W H AT WE’RE EATING NEWS FROM OUR RESTAURANT COMMUNITY, PLUS A DISH WE LOVE
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hen Bottle Rev owners Lewis Hendricks and Julie Paddison
walked into the former Tobacco Road Sports Cafe at East 54, all they could see was endless potential. They circled and studied the space for hours on end, dreaming up hundreds of ideas with executive chef Josh Coburn. “We spent way more time than we probably should have on the word ‘tavern,’” Lewis says. “It’s like, ‘Is it a sports bar? Is it a bar and grill? Is it a restaurant? What do you put on the back end of it? And ‘tavern’ for us just had that feel of comfort.” They closed Chapel Hill’s Bottle Rev location in late 2020 and incorporated the bottle shop into their new concept – Old East Tavern – in February. The partners fulfilled that need for ‘comfort’ by creating different pockets within OLD EAST TAVERN the 7,500-square-foot space: the Penny Room, & Eggs. He took the classic Southern deviled East 54, 1118 Environ Way, with 120,000 coins hand laid onto the floor, ‘The eggs and paired it with his personal favorite, local Chapel Hill Snug’ or cozy room with colorful furniture and pork belly cured for three days. Think of it like 919-903-8699; oldeasttavern.com eclectic art, and the back porch/event space. an elevated breakfast, such as bacon and eggs, but For his part, Josh built a menu that matched for lunch and dinner. “Even though our place is this ideal. “Our whole thing here is simplistically Southern,” he says. called the ‘tavern,’ and we have TVs in here,” Josh says. “That doesn’t “But we pay a lot of homage to other areas – German, Italian, Spanish, mean that we’re just burgers and fries and fried chicken sandwiches. We whatever it is ... We play around with stuff that’s international to give do want to offer a different experience with our menus and bring in a people a fresh outlook on our cuisine to keep them wondering what taste of fine dining.” we’re gonna do next.” The former chef at City Kitchen says the seasonal Obviously it’s working. Why else would Josh name UNC football fall menu features a Spanish street corn-inspired dish as well as Asiancoach Mack Brown and his wife, Sally Brown, as regular patrons? influenced char siu ribs, while the mainstays include the popular Belly Belly & Eggs, $12 – by Hannah Lee 22
chapelhillmagazine.com
November 2021