Serial Eater

Frog Legs with a Side of Simple Charm

Epicurean delights in — where? — Wallburg

By Jason oliV er ni xon When you think

of North Carolina culinar y pilgrimages, you might envision Vivian Howard’s Chef & the Farmer in Kinston or The Fearrington House Restaurant in Pittsboro.

But t ucked inside a sunny Dor is Day yellow, t wo -stor y building smack in be t ween the post of fice and a mulch outpost in dow ntow n Wa llburg — yes, that blip in the road bet ween Winston- Sa lem and T homasv ille — there’s an unexpected epicurean gem.

Welcome to the Wa llburg Diner, folk s.

A lthough the k ick y blue shut ters g ive it some flair, the diner isn’t much to look at. Inside, décor leans heav ily on bolted- dow n booths w ith Cracker Bar rel-st yled v intage sig nage. T hink retro Mountain Dew ads on the wa lls, paper towel rolls on the tables.

W here, you ask, are we going with this? Straight to the menu. And in par ticular: the chef ’s ever-changing specials, which you’ll find scribbled across the Dr y Erase wall opposite the diner’s open k itchen.

T he diner’s ever yday laminated menu feat ures the usua l suspects (cheese omelets and burgers), but per use the aforementioned “Specia ls” board — complete w ith br ight pink flour ishes — for the unexpected.

Cr ispy f r ied f rog legs, for example, which we sampled on a recent T hursday evening. “We sold out fast,” our char ming ser ver, Wendy, told us. Don’t expect foie g ras. But if hear t y fare such as the cajun shr imp po boy w ith tang y homemade remoulade and k icked-up slaw piques your fanc y, you’re at the r ight place. Dive into the br isket sub ser ved au jus w ith a horseradish mayo and cr ispy onions or the loaded-up chicken-and-sausage g umbo paired w ith a soul-satisf y ing g r illed cheese — just $7.95. A nd that includes your dr ink of choice! Or the but ter milk f r ied chicken and “sugar-gla zed Belg ian waf fle” topped w ith a chipotle maple sy r up. A nd don’t pass up on the sides, such as the f r ied g reen tomatoes, as you side-glance the crowd that ranges f rom contractor t y pes to families and gents in Barbour vests w ith ar tsy glasses.

T hank af fable chef/ow ner Josh Har tley for the diner’s v ision.

“I g rew up in Wa llburg and worked at a loca l restaurant a ll through high school,” says Har tley. “My g randfather was a chef, and I think that that rea lly inspired me.”

Har tley caught the epicurean bug and event ua lly moved to Charleston, where he received a culinar y deg ree f rom Johnson & Wa les. A f ter cook ing high- end L owcountr y fare around the Holy Cit y for severa l years, the Tr iad tempted him back, and Har tley ser ved as the executive chef at T homasv ille’s Colonia l Countr y Club for t welve years.

“I swore that I was retir ing f rom food ser v ice,” says Har tley, “and then, in 2016, I somehow ended up buy ing the Wa llburg Diner. A nd here we are. I wanted to keep the diner’s v ibe but k ick it up a

notch. I tr ied to liven up the menu so that it wasn’t just countr y-f r ied steak and the like.”

So, we ask, are there any other unexpected delights we ought to k now about?

“Folk s love our chicken g izzards,” notes Har tley. “We boil them w ith white w ine, celer y, garlic and bay leaves to sof ten them up and then soak them in but ter milk, dredge them and f r y them up. Per fection.”

A nd f ut ure v isions?

Perhaps beer and w ine, says Har tley — but who k nows?

“I look up to superstar chef Sean Brock of Husk fame. He is such a renegade and re a lly has the g umption to do any thing. Still, I am not tr y ing to blow anyone’s mind.” His aim, he says modestly, is “to create cook ing that is simple enough so that it’s understandable.” Smiling himself, he says, “I just want our g uests to wa lk away w ith a big smile.” OH

T he Madcap Cot t age gents, Jason Oliver Nixon and John L oecke, delight in the une xpect ed — pr ints, pat t erns or frog legs. Helping families create and enrich their legacy for generations to come

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