Triad City Bites July 2018

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

JULY 2018

AN UPGRADE FOR

MELT KITCHEN & BAR

Curated By:

Also featured in this month’s Issue: Ari on kale

Dinner Guest

A sauce guy gets serious about sodium

1618 Midtown $$-$$$

1618midtown.com 1724 Battleground Ave. GSO 336.285.9410

E

ven though profile up in these cases, I double some of my down on the oregano, thyme or basil. friends are And what about the special “threeindeed salty, cheese blends”? Well, I can throw my sodium is definitely own three cheeses in there. I must be not my friend. And mindful, however, that cheese is made though the search for with salt and all cheese will raise the

by Timothy G Beeman II ways to curb my sosodium level in my sauce. dium intake gets tricky, it can also be When finished, there should be a fun if I’m doing it right. When my family rich bold sauce to feel good about. A and I cook at home, we find that makwork of culinary art, and I know that ing our own dressings and sauces, as the sodium levels are lower, even with well as spice and herbal blends can be the cheese. rewarding, they contain less sodium An entire batch of my spaghetti (usually) and, most importantly, they sauce has around 275 mg of sodium. taste better.

If I stick with the half-cup measureWhy is that? Because ment —which I won’t — I’m we control what goes in it. bringing my sodium value We get to pick our flavor to around 60 mg. This is a HALF A CUP OF profile. We can define the major reduction in sodium SAUCE? THAT’S consistency. We control all and most likely an increase aspects of the nutritional in flavor.

JUST ENOUGH TO value and flavors that go As I have written before, MAKE ME MAD. into our very own product. there is no escaping soI love spaghetti sauce. In dium. It is in almost everymost major brands of spathing we eat. A medium ghetti sauce, 400-480mg of onion has 4 mg of sodium. sodium lurk in every half-cup. That’s A cup of chopped tomatoes is around 20 percent of the recommended daily 9 mg. Sodium is everywhere. We need allowance. sodium. And if you’re someone who I am a “sauce guy.” Half a cup? sweats excessively, like myself, like That’s just enough to make me mad. an athlete, someone who works outI mean, does anyone really like the side in the heat or anyone who exerts taste of plain spaghetti? I don’t. themselves, sodium is a necessity.

I did research on how to get around However, couch potatoes should not that 20 percent of our daily sodium up sodium intake to match that of the intake while making something with athletes of the world. It is up to us, as more flavor and maintain control of the consumers of our own food, to monitor ingredient list. our intake of it.

Without digging too far into a recipe, Substituting homemade basic I will peel and hand-crush or blend sauces, spice and herbal blends, and fresh tomatoes with a food processor. dressings can be tedious. It may be Canned crushed tomatoes themselves easier to just pick up that jar of masscan contain upwards of 400mg of produced spaghetti sauce on the way sodium. If I want it more tomato-y, then home from work than to slave over this is the way to go. Nothing storea sauce before slaving over dinner. bought tastes as fresh as actual fresh That’s understandable. Make it fun. tomatoes. I also recommend using noMake it ahead. Can it, freeze it, store salt added or low-sodium tomato paste it. It will be there when I need it. But, and do the same with beef or chicken more importantly, my body will be broth or stock. To get my salty flavor there when I need it.

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Triad City Bites

1618 Midtown’s General Manager and Certified Sommelier Stacey Land met with “grape expectations” when the restaurant was honored by Wine Spectator magazine with a 2018 Award of Excellence. Land earned the distinction of Certified Sommelier from the Court of Master Sommeliers in 2017 and is currently studying for her Advanced Sommelier exam. She is also a Certified Sake Advisor and winner of the 2016 Domaine Serene Somm Select challenge. The Award of Excellence identifies restaurants whose wine lists feature a well-chosen assortment of quality producers along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. It’s a reflection of the restaurant’s mission to deliver an outstanding beverage program around Land’s growing talents. Midtown carries 120 carefully chosen selections, and keeps an inventory of 1,500 bottles. “I look for balance when creating the list,” says Land. “For every off-the-wall blend of Greek indigenous varietals there needs to be something comfortable and easily recognized, like a New Zealand sauvignon blanc.” 1618 Midtown, along with sister restaurants 1618 Seafood Grille and 1618 Downtown, is home to several celebrations of wine including winemaker dinners, tastings, culture classes and the 1618 Book* Club (by “book” we mean “wine”).

July 2018

Kitchen + Market $$-$$$ nattygreeneskitchenandmarket.com 2003 Yanceyville St. GSO 336.656.2410

Burger Batch $-$$

burgerbatch.com 2760 NC 68 HP 336.875.4082 237 W. 5th St. WS 336.893.6395

The Kitchen+Market continues its evolution at Revolution Mill with the opening of the upstairs Board Room, featuring a limited menu of share-ables curated at the Board Station (Pictured above: shrimp ceviche, steak tartare, charcuterie board, deviled eggs + libations). The smaller space and bespoke menu offer a peek inside the mind of Kitchen+Market owner Kayne Fisher on a more intimate scale. Together with the main restaurant, the Deck outdoor tavern, the downstairs Market and the rolling grounds and towering stacks of Revolution Mill, the Board Station brings another facet of the Kitchen+Market experience.

Mission Pizza $-$$

missionpizzanapoletana.com 707 Trade St. WS, 336.893.8217 Pizza is pizza. Dough, tomatoes, cheese.

What’s the big deal?

As the Carolinas’ first Neapolitan pizzeria (real Neapolitan, not fake Neapolitan), Mission Pizza Napoletana aims to change the conversation about what pizza is and what pizza can be. You should demand no less from your pizza.

Our mission starts with (insert part about insistence on passion and commitment to quality here), and shows in our (buzzword claims about our product quality and provenance). Not to mention, (marketing drivel, dubious proclamation, exaggerated bio, obligatory claim of authenticity, inconclusive assertion, humblebrag), separates us from the rest!

Just come try the pizza, make up your own mind. While you’re here, don’t sleep on the pasta, salads, veg and specials. That would be a mistake.

July 2018

Known for Instagram-worthy milkshakes and towering burgers, Tim Walker’s corner joint Burger Batch is now offering a brunch menu tailor-made for a Funday Sunday with last night’s crew, with live music every weekend designed to kick the day into gear. The cocktail menu is straightforward — mimosas, Bloody Marys and two special shots — but never shies away from decadent adornments like the leaning tower of chicken and waffles atop the drinkably spicy Breakfast Bloody. A champagne flight includes a range of refreshing juices from classic orange to smooth, sweet pineapple, all presented on wooden board shaped like the Old North State. Aside from boozy concoctions, Burger Batch’s newest menu is packed with playful touches like the complementary can of PBR with a cheeky-titled “Hangover” entrée. Small Batch takes presentation and portion size seriously; no one will go home hungry and bacon adorns cocktails and entrees alike. And that’s part of what’s so enjoyable about the Small Batch enterprise and Burger Batch’s newest menu — light-hearted and unapologetic indulgence.

Triad City Bites

3

MELT GETS AN UP Melt Kitchen & Bar $-$$

meltkitchenandbar.com 1941 New Garden Road, GSO, 336.763.5445

It all started so simply: Great panini sandwiches on bread crafted expressly for that purpose, gooey with melted cheese and paired with fantastic sauces and sides, a few dinner specials and maybe some craft beer at the bar.

Things got complicated fast.

Word spread about little spot at Golden Gate Shopping Center, pushing capacity in the kitchen and on the floor. The menu grew to incorporate more unique takes on bistro classics. And just as it began to thrum, owners Kim and Jeff Brewer had their first child.

They realized that the existing space couldn’t simultaneously handle a bar crowd, a dinner rush or a catering job, that their business model was solid but capable of so much more.

When the space opened up on New Garden Avenue, along a short restaurant district off Battleground Avenue, it all fell into place.

Twice the size, with ample bar space, kitchen power and parking, more glass windows than the old place, without that problem of glaring, late-afternoon sun.

Certainly enough to accommodate their vision.

“We’ve got a full bar and lounge area now that lets us explore the cocktail side of things,” Kim says. “We just didn’t have the layout for it before, the space for the glassware or bottles of liquor. It also got us into

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Triad City Bites

brunch.”

Weekend brunch service offers a with rotating specials, she says.

“We also do bottomless mimosas popular.”

The larger kitchen allows Jeff to b menu offerings, experiment with develop vegetarian and vegan di the basics.

The classic slate of panini still get whatever new variations the kitch long list of burgers, sandwiches a the quality — including the award bacon-arugula-tomato sandwich Farms tomatoes, local bacon and arugula, with just a slice of Havart is Melt, after all.

A short slate of tacos keeps it sim shrimp or avocado. All the salads unique to Melt. They still carry th

July 2018

PGRADE

slate of classics along

s,” she adds. “It’s

be more creative in his flavors and portions, ishes that go beyond

t attention, along with hen can produce. A and wraps maintains d-winning BAT, a that relies on Rudd d the peppery bite of ti on it, because this

mple with fish, steak, s are signature items, he Sunrise salad —

with portabella mushrooms, artichoke hearts, roasted peppers, bacon and a fried egg — that became a favorite among the regulars at the old location.

They’ve still got the duck-confit flatbread and duck fries, the pulled-pork nachos and the almost-famous sprouts too.

But now there’s room for more.

“The new space has allowed us to explore new menu items and ideas,” Kim says. “We get to experiment without having to change the core of what we do.”

The baby is up and running around now, and the Brewers have closed the Irving Park shop in favor of this magnificent upgrade to the north. Like a growing family, the operation needed more space in which to thrive.

“I guess we were working towards this the whole time,” Jeff says. “This was our escape plan.”

“The funny thing is,” Kim says, “we didn’t realize we were working towards this as we were working towards this.”

July 2018

Triad City Bites

5

The Quiet Pint $$

facebook.com/quietpinttavern 1420 W. First St. WS, 336.893.6881

Mary’s Gourmet Diner $$ marysgourmetdiner.net 723 Trade St. WS, 336.723.7239 Mary Haglund owns breakfast in Winston-Salem. Her first venture, Mary’s of Course!

Which opened in 2000, was the original farm-to-fork restaurant in the city. There she solidified her relationships with local purveyors and her commitment to real, local ingredients, as well as her biscuit recipe. Her egg dishes are legendary, her pancakes sublime. And the specials board always has something interesting. Open only for breakfast and lunch and the sweet spot in between, Mary’s Gourmet Diner is a WinstonSalem original.

Mozelle’s Fresh Southern Bistro $$ mozelles.com 878 W. Fourth St. WS, 336.703.5400

Gather at the Quiet Pint for pub trivia hosted by Geeks Who Drink every Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. This is team trivia and winning teams will be awarded prizes in the form of Quiet Pint gift cards and craft-beer schwag. Follow the beer menu in real-time with the TapHunter App and receive notifications when new beers are tapped. Live music season will be starting soon — follow the Quiet Pint on Facebook to see the schedule.

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Triad City Bites

Mozelle’s Fresh Southern Bistro has owned its bustling corner in Winston-Salem’s West End neighborhood for nearly a decade. Owner Jennifer Smith’s attention to detail runs the gamut, from the flowers on the tables to the annual painting of the building, from the singular wine list to the tomato pie with succotash that folks can’t get enough of. Now she has lured Chef Jay Pierce from Greensboro to lead her kitchen into the next decade. The Southern classics on the menu are safe from his tinkering tendencies, but the seasonal dishes are all his. Whether you enjoy his hearty brunch on Saturday or Sunday, or partake of the numerous entrée specials each week that draw inspiration from culinary traditions far and wide, this neighborhood spot will deliver a unique, international experience.

July 2018

Local 27101 $

thelocal.ws 310 W. Fourth St. WS, 336.725.3900

Uncle Buzzy’s Fried Food $ 1510 First St. WS Find them on Facebook

Local 27101, located in the heart of downtown WinstonSalem, balances a casual ambiance with local classics re-imagined by Executive Chef Patrick Rafferty, and with the savvy of the management behind the Millennium Center. They feature fresh food made fast, and there’s fare for everyone: Burgers with seasoned crinkle cut and sweet potato fries.

A legendary hot dog. Fresh shrimp and oysters for po-boys — grilled, fried or sautéed — and made-to-order salads that go beyond the basic house with Caesar and a Cobb. Local 27101 has local wine and beer, free delivery throughout downtown Winston-Salem and the West End. And they cater, as well — either on location, on site at Local 27101 or one of the many chambers of the Millennium Center. Closed Sundays.

Jerusalem Market $$

jerusalemmarket.com 310 S. Elm St. GSO, 336.279.7025 5002 High Point Road GSO, 336.547.0220 Since 1989, the Triad’s favorite Middle Eastern Grocery built a loyal following near Adams Farm with its international market and sandwich counter in the back. Jerusalem Market specializes in imported groceries and ingredients, and the most unusual soft-drink cooler in town. It’s newest location, downtown on South Elm Street, carries a full board of specialty sandwiches using ingredients like Italian mortadella and salami, Turkish dried sausage and in-house butchered lamb and beef. Fresh-made baba ghanouj, tabouleh and “the best hummos in the world” every day, with organic produce and locally-sourced ingredients whenever possible. Open for lunch and dinner. “You will be pleased.”

July 2018

Uncle Buzzy’s specializes in creative carnival food: fried, smoked mac and cheese, porchetta meat cones and turkey legs as well as burgers, hot dogs tacos and the sort of deep-fried experimentation for which the genre is becoming famous: funnel cakes, fried Oreos, ice cream tacos on waffles.

Owner Dave Hillman partnered with Chef Brian Duffy, best known as the kitchen guy from the television show “Bar Rescue,” to flesh out the carnival-food concept and add classic American street food. A Nashville chicken sandwich. Disco fries. Poutine. There’s a smoker in the kitchen for pork shoulder and anything else the guys want to experiment with. Beef gets roasted in house and served four ways: Italian-style, a Chicago favorite with a jus-soaked bun; shaved into a Philly cheesesteak; served on a salty kummelweck roll for the Buffalo, NY favorite beef on weck; and done exactly like Dave remembers it from the original Buzzy’s in Boston, the First Street Bomber. Uncle Buzzy’s is open now on First Street for takeout only.

Triad City Bites

7

Flash in the Pan:

Kale: A million little fibers

by Ari LeVaux

K

ale has reached that point on the popularity curve where people are hating it because it’s popular. Once, it was easy to file away this dark-green, leafy vegetable as just some hippie food, but now it’s everywhere.

It’s on the menu, on the vegetarian entrée and meatloaf alike. Your favorite celebrities are gushing about their daily green smoothie. Still, many people don’t enjoy eating it. And sometimes these haters get triggered by people who do.

“Kale makes you lose weight because it makes everything taste like s***,” Tweeted a smart-aleck in my timeline. “Stop putting kale in everything,” begged another, to the cold, uncaring universe. Haters are saying “F kale” at nearly the same rate that they are saying “F yoga.”

For some reason it’s natural to resent success in others, and kale is a wildly successful species. The goal of any plant is to make and spread its seed, and kale is grown in all 50 states, shipped to all 50 states, has its seed farms dedicated to its future success, and these seeds are delivered to growers around the world with computers and airplanes. And now chefs are putting kale in everything. Forget conspiracy theory. The ascendence of kale is a conspiracy fact.

I’m in on the kale conspiracy, but I agree that it shouldn’t be added to everything.

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Triad City Bites

Those bitter fibers really wouldn’t work in a delicate flan, for example. If kale is overcooked or burnt, the taste and smell can be terrible. And if kale is added to a dish that already sucks, it will still suck.

And really, a little kale here and a little there isn’t going to do it. You need to eat more than trace quantities to get the benefits.

Whether you’re in it for the fiber, the calcium, the social statement or whatever, you still have to actually swallow it. So it isn’t a matter of putting kale in everything, as much as putting everything, or anything, into kale that will make it more palatable.

Because regardless of what the haters and the trolls would like you to believe, the more kale (and leaves like it) that you eat, the healthier you will be. Food people argue endlessly about fat, carbohydrate, protein, dairy, sugar, fruit, meat, and every other ingredient or macronutrient you can think of. Nobody has anything bad to say about leaves.

To some extent, the form in which you eat

the kale, as well as what you eat it with, will determine how it performs in your body.

Many of the people who are most excited about kale are regular users, who have a system down that works for their bodies.

In terms of health impact, almost anything that can be said about kale can be said about collard greens, chard, spinach, turnip greens, broccoli leaves and many others.

But the tactics that we will now explore are tailored to kale specifically.

We can thank a weary farmer who flagged me down as I walked by his booth at the end of market last Saturday, and offered me a box of kale for $10. It was a better fate than the compost pile for everyone involved. Except the kale, which couldn’t care less.

My body seems to “function best” (a delicate way of saying “makes the best poops”) when I eat between three and six kale leaves per day. So the following tactics, which are really mini-recipes, are geared toward consuming that amount.

July 2018

Bites & Pints Gastropub $

bitesandpintsgastropub.com 2503 Spring Garden St. GSO, 336.617.5185

Salad Novices may want to start by massaging their kale, for a softer salad. Squeezing and rubbing the leaves with your hands will break the cells, releasing enzymes that begin cutting up those fiber chains. Massaging with salt and lime juice increases the effect, and since both of those are in the dressing there’s no reason not to.

Unless, of course, you want your kale coarse. Once upon a time my wife the salad whisperer would massage the kale salad, but now doesn’t want the leaves so soft. “Once you massage it they lose their structure,” she says. “I like a structureful salad.”

The dressing consists of olive oil, lime or lemon juice and salt. Vinegar, while acidic, makes a terrible substitute for lime or lemon. She typically doubles down on the salt by adding feta or parmesan cheese to the salad. And she adds onion, because something needs to stand up to all of that fat and fiber.

Strip the leafy parts from the stem and mince six leaves of kale. Use half a cup of olive oil, a quarter cup of lime juice and salt to taste. If you want to massage it, take a 1/4 cup of dressing and rub it in. Then toss in the rest, and add extras like cheese, onion, olives or sun-dried tomatoes.

With bacon It’s kind of cheating, but at least it’s cheating with historical precedent. Cooking kale with bacon recalls the Southern dish of collards and ham hock, and that’s no coincidence. Pork and brassicas — a plant family that also includes cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and Brussels sprouts — is a winning combination. I usually take it in an Eastern direction, by making a mix of soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil and rice vinegar or lime juice.

Rip the leafy parts off the stem of three or so kale leaves, and mince the leafy parts. Cut bacon into little pieces and fry. When it’s half cooked add the garlic, and lay the kale on top. When it wilts down, stir it around, season with black pepper, hot pepper and, finally, pour in your little sauce. Those leaves will shrink way down, and look even smaller as soon as you take your first bite.

There isn’t enough space for me to tell you how to make green smoothies and kale chips, but those have been covered online in great detail. Suffice it to say, if you really want to make the green medicine go down easy, you can do worse than make your kale taste like ice cream and potato chips.

July 2018

Chef Kris Fuller, queen of the Crafted empire in Greensboro and Winston-Salem, joined with longtime Westerwood Tavern owner Mike Bosco to create Greensboro’s only true gastropub. Fuller’s menu takes bar food to the next level, with an eclectic slate of delectables suitable for sharing or grubbing down solo: boiled peanuts, shrimp tempura, chicken and waffles, melts, salads, a full component of burgers and hot dogs and even a kids’ menu. Bosco’s bar has all the necessary accoutrements. Open every day in the Lindley Park section of Spring Garden Street.

Triad City Bites

9

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Burke Street Pizza $

burkestreetpizza.com 1140 Burke St. WS, 336.721.0011 3352 Robinhood Road WS, 336.760.4888

Cheesecakes by Alex $ cheesecakesbyalex.com 315 S. Elm St. GSO, 336.273.0970

It took months for Alex Amoroso to make the perfect cheesecake. That was in 2002, just before he opened the bakery and coffeeshop on South Elm Street in downtown Greensboro. The kitchen is prolific, turning out cookies, brownies, cupcakes, cakes and pastry — and even bread. But the menu leans heavily on Amoroso’s signature cheesecake recipe, now available in 22 flavors and three sizes.

The downtown bakery has expanded into the storefront next door, becoming a regular spot for quick morning grabs and afternoon coffee meetings. And the cheesecakes are available anytime online at cheesecakesbyalex.com.

FOOD+DRINK

Burke Street Pizza has gone green at all its locations. No more plastic straws, Styrofoam take-out containers, plastic bags or foil and plastic trays, with a pledge to eliminate most of its plastic waste in the coming months.

They’ve installed high-efficiency LED lighting and switched to pizza boxes and napkins made from recycled materials. In celebration, BSP has partnered with A/perture Cinema for a screening of A Plastic Ocean, about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a miles-wide mass of free-floating plastic garbage in the North Pacific. Showtime is Tuesday, July 10 at A/perture at 7 p.m.

Find the event on Facebook. And visit Burke Street Pizza at its original location on Burke Street, or the one Robinhood Road.

Don’t see your business?

Call Brian at 336.681.0704 to get listed.