TCB Nov. 23, 2022 — Bread Winners

EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK

NC A&T and the Black asterisk

ast week the UNC Board of Gov ernors fined NC A&T State University almost $2 million for the crime of taking on too many out-of-state students. While they were allowed 35 percent, this year 41 percent of A&T’s student body came here from out of state.

And it’s hard not to read an ulterior motive here.

Anyone who’s lived in Greensboro for more than a decade knows that for many years, the UNC System paid very little atten tion to NC A&T State University, especially when it came time to fund new con struction or make needed repairs.

Now, as HBCUs in general are having a moment and A&T in particular has risen in esteem and position, it’s surprising that the UNC Board of Governors has so much to say about operations at the biggest HBCU in the nation.

Or, I should say, it’s surprising to a lot of white people. Most Black folks probably aren’t surprised at all. Because of the Black asterisk.

The Black asterisk is why there of ten seem to be different sets of rules for Black folks, or different penalties for Black folks who break said rules, or sometimes even rules construct ed specifically for Black folks.

At least, that’s how it looks to me — a white guy who has only

Lever been on the right side of that asterisk.

Looks to me like the UNC Board of Governors — which has been outwardly hostile towards race rela tions at our state universities of late — was acutely aware of the Black asterisk in making this decision.

Consider that the last time the BOG levied a fine like this, it was in 2016 against UNC-Chapel Hill, which exceeded its out-of-state quota by a comparable percentage. Their fine: $1 million.

Stripping our biggest and best HBCU of $2 million is not a good look for an organization that fought so hard to keep a Confederate me morial on UNC-Chap el Hill’s campus, that refused tenure to the Black journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones for a Knight Fel lowship — another instance of the Black asterisk — and that oversees a school where the racial admissions policy is being challenged in the Supreme Court.

It looks a lot like the looting of Black wealth that has plagued the American South — indeed, the whole nation — since the beginning, no matter the intention.

The UNC BOG needs to back away from this one if it hopes to shake its racist reputation. It shouldn’t be a big deal — they’re the ones who make these rules, and they change them all the time. At least, they had no problem when it came to Nikole Hannah-Jones.

by Brian Clarey

It looks a lot like the looting of Black wealth that has plagued the American South.

by MICHAELA RATLIFF

WEDNESDAY Nov. 23

Drinksgiving @ SouthEnd Brewing Co. (GSO) 4 p.m.

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation Viewing & Costume Party @ Second & Green Tavern (W-S) 7 p.m.

A Carolina Christmas! @ Winston-Salem Symphony (W-S) 7:30 p.m.

Stop by SouthEnd for good food and even better drinks just before enjoy ing your Thanksgiving favorites. View the menu at southendbrewing.com

THURSDAY Nov. 24

Running of the Turkeys 5K & Fun Walk/Run @ Jaycee Park (GSO) 7:30 a.m.

Dress as your favorite Christmas Va cation or other National Lampoon’s characters for this costume party and viewing of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation hosted by Pride Winston-Salem. Prizes will be given for the best costumes and drink specials will be available. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

SATURDAY Nov. 26

John Berry’s 26th annual Christmas Tour 2022 @ High Point Theatre (HP) 7 p.m.

Cirque de la Symphonie is a show filled with acrobatic artistry and family fun all choreographed to holiday music favorites played by Winston-Salem Symphony. Purchase tickets by calling the box office at 336.464.0145 or online at wssym phony.org.

SUNDAY Nov. 27

Join in on this traditional Thanksgiv ing morning fun run/walk or timed 5K by Fleet Feet Greensboro and Fleet Feet High Point. Strollers and leashed pets are welcome. Registra tion is required for participation and can be done at runningoftheturkeys. com.

FRIDAY NOV. 25

McLaurin Farms Christmas Festival @ McLaurin Farms (GSO) 5:45 p.m.

Celebrate Christmas with country music artist John Berry known for hits such as “Your Love Amazes Me”, “Standing on the Edge of Goodbye’’ and “I Think About It All The Time.”

Purchase tickets at highpointtheatre. com.

Deck the Walls @ Artworks Gallery (W-S) 1 p.m. Deck the Walls is an all-members exhibition featuring painting, sculp ture, printmaking and more. Get a headstart on your Christmas shop ping during this holiday art sale by supporting local artists, artisans and businesses. Find more information at artworks-gallery.org.

Dirty Dancing in Concert @ Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts (GSO) 7 p.m.

McLaurin Farms aims to help you make new Christmas memories by taking photos with Santa, making ornaments or seeing the Grinch. Find more information and purchase tickets at mclaurinfarms.com.

Jazz Night @ Brewer’s Kettle (HP) 7 p.m.

Bask in a night of relaxing jazz with the Brandon Mitchell 4-Piece. Visit the event page on Facebook for more information.

Dirty Dancing in Concert brings a new experience of the classic film to the Tanger Center. Enjoy a digitally remastered version of Dirty Dancing with a live band and singers perform ing the film’s songs. Purchase tickets at Ticketmaster

Winston Salem’s Harvest Market grocery co-op looks to feed its city

by Kaitlynn Havens

Aman sits on the sidewalk of Family Dollar, his belongings tumbling from broken zipper compartments on his backpack. He quietly asks patrons of the West Salem Shopping Center if they could spare some change for a bite to eat. Rev. Gary Williams, co-founder of SHARE Cooperative and Harvest Market stops without hesitation.

“Let me run back to my office and see what I can do,” he says as he walks away to gather what assistance he can.

Williams and his co-founder Rev. Willard Bass have a plan to feed Winston-Sa lem, and they’ve started in the parking lot of that Family Dollar.

Williams and Bass founded the SHARE Cooperative of Winston-Salem in 2016

The idea for Harvest Market began in 2016. Now, almost six years later, the co-op grocery has opened its doors.

with a mission to provide families living in food deserts reasonably priced, easily accessible and wholesome food. In October, they opened the doors of Harvest Market.

“We wanted to reach out into the community and find a project that would demonstrate our abilities across racial lines to come together,” Williams explains. “The area we discovered right away was food insecurity.”

The areas that suffer from the absence of viable, full-service grocery stores are known as food deserts, where income disparity and lack of transportation options are often barriers. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, Winston-Salem has 22 neighborhoods that identify as such. Downtown and West

PHOTO BY JERRY COOPER

Salem are two of those neighborhoods.

Harvest Market, located in the West Salem Shopping Center on Peters Creek Parkway, is a full-service grocery store that fills that void.

“The West Salem Shopping Center has been in ex istence for many years but was starting to deteriorate,” Williams explains. “We asked the city of Winston to support us, help us improve the visibility, and to improve the viability of the area.”

Along with a $300,000 grant from the city, a loan from the Triad Regional Council and a number of grants from local philanthropic organizations such as the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, the funding for the store was met.

Continuing to share the co-op’s work with the community is a top priority, ex plains Williams.

“One of our principal focuses was to involve only local entities,” he says. “Every thing you see down there is local. The cases were built in Lexington, the Point of

Local engagement is vital for a co-op to operate successfully. The location choice of a low-income, predominantly Black neighborhood that sits between Ardmore and West Salem — where, according to re altor.com, median home prices are $320k and $235k, respectively — is intentional.

“That store is a demonstration of our community coming together,” Williams emphasizes. “We are encouraging folks to come down here and shop in our community food store. It’s us coming together to accomplish a common goal: to feed people.”

The Harvest Market is open to anyone to shop, but Williams and Bass want to encourage those who are financially able to join as member-owners. Memberships involve a one time fee of $100 for individuals, $75 for senior citizens, college and

Harvest Market is located in the West Salem Shopping Center on Peters Creek Parkway, an area that is one of 22 food deserts in Winston-Salem.

PHOTO BY JERRY COOPER

Sale system is out of Boone. All of the kitchen stuff was purchased from TriMark Kitchen Supply here in Winston-Salem. We want to engage local entrepreneurs and provide local farmers a retail space to sell their product.”

That store is a demonstration of our community coming together. “ “

university students, and SNAP recipients, and $250 for corporate members.

The membership flier states: “Co-op owners are part of a progressive business that exists to support our community instead of focusing on profit alone. Our coop seeks to return as much revenue as possible to the community by purchasing from local farmers, supporting local businesses, and hiring from our community. Owners help us do that.”

Members receive monthly deals, participation opportunities in the election of a Board of Direc tors, the right to run for the board and cooperative decisions through annual meetings.

Williams hopes the emphasis on an all-inclusive community is apparent in Harvest Market’s pro grams; food pharmacy being one.

“Food pharmacy allows for those who are des ignated having certain impediments in terms of their health to be given a prescrip tion. That prescription is for healthy food,” Williams explains.

Williams and Bass petitioned to Blue Cross Blue Shield and were given a grant for participation.

“Patients are assessed by a health professional for diet-related disease and/or food insecurity, and then the patient is prescribed a food-based intervention (be yond nutrition education) delivered by a community-based organization,” accord ing to the organization.

Williams continues, “We put food in these white boxes, people hand us their prescriptions, and it doesn’t cost them anything. There are so many people in our community who have health disparities, who have health issues. If we can improve

their diet, we can improve their life.”

Harvest Market’s second program is SHARE Cares. If there is an emergency situation in the community, those families affected can receive a box of food.

“If a community member is hungry, we can give them a box of food,” says Williams. “At the end of the day, what we are endeavoring to do is to make sure no one in Winston-Salem is hungry.”

Both program’s sustainability are dependent on participation and support from community mem bers.

“We need to generate income. We need to change people’s shopping habits. We need people to continue to invest in the vision, to buy food, to sign up for memberships. Our vision is to mitigate food insecurity. ‘How are they doing it?’ We’re selling food to those that can afford to buy food, so that we can take the profits and feed those that can’t afford to buy food,” says Williams.

Williams and Bass are hopeful that Harvest Market is just the beginning.

“We are the pioneers. It’s a model. The time, the investments- we wanted every thing right so we can present this as a case study. This is what Winston-Salem can do.”

Harvest Market is located at 635A Peters Creek Pkwy in Winston-Salem. Learn more at share-ws.coop.

Left photo (L-R): Mark Smith, general manager; Savannah Johns, store associate; Rev Gary Williams, co-founder

PHOTOS BY JERRY COOPER

At the end of the day, what we are endeavoring to do is to make sure no one in Winston-Salem is hungry. “

“

OPINION

EDITORIAL Jen Sorensen

jensorensen.com

After LGBTQ+ shooting, naming the aggressor

It happened again: A horrible act of violence perpetrated against one of our most vulnerable communities. And it’s time to stop pretending that we don’t know why.

On Saturday night a shooter opened fire in Colorado Springs’ Club Q, a community center for LGBTQ+ Coloradans, killing five and wounding 25 others. This was the night before our national Transgen der Day of Remembrance, the day when we collectively acknowledge the dangers in this country for anyone who dares to chal lenge the construct ed norms of gender.

Why? Why would a freedom-loving people hold so much vehemence for those who want to live genuine lives?

Because they’ve been pro grammed to. And it’s time to start placing blame.

The Colorado Springs shooter — name withheld because fuck him — had been recently arrested, in June 2021, for a bomb threat in his mother’s home. No formal charges were filed

Direct links to right-wing ex tremism have yet to be reported — unless you count the suspect’s grandfather, Randy Voepel, a MAGA-loving member of the Cali fornia state legislature who faced

expulsion after showing support for the Jan. 6 insurrectionists. And that he was outfitted in the style of the homegrown terrorist: Long gun, handgun, tactical gear, lots of ammo.

There’s also the fact that violent right-wing extremists like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers have been aggressively harassing drag events for months, if not years; that state legislatures have been floating bills hostile to trans-Americans in partic ular and LGBTQ+ folks in general; that many elected officials in state and federal government have been actively stoking anti-LGBTQ+ violence

Do we need to point out that they all come from the same political party?

Yes, Republicans must own this violence. They did this, either through direct action or, perhaps even worse, inaction when a principled stand was needed. Right-wing policies and propagan da brought us to this boiling point, and there is no point in pretending otherwise. We are long past plausi ble deniability.

So it falls to the rest of us to keep each other safe, and to rain judg ment down on those who would harm us for being true to ourselves.

John Cole

Courtesy of NC Policy Watch

They did this, either through direct action or, even worse, inaction when a principled stand was needed.

Vivid Interiors

513 S. Elm St. 336.265.8628GSO vivid-interiors.com

Life is too short to be ho hum. Live Vivid!

Vivid Interiors is an Interior Design shop with a retail store in Downtown Greensboro.

We offer full service residential and commercial design, where we help the client realize their home or business’s potential through their own lens but honed with a Vivid vision.

In addition to our design services, we offer furniture, lighting, local artwork, accessories and small gifts from all over the world. We also carry myriad lines of wall coverings and textiles and much more than our 1200 square-foot space can accommodate.

Whether you’re shopping for gifts for the holidays, or shopping for yourself or your home, we have a wide assortment of gifts and accessories for all budgets and tastes.

Vivid Interiors is open Monday-Friday from 10 am-5pm, with special extended Holiday hours on Saturdays.

Scuppernong Books

304 S. Elm St. GSO 336.763.1919 scuppernongbooks.com

Scuppernong Books opened on Dec. 21, 2013 and has been an essential part of the rebirth of downtown Greensboro ever since.

We are a general interest/literary bookstore featuring fiction and poetry along with a remarkable children’s section and a broad range of general interest titles.

Within the store is a café serving organic coffee and espresso, wine and beer sourced primarily from local small businesses. We also partner with Jerusalem Market for sandwiches, salads and more substantial fare.

Scuppernong Books also hosts hundreds of events a year, bringing in writers from around the world, the country and the state. In 2019, we hosted more than 250 writers, as well as theater, music, dance and

community conversation.

In 2017, Scuppernong Books was instrumental in the formation of the Greensboro Literary Organization, a separate non-profit organization which stages the annual Greensboro Bound Literary Festival, and brings authors into the Guilford County Schools through their Authors Engaging Students program.

In 2018, we formed Scuppernong Editions, an eclectic small press.

Scuppernong Books believes that independent bookstores have an important role to fill in a community.

We hope to live up to that responsibility with an openness to ideas, a respect for all the individuals that make up our Greensboro community, and a willingness to have fun doing so.

2190 Lawndale Drive GSO habitatgreensboro.org

From vases and picture frames to tables and chairs to light bulbs and doors, it’s all at Habitat Greensboro’s ReStore. Come shop with us during our 12 Days of Deals this holiday season, Dec. 8 – 23, to find that unique gift or the perfect item to make your home holiday-ready!

Habitat Greensboro’s ReStore is not just a place where you can donate your gently used items and find a great deal on furniture, housewares, or building materials. It is a place where people

from all walks of life work together for a greater good; and a place that strengthens families and builds homes.

Every purchase from Habitat Greensboro’s ReStore helps build safe, stable, and affordable housing for families in Greensboro through Habitat Greensboro’s Homeownership Program.

For more information, please visit HabitatGreensboro.org.

The Pipe and Pint

For 25 year the Pipe & Pint and has been the Tri ad’s home for premium cigars, fine wine, craft beer and accessories. With the finest selection of cigars and wine you are sure to find the perfect gift for the discerning person in your life. Our experienced and knowledgeable staff can make the task of sorting through our luxury selection of goods a breeze. Choose from the best cigars across the world and wines from value to collectible.

Gift cards and gift baskets available and made to order.

Clemmons

Florist 2828 Battleground Ave. GSO 336.282.1701 clemmonsfloristinc.com

3726 Spring Garden St. GSO 336.218.8610 Thepipeandpint.net

Established in 1954, Clemmons Florist is Greensboro’s oldest family-owned florist. A fourthgeneration florist offering the finest flowers and plants available anywhere, we offer prompt delivery service to all of Greensboro and

most of Guilford County.

Because customers are important to us, our professional staff is dedicated to providing you with the most prompt service and quality products obtainable. Hundreds of arrangements available for delivery or pick up online, or call directly for that extra special touch!

Area Modern Home

511 S. Elm St. GSO 336.370.1050 Areamod.com

AREA’s clean-lined, midcentury vibe has been waiting for you since owner Mark Hewett opened it in 2000. A native of Birmingham, England, Hewett studied industrial design and worked in London, Hong Kong and New York before he came to Greensboro 20 years ago, specializing in reproductions of midcentury furniture designs.

Hewett has a long relationship with High Point–based Younger Furniture. Customers can select from a wide range of designs and upholstery for the couches, chairs and headboards displayed in AREA, which are then custom-made and delivered to their homes, usually within six to eight weeks.

Most of the case goods — nonupholstered chairs, side and coffee tables, et cetera — are sourced from a Minneapolis-based company, which in turn sources from a manufacturer in Pennsylvania. So customers can feel good about supporting locally supplied and American-made products with the

attendant lower carbon footprint. “AREA is lifestyle furniture,” Hewett says. “We are bringing together appealing design, high quality construction and moderate pricing.”

Hewett wants to ensure that the furniture a customer has waited weeks to receive is in perfect condition, is exactly what was ordered, and is assembled and placed precisely as directed. On the one hand, it’s a smart business move to make sure this crucial last step in the process goes smoothly, especially since Hewett does not collect final balance until customer sign-off on delivery.

But mainly Hewett just wants the job done right. “People are happy when you bring in the couch or dining room set they’ve been waiting on,” Hewett says. “I want them to stay happy for years to come.”

Revolution Cycles was born almost 15 years ag out of frustration. We didn’t feel at home in any of the local bike shops. They were all great in their own way. But they weren’t what we were looking for, so we started something new. Add in some cool brands, great service, curated inventory, a hefty amount of suburban ennui and a little cheek... and voila.! Here we are.

We’re Greensboro’s Alternative Bike Shop. Alternative to box stores. Alternative to vanilla brands. Alternative to transportation. Ride styles. Lifestyles.

Revolution

1907 Spring Garden St. GSO 336.852.3972

Boutique without being bougie, with everything from used to new. Gear for everything from daily commuting to bugging out of town for a month. We work on all bikes and accept everyone.

Why choose Revolution Cycles? It’s a great question, and probably best answered by a super sexy interpretive dance about class war, consumerism, devolution, and the fleeting triumph of love. But the short answer is “bikes.”

Also, we’re not a cult.

Located across from Spring Garden Bakery. Open Tues-Sat. Closed Sundays and Mondays.

by

Matt Jones

Type of breads at a pandería

Depending on which corner of the internet you find yourself in, you will see a range of numbers for how many different types of breads you will find in panderías — any where from 500-2,000.

Before this journey I would have side-eyed those num bers, but after visiting 14 locations, I believe that range. Like there are an infinite number of stars in the known universe, maybe too there are infinite types of panes which can be baked.

For starters, I’ve distilled it down to the five most com mon types of panes you can expect to find when you visit these bakeries. And remember: variations exist across different locations. Bakers have their own way of making these panes based on where they or their family are from in their native country. As such, this list is not every single type of bread found in bakeries. If you are unsure of what type of pan you are looking at, go ahead and ask. Many of the panaderías I visited did not label their panes in their display case.

Note: The types of breads may have different types of names (bolillos are also known as pan francés or birote) across dif ferent regions in Mexico and across Latin America. The names here are what is commonly used.

Conchas

Let’s start with the most pop ular pan dulce (sweetbread). The word concha is Spanish for seashell. These brightly colored circular breads resemble conch shells with straight and angular lines that decorate the top of the pastry. A sweetbread is often covered in a cookie crust. The most common flavors are vanilla (white conchas) and chocolate (brown conchas).

Empanadas

If you’ve eaten empanadas (in En glish, turnovers), you most likely have eaten savory ones filled with meat or vegetables. But empana das can be sweet, filled with fruit like guava, strawberry or apple and often served for breakfast. Enciso Bakery in Greensboro had a guava and cream cheese combination while the loca tion in High Point had a pumpkin-filled empanada. Move over, McDonald’s apple pies, I’m grabbing an empanada!

Bolillo

A torta is a sandwich and a common food at Mexican restau rants, and the bread of it is called a bolillo. If you want a new way of making a sandwich, ditch the store-bought sandwich bread and grab one of these. The crunchy crust on the outside and softness inside will level up your sandwich game. The bolillo is most similar to a french baguette though much shorter.

Breadwinners: A guide to the panaderías of the Triad

by Luis H. Garay

Most people let the feeling of fall fill them with thoughts of pumpkin spice drinks and apple-picking.

For me, however, I look forward to picking something else: pan at my local panad ería and attempting to recreate my mom’s te de canela.

When I visit my parents’ house, I can count on finding my mom’s purple Tupperware bowl filled with different types of breads from the local Mexican bakery. It’s always on the left side of her 30 year-old-dining faux-wood table, which wobbles slightly but is sturdy enough to have hosted hundreds of meals in my lifetime. The Tupperware bowl is like a treasure chest filled with beautifully colored pink or brown conchas or galletas with rainbow sprinkles. If I arrive at night, I know my breakfast the next morning will be one of these freshly baked treats. If I arrive early in the morning, my mom will have coffee brewing to accompany the bread.

Panaderías are bakeries, a place where bread, or pan, is sold. Pan dulce is a sweetbread, while conchas are circular with a seashell (conchas) design on top of them. In addition to bakeries, mercados or markets, also sell galletas, or cookies, and tea de canela: cinnamon tea.

My affinity for Mexican bakeries began in my early twenties. It was the first time I had left the Mexican community in the northwest suburbs of Chicago I grew up with. When I moved to St. Louis, I desperately wanted to be around people who looked like me. I arrived in early August, and by the time I was settled in, mid Septem ber had arrived in the city. That time of year is nationally recognized as Latinx Heritage Month (well, technically, it’s known as Hispanic Her itage Month, but I don’t use that word). I was new to St. Louis and with no friends, I wanted to find Latinx people to just be around. I began searching for panaderías in St. Louis, which had plenty to choose from and I settled for one on Cherokee Street which, unbeknownst to me at the time, is a predominant Latinx neighbor

hood with a vibrant Mexican and Latinx histo ry. I remember driving to Diana’s Bakery and almost missing it because of how it blended in with the businesses around it. The display cases on opposite sides of the wall were clear and well-lit, casting a soft glow on the breads inside. I’ve lived in different places since living in St. Louis and here in the Triad the panaderías proudly display their breads in similar types of display cases.

In writing this guide, I wanted to immerse myself by visiting every panadería in the Triad, which totals about 14 shops. The location I frequent the most is Carnicería El Mercadito in Greensboro off Market Street and West Spring Garden Street. In visiting these panaderías I wanted to answer a question which seems so basic, but one I hadn’t stopped to think about: What is a panadería?

For me, visiting a panadería is a vivid senso ry experience. The smell of dough and sugar greets you as soon as you open the door. While many of the locations are just bakeries, some of them also act as groceries or markets or restaurants as well. On a weekend morning, a panadería within a grocery store is as lively as any train station in a major city. Many people bustle around with baskets and trays as they pick out their goods. The sounds of customers ordering breakfast in Spanish intertwines with the heavy thuds of butchers’ knives cutting meat or cashiers swiftly opening paper bags to serve growing lines of patrons.

visited 14 Mexican bakeries, I began to under stand panaderías as microcommunities. The word “micro” gets used in many ways from describing breweries to weddings and even to a new type of eyebrow treatment (see: micro blading), but in this instance, it’s used as a way to describe the store’s care not only for its customers, but also its awareness of a commu nity beyond the individual stores. When you go to a panadería you might see various flyers or

PHOTO BY JERRY COOPER

Puerquitos

If you find a coffee-colored bread in the shape of a pig, you have found a puerquito (Spanish for little pigs)! Though at first glance, the pan might look like ginger bread, it isn’t. The bread is often flavored with molasses and made with unrefined whole cane sugar, anise and cinnamon. The flavor has a hint of sweetness. When it comes to texture, it varies: they can be hard and dry or soft.

Galletas

Pronounced “ga·ie·ta,” galletas is the Spanish word for cookies. Many bakeries will have different types of galletas. My personal favorites are the ones with choco late chips and the M&M-like candy on the cookies. But these cookies aren’t like your favorite aunt’s chocolate-chip cookies, with a gooey and soft center. The galletas here are with a soft crunch. Royal Bakery in Winston-Salem has a wide variety.

Honorable Mention:

Sweetened Biscuit

When I visited La Mejor Bakery in Kernersville, a particular bread caught my eye. It had the shape of the biscuit but with a ring on the top of it. Curiously, I grabbed two to take home. What I un earthed is the sweetness of many pan dulces in the shape of the bis cuit. It wasn’t crumbly like biscuits can sometimes be, but soft and fluffy. I KNOW the flavor of it would be enhanced with honey or a strawberry jam.

CULTURE

a plastic container collecting money for a particular cause or for someone in the community who needs financial support. The doors become a bulletin board as flyers advertising or seeking services are taped on the glass. A panadería in a market also crosses borders as custom ers will use money-transferring services to send cash back to their families in their home countries.

Walking into a panadería for me, is an experience of familiarity wrapped up in relief. A relief in knowing that whether I’m in St. Louis or in the Triad, there are other Mexican and Latinx people around. A relief that comes from hearing Spanish and maybe hearing regional Spanish sim ilar to your family’s own tongue. A relief in finding a grocery store with Carlos X chocolate bars or cripsy chicharrones (fried pork belly).

I have depended on panaderías as a lifeline.

Like any microcommunity, panaderías are like a second or third home, a place that is familiar and safe. As fall contin ues and winter beckons on the horizon, panaderías provide me a warmth, not unlike the dough that rises in the ovens nearby.

A guide to visiting your first panadería

You’ve been reading this guide and are ready to visit your first panadería. You might be ecstatic but a little comprehensive. Is it like other bakeries where there is a counter to order? Will I need to speak Spanish when I go into a bakery? What are the social norms? For those new to panaderias, I got you. For frequent visitors, this might be old news to you. Either way, here is a step-by-step guide on visiting your first panadería.

Before you leave, grab some cash. Some of the bakeries I visited only accepted cash. Each bread will typically cost you $1 to $2.50 per item.

Drive to your local panadería down the street or venture to one in a different part of the Triad for you based on our list. If you are going on a week end, expect the bakeries to be busy. The best times to visit are early in the morning, when the bread is freshest.

When you walk in, say hello. Culturally, I grew up learning you say “Buenos días” when you see someone or enter a business.

Near the entrance, you’ll see a pile of circular, gray metallic trays and tongs. Grab one of each.

Depending on the size of the panadería, you’ll see several display cases filled with breads and sheet pan racks out with more bread. It can be over whelming. But don’t worry, just take your time. I like to take a second to peruse and look for my favor ites while also finding one or two breads I haven’t tried before. Maybe I’ll grab a sweeter bread for dessert later that day.

A list of panaderías in the Triad

GREENSBORO

Panaderia

HIGH POINT/KERNERSVILLE

Panaderías Los Tres Hermanos (HP) 800 S Main St

La Mejor Bakery Inc (KV) 428 N Main St #D

WINSTON-SALEM

Panaderia - Pastelería y Tortilleria Gayosso

Panaderia Begneis

Royal Bakery

La Tili Supermarket 827 E Sprague St

Grab your first piece of bread and put it on your tray. The panadería you are in might have labels for each type of bread or they might not. Either way, let your curiosity take over. Grab the pan which intrigues you the most based on the shape or color or because it sparks joy.

Find the cashier and head over with your tray and tongs in hand. The cashier will place the breads in paper bags and occasionally wrap some of them in wax paper. They’ll then place your bread-filled paper bags in a plastic bag. They put away the tray and tongs so you do not have to worry about these.

Pay the cashier and head to your car or back to your house to consume your delicious finds. A warning: breads like the conchas can leave crumbs so grab your handheld cordless car vacuum if like me, you can’t wait to eat until you get home. Shar ing is optional but encouraged.

At Yumi Sushi, owners Jessica and Chen tout experience and use of quality ingredients

by Sayaka Matsuoka

Tell me about your background.

I was born in Sacramento and moved to Greensboro when I was 3 years old and then I pretty much grew up there. My husband grew up in China and Taiwan and finished high school in Brooklyn. He moved to North Carolina when he was in his twenties. We recently moved to Colfax in 2019 so we’re about 20 minutes from High Point.

So I kind of felt stuck in between, like wondering who should I identify with because the reputation, I guess, if that generally Southeast Asians are more hood, like if you’ve watched Ali Wong. We’re the jungle Asians and you’re the fancy Asians and I wanted to be a fancy Asian.

How did that dichotomy affect the way you understood your identity?

What was it like for you growing up in Greensboro?

It was pretty chill, nothing crazy. It was a pretty normal childhood but I kind of grew up in the ghetto. I went to Murphy Elementary, Jackson Middle and then the Early College at Guilford for high school and then finished out college at Guilford. I had other Asian friends in middle school and high school but they weren’t the same kind of Asians if you know what I mean.

Elaborate on that.

Well I didn’t know that Chinese, Korean and Japanese people were in Greensboro. Where I lived I was on the south side of town which is where a lot of Southeast Asians live. All of the Chinese, Korean and Japanese people were on the northwest side of town.

A

I was never really ashamed to be Asian but I’ve come to embrace it more and more. I would embrace the cultural celebrations like I was in the Laotian dances for the holidays and would dress up in the full ensemble and all that.

I embrace it even more now and try to hold on to the language aspect and teach it to my daughter. But my Laotian is really broken; I can under stand it more than I can speak it.

Q

Q A A A A

With your Laotian background and your husband’s Chinese background, why did you decide to open up a sushi restaurant, which is Japanese?

It’s because we were already in the industry. We both worked at Imperial Koi in Greensboro for about 10 years. He was the head sushi chef and I worked myself up to management. Then, when I got pregnant, I had to

PHOTO BY EMIL MOLDOVEANU

Yumi Sushi Tea & Sake opened in High Point in the Stock + Grain Assembly Food Hall in July 2022. We caught up with owner Jessica Douangprachanh Chen to talk about growing up in Greensboro and how the business is doing. Jessica is Laotian and her husband, Hsiao Shan Chen, is Chinese.

This article is in partnership with PAVE NC, a local organization that highlights Asian and Asian-American stories in North Carolina.

PHOTO BY KELLI GOWDY PHOTO

How has business been going for you guys?

A A

It’s been going pretty good. It exceeded our expectations for High Point, especially because downtown High Point is not a destination location, especially for food. But there’s a lot of local communities here that we didn’t know existed. We’ve had a really good reception from the community and people appreciate us being here so they don’t have to drive all the way to the Palladium. They appreciate having something local in the neighborhood.

QTell me a little bit about the food.

People really like the poke bowls, especially the spicy ahi; that’s the No. 1 that people order. A lot of people also like to build their own. It can be a little intimidating at first because there’s so many ingredients. I like to build my own with salmon, tuna, kimchi, edamame, mango, mush rooms and then the gochujang and gochujang aioli sauce and some ponzu.

We have a lot of passion behind what we do and my husband is really particular about his presentation and quality of the fish and how things

O wners Jessica Douangprachanh and Hsiao Shan Chen opened Yumi in July.

take leave and we were like, “We have to make our own money.”The timing was right because we had enough experience under our belt; I think we were ready for the next step.

look aesthetically.

For example our drinks, we don’t shortcut anything. We don’t use artificial colors, flavors or powders. I think that really differentiates us from other shops. People can tell the difference. And then they don’t have to feel guilty about drinking boba because it doesn’t have any fillers or junk. It’s just straight up tea, milk, sugar, ice and whatever fruit flavor. We make our own purees; everything is fresh, made-to-order. Even our taro drink

has taro chunks.

So when people look at our prices, they are on the higher side but it’s within reason because they’re getting fresh ingredients.

QHow have you liked living and working in the Triad?

A

We call the Triad our home. I’ve lived here pretty much all my life and Chen has been here since like 2010. We like the Triad because compared to Charlotte and Raleigh, those towns feel big and congested. We like the small town feel that Greensboro and High Point offer but we have the accessibility to good food and awesome events.

We see that as growing but not to an exponential point where it’s over whelming; I just like that it’s not so densely populated.

High Point has also grown so much this past year, and there’s more com ing to the city. We have a pro soccer team coming in 2024 and the food hall parking lot is being converted to a high-end apartment complex to attract more young professionals.

The city leadership is making strides to make High Point a destination city and the food hall was the first step in the first phase of it all. I think we got in at the right time.

Learn more about Yumi Sushi Tea & Sake at yumisushihp.com or follow them on Facebook and Instagram. They are open every day except for major holidays and are currently hiring.

Value and the Power of Art II

A monthly glimpse at the works in the current

Worth. On view at the

Since relocating to New York from London, James Nares has been a student of both the city’s skylines and streets. The latter, the literal ground that millions of inhabitants and visitors walk daily, has particularly captured and sustained the artist’s attention.

In her Monuments series, of which these two works are a part, Nares pays tribute to the artistry and craftsmanship of workers whose names have long been lost, or perhaps were never even known. The large-scale images were made from taking rubbings of New York’s oldest surviving sidewalks, made more than a century ago by immigrant masons. Giant slabs of granite were chiseled with im provisational marks to create an overall texture to keep pedestrians from slipping on the surfaces. Located in lower Manhattan where Nares first lived when she moved to the United States, these simultaneously artisanal and func tional objects were part of her first impressions of her new home. Artistically returning to them nearly 40 years later carries an element of reaching back into her own story, alongside a broader interest in the history of the city.

Like the original masons, the artist’s process for mak ing these works is emphatically physical. She and her assistants paint rolls of synthetic paper black, then take it down to the street and tape it over one of the sidewalk slabs. As Nares describes it, “We get down on our hands

and knees and pay homage to our ancestors and rub it,” with a transparent wax, in the same manner that one might make a brass rubbing or gravestone rubbing. They roll up the paper and return to the studio, where they unroll it and gild the entire surface by hand. Once the gold leaf has been applied, the surface is brushed, and the gold breaks loose from the unwaxed spaces to reveal the impression of the rubbed stone.

More than 11 feet high by five or more across, these gilded surfaces are — true to their collective title — mon umental. Individually named for the streets on which the stones are found, they display the grandeur of a royal por trait or commemorative statue, albeit in minimal, abstract form. The metallic luster elevates these humble artworks and honors their anonymous makers. It also recalls that historic rumor of American streets “paved with gold,” an allusion to the literal wealth that many immigrants thought to find here, and the value of the opportunities they hoped to secure.

Gilded is on display now at Weatherspoon Art Museum through April 8, free and open to the public.

James Nares, LafayetteVII , 2019. 22k gold leaf on Evo lon, 149 1/2 x 68 1/2 in. © James Nares, photo courtesy of the artist and Kasmin Gallery, New York

sponsored content

I n addition to sushi and poke bowls, Yumi Sushi serves fruit teas.

PHOTO BY EMIL MOLDOVEANU

exhibition Gilded: Contemporary Artists Explore Value and

Weatherspoon Art Museum at UNCG through April 8, 2023.

BY CAROLYN DE BERRY Hickswood Road, High Point