mind to as Bombolo welcomes new guests. “Sometimes a bowl is too big; the possibility that maybe what I thought I knew about food was not it’s hard to dig in,” he says. “Real, genuine feedback is incalculably everything there is to know about food.” He hopes to give diners that valuable because all we want to do is succeed and make sure that we same experience, whether they are inclined to order roast chicken or can continue doing what we love and make people happy.” grilled octopus. – by Jessica Stringer
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chapelhillmagazine.com
May/June 2023