Chapel Hill Magazine March/April 2024

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CHAPEL HILL

MARCH/APRIL 2024

CHAPELHILLMAGAZINE.COM

EDITOR

Jessica Stringer

EDITORIAL

EXECUTIVE MANAGING EDITOR

Amanda MacLaren

MANAGING EDITOR, CHATHAM MAGAZINE

Morgan Cartier Weston

SENIOR STAFF WRITER

Anna-Rhesa Versola

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Leah Berry

EDITORIAL INTERNS

Alana Bleimann, Holland Bodner, Ryan Christiano, Isabella Colucci, Izabella Counts, Celia Funderburk, Sinclair Holian, Avery Householder, Natalie McCormick, Shea McIntyre, Lena Miano, Leah Paige, Lauren Rouse, Katie Scherner, Liza Smith, Lucy Thomas and Emma Unger

CONTRIBUTORS

James Dupree, Olivia Paul and James Stefiuk

ART & PRODUCTION

DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE OPERATIONS

Ashlin Acheson

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Kevin Brown

GRAPHIC DESIGNER/PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Lindsay Scott

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Khadijah Weekes-Nolan

PHOTOGRAPHER

John Michael Simpson

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HEART OF NC WEDDINGS MANAGING EDITOR/DIGITAL CONTENT SPECIALIST

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Chapel Hill Magazine is published 6 times

Hill, NC 27514 | 919–933–1551

The exhibition is coorganized by the American Federation of Arts and Gilcrease Museum.

The Ackland’s presentation of this exhibition has been made possible by the William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust, the Arthur F. and Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation, and Jeff and Liesl Wilke ’92 (JD).

Exhibition-related public programs are supported by a Spark the Arts Grant from the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.

Stephen Mopope (Kiowa, 1898-1974), Indian Gathering, 1933, oil on canvas: 22 1/2 x 48 in. (57.2 x 121.9 cm).

Gift of the Thomas Gilcrease Foundation, 1964. Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa, OK.

CARRBORO

64 The Mill Town Sound

For one day only, music filled the streets of Carrboro during the annual festival

68 Dynamic Duo

This power couple of local politics says showing up and doing the work matters

76 Building Community Carrboro’s highly anticipated $41 million dollar project is slated for summer

78 To Market, To Market

Celebrate 45 years of the Carrboro Farmers Market with four seasonal recipes from vendors

SUSTAINABLE LIVING

86

Embracing the Eco-Conscious

A guide to sustainable practices for a greener future

FEATURES

46 Road Trip

In need of a quick getaway this spring and summer?

Our staff shares a few fave nearby destinations perfect for day or weekend trips!

54 The Mayors Club

We convened the former mayors of Chapel Hill in January at The Carolina Inn to welcome their newest counterpart, Mayor Jess Anderson

56

Mayoral Musings

Mayor Jess Anderson and former Mayor Pam Hemminger engage in a conversation with Chapel Hill Magazine’s Jessica Stringer about legacy, the challenges of leadership and the town’s evolution

HOME & GARDEN

100

116

126

130

tour

138 Roots of Abundance

Two ‘farm friends’ combine the best of both of their worlds by cultivating a unique blend of Jewish traditions and sustainable farming

144 Building Dreams, Transforming Lives

Habitat for Humanity of Orange County President and CEO Jennifer Player reflects on her organization’s 40th anniversary

DEPARTMENTS

6 Letter from the Editor

10 About Town Events not to miss

14 Noted

What we’ve heard around our towns …

30 What We’re Eating News from our restaurant community, plus a dish we love

32 Dining Guide

60 Once A Tar Heel … Helene Cooper, author and journalist, talks The Daily Tar Heel, “the wall” and traveling the world

PEOPLE & PLACES

20 Salute to Community Heroes

22 Local Government Appreciation Reception

26 Triangle Land Conservancy Celebration

27 Crook’s Corner Book Prize

ENGAGEMENT

148 Hodge & Taekman

WEDDINGS

149 Ammons & Martin

150 Deerson & Fuchs

151 Caveness & Steinbacher

152 Barlowe & Reeves

SPONSORED CONTENT

42 Vote in Best of Chapel Hill 2024 Our annual poll is back! You can cast your ballot now for your local favorites

PHOTO BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON

An Ode to the Inn

It’s a pity I don’t remember my first visit to The Carolina Inn. It was the late ’80s, and the paint was barely dry in the Smith Center when my grandparents, Luke and Elaine, and my parents snuck a small toddler into a game. We ran into the late Coach Dean Smith in the inn’s cafeteria during our stay, and he signed an autograph – made out to Elaine and Jessica – on the hotel’s stationery. I cherish the memento that ties me to Chapel Hill and my late grandmother (whose indelible voice I can still hear from my preteen years yelling “Come on, Antawn!” at the TV).

It would be another 15 years before I got a chance to top that with a series of new Carolina Inn memories: There’s the quick trip with my mom when I made my college choice; the glorious sunset on our walk back to the inn is burned into my brain. And also the day before orientation when this nervous out-of-state student was comforted by a cookie at check-in. Or there’s standing during a double-overtime win against Clemson, returning with my parents (and without my voice) to their room to continue the celebration. A decade ago, I introduced my new boyfriend (now my soon-to-be husband) to my friends, Elizabeth and Matt, during Fridays on the Front Porch. A year later, we’d dance till our feet hurt in the Old Well Room with pals Kara and Graham at their reception.

I’m not alone in my fondness for the inn. For 100 years, it’s been the site of countless gatherings and celebrations, first dates and anniversary dinners. The last few times that Chapel Hill elected a new leader, Chapel Hill Magazine has convened the mayor and their predecessors for a photo at where else but the inn. (See Mayor Jess Anderson with her peers on page 54.) Over the years, we’ve held photo shoots in the parlors, hosted Women of Achievement luncheons and even threw our inaugural Best of Chapel Hill party (see page 42) there last July. We’re honored to feature the inn on page 116 and hope you’ll join us in celebrating its historic legacy and bright future as an anchor to so many memories. CHM ON THE COVER

Photography by John Michael Simpson

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VOTE FOR THE BEST OF CHAPEL HILL! Our annual poll is back! Cast your ballot today.

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PLAN YOUR LOCAL NUPTIALS

Flip through Heart of NC Weddings for vendors, inspiration and more

EXCLUSIVELY AT

ABOUT TOWN

EVENTS NOT TO MISS

Big Night in for the Arts

March 7, 7-8 p.m.

bignightin.org

Join Orange County Arts Commission in a partnership with Durham Arts Council, Chatham Arts Council and United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County for their regional fundraiser broadcasted on WRAL. This hourlong celebration of the Triangle’s arts and cultural community will feature Tift Merritt, Pierce Freelon and Tray Wellington, among other performers. Funds raised will aid local artists and arts agencies, as well as regional arts education programs.

5K for Education

March 9, 8:30 a.m.

publicschoolfoundation.org/events

Run or walk to support teachers, schools and the community at the annual 5K presented by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Public School Foundation. New this year is a 1K fun run! This community event promotes health, fitness and school spirit.

Rivalry Roundup

4 Pediatric Rehab

March 9, 5:30 p.m. fitchrehab.org

Compiled

‘Murder on the Orient Express’

playmakersrep.org

Join PlayMakers Repertory Company for a thrilling and engaging performance of “a murder mystery gone off the rails.”

MARCH 6-24

Directed by Tracy Bersley and inspired by Agatha Christie’s novel, this work showcases the hunt to solve a murder on a train while staying alive.

Spend the evening at The Blue Zone at Kenan Stadium watching the UNC vs. Duke basketball game on the big screen while supporting the Fitch Family Comprehensive Pediatric Rehabilitation Program. The family-friendly event features food and drinks from The Crunkleton, Rocky Top Catering, French Broad River Brewery and more, plus activities such as a pop-a-shot, face painting and magicians. All proceeds will be donated to the pediatric rehabilitation program at UNC Children’s Hospital

Golden Horizon Gala

March 16, 5:30 p.m. artscenterlive.org

Celebrate The ArtsCenter’s 50-year legacy of educating and inspiring artistic creativity for all ages at the Haw River Ballroom. The event will include a happy hour, dinner provided by the Saxapahaw General Store and dancing. Plus, help support the center’s inclusive programs through a live auction and other giving opportunities.

Monet Richardson

Running with the Angels 5K

March 23, 8 a.m.

monetrichardsoncommunityfoundation.com/events

Lace up your running shoes because the Monet Richardson Community Foundation is putting on its third annual 5K Walk and Run at East Chapel Hill High School. MRCF is a nonprofit founded to provide backpacks and scholarships to youth in the community, a legacy foundation created in memory of Kristian “Krissy” Monet Richardson. Wearing angel wings for the event is optional but highly encouraged. 

PHOTO BY HUTHPHOTO

Jeffrey Blair Cornell stars as the famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot in “Murder on the Orient Express.”

Rhiannon Giddens, featuring Martha Redbone, Pura Fé and Charly Lowry

carolinaperformingarts.org/events

MARCH

Listen to the stories of Pulitzerwinning singer, instrumentalist and Southern Futures’ Artistin-Residence Rhiannon Giddens onstage at Memorial Hall, as she collaborates with Indigenous artists and educators Martha Redbone, Pura Fé and Charly Lowry for a onenight-only celebration.

7:30 P.M.

Crop Hunger Walk

March 24, 2:30 p.m.

crophungerwalk.org

Join the community to raise funds for programs that seek to eradicate hunger at the 37th annual hunger walk. A quarter of the funds raised go to the Inter-Faith Council for Social Service, and Church World Service will receive the remaining funds for local and global efforts. The race kicks off at Carrboro Town Commons, and this year’s goal is to raise $50,000.

NCSciFest

April 1-30

ncsciencefestival.org

North Carolina is celebrating science with hundreds of hands-on, thought-provoking and fun events scheduled for the month of April. The festival is produced by the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center during its big 75th anniversary year, and events will be held both in person across the state and virtually.

Martha Graham Dance Company

April 5, 8 p.m.

carolinaperformingarts.org/events

Witness the world’s oldest modern dance company take the stage at Memorial Hall as they showcase a new programming vision with a performance of “Rodeo” by Agnes de Mille and “Maple Leaf Rag,” Martha Graham’s last completed dance, set to ragtime compositions by Scott Joplin. The performance also features a work choreographed by Jamar Roberts in collaboration with Rhiannon Giddens.

Carrboro Open Streets

April 7, noon to 4 p.m.

carrboronc.gov

Join the Carrboro Recreation, Parks, & Cultural Resources Department for its annual event that closes down Weaver Street and opens the space for activities from bike riding and yoga to rock wall climbing and more.

Touch a Truck

April 14, noon to 4 p.m.

touchatruckchapelhill.com

This family-friendly event at The Friday Center allows kids to see an incredible assortment of more than 40 vehicles from construction to emergency. There will be on-site food trucks. Admission is $6 per person (max of $24 per family), and free for everyone under 2. All proceeds benefit UNC Children’s Hospital and Boy Scout Troop 39

‘Past Forward: Native American Art from Gilcrease Museum’

ackland.org/exhibition

Take in one of the most comprehensive collections of Native American art in the country, built largely by a member of the Muscogee Nation. This traveling exhibition currently at the Ackland Art Museum includes Indigenous art from the late nineteenth century to the present day and explores themes of ceremony, sovereignty, visual abstraction and identity. CHM

Through APRIL 28

This spring, singer-songwriter Rhiannon Giddens embarks on a tour of the country.

PHOTO BY EBRU YILDIZ

PHOTO BY WALDO MOOTZKA

Hopi, 1903 – 1938, Bean Dance, early 20th century, tempera on paper, Gilcrease Museum, 02.196 (L2024.1.32)

NOTED .

COMINGS & GOINGS

Nonprofit consulting firm Gail Perry Group welcomed Evan Northup as a fundraising consultant in October. Evan previously worked for the Association of Fundraising Professionals and was selected for her significant experience with fundraising and strategic planning as well as her commitment to benefiting local communities. In her new role, Evan will guide upcoming nonprofit leadership to achieve fundraising goals.

Anne-Marie Vanaman was selected as the director of Carrboro’s Housing and Community Services Department in October after acting as interim director since September 2022. In her 20 years of nonprofit and local government work, Anne-Marie has supported affordable housing and nonprofit fundraising in Orange County through capital campaigns, implementation of accountability measures and a racial equity assessment of the Affordable Housing Special Revenue Fund.

Dr. Thurston Nash, a North Carolina native, started as the newest pediatric dentist at Clifton & Mauney Orthodontics & Pediatric Dentistry in October. He received his undergraduate degree from UNC, then completed his doctorate program at USC and

WHAT WE’VE HEARD AROUND OUR TOWNS …

Compiled by Emma Unger

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

EmPOWERment Inc. hosted a groundbreaking event for its affordable multifamily rental housing project, PEACH Apartments, on Oct. 17. Located in Pine Knolls, the apartments will make housing available to essential, low-wage workers. Orange County Board of Commissioners Chair Jamezetta Bedford, former Chapel Hill Town Council members Michael Parker and Tai Huynh, Orange County Commissioner Jean Hamilton, EmPOWERment Executive Director Delores Bailey and former Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger were

residency at LSU before returning to North Carolina.

Steven Sullivan joined Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools in January as the principal of Chapel Hill High School. Most recently the principal of North Brunswick High School, Steven has more than 20 years of experience in school leadership and three North Carolina county principal of the year awards.

Debbie Everly was selected by the Orange County Living Wage Board on Dec. 5 to serve as its director. Debbie previously served as a board member and chair.

Launch Chapel Hill announced the appointment of Ian Baltutis as its new executive director on Dec. 11. Ian, who previously served for three terms as mayor of Burlington and is finishing

his master’s degree within the UNC Department of City and Regional Planning, will focus on strategy and expanding Launch Chapel Hill’s entrepreneurial ecosystem development.

Finance Director

Arche McAdoo retired on Oct. 31, after 13 years of working for the Town of Carrboro. In his time with the town, Arche developed spending

PHOTO BY JAYLIN ADAMS

among the attendees.

PHOTO BY MEGHAN KUDER

PHOTO BY JONATHAN DRAKE

BIZ BRIEFS

• East Chapel Hill High School graduate and UNC Health Foundation communicator Tom Sowders opened Recess Yoga Studio on West Rosemary Street in Carrboro in October. The studio offers daily classes, which range from highintensity workouts to relaxed classes, all with a focus on breathwork, meditation and physical fitness. Recess offers membership discounts to students and health care workers.

• Hillsborough Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram moved to its permanent location at 2000 N.C. 86 S. with more room for vehicles, offices and amenities. The new building, which opened Jan. 8, is twice the size of the previous location at 259 S. Churton St., where it has sold new and used cars since 2017.

• Melissa Pate, manager and president of The Shrunken Head Boutique, announced in November that they will open a new location at 161 E. Franklin St. with the hope to be ready for customers in May. The second storefront will allow for more room for business operations and open space for people to shop. Both locations will be used to sell merchandise and hold stock.

plans for millions of dollars and arranged financing for the construction project at 203 S. Greensboro St. that will allow for a new library and community activities. (Read more about the development on page 76.)

The Chamber for a Greater Chapel HillCarrboro appointed Ian Scott as the organization’s vice president for advocacy.

“His extensive leadership on critical policy issues including housing affordability, regional transportation and land use, make him the ideal choice for this role and an exciting new addition to our team,” Chamber President and CEO Aaron Nelson said in a press release. Ian also serves as executive director of The Chamber’s Partnership for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro.

Chapel Hill

Downtown Partnership appointed Jeri Lynn Schulke as the executive director, effective Jan. 1. Jeri Lynn, a Chapel Hill resident for more than two decades, most recently served as the partnership’s director of arts and culture and its interim executive director for six months. In addition to her other arts administration experience and nonprofit work, Jeri Lynn runs the RedBird Theater Company.

Educator and U.S. Air Force veteran Danielle Jones started as the Orange County Schools superintendent on Feb. 1. Danielle previously served as Durham Public Schools’ assistant

superintendent for middle schools, during which she was honored with two leadership awards.

Dr. Stuart Gold, head of the UNC Pediatric HematologyOncology Clinic, retired in December after 35 years of treating patients. He led the Reelin’ for Research fundraising initiative that has raised more than $5 million for cancer research and is well known for his dance videos at the UNC Children’s Hospital

Emilee

Collins was elected by the Hillsborough/ Orange County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors as 2024 chairman of the board. Emilee is a commercial broker at Pickett Sprouse Commercial Real Estate, where she specializes in Hillsborough and Mebane.

Posada was named interim executive director of Equality NC in January. The Durham-based organization advocates for the rights and protection of the LGBTQ+ population in North Carolina.

WHAT AN HONOR

Ree Ree Wei (pictured), executive director of Transplanting Traditions Community Farm, and Rachel Bearman, executive director of Meals on Wheels Orange County, were two of the nonprofit leaders included on the United Way of the Greater Triangle’s “10 to Watch” list.

The Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties announced the 2023 Remodelers Outstanding Construction award winners. Hillsborough-based Housing Solutions, a family-owned home improvement company, was awarded with the People’s Choice Award and three renovation category awards.

A Lotta

Love founder Lotta Sjoelin received recognition on KNOW’s “40 Over 40” 2023 list and a feature in the print edition for her life-changing community impact reducing the trauma of homelessness and domestic violence.

Duke University Professor Emeritus of Medicine

Dr. Joanne A. Peebles Wilson (pictured) presided over the American Clinical and Climatological Association’s 135th meeting in Sarasota, Florida, in October, as its first Black president. UNC School of Medicine Dean and UNC Health CEO Dr. Wesley Burks and Dr. Janet Hall, who serves as clinical director and senior investigator at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, also joined the national medical society as new members.

Carrboro Town Council member Eliazar

PHOTO BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON

PHOTO BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON

PHOTO BY BRIANA BROUGH

PHOTO BY KATHERINE APUZZO

PHOTO BY AMY STERN PHOTOGRAPHY

Local radio station 97.9 The Hill WCHL returned to East Franklin Street after 26 years with a move to 1525 E. Franklin St. in November.

Bank of America awarded Habitat for Humanity of Orange County with one of two 2023 Neighborhood Builders grants. The $200,000 will be used for the development of Weavers Grove, a mixed-income Habitat for Humanity community in Chapel Hill that will offer affordable homeownership opportunities. Bank of America Senior Vice President Virginia Parker presented the award to Orange Habitat President/CEO Jennifer Player

The Chapel Hill High School

Tiger Marching

Band was recognized with several awards at the Central North Carolina Band Festival on Oct. 21, the band’s first competition since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The band received first place for music and second place for drum major, visual ensemble and overall band.

Hillsboroughbased creative nonfiction writer and columnist Steven Petrow was named as the 2024 Piedmont Laureate. Steven will serve in the position all year, appearing at events across Orange, Durham and Wake counties to celebrate the art of writing.

The Bouncing Bulldogs performed at the 32nd annual Double Dutch Holiday Classic on Dec. 3 at the Apollo Theater in New York City. The jump-rope team secured first, second and third place awards in double Dutch pairs speed for eighth grade and above,

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Submit noteworthy items, from award and scholarship winners to new book and album releases.

as well as several notable victories in two-minute singles and doubles speeds across all grade levels. Their performance also earned them second place in the novice fusion division – which consists of double Dutch, dancing, costumes, tumbling and upbeat music – and the prestigious first place award in the “Best of Show” advanced fusion competition. Pictured are Sophia Berry of Seaforth High School in Pittsboro, Elena Oh of East Chapel Hill High School, Addie Gilner of Chapel Hill High School, Lilly James of Jordan High School and Ava Ryann Winslow of Middle College High School.

Chapel Hill Tire donated a Toyota Camry to the Durham Technical Community College automotive program in November. The car will allow students in the program to learn about hybrid and electric vehicle technologies through enriching, hands-on lessons.

helpful and its commitment to encouraging the next generation of automotive professionals.

ARTS & CULTURE

Journalist and UNC adjunct instructor Katherine Snow Smith released her second book, “Stepping on the Blender,” in November. The book is honest, vulnerable and humorous as Katherine reflects on the unexpectedness of life and all it entails, including her decision to return home to Chapel Hill decades after graduating from UNC.

New York Times bestselling author Jill McCorkle released her new book “Old Crimes” in January featuring a collection of stories about characters struggling with truth and connection. Jill’s seven novels and five short-story collections have earned her national recognition and multiple literature awards.

North Carolina Arts in Action, a nonprofit that uses performing arts to engage, encourage and motivate children, has announced a $500,000 matching grant from the William R. Kenan Jr. Charitable Trust, which will double donations made to the organization through March 31.

Chapel Hill Tire says the donation reflects its core value of being

NC AIA has 21 programs across 14 Orange, Chatham, Durham and Wake county public schools. 

PHOTO BY BETHANY CUBINO

• Educator Chris Walker became owner of Broadreach Fitness in spring 2023, where he offers fitness classes individually tailored for people at all levels. Chris is a physical education teacher at Hillsborough Elementary School, where he was named Orange County Schools’ Teacher of the Year in the 2017-18 school year.

• Pickles and Play opened a new location at 7310 Millhouse Road, Ste. 120 on Feb. 16. The indoor facility is the largest of the company’s locations in the region, designed to be an inclusive social hub with seven full-size pickleball courts, a pro shop and event rooms.

Executive Director Marlon Torres hopes the matching grant will inspire community support and help the nonprofit reach its $1.3 million campaign goal to extend programs to more schools.

The Orange County Office of Equity & Inclusion unveiled a mural dedicated to Pauli Murray, the late civil rights activist, feminist icon, lawyer and priest, painted by Scott Nurkin, at the Orange County Sportsplex on Dec. 5.

Brian Wasson, a Chapel Hill High School English teacher, has written and published his first book, “Seven Minutes in Candyland.” Brian, who has already started working on his next novel, is thankful for his students, who help his creative energy and make his work more authentic.

Author Adam Jones released his second children’s book, “Cecil and the Soccer Match,” published by Wisdom House Books last March.

The book, which showcases Adam’s love of soccer, teaches the importance of being a good sport.

Songwriter, instrumentalist and music producer Andrew Marlin received his first Grammy nomination as

a part of bluegrass supergroup Mighty Poplar. The band, made up of musicians from other groups who came together on breaks from their own tours, was nominated for Best Bluegrass Album with its selftitled debut record.

Carrboro High School students Daria Giblin, Lillian Brumback, Alys Traylor, Mia Derebail and Esu Tamir created an arts information magazine that focuses on college and career readiness in the arts with free access. The first edition of The Jaguar Athenaeum was released on Jan. 11, featuring life skills, career advice, scholarship information and industry professional interviews.

Author and restaurant coach Peaches Kawamata released her book, “Naked in the Dining Room,” in January. In this entertaining memoir and survival guide, Peaches recalls her time working in adult entertainment establishments and how it has informed her 27 years in food service in and around Chapel Hill.

IN OTHER NEWS

A group of UNC alumni are fundraising to create a professorship in honor of the late Kimball King, a longtime UNC English professor. He ignited a love of literature and drama in thousands of students. He also led summer theater trips to London and taught the first course in film criticism offered at UNC. When funded, the Dr. J. Kimball King Distinguished Professorship will support a faculty member whose teaching cultivates a deeper connection with literature.

IN MEMORIAM

Mary Alice Eckman passed away on Nov. 27. Mary Alice spent her time in Chapel Hill serving the community through her volunteer work with Meals on Wheels Orange County, Chapel Hill Service League, St. Thomas More Catholic Church and other organizations. She received the Governor’s Award twice for her work with these causes. CHM

PHOTO BY STUART PHILLIPS

BY SARAY ROSE GLICKMAN

PHOTO BY KRISTIN PRELIPP

your dental health is our

passion

Dr. Alessandra Ritter

Dr. Lisiane Susin

Dr. Sarah Hussain

At Ritter Endodontics, our priority is to deliver the highest quality Endodontic care (root canals) in a pleasant and compassionate environment to ensure an outstanding experience everytime.

Salute to Community Heroes

Prior to the Jan. 17 UNC men’s basketball game against Louisville, the Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro, in partnership with UNC Athletics, recognized the 2023 Service Award winners at the Dean E. Smith Center. The awards honored the efforts of men and women who tirelessly serve Orange County, including Firefighter Cory Scott Horner, Carrboro Police Sergeant Edgar Deharo, Chapel Hill Fire Department Captain Brian Matthew Dunagin, Chapel Hill Police Officer Jun Gim, Hillsborough Police Sergeant Scott Foster, OC Assistant Fire Marshal Celsi Simon, OC Investigator Kevin Stewart, Orange Rural Firefighter Lieutenant Julio Perez, South Orange Rescue Member Spencer Lindgren, UNC Hospitals Sergeant Darin Lee and UNC Police Officer Investigator Nicholas Lynch By Alana Bleimann | Photography by Maggie Hobson/UNC Athletics CHM

1 South Orange Rescue Squad Chief Matthew Mauzy and Assistant Chief EMS Spencer Lindgren (South Orange Rescue Squad Member of the Year awardee).

2 Orange County Chair of the County Commissioners Jamezetta Bedford and Assistant Fire Marshal Celsi Simon (OC Emergency Services Employee of the Year awardee).

3 Hillsborough Mayor Mark Bell, Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee and Carrboro Assistant Town Manager and Interim Town Manager Marie Parker.

4 Chapel Hill Police Department Captain Danny Lloyd and Officer Jun Gim (Chapel Hill Police Officer of the Year awardee).

5 Orange County Sheriff Charles Blackwood and Investigator Kevin Stewart (Orange County Sheriff’s Deputy of the Year awardee).

6 UNC Police Chief Brian James and Investigator Nicholas Lynch (UNC Police Officer of the Year awardee).

Local Government Appreciation Reception

The Chamber for a Greater Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Directors, its Government Affairs Committee and major investors, in partnership with the Carrboro Business Alliance Policy Committee and Black Business Alliance Leadership Council, hosted a celebration of Orange County’s elected and senior government officials at the Sheraton Chapel Hill Hotel on Dec. 14. The event featured refreshments, hors d’oeuvres and remarks from leaders representing the community at the local, state and national level. By Haley Pineles | Photography by Amy Stern

5 Habitat for Humanity of Orange County President & CEO Jennifer Player, Orange County Commissioner Anna Richards and

1 NC Rep. Allen Buansi with his daughter, Zara, NC Rep. Renée Price and NC Sen. Natalie Murdock.

2 Orange County Commissioners Amy Fowler and Jean Hamilton.

3 Chapel Hill Town Council member Camille Berry and Ada Umenwaliri, associate director of the UNC African Studies Center.

4 Chapel Hill Town Council member Paris MillerFoushee and Carrboro Mayor Barbara Foushee.

La-Tasha Best-Gaddy of Infinity Bridges Inc. 

6 Former Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger and current Chapel Hill Mayor Jess Anderson.

7 Hillsborough Mayor Mark Bell and Jeri Lynn Schulke, executive director of Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership.

8 Hillsborough Commissioner and Mayor Pro Tem Robb English and Chapel Hill Town Council member Theodore Nollert. CHM

Local Government Appreciation Reception (CONTINUED)

Triangle Land Conservancy Celebration

Triangle Land Conservancy held a celebration in Chapel Hill on Nov. 12 for River Society supporters. Hosted by longtime members Tim Rowe and Lori Rowe, the gathering gave donors the opportunity to meet directly with TLC staff to learn about the latest developments in land protection throughout the Triangle. Executive director Sandy Sweitzer shared news on TLC property acquisitions, and guests mingled over appetizers and drinks.

By Sinclair Holian | Photography by Olivia Garcia CHM

1 Marilyn Jacobs Preyer, Lori Rowe and Ludie White.

2 TLC Land Stewardship Manager (East) Patrick Boleman, Julie Randolph and TLC Board Member Jimmy Randolph.

3 TLC Executive Director Sandy Sweitzer and Brian Dabson.

Crook’s Corner Book Prize

In January at The Crunkleton, Bobby Finger won the 11th annual Crook’s Corner Book Prize for the best debut novel set in the American South. The University of Texas at Austin graduate, who now lives in Brooklyn, earned the $5,000 prize for “The Old Place,” a story centered on a retired Texan schoolteacher with a big secret. Novelist Wiley Cash, this year’s judge, said of the book, “Like truly timeless literature, [the] novel is populated with small-town characters we all know. In this novel, Billington, Texas, is its own distinct place, but thanks to [Bobby’s] talented rendering, it quickly becomes a place for all of us to understand ourselves and one another better.” Photography by SP Murray CHM

1 Mary Flanagan, Frances Gravely, John May, Katherine Kopp, Vince Kopp and winner Bobby Finger.

2 Jameela Dallis and Jaki Shelton Green.

3 Anna Hayes.

BRE EATING

NEWS FROM OUR RESTAURANT COMMUNITY, PLUS A DISH WE LOVE

en Woodward and Dawnya Bohager started out home brewing and even showcased a few favorites at an early occurrence of the NC Rare & Vintage Beer Tasting. “People took note,” Ben says. “That’s when everybody really wanted to get their hands on our beer.” After moving their family to Saxapahaw, they launched Haw River Farmhouse Ales in a snug spot in the restored mill. For a decade, the husband-and-wife coowners ran the small brewery, making saisons and stouts with locally sourced ingredients and distributing the cans featuring distinctive illustrations, far and wide.

Then the couple seized the opportunity to expand their local footprint into the space that the Vecino Brewing owners were vacating in East Main Square. “We were lucky that we had a little bit of a test phase where they allowed us to come in, and we ran it as Vecino for almost a year,” Ben says. “So we were able to make some changes with less risk, because we knew that they didn’t need to stick.” It was a quiet transition, “and then July 1, we put our name on the door,” he recalls.

While the Saxapahaw location is more intimate with 10 seats inside and a giant patio, the Carrboro taproom has more brews on tap, batch cocktails like a gin and tonic and plenty of events from game-watching to trivia nights. And best of all, there’s a full kitchen for offerings like the crispy chicken sandwich – a meal so good that if I knew how to recreate at home, I’d never leave the house. The fried chicken thigh is brined in buttermilk and teams up with applewood-smoked bacon and Gruyere cheese for a killer combo.

Pair it with Livin’ the Low Life, their take on an American light lager brewed with jasmine rice. “It’s got a little bit of grain sweetness to it, but it’s nice and dry, super crisp and 4.2% ABV,” Ben says. Crispy Chicken Sandwich, $13 – By Jessica Stringer

NEWS BITES

COMING SOON

• Raleigh casual eatery and bar

Bru’s Public House is opening its second location in Carrboro in the former Hickory Tavern spot at 370 E. Main St. It is anticipated to open March 1.

• Polish and German street food truck The Flying Pierogi will be opening a brick-and-mortar location at 101 Two Hills Dr. in the South Green shopping center in Carrboro. At press time, owner Jaysen Wilson planned to open on Feb. 15.

CLOSINGS

• Basecamp, the East Franklin Street Asian fusion bar and grill, announced via a Dec. 28 Instagram post that it was closing its doors. Owner Ramesh Dahal says that patrons can still “explore their incredible flavors and keep the culinary journey alive” at its sister restaurant, Momo’s Master

• At press time, Craftboro Brewing Depot was due to close its doors on Feb. 17 after a long struggle to maintain business after the pandemic hit, which happened only a few months after the brewery opened. “Thank you all for being a part of our journey, characters in our book and the memories we will hold onto,” wrote owners Jason McCarter and Amy McCarter on Instagram.

• Flight Tea Bar & Lounge closed its holiday pop-up shop, and at press time, had announced on Instagram its plans to migrate upstairs on the second floor of Carr Mill Mall mid-February.

IN OTHER NEWS

• Big Spoon Roasters created a new limited edition batch of nut butter: Cowgirl Cookie Peanut Butter. The nut butter combines peanuts and pecans, toasted coconut, Big Spoon granola,

HAW RIVER TAP + TABLE

300 E. Main St. Unit C, Carrboro hawrivercarrboro.com

coconut nectar, French Broad Chocolate chocolate chips, Saigon cinnamon and Jacobsen Salt Co. sea salt.

• Asian fusion restaurant Elements is now open for lunch Tuesday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

MOVES

• Boro Bodega relocated from West Rosemary Street to 422 W. Franklin St. Owned by Carly Erickson, the business offers a curated nonalcoholic bottle shop selection, grab-and-go snacks, baked goods, hot coffee, cold brew, kombucha and more.

• After 24 years at its current location, 128 E. Franklin St., Cosmic Cantina is slated to move a few doors down to 118 E. Franklin St. At press time, the owners hope to move by April.

– Compiled by Katie Scherner CHM

Carly Erickson’s Boro Beverage is now Boro Bodega and is located on West Franklin Street, serving up a selection of nonalcoholic offerings.

DINING GUIDE

INCLUDES RESTAURANTS, DELIS AND BISTROS IN CHAPEL HILL, CARRBORO, HILLSBOROUGH AND NORTHERN CHATHAM COUNTY

CHAPEL HILL

East Franklin Street

1922 Coffee cafe with grab-andgo options. 140 E. Franklin St.; carolinacoffeeshop.com

Bandido’s Mexican Cafe Burritos, salads, quesadillas, tacos. 159 ½ E. Franklin St.; 919-967-5048; bandidoscafe.com

Bonchon Korean fried chicken. 205 E. Franklin St.; 984-234-0788; bonchon.com

Capriotti’s Sandwich Shop Hot and cold subs, hand-pulled meats, 12-hour roasted turkey and quality cheeses. 127 E. Franklin St.; 919-240-4025; capriottis.com

Carolina Coffee Shop Casual American cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 138 E. Franklin St.; 919-942-6875; carolinacoffeeshop.com

Cosmic Cantina Burritos, salads, quesadillas, tacos. Open late night. 128 E. Franklin St.; 919-960-3955; cosmiccantina.com

Dame’s Chicken & Waffles Chicken, waffles, schmears. ‘Nuff said. 147 E. Franklin St.; 919-240-4228; dameschickenwaffles.com

Epilogue Books Chocolate Brews Independent bookstore and Mexican-style chocolatería. 109 E. Franklin St., Ste. 100; 919-913-5055; epiloguebookcafe.com

Four Corners American fare, nachos, wings, pasta. 175 E. Franklin St.; 919-537-8230; fourcornersgrille.com

Hibachi & Company Hibachi- and teriyaki-style dishes. 153 E. Franklin St.; 919-903-8428; hibachicompany.com

Imbibe Bottle shop and restaurant serving pizza, salads and appetizers. 108 Henderson St.; 919-636-6469; 108henderson.com

Linda’s Bar & Grill Local beer, sweet potato tots, cheese fries and burgers. 203 E. Franklin St.; 919-933-6663; lindas-bar.com

Möge Tee Bubble tea shop offering cheese foam fruit tea, fresh milk tea, fruit parfaits and fruit yakult. 151 E. Franklin St.; 984-234-3278; mogeteechapelhill.com

Momo’s Master Made-to-order Himalayan dumplings. 110 N. Columbia St.; 919-903-9051; momosmaster.com

Pirate Captain Ramen, seafood, smoothie bowls. 163 E. Franklin St.; 919-968-2098; piratecaptainch.com

Raising Cane’s Beloved chicken fingers. 101 E. Franklin St.; raisingcanes.com

Sup Dogs Creative hot dogs and sides like jalapeño popper tots and funnel cake sticks. 107 E. Franklin St.; 919-903-9566; supdogs.com

Sutton’s Drug Store Old-fashioned diner known for its hot dogs, burgers and sandwiches like “Roy’s Reuben.” 159 E. Franklin St.; 919-942-5161; suttonsdrugstore.com

Time-Out Southern comfort food 24 hours a day. 201 E. Franklin St.; 919-929-2425; timeout247.com

Top of the Hill A Chapel Hill brewery that also offers American food like burgers and flatbreads. 100 E. Franklin St.; 919-929-8676; thetopofthehill.com

Tru Deli & Wine Bar Build-your-own sandwiches and wine. 114 Henderson St.; 919-240-7755; trudeli.com

Wheat Chinese noodles, rice dishes, desserts. 143 E. Franklin St.; 919-240-4155

Yaya Tea Japanese cafe with a variety of bubble teas and imported snacks. 157 E. Franklin St.; 919-914-6302; yayatea.com

West Franklin Street

411 West Fresh pasta, seafood and pizzas inspired by the flavors of Italy and the Mediterranean, with a healthy California twist; outdoor dining. 411 W. Franklin St.; 919-967-2782; 411west.com

Al’s Burger Shack Gourmet burgers and fries. 516 W. Franklin St.; 919-904-7659; alsburgershack.com

Ay Por Dios Oaxacan food, steak, ceviche. 431 W. Franklin St.; 919-240-4154

Beer Study/Boot Room Bottle shop with in-store drafts and growlers to go, plus soccer pub and sandwich shop. 504 W. Franklin St.; 919-240-5423; beerstudy.com

Blue Dogwood Public Market Food hall with individually owned food stalls including Asian fusion, a bottle shop and a nutrient-dense weekly pre-order menu. 306 W. Franklin St., Ste. G; 919-717-0404; bluedogwood.com

Blue’s on Franklin North Carolina barbecue, burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches and salads. 110 W. Franklin St.; 919-240-5060; bluesonfranklin.com

Boro Bodega Locally made kombucha and craft sodas on tap. 422 W. Franklin St.; borobeverage.com

*DETAILS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE. CHECK RESTAURANT WEBSITES AND SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS PRIOR TO VISITING.

ADVERTISERS HIGHLIGHTED IN BOXES

Brandwein’s Bagels Classic New York bagels and breakfast sandwiches. 505 W. Rosemary St.; 919-240-7071; brandweinsbagels.com

Bul Box Flavors and dishes inspired by Asia in handcrafted signature boxes with limitless customizability. 200 W. Franklin St. #130; 919-240-4159; bul-box.com

Buns Gourmet burgers, fries and shakes made from fresh ingredients. 107 N. Columbia St.; 919-240-4746; bunsofchapelhill.com

Carolina Brewery The Triangle’s oldest brewery restaurant features Carolina cuisine. 460 W. Franklin St.; 919-942-1800; carolinabrewery.com

Cat Tales Cat Cafe A two-story coffee/ beer/wine cafe home to 12 adoptable cats. 431 W. Franklin St., Ste. 210; 843-345-5289; cattalescatcafe.com

Chimney Indian Kitchen + Bar Traditional Indian dishes and unique options like pista korma and lobster pepper masala. 306 W. Franklin St., Ste. D; 984-234-3671; chimneyindiankitchen.com

CholaNad Restaurant & Bar Contemporary and traditional South Indian cuisine. Catering available. 310 W. Franklin St.; 800-246-5262; cholanad.com

Crossroads Chapel Hill at The Carolina Inn New American cuisine and seasonal specialties; all ABC permits; outdoor dining. 211 Pittsboro St.; 919-918-2777; crossroadscuisine.com

Crumbl Cookies Baked-from-scratch, home-delivered cookies featuring six different flavors each week. 133 W. Franklin St., Ste. 50; 984-261-2222; crumblcookies.com

The Dead Mule Club Sunday brunch, tacos and barbecue. 303 W. Franklin St.; 919-969-7659; deadmule.squarespace.com

Franklin Motors Beer Garden A rooftop and fully licensed ABC bar. The Roquette at Franklin Motors serves hand-cut fries and sliders. 601 W. Franklin St.; 919-869-7090; franklinmotors.net

Heavenly Buffaloes Chicken wings and vegan wings with more than 25 rubs and sauces. 407 W. Franklin St.; 919-914-6717; heavenlybuffaloes.com/chapel-hill 

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If your case calls for implant or oral surgery, let Dr. Hill and his capable team welcome you for a tour and a discussion about your unique needs.

Italian Pizzeria III

Pizza, Italian entrees, calzones and subs. The “place to be” in Chapel Hill for 43 years. 508 W. Franklin St.; 919-968-4671; italianpizzeria3.com

Kurama Sushi & Noodle Express Dumplings, salads, noodle dishes. 105 N. Columbia St.; 919-968-4747; kuramasushinoodle.com

Lantern Pan-Asian cuisine. 423 W. Franklin St.; 919-969-8846; lanternrestaurant.com

Lapin Bleu Bar meets art gallery. 106A N. Graham St.; 919-969-7157

La Résidence French-inspired cuisine. 202 W. Rosemary St.; 919-967-2506; laresidencedining.com

Le Macaron French pastries. 140 W. Franklin St., Ste. 120; lemacaron-us.com

Mama Dip’s Kitchen Traditional Southern specialties, brunch and dinner classics like fried chicken and Brunswick stew. 408 W. Rosemary St.; 919-942-5837; mamadips.com

Mediterranean Deli Offers healthy vegan, vegetarian and gluten-free Mediterranean options. 410 W. Franklin St.; 919-967-2666; mediterraneandeli.com

Merritt’s Grill Famous BLTs, breakfast sandwiches, burgers. 1009 S. Columbia St.; 919-942-4897; merrittsblt.com

Might As Well Bar & Grill Bar favorites. 206 W. Franklin St.; 984-234-3333; chapelhill.mightaswellbarandgrill.com

The Northside District Specialty cocktails and international small plates. 403 W. Rosemary St.; 919-391-7044; thenorthsidedistrict.com

Perennial Cafe Serving Carrboro Coffee Roasters coffee, tea and pastries. 401 W. Franklin St.; 919-914-6045; perennial.cafe

Pho Happiness Pho noodle soup, vermicelli plates and vegetarian/glutenfree options. 508-A W. Franklin St.; 919-942-8201; phohappinessnc.com

The Purple Bowl Acai bowls, toast, smoothies, coffee. 306-B W. Franklin St.; 919-903-8511; purplebowlch.com

Que Chula Authentic Mexican food, tacos and craft tequilas. 140 W. Franklin St., Ste. 110; 919-903-8000; quechulatacos.com

Roots Natural Kitchen Salads and grain bowls. Children 12 years old and younger eat free all day, every day. 133 W. Franklin St., Bldg. A-115; 984-322-5600; rootsnaturalkitchen.com

Saturni Sandwiches, coffee and baked goods. 431 W. Franklin St., Ste. 120; 984-234-3497; saturni-nc.com

Spicy 9 Sushi Bar & Asian Restaurant Sushi, Thai curries, bibimbap and other Asian entrees. 140 W. Franklin St., Ste. 150; 919-903-9335; spicy9chapelhill.com

Talullas Authentic Turkish cuisine; all ABC permits. 456 W. Franklin St.; 919-933-1177; talullas.com

Tea Hill Made-to-order Taiwanese teas and street food. 318 W. Franklin St.; 984-999-4580; teahillusa.com

Trophy Room A Graduate Hotels concept serving up shareable plates, salads and burgers. 311 W. Franklin St.; 919-442-9000; graduatehotels.com/chapel-hill

Vimala’s Curryblossom Café Traditional Indian tandoori and thali. 431 W. Franklin St., Ste. 415; 919-929-3833; curryblossom.com

YoPo of Chapel Hill Frozen yogurt, treats and shakes with unique flavors since 1982. 106 W. Franklin St.; 919-942-7867; yogurtpump.com

Village Plaza/East Franklin Street/Eastgate Crossing/ Rams Plaza

Alpaca Peruvian rotisserie chicken and sides like maduros and tostones. 237 S. Elliott Rd.; 919-338-2962; alpacachicken.com

Breadman’s

A variety of burgers, sandwiches, salads and grilled meat, with daily soup and specials. All-day breakfast; catering available. 261 S. Elliott Rd.; 919-967-7110; breadmens.com

Caffé Driade Carrboro Coffee Roasters coffee, bowl-size lattes, local baked goods, beer and wine. 1215-A E. Franklin St.; 919-942-2333; caffedriade.com

The Casual Pint Upscale craft beer market with beer, appetizers and ice-cream sandwiches. 201 S. Elliott Rd., Ste. 5; 919-967-2626; chapelhill.thecasualpint.com

Cava Customizable Mediterranean bowls, salads, pitas and soups. 79 S. Elliott Rd.; 919-636-5828; cava.com

Chopt Unique salads, grain and quinoa bowls. Eastgate Crossing; 919-240-7660; choptsalad.com

Clean Juice Certified organic juices, smoothies, bowls and snacks. Eastgate Crossing; 919-590-5133; cleanjuice.com

Genji Sushi Bar at Whole Foods Market Fresh Pan-Asian rice bowls made to order. 81 S. Elliott Rd.; 919-968-1983; wholefoodsmarket.com

Guglhupf Bake Shop European-style breads, pastries and coffee. Eastgate Crossing; 919-914-6511; guglhupf.com/ chapel-hill-bake-shop

Il Palio at The Siena Hotel Italian specialties like butternut squash ravioli. 1505 E. Franklin St.; 919-918-2545; ilpalio.com

Japan Express Hibachi-style meals and sushi. 106 S. Estes Dr.; 919-903-8050

Kipos Greek Taverna Greek cuisine in a relaxed, upscale setting with outdoor dining. Eastgate Crossing; 919-425-0760; kiposchapelhill.com

La Hacienda Burritos, salads, quesadillas, tacos. 1813 Fordham Blvd.; 919-967-0207; lahaciendamex.com

The Loop Pizzas, soups, salads, sandwiches, burgers. Eastgate Crossing; 919-969-7112; thelooprestaurant.com

MinGa Authentic Korean cuisine like bibimbap, bulgogi and a variety of homemade kimchi. 1404 E. Franklin St.; 919-933-1773; min-ga.com

Monterrey Mexican Grill Tacos, quesadillas, burritos and more. Rams Plaza; 919-969-8750; letsgotomonterrey.com

Mr. Tokyo Japanese Restaurant Unlimited sushi and hibachi. Rams Plaza; 919-240-4552; mrtokyojapanese.com/chapel-hill Osteria Georgi House-made pasta, braised meat dishes and antipasto. 201 S. Elliott Rd.; 919-375-0600; osteriageorgi.com

Piero’s Pasta & Wine A variety of pasta dishes, soups and salads. 1502 E. Franklin St.; 984-999-4826; pierospasta.com

COMING SOON – Pocha Korean Pub & BBQ Korean barbecue and street food. 116 Old Durham Rd.

Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken Biscuits, donuts, chicken and coffee. Eastgate Crossing; risebiscuitschicken.com

Shake Shack Fast-casual chain serving up 100% Angus beef blend burgers, crinklecut fries and hand-spun shakes. Eastgate Crossing; shakeshack.com

Snooze, An A.M. Eatery Breakfast, comfort food lunches and brunch cocktails. Eastgate Crossing; snoozeeatery.com

Squid’s Fresh seafood options include woodgrilled fillets, Maine lobster, fried seafood and oysters. 1201 Fordham Blvd.; 919-942-8757; squidsrestaurant.com

Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen Drive-thru biscuits, sandwiches. 1305 E. Franklin St.; 919-933-1324; sunrisebiscuits.co

Sutton’s in the Atrium A cafe version of Sutton’s Drug Store with its famous hot dogs, salads and more. 100 Europa Dr.; 919-240-4471; suttonsdrugstore.com

Tandoor Indian Restaurant Traditional Indian cuisine, vegan options. 1301 E. Franklin St.; 919-967-6622; tandoorindian.com

Thaiphoon Bistro Thai cuisine, curry, stirfry, soups and salads. 1704 E. Franklin St.; 919-869-7191; thaiphoonbistro.com

Tonya’s Cookies & Bake Shop Freshbaked cookies, pies, cakes and snacks. 400 S. Elliott Rd.; 919-903-8087; tonyascookies.com

Twisted Noodles Thai noodle soups, pan-fried noodles. Eastgate Crossing; 919-933-9933; twistednoodlesch.com

University Place

Alfredo’s Pizza Villa Pizzas, calzones, salads, subs, pasta, desserts. 919-968-3424; alfredospizzavilla.com

bartaco Tacos, fresh-juice cocktails, poke and mole options. 910-807-8226; bartaco.com

Flying Biscuit Cafe All-day breakfast and Southern favorites like shrimp and grits.919-537-8974; flyingbiscuit.com

Hawkers Inspired by Southeast Asia’s street fare, this eatery features homemade favorites, from dumplings to curries. 919-415-1799; eathawkers.com

Maple View Mobile Ice-cream outpost of the iconic Hillsborough shop. 919-244-1949; mapleviewmobile.com

Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill Southern favorites like deviled eggs meet steakhouse mainstays like the legendary 12 oz. filet. 919-914-6688; stoneyriver.com

Silverspot Cinema Restaurant Chefinspired menu of freshly made food, craft beers, signature cocktails and wines to pair with your movie. 919-357-9887; silverspot.net

Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (Airport Road)

Bombolo Brunch, pasta dishes and small plates. 764 MLK Jr. Blvd.; 919-914-6374; bombolochapelhill.com

Hunam Chinese Restaurant Cantonese cuisine. 790 MLK Jr. Blvd.; 919-967-6133; hunamrestaurant.net

Lucha Tigre Latin-Asian cuisine and sake-tequila bar. 746 MLK Jr. Blvd.; 919-914-6368; luchatigre.com

The Root Cellar Cafe & Catering Sandwiches, salads, soups, desserts and more for breakfast and lunch. 750 MLK Jr. Blvd.; 919-967-3663; rootcellarchapelhill.com

Timberlyne/Chapel Hill North Area

Beau Catering Full-service and drop-off catering, meal delivery and grab-and-go meals. 630 Weaver Dairy Rd.; 984-312-5485; beaucatering.com

Chapel Hill Wine Company Wine store with bottles from all over the globe. 2809 Homestead Rd.; 919-968-1884; chapelhillwinecompany.com

Farm House Restaurant Steaks, salads, potatoes. 6004 Millhouse Rd.; 919-929-5727; farmhousesteakhouse.com

Joe Van Gogh Coffee, tea and pastries. Timberlyne Shopping Center; 919-967-2002; joevangogh.com

Magone Italian Grill & Pizza Italian mains. Timberlyne Shopping Center; 919-904-7393; magoneitaliangrillpizza.com

New Hope Market Breakfast and daily specials like burgers, soups and more. 6117 N.C. Hwy. 86 S.; 919-240-7851

OiShii Specialty rolls, teriyaki, stir-fry, sushi. Timberlyne Shopping Center; 919-932-7002; oishiiroll.com

The Pig Barbecue, fried tofu, collards and more. 630 Weaver Dairy Rd., Ste. 101; 919-942-1133; thepigrestaurant.com

PiggyBack Classic cocktails, beer and wine and unexpected, creative bar food. 630 Weaver Dairy Rd., Ste. 102; 919-240-4715; thepigrestaurant.com/piggyback

Pop’s Pizzeria & Ristorante Pizzas, calzones, stromboli, pasta. 1822 MLK Jr. Blvd.; 919-932-1040; pops-pizzeria.com

Rasa Indi-Chinese Authentic North Indian and Chinese cuisine, with fusion and Thai dishes. Weekly specials. 1826 MLK Jr. Blvd.; 919-929-2199; rasachapelhill.com

Sal’s Pizza & Ristorante Thin-crust and deep-dish pizzas plus an array of Italian comfort food. 2805 Homestead Rd.; 919-932-5125; salspizzaofchapelhill.com

Siam Zap Pho Thai fried rice, curry, pho. Timberlyne Shopping Center; 919-903-8280

Yopop Frozen Yogurt Frozen yogurt shop featuring 14 flavors, bubble tea and smoothies. Timberlyne Shopping Center; 919-537-8229

N.C. 54 East/Raleigh Road

Amante Gourmet Pizza Create-your-own pizzas. 6209 Falconbridge Rd.; 919-493-0904; amantepizza.com

BIN 54 Steaks, seafood and other fine American food. Everything made in-house. Glen Lennox Shopping Center; 919-969-1155; bin54chapelhill.com

Brenz Pizza Co. Specialty pizzas, subs, salads. 3120 Environ Way, East 54; 919-636-4636; brenzpizzaco.com

Coco Espresso, Bistro & Bar Plant-based, fresh, locally sourced dishes, as well as classic comfort food, cocktails and mocktails, plus coffee, espresso bar, baked goods and pastries. The Gwendolyn, 101 Glen Lennox Dr., Ste. 180; 919-883-9003; cocochapelhill.com

elements Cuisine combining classical and modern Asian and European cooking techniques for lunch and dinner; check out the wine bar with full menu next door. 2110 Environ Way, East 54; 919-537-8780; elementsofchapelhill.com

First Watch French toast, pancakes and specialty omelets. 1101 Environ Way, East 54; 919-537-8488; firstwatch.com

Hawthorne & Wood Fine dining cuisine with an outdoor patio, a fully stocked bar and an extensive international wine list. 3140 Environ Way, East 54; 919-240-4337; hawthorneandwood.com

Jujube Eclectic, modern cuisine inspired by the flavors of China and Vietnam. Glen Lennox; 919-960-0555; jujuberestaurant.com

Nantucket Grill & Bar Clam chowder, lobster rolls and more. 5925 Farrington Rd.; 919-402-0077; nantucketgrill.com

Thai Palace Soup, curries, pad thai. Glenwood Square Shopping Center; 919-967-5805; order.thaipalacechapelhill.com

Meadowmont Village

Bluebird French bistro-style restaurant. 601 Meadowmont Village Circle; bluebirdnc.com

Brixx Wood Fired Pizza Specialty pizzas and salads. 501 Meadowmont Village Circle; 919-929-1942; brixxpizza.com

Kahlovera Mexican bar and grill. 504 Meadowmont Village Circle; 984-999-4537; kahloveratacos.com

Lime & Lemon Indian Grill & Bar Northern and southern Indian specialties including gobi manchurian, paneer tikka, chicken tikka and hariyali murg kebab. 101 Meadowmont Village Circle, Ste. 101; lnlrestaurant.com

Meet Fresh Taiwanese desserts and teas. 407 Meadowmont Village Circle; Ste. 101; 984-999-4983; meetfresh.us

Quickly Hot and cold tea drinks in addition to Asian street food. 503 Meadowmont Village Circle; 984-234-0401; quicklychapelhill.com

Southern Village

Al’s Burger Shack Gourmet burgers and fries. 708 Market St.; 919-914-6694; alsburgershack.com

La Vita Dolce Pastries, sorbet, gelato, coffee. 610 Market St., Ste. 101-C; 919-968-1635; lavitadolcecafe.com

Market and Moss American cuisine made with fresh local ingredients. 700 Market St.; 919-929-8226; marketandmoss.com

Rasa Malaysia Authentic Malaysian dishes. 410 Market St.; 984-234-0256; rasamalaysiach.com

Rocks + Acid Wine Shop A wine shop and tasting room from award-winning sommelier Paula de Pano. 712 Market St.; 919-428-3564; rocksandacidwineshop.com

The Tap Room at The Lumina Draft beer and wine by the bottle or glass. 620 Market St.; 919-969-8049; carolinacinemas.com/lumina

Town Hall Grill Sandwiches, steak, seafood, Italian dishes. 410 Market St.; 919-960-8696; thetownhallgrill.com

Weaver Street Market Food bar items, plus grab and go. 716 Market St.; 919-929-2009; weaverstreetmarket.coop

CARRBORO

Downtown

401 Main Upscale dive bar and sandwich shop serving shareable bar snacks, local brews and po’boys. 401 E. Main St.; 919-390-3598; 401main.com

Acme Food & Beverage Co. Entrees with a Southern touch. 110 E. Main St.; 919-929-2263; acmecarrboro.com

Akai Hana Japanese cuisine including sushi, tempura and teriyaki. 206 W. Main St.; 919-942-6848; akaihana.com

Armadillo Grill Tex-Mex burritos, enchiladas, tacos, nachos. 120 E. Main St.; 919-929-4669; armadillogrill.com 

Atlas Bar

Uptown drinks in downtown Carrboro. 118 E. Main St.; atlascarrboro.com

Belltree Cocktail Club Prohibition-inspired speakeasy serving creative cocktails, beer and wine. 100 Brewer Lane, A; 984-234-0572; belltreecocktailclub.com

Breakaway Carrboro A casual cafe serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee. 410 N. Greensboro St.; breakawaync.co

Carrburritos Burritos, tacos, nachos and margaritas. 711 W. Rosemary St.; 919-933-8226; carrburritos.com

Cham Thai Authentic Thai, Siamese and Chinese cuisine. 370 E. Main St., Ste. 190; 984-999-4646; chamthainc.com

The Cheese Shop at Glasshalfull

Cut-to-order cheese shop offering a diverse selection of cheese, meat and provisions. 106 S. Greensboro St.; 919-893-9979; cheeseshopnc.com

Glasshalfull Mediterranean-inspired food and wine; outdoor dining; all ABC permits. 106 S. Greensboro St.; 919-967-9784; glasshalfull.net

Gourmet Kingdom Sichuan cuisine. 301 E. Main St.; 919-932-7222; thegourmetkingdom.com

Krave Kava Bar & Tea Lounge Offers a wide range of tea and herbal drinks, all made from kava, a type of plant root. 105 W. Main St.; 919-408-9596; kravekava.com

Lanza’s Cafe Coffeehouse serving tea and meads in addition to local pastries, small plates and daily specials. 601 W. Main St., Ste. C; 919-967-9398; lanzascafe.com

Luna Rotisserie & Empanadas

South American cuisine meets the American South. 307 E. Main St.; 919-537-8958; lunarotisserie.com

Mel’s Commissary & Catering Lunch, snacks and pop-up dinners. 109 W. Main St.; 919-240-7700; melscarrboro.com

Napoli Wood-fired pizza, espresso, artisanal gelato made from scratch, teas and local craft beer and wines. 105 E. Main St.; 919-667-8288; napolicarrboro.com

Neal’s Deli Buttermilk biscuits on Saturdays and traditional deli fare. 100 E. Main St.; 919-967-2185; nealsdeli.com

Oakleaf “Immediate” cuisine like pastas and seafood using ingredients from the chef’s own garden. 310 E. Main St.; 984-234-0054; oakleafnc.com

Open Eye Cafe Freshly roasted coffee by Carrboro Coffee Roasters, tea, beer, wine and baked goods. 101 S. Greensboro St.; 919-968-9410; openeyecafe.com

Pelican’s Snoballs Offers over 100 flavors of shaved ice. 505 W. Main St.; pelicanssnoballs.com

Pizzeria Mercato Pizza, antipasto, soups, fritti and gelato. 408 W. Weaver St.; 919-967-2277; pizzeriamercatonc.com

Speakeasy on Main Cocktail lounge with live music. 100 E. Main St.; facebook.com/ speakeasyonmainstreet

Spotted Dog Vegetarian- and vegan-friendly entrees. 111 E. Main St.; 919-933-1117; thespotteddogrestaurant.com

Tesoro 18-seat neighborhood restaurant with house-made pasta, seasonal plates and classic sweets. 100 E. Weaver St.; 919-537-8494; tesorocarrboro.com

Wings Over 27 flavors of wings. 313 E. Main St.; 919-537-8271; wingsoverchapelhill.com

East Main Square

Amante Gourmet Pizza Create-your-own pizzas, salads and pasta. 300 E. Main St.; 919-929-3330; amantepizza.com

Bru’s Public House Southern handhelds, pizzas and shareables with craft cocktails. 370 E. Main St.; bruspublichouse.com

Gray Squirrel Coffee Co. Roastery and espresso bar. 360 E. Main St., Ste. 100; graysquirrelcoffee.com

Haw River Tap & Table Craft beer and flavorful small plates. 300 E. Main St., Ste. C; 919-391-6788; hawrivercarrboro.com

Iza Whiskey & Eats Japanese fusion cuisine serving small plates, sushi, ramen, whiskey, sake and cocktails. 370 E. Main St., Ste. 140; 919-537-8645; izaeats.com

La Montaña Latin-Asian inspired coffee shop, tequila cocktail bar and all-day kitchen. 370 E. Main St., Ste. 170; 919-899-9854; eatatlamontana.com

Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken Biscuits, doughnuts, chicken and coffee. 310 E. Main St.; 919-929-5115; risebiscuitschicken.com

Carr Mill Mall/ North Greensboro Street

B-Side Lounge Small plates, like fondue, and inspired cocktails. Carr Mill Mall; 919-904-7160; b-sidelounge.com

The Flying Pierogi Family-owned restaurant offering Polish and German street food. 101 Two Hills Dr.; flyingpierogi.com

Grata Diner From scratch breakfast and lunch. Carr Mill Mall; 919-240-7000; gratadiner.com

Oasis Organic coffee, tea, beer and wine. Carr Mill Mall; 919-904-7343

Pizza Factory Pizza, cheesesteaks, baked ziti. Carr Mill Mall; 919-904-7040; pizzafactorync.com

Tandem Farm-to-table, modern American cuisine with full service bar. Carr Mill Mall; 919-240-7937; tandemcarrboro.com

Thai Station Authentic, fresh Thai dishes. 201 E. Main St., Ste. C.; 984-234-3230; thaistationnc.com

Venable Rotisserie Bistro Upscale comfort food with a heavy emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Carr Mill Mall; 919-904-7160; venablebistro.com

Weaver Street Market Hot food bar items are available as grab and go. Carr Mill Mall; 919-929-0010; weaverstreetmarket.coop

N.C. 54 West/Carrboro Plaza

Aidan’s Pizza Pizza, wings and salads. 602 Jones Ferry Rd., Ste. D; 919-903-8622; aidanspizza.hungerrush.com

Anna Maria’s Pizzeria Italian cuisine. Carrboro Plaza; 919-929-1877; annamariasnc.wordpress.com

Fiesta Grill Burritos, chimichangas, fajitas, tacos. 3307 N.C. Hwy. 54 W.; 919-928-9002; fiestagrill.us

Monterrey Mexican Grill Traditional Mexican cuisine. Carrboro Plaza; 919-903-9919; letsgotomonterrey.com

Wingman Wings and hot dogs. 104 N.C. Hwy. 54 W.; 919-928-9200; bestwingman.net

HILLSBOROUGH

Antonia’s Italian cuisine. 101 N. Churton St.; 919-643-7722; antoniashillsborough.com

Big Bob’s City Grill Fresh-made burgers and chicken with country sides. 584 Cornelius St.; 919-732-2953

The Colorado Burrito Burritos, quesadillas, fajitas. 122 S. Churton St.; 336-269-8613

Cup-A-Joe Coffee and pastries. 112 W. King St.; 919-732-2008; hboro-cupajoe.com

El Restaurante Ixtapa Authentic fromscratch Mexican dishes. 162 Exchange Park Ln.; 919-644-6944; ixtapa.homestead. com/homepage.html

Hillsborough Bakeshop & Pasta Company Baked goods, coffee, wine and all-day cafe offering pasta, sandwiches and salads. 110 S. Churton St.; 919-732-6261; hillsboroughbakeshop.com

Hillsborough BBQ Company Barbecue plates and sandwiches, sides and desserts. 236 S. Nash St.; 919-732-4647; hillsboroughbbq.com

Hillsborough Wine Company Wine store with bottles from all over the globe. 118 S. Churton Street; 919-732-4343; chapelhillwinecompany.com

Hot Tin Roof Games and specialty cocktails. 115 W. Margaret Ln.; 919-296-9113; hottinroofbar.com

The House at Gatewood Supper club and special events venue. 300 U.S. 70; 919-241-4083; houseatgatewood.com

Jay’s Chicken Shack Chicken, buffalo wings, breakfast biscuits. 646 N. Churton St.; 919-732-3591; jayschickenshack.com

J&F Kitchen Italian, American and Balkan dishes. 155 Mayo St.; jandfkitchen.weebly.com

Kim’s Bake Shop Homemade baked goods from brownies and doughnuts to “whookies” and pie. 111 N. Churton St.; 919-932-0134; downtownpies.com

La Muñeca Ice Cream Paletas, esquites and dorilocos. 131 Mayo St.; la-muneca-ice-cream.business.site

Los Altos Mexican dishes, such as tacos and chiles rellenos. 126 W. King St.; 919-241-4177; losaltosmexicanrestaurant.com 

Huevos Rancheros Torta

La Patrona Cocktail Quesabiria

Lupita’s Meat Market and Taqueria

Authentic Mexican food including tamales, barbacoa and carnitas. 633 Cornelius St.; 919-296-9000

Maple View Farm Country Store

Homemade ice cream. 6900 Rocky Ridge Rd.; 919-960-5535; mapleviewfarm.com

Matthew’s Chocolates Gourmet chocolates, frozen treats and baked goods. 104 N. Churton St.; 984-245-9571

Nomad International street food-inspired eatery. 122 W. King St.; 984-217-0179; thenomadnc.com

Pizza Cornicione Neapolitan pizzeria and gelateria. 230 S. Nash St.; 919-245-8566; pizzacornicione.com

Pueblo Viejo Traditional Mexican food. 370 S. Churton St.; 919-732-3480

Radius Pizzeria & Pub Wood-fired pizzas, housemade pastas, salads and desserts. Outdoor dining. 112 N. Churton St.; 919-245-0601; radiuspizzeria.net

Saratoga Grill New England-style cuisine. 108 S. Churton St.; 919-732-2214; thesaratogagrill.com

Steve’s Garden Market & Butchery Sandwiches, baked goods, pimento cheese. 610 N. Churton St.; 919-732-4712; stevesgardenmarket.com

The Village Diner Southern fare and takeout pizza. 600 W. King St.; 919-245-8915; villagedinernc.com

Vinny’s Italian Grill and Pizzeria Italian favorites. 133 N. Scottswood Blvd.; 919-732-9219; vinnyshillsborough.com

Weaver Street Market Food bar items are available as grab and go. 228 S. Churton St.; 919-245-5050; weaverstreetmarket.coop

Whit’s Frozen Custard Rotating flavors of frozen custard, treats, pints to go. 240 S. Nash St.; 919-245-8123; whitscustard.com

Wooden Nickel Pub Pub fare and rotating craft beer. 113 N. Churton St.; 919-932-0134; thewnp.com

Yonder Southern Cocktails & Brew Beer, wine, frose and more. 114 W. King St.; yonderbarnc.com

NORTH CHATHAM

Briar Chapel

Breakaway Cafe A casual cafe serving breakfast, lunch, dinner and coffee. 58 Chapelton Ct., Ste. 100; 984-234-3010; breakawaync.co

Capp’s Pizzeria & Trattoria Traditional Italian cuisine including fresh pastas, pizzas and more. 79 Falling Springs Dr., Ste. 140; 919-240-4104; cappspizzeria.com

O’YA Cantina Latin cuisine from all over the world. 72 Chapelton Ct.; 984-999-4129; oyacantina.com

Town Hall Burger & Beer Burgers plus tacos, wings and salads. 58 Chapelton Ct.; 984-234-3504; townhallburgerandbeer.com

Governors Village

Ciao Bella Pizzeria Pizza, pastas, sandwiches. 1716 Farrington Point Rd.; 919-932-4440

Flair Restaurant & Wine Bar Frenchinfluenced food, coffee and Sunday brunch. 50100 Governors Dr.; 919-967-9990; flairfusionrestaurant.com

Gov’s Fusion Cantina Americana meets traditional Mexican cuisine. 50050 Governors Dr.; 919-240-5050; govsfusioncantina.com

Sal’s NY Pizza Italian specialties seven days a week. 50010 Governors Dr.; 919-903-8091; salsnypizzachapelhill.com

Tarantini Italian Restaurant Italian cuisine. 50160 Governors Dr.; 919-942-4240; tarantinirestaurant.com

North Chatham Village/ Cole Park Plaza/Polks Landing

501 Pharmacy Maple View Farm ice cream, plus malts and shakes. 69 Knox Way, Ste. 110; 984-999-0501; 501rx.com

Captain John’s Dockside American seafood dishes. 11550 U.S. Hwy. 15-501 N.; 919-9687955; docksidechapelhill.com

Guanajuato Mexican Restaurant Mexican dishes with vegetarian options. 11552 U.S. Hwy. 15-501 N., Ste. 205; 919-929-8012; guanajuatomexicanrestaurant.net

Panda Garden Chinese dishes like chow mein and egg foo young. 11312 U.S. Hwy. 15-501 S., Ste. 303; 919-960-8000; chapelhillpandagarden.com

Szechuan Village

Bold Chinese flavors and bubble tea.

111 Knox Way; 919-869-7894; szechuanvillagechapelhill.com

Ta Contento Mex

Fresh Food Authentic Mexican food, like tacos, burritos, guacamole and fajitas. 11620 US 15-501 Hwy. N. Chapel Hill; 919-945-4819; ta-contento.com

Village Pizza and Pasta A neighborhood pizza place serving up subs, calzones, pastas and salads. 11312 U.S. Hwy. 15-501 S., Ste. 300; 919-960-3232; villagepizzapasta.com

PITTSBORO

Fearrington Village

The Belted Goat Lunch, dinner and wine shop, offering salads and sandwiches. 919-545-5717; fearrington.com/belted-goat

The Fearrington House Restaurant Contemporary fine dining. Reservations are needed. 919-542-2121; fearrington.com/thefearrington-house-restaurant

Galloway’s Wine and Beer Bar Beer, wine and snacks. 919-545-5717; fearrington.com/ galloways-wine-beer-bar

Roost Beer Garden Wood-fired pizza and local brews April through October. 919-542-2121; fearrington.com/roost

U.S. 15-501/Mosaic at Chatham

Park

Allen & Son Bar-B-Que North Carolina barbecue. 5650 U.S. 15-501; 919-542-2294; stubbsandsonbbq.com

Cafe Root Cellar American cuisine and “go big or go home” seasonal dishes. 35 Suttles Rd.; 919-542-1062; caferootcellar.com

Carolina Brewery The Triangle’s oldest brewery restaurant features Carolina cuisine. 120 Lowes Dr. #100; 919-545-2300; carolinabrewery.com

Compadres Tequila Lounge Mexican restaurant with a variety of classic dishes. 193 Lowes Dr., Ste. 107; 919-704-8374; compadresnc.com

Greek Kouzina Hummus, gyros, kebabs and more. 367 Freedom Pkwy, Ste. 100,; 919-542-9950; greekkouzina.com

House of Hops Bar and bottle shop with a large craft beer selection on tap. Outdoor seating available. 112 Russet Run; 919-542-3435; houseofhopsnc.com

Mi Cancun Classic Mexican cuisine with a modern twist. 114 Russet Run; 919-542-3858; micancunmx.com

New Japan Hibachi-style Japanese cooking. 90 Lowes Dr.; 919-542-4380

People’s Coffee Coffee from Black and White Roasters, breakfast and lunch. 60 Mosaic Blvd., Ste. 100; pplscoffee.com

LOCAL FRESH FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED

East Street

BMC Brewing Beers brewed on-site and cookies made with the byproducts. 213 Lorax Lane; 919-759-1206; bmcbrewing.com

China Inn Chinese dishes. 630 East St.; 919-545-0259

Dillinger’s Diner Classic American food in a 1950s-inspired diner. 987 East St., Suite G; 919-542-1312

Fair Game Beverage Co. Spirits, wine, beer and cider tastings plus snacks. 220 Lorax Ln.; 919-548-6884; fairgamebeverage.com

Kingston 99 Kitchen Authentic Jamaican cuisine with a twist. 192B Lorax Lane; kingston99kitchen.com

Metal Brixx Cafe Vortex Roasters’ coffee and espresso plus tea, lemonade and gelato. 213 Lorax Ln.; 919-444-2202

Small Cafe B and B Offbeat, eco-friendly eatery offering farm-to-table fare for breakfast and lunch. 219 East St.; 919-228-8817; smallcafebandb.com

Starrlight Mead Tastings of honey wines and honey. 130 Lorax Ln.; 984-312-5820; starrlightmead.com

West Street

Al’s Diner Traditional American classics for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 535 West St.; 919-542-5800; alsdiner.net

Havoc Brewing Company Global tap list, from the “Hey Bonnie!” English brown ale to the “Havoc Actual” Mexican lager. 39 West St.; havocbrewing.com

Ni Armor’s Hawaiian & Polynesian BBQ Drive-thru barbecue plates, sandwiches and rice bowls. 517 West St.; 907-704-8055

The Phoenix Bakery Small-batch and seasonal baked goods and specialty cakes. 664 West St.; 919-542-4452; thephoenixbakerync.com

Thirsty Skull Brewing Hazy, pale ales and experimental brews. 684 West St.; thirstyskullbrewing.com

West End Kitchen & Catering Farmto-fork comfort food. 23 Rectory St.; westendpittsboro.com

Hillsboro Street/Downtown

Aromatic Roasters Small-batch coffee shop. 697 Hillsboro St., Unit 101; 919-228-8345; aromaticroasters.com

The Beagle Classic and innovative cocktails and small plates like chilled seafood, charcuterie and a selection of sandwiches. 53 Hillsboro St.; 919-533-6589; beaglebarnc.com

Co-op Cafe at Chatham Marketplace

Sandwiches, daily changing hot bar, sushi, salads and baked goods. 480 Hillsboro St.; 919-542-2643; chathammarketplace.coop

Carolina Cravings Co. Bakery serving traditional treats like pie bars, muffins and no-bake peanut butter-chocolate cookies as well as Hispanic favorites like flan, bolillos and tres leches cakes. 84 Hillsboro St.; 919-444-2023

The City Tap Classic bar food and regular live music. 89 Hillsboro St.; 919-545-0562; thecitytap.com

Davenport’s Café Diem Carrboro Coffee Roasters coffee and espresso offerings. 439 Hillsboro St.; 919-704-4239; davenports-cafediem.com

Elizabeth’s Pizza Pizza, calzones, salads and pasta. 160 Hillsboro St.; 919-545-9292; elizabethspizzapittsboro.com

Marcel’s Pizzeria Pizzas, pastas, subs, calzones and strombolis. 122 Sanford Rd.; 919-542-5027; marcelspizzeria.com

The Mod Wood-fired pizza, salads, small plates and a full bar. Outdoor seating available. 46 Sanford Rd.; 919-533-6883; themodernlifedeli.com

Postal Fish Company Fresh seafood from North Carolina’s coast. Serving dinner only. 75 W. Salisbury St.; 919-704-8612; postalfishcompany.com

S&T’s Soda Shoppe Soda fountain, American fare. 85 Hillsboro St.; 919-545-0007; sandtsodashoppe.com

The Sycamore at Chatham Mills Upscale steakhouse. 480 Hillsboro St., Ste. 500; 919-704-8731; thesycamoreatchathammills.com

Virlie’s Grill Soups, salads, burgers, sandwiches. 58 Hillsboro St.; 919-542-0376; virliesgrill.com

Willy’s Cinnamon Rolls Etc. Bakery selling cinnamon rolls, scones, muffins, cookies and bread with ’40s and ’50s flair. 35 W. Chatham St.; 252-305-9227; willysrolls.com CHM

CAST YOUR VOTE

CHAPEL HILL 2024 IN BEST OF

Over this and the next couple of pages, you’ll find several businesses that are vying for your votes – if you love them, support them! Every vote counts, so be sure to participate and promote the places that make our community thrive!

2024

Our annual poll is back!

You can cast your ballot now for your local favorites.

This ballot is meant to showcase the best of the best in Chapel Hill, and we can’t emphasize it enough: Winning this award means so much to local businesses, so take this contest as one more way you can ensure that your favorites – whether it’s a coffee shop, real estate agent, museum or gym – are well-known and well-loved by everyone in our community. Let’s showcase the places that make our town special.

We have divided the poll by category: Dining, Retail, Services, Home & Garden and Arts & Entertainment. This way, you can come back to finish the survey at your leisure instead of working through it in one sitting. (Note: You will need to use the same email address every time you visit the survey.)

The results will be announced in our July/August issue, complete with features about a few of our winners. Be sure to check it out.

“It is so gratifying to see folks stop to look at the Best of award in our lobby. When members of the community take the time to congratulate us for this achievement, it is something we are very proud of.”

– Lauren Lorentz de Haas, Triangle Youth Ballet

“It has been a privilege over the years to have been chosen Best Landscaper by the readers of Chapel Hill Magazine. For our new customers, this serves as a reference point as to the quality of service that they can expect.”

— James

O’Mara and Kate O’Mara, O’Mara Landscaping & Lawn Care

“It was such an honor to be vetted by readers of Chapel Hill Magazine as an award-winning business and to see the trust this cultivates in the community. It is a joy when both new and existing clients now come to us and say, ‘We saw you in Chapel Hill Magazine!’” — Cat French, Cat French Design

“Winning Best of Chapel Hill has brought an incredible influx of inquiries and projects, allowing us to connect with even more wonderful clients. It’s a reflection of the trust our clients place in us. It has also opened doors beyond individual projects. We have been invited to participate in prestigious events like the Chapel Hill Garden Club Tour, further solidifying our reputation as a leader in the local landscape design scene.” — Amy Strunk, Amy Strunk Designs

A Quick Review of the Rules:

• One ballot per person. The email address you submit is essentially your ID - you can come back at any point to finish the survey at your leisure. We’re only counting one ballot per email address. We want to keep ballot box stuffing to a minimum.

• All questions are optional. Though we’d love for you to vote in all the categories, you are welcome to pick and choose.

• Write in your favorites if they’re not nominated. We did the best we could to be comprehensive in the categories with nominees, but the write-in box is there for a reason – use it!

• Be specific in write-in categories. Where applicable, please use the full name of a business and/or person.

“As soon as we are voted Best of Chapel Hill, we see a significant increase in new customers excited to try our pizza and Italian specialties and a lot more business because they see us in Chapel Hill Magazine!”

— Angelo Marrone and Vincenzo Marrone, Italian Pizzeria III

The inaugural Best of Chapel Hill party was held at The Carolina Inn in 2023.

y name is Tonya. I came to Ignite Wellness because I had excruciating knee pain! I have been seeing Dr. Avery for a couple of weeks now and my pain is really lessened! My back pain has also improved. I have seen many other doctors for my knee pain, but these are the best results I have experienced. Thank you Ignite Wellness!”

i, my name is Vernon. I came to Ignite Wellness for my back, and after just one week, I’m feeling so much better. I’m so thankful for Ignite. I had come before for my knee, and they did such a great job so I returned.”

ello, my name is Rosalinda. I came to Ignite Wellness with pain in my hip, back, and knee. I clean houses for a living and I like to dance for fun and I couldn’t do either because of pain. It took me longer to clean houses which was frustrating. After only one month of treatment, the pain was gone! I can now dance, exercise, clean houses, and do everything I could not do before. Thank you, Ignite Wellness!”

TRAVEL

road trip

In need of a quick getaway this spring and summer? Our staff shares a few fave nearby destinations perfect for day or weekend trips!

Our family lives in a neighborhood across the highway from Fearrington Village. We love day trips, and one of the places we recently revisited was the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher near Wilmington. We went to see the new otter pups on exhibit and watched them slip down the slide and swim up to inspect visitors pressed against the glass. The alligators exhibit always delivers drama because they appear deceptively docile and sleepy just before they slip into the dark waters.

I was surprised to learn that you can book a sleepover for a group of 15-30 people in front of the 235,000-gallon Cape Fear Shoals habitat with sharks, eels and turtles to watch over you. Personally, I would watch the jellyfish tank, because it’s like a giant lava lamp. Snacks, craft supplies and breakfast are provided. Contact the aquarium for more details.

The aquarium is open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except for Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day, which provides year-round opportunities to come see all the fantastic exhibits, animals and fish!

– Anna-Rhesa Versola, senior staff writer 

I love the Outer Banks, and one of my favorite islands to visit is on Cape Lookout. From Harkers Island, you can take a ferry or boat over to the cape, with the option to stop at Shackleford Banks, where you can explore and catch a glimpse of the wild horse herds that inhabit the island. Once you arrive at the cape you can climb the lighthouse (it’s scheduled to reopen in 2025 after renovations) and enjoy swimming and relaxing on the beach. After a day in the sun, stop by nearby Beaufort for a meal or shopping.

– Renee Ambroso,

digital content specialist & Heart of NC Weddings managing editor

Our family enjoys the New Hope Valley Railway – it’s a fun train ride for the kids. Plan to arrive early to enjoy the model railroad and the outdoor museum. We also love going to Fearrington Village to visit the belted cows and goats as well as the North Carolina Zoo in Asheboro – it’s perfect for curious kiddos to see all kinds of animals, big and small. Stop by The Table for breakfast or lunch before your visit –it’s got great gluten-free options!

– John Michael Simpson, staff photographer

I’m from Graham, North Carolina, in Alamance County, and I love to go back and visit the Graham Cinema. It is still the same as it was when I was a child – stadium seating with just one movie screen and cost is $4 per person and $3 per kid. You have to call 336-226-1488 to hear the voicemail – there is always a joke. Promise, it’s so worth it!

The Burlington City Park is the best for kids, with a train and boat rides – plus the carousel is just fabulous. Head over to Zack’s Hot Dogs after the park for its nearly century-old, famous grill menu.

If you enjoy visiting the Duke Lemur Center, you’ll definitely want to check out Burlington’s Animal Park at the Conservators Center. And did you know that Press Coffee, Crepes & Cocktails, which has a location in Durham and is soon to open one in Raleigh, got its start in Alamance County? – Chris Elkins, Triangle Media Partners vice president

The one destination I look forward to visiting every late spring or early summer is, hands down, Kure Beach, North Carolina. The little town is just south of Carolina Beach, a short drive from Wilmington, and only about three hours from the Triangle. It’s a quaint, quiet spot with a few local establishments near its fishing pier – first built more than a century ago, it’s the oldest fishing pier on the Atlantic coastline. In the morning, if I don’t head the eight minutes up the street into Carolina Beach for a dozen freshly made-and-glazed doughnuts paired

with a cup of ice-cold milk from Britts Donut Shop (if you know, you know), then I’ll stop in for a coffee from Happy Hippies Java Hut before making my way back to the beach, where we’ll spend most all of the day lounging surfside. We’ll order takeout from Freddie’s or hit up Jack Mackerel’s (a cup of its signature seafood chowder is a must!) for dinner before playing as many games as we can at the arcade –basketball and skee-ball are our favorite. Once we’ve had our fill of friendly competition, we’ll pass our tickets off to some of the kids checking out the prizes behind the counter, and then head across the way to Bud & Joe’s SandBar for a beer or two before turning in for the night. The best part? We get to do it all again the next day!

– Amanda MacLaren, executive managing editor

I can’t even count all the times my friends and I have made day trips to Jordan Lake. The best thing about it is that these can be more like half-day trips – the public beaches have all the benefits of the North Carolina coast without having to drive three hours! The water is chilly, but a quick dip is the perfect way to cool down after a full day in the sun. I’ve also gone to see the sunrise during the winter, and found a dock to have a sunset picnic during the spring! Next thing on my bucket list is spending a night on the campground. The possibilities are endless; it’s an adventure in our own backyard.

– Leah Berry, editorial assistant

My husband, James, and I love to visit Asheville any chance we get. It has a great small city vibe, amazing restaurants, art galleries and, of course, hiking in the nearby Pisgah National Forest. A perfect day for me would be to book an early spot at Sauna House (it’s opening a Durham location soon, and I can’t wait!). Then I’d grab my dogs, Chico and Casper, and head to Burial Beer Co. (which also has a Raleigh taproom!) for lunch and whatever new IPA they’re pouring. Next, I’d take a stroll through Screendoor, a huge antique and vintage warehouse, or the charming used bookshop Bagatelle Books. Then I’d want to watch the sunset over the Blue Ridge Mountains at The Montford Rooftop Bar – I love that the bartenders use North Carolina spirits, like Sutler’s Gin out of Winston-Salem and Durham’s Krupnikas spiced honey liqueur, in their signature

cocktails – and grab dinner at Plant, an award-winning vegan restaurant that has somehow perfected a cashew cheese that tastes exactly like brie. – Morgan Cartier Weston, Chatham Magazine editor & digital growth strategist

I recently did a day trip to Winston-Salem with my pup, Olive. I started with a visit to the best little bakery, Bobby Boy Bakeshop, where I picked up a whole box of goodies to make it worth the drive. The highlights were the croissants and the morning bun. Wine lovers should know it’s attached to a wine shop, so pick up a bottle or two to bring home with you. We then strolled through Hanes Park (there’s a beautiful section along a creek) and down the Stuart & Emma Thomas Memorial Trail for some views. Next up was a pint at Incendiary Brewing Company (which is right next to pizza spot Cugino Forno, which also has a Durham location) where we sat outside and peoplewatched in the shade. Finally, we picked up brisket and some sides at East of Texas, a barbecue spot with a cool bar, to bring back to my partner who raved about the macaroni and cheese.

– Jessica Stringer, Chapel Hill

Magazine editor

Our family loves a drive to Fearrington Village. We enjoy eating at The Belted Goat, browsing the pretty shops, seeing the cute animals, and then my kids like to run the trails by the pond.”

– Ashlin Acheson, director of creative operations CHM

DowntownPittsboro

MINUTES AWAY FROM CHAPEL HILL & DURHAM

@downtown pittsboro

the mayors club

We convened the former mayors of Chapel Hill in January at The Carolina Inn to welcome their newest counterpart, Mayor Jess Anderson. Back row: Kevin Foy (served 2001-2009), Pam Hemminger (2015-2023) and Kenneth Broun (19911995). Front row: Mark Kleinschmidt (2009-2015), Jess Anderson (2023- ), Howard Lee (1969-1975) and Rosemary Waldorf (1995-2001).

IN MEMORIAM Former mayors

James Wallace, who served two terms (1975-1979, 1985-1987) died in 1991; Jonathan Howes (1987-1991) died in 2015; Sandy McClamroch (1961-1969) died in 2016; and Joe Nassif (19791985) died in 2023.

mayoral musings

Mayor Anderson, you’ve been in office for about six weeks at the time of this interview. What are the things you really want to get off the ground early?

Mayor Jess Anderson We’re going into our retreat this weekend, so we’re really trying to make sure that the council stays generally aligned on the direction that we have set. … Pam dealt with constant development projects – they were just knocking down the door all the time. Interest rates have been so high that we have a little breathing room.

So it’s been really nice to be able to [say], “Let’s look at the agenda for the year and plot out a path. OK, where are we trying to go with our economic development work?

What’s our arc of work for the year?”

Pam, what are you most proud of from your eight years as mayor?

Former Mayor Pam Hemminger We really did turn the ship around on some things, especially economic development. I’m really proud of the work we did caring about community, between Food for Students and our Historic Civil Rights Commemorations Task Force and thinking about what the community needs were with affordable housing. Then we had to deal with COVID-19. And I’m really proud how this community pulled together. But climate action really rises to the top for me, because we didn’t have a plan. [Now] we do, and we’re acting on it. But no mayor does it alone. As Jess will tell you, it takes a council, the staff and the community. The mayor’s job is to help make sure that those groups are coming together.

Did you pass any advice on to Jess?

Mayor Jess Anderson and former Mayor Pam Hemminger engage in a conversation with Chapel Hill Magazine’s Jessica Stringer about legacy, the challenges of leadership and the town’s evolution. Following is an edited transcript.

Jess, did you pick up on anything in particular working with Pam that you want to emulate?

Pam Jess has been [on council] for eight years, and we’ve collaborated a lot over that time. [I’ve shared that you have to] pace yourself and that if you’re feeling like you’re doing this on your own, reach out and ask questions or for input or to vent. It’s a lot on the shoulders of the leader of the town. I know Jess can do it, though. She brings great energy and insight. I was very pleased that Jess wanted to be mayor and was elected.

Jess Oh, yeah, of course. There are a lot of things. We have really different personalities in a great way, and that meant that we work together well. Pam is really good at thinking about how people are feeling. That’s one of her superpowers – reading a room. She’s really smart. And she really understands finance, and she has done so much work, not just as mayor, but as a county commissioner and on the school board, so she understands how the whole community works. I got to breathe all that in and was next to her while she was doing a lot of that. I think being able to see how all those pieces of government work together was really important for me to learn through Pam. And then being able to not feel like you have to attack every problem at every moment. But you do have to juggle a lot, and you have to pay attention to a lot. We can’t just do climate [action] or housing – we have to balance them both, and we have to do them both well. 

Mayor Jess Anderson and former Mayor Pam Hemminger at The Carolina Inn.

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Pam, how’s the transition been?

Pam It’s nice not to have to get up and look at 200 emails in the morning and [instead] say, “Oh, what do I want to read?” And I’ve been able to read a book! [That] hasn’t happened in a long time, because usually you’re reading so much as the mayor. I still get up every morning and read four different news outlets, because I want to know what’s going on in the world and the community. But it is different. You’re not getting pinged constantly.

But I’m thrilled [Jess is mayor]. She’s incredibly bright. Jess is really adept at seeing the bigger picture and articulating it. I counted on [hearing her viewpoint] when I was mayor. And she’d always share.

I’m around to be helpful. I care about this community deeply, and I’m not going to just wander off. I don’t know what I’m going to be doing yet.

Jess, you said at the mayors gathering that you thought you knew what being mayor would be like, but that it was so much more. Can you talk about that?

Jess It goes from minor things, like signing a state of emergency in advance of [some UNC] basketball games [in case fans rush Franklin Street]. But the other piece [is] that I think it can take a lot of emotional energy. When people in the community are hurting, we feel it. But you can’t just fall apart and be sad with everybody. They’re looking to you to help and console and be calm. And I feel prepared to do that.

Jess, you’re a professor in the UNC Department of Public Policy. What’s it like for your students to have the mayor grading them?

Jess I can’t speak for them, but it’s been fun. There’s a benefit for them to be able to have someone who is doing policy and political work locally, who is willing to not just do academic work with them, but really give them a little insight into what it’s like. I was teaching a leadership class last semester, and they brought sparkling apple cider and dessert because I was teaching the day after the election.

How about your kids?

Jess They’re so used to me being on council. … They’re always excited about seeing signs with my name on them around town. And then they can tell their friends that that’s their

MAKING PROGRESS

A few more questions for former Mayor Hemminger

Changes downtown seemed to be a big issue during your terms.

Pam Some people do [like it] and some people have worries, and that’s part of being a community – everyone’s not gonna feel the same way. When you’re mayor or on council, you have to plan for the future. You can’t stay stuck in the past. You have to value it – like we value our historic districts – but you have to keep moving for the future. That’s hard for people [sometimes]. When I’m downtown, I get people stopping and asking me [about all of it]. So you explain that, “Oh, this moved here” or “This has changed” or “COVID-19 kind of really did a whammy on some of them.” But we’ve cleaned up, we’ve improved, we have better lighting, it’s not done yet. We’re trying to make it a better experience for everyone to come downtown.

What still needs to be done?

Pam We need more people downtown 12 months out of the year, both workers and people who live here. We love our students, but you cannot exist in a ninemonth economy, and [we’re] trying to help the businesses understand, too. You’ve got to be able to pivot. And that’s hard. And so the new parking deck is going in, the new Innovate Carolina Junction, the new wet labs will bring more workers. We have more feet on the street than we’ve ever had. It’s wonderful.

Tell me more about new parking deck.

Pam I [would] call all of [the former mayors] to talk, and they were like, “You’re brave for taking on [the parking deck and some infrastructure changes downtown] because it’s going to be controversial for the broader community.” But we did the hard work. The parking deck is behind schedule, but in the long run, five years from now, I know people are going to be very grateful that it’s there and then eventually it’ll just become part of the downtown fabric.

That’s cool. You helped plant a lot of seeds during your time as mayor, and now you get to watch the fruits of your labor. Any others you’re excited about?

Pam The Penny for Parks Fund. I was just ecstatic when the council was willing to follow my idea that we needed a dedicated funding stream [for our parks projects]. Parks and Recreation was getting cut every year. And that wasn’t fair. The Penny for Parks Fund is a million dollars a year to help the staff get us back up to where we need to be for [parks] maintenance issues and continue on for the future. [That’s just another one of the] good things that come out of the eight years of work that went in.

mom. My daughter, Elena, is proud that I’m the third female mayor in Chapel Hill history.

Switching topics, Pam, I know you were good about going to conferences. Was it valuable to hear what others were doing?

Pam Extremely valuable, especially the Mayors Innovation Project and the Metro Mayors and then during COVID-19, the U.S. Conference of Mayors working together on Zoom. Chapel Hill doesn’t have all the answers. You can learn from other communities. And I always say that I learned that R&D no longer meant “research and development,” it meant “rip off and duplicate” and make it your own. We brought our Climate Action Plan from a conference I went to in Burlington, Vermont. I gave it to our manager and staff and said, “We can modify this, but someone’s already done the work. You can use it to learn from.”

Jess, the election in November brought some fresh faces to council, but plenty of folks with experience remain. How are you hoping to build consensus?

Jess So I think it certainly is up to every member to come and be ready to work together. And we can’t force folks to work together. But I think we’re really trying to create an environment where people can say, “This is important to me,” or “This is something that, for me to work effectively with this group, this is something I need.” Starting us off on aligning our budget with our values and our goals is a really important part of that work. Somebody told me when I first ran [for council] in 2015 that your budget is the way of showing your values. That hopefully will help folks come together around some of that work.

Pam Every two years it’s a realignment, and you have to figure out how people best work together, how they communicate, what their interests are.

Jess, when you’re not teaching or being mayor, how do you relax?

Jess I definitely like to exercise because I have a bad back, but also it’s really good to clear my mind to just be doing something else for 45 minutes or an hour that I’m not trying to problem solve. Reading books or doing puzzles with my kids. I’m still a mom of a 7- and a 10-year-old so I still get to do some fun stuff. CHM

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once a Tar Heel…

Helene Cooper, author and journalist, talks The Daily Tar Heel, “the wall” and traveling the world

As told to Jessica Stringer

You wrote in your memoir, “The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood,” that “There was never really any doubt that UNC, one hour down the highway from Greensboro, was where I would go to college.” What made you want to study at UNC?

Carolina had a really good journalism school. And I realized in high school that I wanted to be a reporter while reading “All The President’s Men.” I was certain this is what I wanted. And so Carolina was an obvious choice. And once my family arrived in Greensboro in my junior year of high school, I fell in love with Carolina basketball.

Those are my same two reasons for picking UNC! So when were you a student? 1983-1987.

In your memoir, you wrote that you were rejected by The Daily Tar Heel because you were just a first-year student. So you submitted editorials. I loved how you detailed the excitement of getting up early and rushing to the newspaper box to see the paper in person. Did you end up writing for the DTH?

I did. I was on the staff of the Daily Tar Heel state and national desk, and so I wrote about a lot of policy. I would try to shoehorn any international gunk I could in there. Whenever anyone halfway important came to the university to talk, they would send me. Divestment from South Africa was the big issue during my time there. And I really took that one on.

What else were you involved in?

My sophomore year I was able to take my first journalism class, and once I did that, all I did was journalism. I loved everything about writing and reporting. All of my free time was consumed by that. I worked part time at The Chapel Hill Newspaper. I worked part time at The Raleigh News & Observer. My senior year I was working a 3-11 p.m. or a 4 p.m.-midnight shift. That is what I did. I reported.

What was your Chapel Hill “spot” as a student?

We went to The Rathskeller. We used to hang out at Purdy’s, which was a nightclub/ dance place/bar on Franklin Street. I did go to all the Black fraternity and Black sorority parties in Great Hall. During the day, I loved hanging out on “the wall” [in front of Greenlaw Hall] facing the Undergraduate Library. One of my first editorials for The Daily Tar Heel was about the apartheid, but my second one was about how I had wasted the entirety of my freshman year hanging out on the wall.

In your book, you wrote, “I threw myself into the ethos of college rivalries with abandon” – any favorite sports memories?

I was so into basketball. When I was at Carolina, you had to get in line days before to get a seat assignment to get a shot at whatever ticket you’re going to get for the basketball game. I still remember the time my friend Sandy Brown and I were up at like 4 in the morning, and we got portal one, aisle B, row D. I actually remember because we were shouting, we were so excited. That was four rows back from Sam Perkins, Michael Jordan and Matt Doherty. I remember Brad Daugherty complimented my friend about her shoes while we were over on the wall. I was completely in love with Sam Perkins. I sent him a card my freshman year that said, “I think you should know that we’ve been seeing a lot of each other in my dreams.” I sent it to Sam Perkins, Granville Towers. And he got it and called me, and I lost my fricking mind.

You got to see some awesome players. I’m envious. So would you attend UNC again, given the chance?

I don’t know. I told you already that I’m mad at them for the Nikole Hannah-Jones thing. And the fact that the J-school and the board of trustees intervened in academics really bothers me. What happened to her bothers me. This really sent a chill down my spine. I think if I had to answer right now, in this environment that we’re in, with what they just did: No, I would not go to Carolina.

I know you returned to campus in 2010 – you were my graduation speaker! – and again in 2012 to give a talk. Since 2010, I’ve probably been back to Carolina five or six times to talk to students. Each time I feel like I’m home when I’m there. I always walk around campus, I always try to visit Howell Hall. I walk around Franklin Street. It’s a beautiful campus, and it was a great place to go to school.

Where did your journey lead you after graduation?

I had two job offers at the end of my senior year. One was The News & Observer where I was working part time, and one was The Providence Journal in Rhode Island, where I had been a summer intern the summer before. I took the Providence job. After five years in Providence, I got hired by The Wall Street Journal in the Atlanta bureau, and I was there for two years.

It’s very hard when you’re used to writing about other people to focus the lens inward.

Then I was transferred to the Washington bureau to write about international trade, which was my ticket to finally get overseas travel for work. The Journal really taught me how to write, report and engage the reader. A lot of newspaper writers … do a lot of throat clearing at the beginning of an article. I used to do that a lot. The Journal taught me to get the point. And they were willing to send me to China, England, Europe, Madagascar, etc. After years in the Washington bureau, they sent me to the London bureau where I was a correspondent for 2 ½ years. My beat was the euro single currency.

I came back to the Washington bureau after that. When Bush v. Gore happened, they sent me to Palm Beach. I covered Sept. 11, and I was sent to New York to do this big story about five lives that were impacted. And when the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and then Iraq, I was right in the middle of it. So I got deployed to Iraq, and I was there for the invasion, embedded with the 3rd Infantry Division.

What beat are you covering these days?

I’ve covered the Pentagon since 2014.

You’ve written two books, including one about your life growing up in Liberia. Was it hard to write about yourself? It’s very hard when you’re used to writing about other people to focus the lens inward. After the Iraq war, I had an event

when my Humvee was run over by a tank and I thought I was dying. And I was like, “I shouldn’t be dying here. I should be dying in Liberia. There’s a war going on there. What the hell am I doing here in Iraq?” I hadn’t seen my sister Eunice. I didn’t know if she was alive or dead. I realized in that moment that I needed to get home. I served out my time in Iraq, and then I came home, and I went back to Liberia. And I found Eunice. That was a big deal for me emotionally. I had been running away from that part of my story, ever since the coup that had destroyed my way of life in Liberia. My uncles and cousins had been executed by firing squad; my mom had been gang raped. I sort of shoved all of that away while I tried to make myself into an American journalist. You can’t run away from that kind of stuff forever. So I took a year off, and I wrote my book.

What was the process of writing a book like?

Writing a book is different, obviously, than writing a newspaper story. I interviewed my mom, my sisters, my family members, everybody I could find who had any part in the Liberian Civil War. Then I wrote the first draft, and I tried to write it like a reporter would write a newspaper article. I left all of the emotion out of it. The rape scene, what my mom went through [in the basement] while we were hiding upstairs in the bedroom, I tried to write it in three paragraphs. When I turned it in, my editor says, “This is not a memoir. You’ve taken yourself completely out of the story. You can’t write a story about your life and not include yourself.”

So it took three more years after I submitted the first draft that the book was honest and was what it set out to be. … I think it was a good thing to have done because emotionally it helped me a lot.

What’s it like writing a story under a deadline versus taking the time to research a book like “Madame President”?

Writing under deadlines is the easiest thing if you do not have the luxury of time or the luxury to muck about with stuff. I can bat out a front-page story for The New York Times in 15 minutes. It’s that easy. It’s when you have the time to talk about this stuff that it gets hard. So I find deadline writing infinitely easier than I do feature stories or books. I have to be in love with my subject to write a book because it’s so much going over and over [things in detail] and [asking yourself,] “This word – is this OK?” It’s all on you. You’re making all of these decisions, and then you have to live with the decisions you’ve made, based on a book that you care about and you’re proud of. It’s hard. It’s scary.

What is it about journalism that you still find captivating?

I love what I do, as hard as it can be. Nothing’s ever the same. It keeps me on my toes. Very often you’re in the middle of life, as it is, seeing the way other people live. Right now, I’m 57 years old. I always thought that at this age I’d be doing something more sedentary, you know, writing or sitting at my desk all day, but instead, I’m following around Marines in the Baltics doing exercises or I’m hanging out on the B-1 bomber that’s taking a 24hour bombing run or I’m on an aircraft carrier.

There’s nothing that gives me that feeling of accomplishment like opening up the newspaper or opening a website and seeing a story that I just wrote. I still love that feeling that I had when I ran to the DTH honor box when I wrote that first thing. That excitement of flipping through looking for my name – I still like that. CHM

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The Mill Town

Sound T T T T

For one day only, music filled the streets of Carrboro during the annual festival

By Olivia Paul

he 26th annual Carrboro Music Festival took place on Oct. 1 in downtown Carrboro across multiple venues. The event kicked off with a performance at the Back Room at Cat’s Cradle with Raleighbased band Truth Club. Throughout the day, community members and families listened to music from Triangle bands with a variety of genres and styles, such as Fool in Utopia, Eric Sommer and the Fabulous Piedmonts and Heat Preacher. Festivalgoers also enjoyed craft vendors, nonprofit groups and food vendors such as Ta Contento, Trash Talk, The Flat Drum and D’s Presto. 

ABOVE LEFT Melanie Meents and Emily Giardina with 5-month-old Chihuahua mix, Liza.

LEFT Ancestor Piratas’ Renzo Pibiri on the timbales, Renzo Ortega on the keys and Alex Blanco on the guitar at Weaver Street Market.

ABOVE Andrea E. Woods Valdés, Rhonda Robichaux, Mary Huntimer, Ron Baxter, Bryan McCune and Justin Berry from Triangle Afrobeat Orchestra perform at Weaver Street Market.

BELOW LEFT C. Bay Milin and Jillian Guarco. BELOW RIGHT Chris Titchner and Tracy Feldman from The Carrborators perform at Steel String Brewing.

Dynamic Duo

This power couple of local politics says showing up and doing the work matters

By Anna-Rhesa Versola

B B b B

arbara M. Foushee had no clue who Braxton Foushee was when they first met in 2003 at Cathedral of Hope Mission Church in Carrboro.

After dating for several months, Braxton asked Barbara to record an event where he was receiving an award. So, she sat behind the camera and listened as speakers listed Braxton’s many accomplishments. As the praise continued, Barbara looked around in surprise. She decided to Google him.

“I had no idea,” Barbara says, laughing and shaking her head. “I told him, ‘You should

Photography by John Michael Simpson

Braxton Foushee and Barbara M. Foushee believe in the benefits of public service and advocate for the good of the community, strengthening Carrboro’s reputation as one of the most progressive towns in the South.

carrboro

have told me!’ He said, ‘Oh, shoot, Barbara, I don’t front-load with that when I meet people.’ And I have seen him be that way for the almost 21 years that he and I have been together. It is like pulling teeth to get information from him.”

Barbara soon learned how Braxton grew up during the Jim Crow era in the Northside neighborhood, a historically Black community that straddles the Chapel Hill-Carrboro town limits. At 19, he was fully immersed in Civil Rights demonstrations and marches. Braxton joined others, like the Chapel Hill Nine, in staging sit-ins at Colonial Drug Co. Store on West Franklin Street.

“There were no accommodations for Blacks,” he says. “You could go in, but you couldn’t sit down and talk just like we are [doing here]. … [John Carswell, owner of Colonial Drug Co. Store] held [the pharmacy] accounts of most of the Black community in Carrboro and in Chapel Hill, so it was a big moneymaker for him. The first time we went in and [sat down], he said, ‘Oh, no. Y’all gotta get out of here.’ That made him a target [of protests].”

After graduating from Lincoln High School in 1959, Braxton hoped to continue playing football in college; he was offered a partial scholarship but was unable to attend because he did not have the means to pay remaining costs for school. Instead, he worked as a research lab technician for 40 years, retiring as chief dialysis technician. He learned to build and use early versions of kidney dialysis machines under the training and direction of physicianscientists such as Dr. William “Bill” Blythe, who was instrumental in setting up the nation’s first dialysis programs at UNC. “[Bill] said, ‘Braxton, we are gonna start a kidney clinic, and I want you to be part of it.’” Braxton recalls. “But I didn’t know what I was getting into – it was a whole new world that I had to learn about.”

braxton anD the civil rights movement

1952 In eighth grade, he began regularly helping Rebecca Clark, a local neighborhood activist, with voter registration drives. “You didn’t say no [to Rebecca Clark], that was my understanding,” Braxton says. “She was the most astute politician that never ran for office.”

1959 Braxton graduated from Lincoln High School, a Black-only school on Merritt Mill Road

1960 In February, four students from North Carolina A&T State University sat down requesting service at the F. W. Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro. Locally, Braxton joined others inside the Colonial Drug Co. Store on West Franklin Street and also requested to be served.

1963 Demonstrators began demanding integration of all public facilities in Chapel Hill.

1964 The Civil Rights Act was signed into law.

1965 The Voting Rights Act was signed into law.

1966 After Lincoln High School closed, all students attended Chapel Hill High School regardless of race. This was the same year Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka was a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled that U.S. state laws establishing racial segregation in public schools are unconstitutional, even if the segregated schools are otherwise equal in quality.

1967 Braxton led a group of Black workers to integrate UNC Hospitals’ cafeteria. (During this time, he worked in the lab during the early development of kidney dialysis at UNC.)

1968 Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated April 4. A week later, the Civil Rights Act was expanded to prohibit housing discrimination based on race, religion, gender, national origin, familial status or disability.

1969 Braxton was elected as the first Black alderman in Carrboro. Some of his accomplishments while on council until 1981 included:

• Helped save Carr Mill Mall from being torn down for its timber

• Helped make it possible for the creation of the Henry Anderson III Community Park

• Was instrumental in bringing bus lines to Carrboro, allowing students better access to UNC’s campus from surrounding apartment complexes

• Advocated to have roads paved and repaired, particularly in Black communities

• Helped bring water and sewer services to the Rogers Road neighborhood

nov. 7, 2023 The Town of Carrboro elects Barbara M. Foushee, its first female Black mayor.

Dec. 13, 2023 The Town of Carrboro declares the day as Braxton Dunkin Foushee Day of Service focusing on education and life skills development for at-risk youth.

2024 Carr Street in Carrboro will officially be renamed Braxton Foushee Street in late March.

Meanwhile, in the fall of 1967, Braxton led a group of 50-75 Black employees to integrate the cafeteria. “We walked in, and you could hear a pin fall on a piece of cotton,” he says. “We didn’t march. We just got in line and went over there. Nobody got up. They just looked. Me and [Hilliard] Caldwell went in first and said, ‘Go ahead and put some food on there.’”

Political Work

Braxton was elected as Carrboro’s first Black alderman and first took office in 1969. One of the major issues the board of aldermen (now called the town council) tackled was the plan to tear down Carr Mill Mall to salvage the lumber and timber beams. The building dated back to 1899 and was known as the Alberta Cotton Mill.

“For the good of Carrboro, we need you to save this building,” Braxton remembers telling the owner at the time. The aldermen and local residents were successful in sparing the building from demolition. By 1977, the mill reopened as Carr Mill Mall and is a landmark known for its unique shops and dining options.

Braxton says public transportation was a major issue that he helped resolve during his 12-year tenure and one that has had a lasting impact on the town. “Students were elated,” he says about bringing in bus routes to connect local apartment complexes to UNC’s campus. “I call it the opening up of Carrboro because more Blacks felt comfortable coming into Carrboro. … Things started opening up, and people started moving in. That’s when the first land-use plan got really started.”

Yet another accomplishment for him was helping to create Henry Anderson III Community Park. Barbara says Braxton keeps the next generation in mind. “It wasn’t about me,” he says. “It was about the young generation

coming up and we had to leave them something. The whole community was proud of what we were doing. And that was enough for me.” Today, Braxton, now 84, remains actively involved in town policymaking as the chair of the planning board.

the roaD aheaD

Barbara, 59, initially entered public office as a Carrboro Town Council member in 2017 and was elected last November as the town’s first female Black mayor.

“It was never on my mind to run for an elected seat; it was on some other people’s minds,” says Barbara, a native of Warsaw, North Carolina. She recalls being invited out for coffee and asked if she would consider filling the seat of an alderman who had to move across the country in the middle of her term. “I’m like, ‘What? So am I the only person you can think of?’ She said, ‘Yeah, you’re gonna be good for it.’ … I had never done this before. Ultimately, I just said, ‘You know what, let’s do it.’ … Everything just kind of fell into place. I had a good team and, obviously, a pretty decent message.” 

Braxton Foushee looks on as Rep. Valerie Foushee (right) administers the oath of office to Barbara Foushee during the mayoral swearing-in ceremony in December.

PHOTO BY JONATHAN DRAKE/TOWN OF CARRBORO

Service to others wasn’t foreign to Barbara, who earned a bachelor’s degree in medical technology from St. Augustine’s College (now University) in Raleigh where she joined the Zeta Phi Beta sorority, an organization with a focus on service and advocacy. “I pledged Zeta because of what the sorority exemplifies through its founding principles of service, scholarship, sisterly love and finer womanhood,” she says. “We want to directly affect positive change; we are a community-conscious, action-oriented organization.” Today, Barbara works as a senior medical technologist at Labcorp in Research Triangle Park.

She says many issues that were prominent during Braxton’s time in office continue to percolate today, like racism, affordable housing, economic development and transportation. “My advocacy is truly around an affordable and equitable community where everybody feels welcome,” she says. Barbara reminds herself that although Carrboro bears the name of a prominent industrialist who supported segregation,

I continue to use any positions I get to advocate for all people. We’re just better together as a community. But that is a long journey. Look how long it took for Black people to even be in the same space where white people went out to vote, to move from the back [of the bus] to the front. Sometimes today seems like yesterday, because the racism thing is still there. Because it’s baked into our systems, baked into our policies, baked into our entire existence. People just are more subtle with it.”

barbara m. Foushee mayor oF carrboro

many today consider it one of the most progressive towns in the South.

A three-story building with space for community use, a library and parking deck at 203 S. Greensboro St. will be completed this summer. It’s the town’s first building in 20 years. “[The Town of Carrboro] doesn’t have a lot of available land,” Barbara says of limited acreage available for development. “We own three lots, one of which is dedicated to three Pee Wee Homes. They’re about to be constructed across from Baldwin Park. That was land donated by a Black man, too, Henry Baldwin.”

With so much to do for Carrboro’s future, Barbara looks to Braxton for inspiration. “He has a very calming nature,” she says. “I’m really a Type A person, so we balance each other off really well.” And after all these years, Barbara continues to learn about her husband’s lasting contributions to the community. “His humility is a road map,” she says. “He simply says, ‘I did it because I saw a need for something to be done, and that’s it.’ I love that about him.” CHM

carrboro

building community

Carrboro’s highly anticipated $41 million dollar project is slated for summer

T T t T

By Katie Scherner

he former parking lot in downtown Carrboro next to Open Eye Cafe won’t ever look the same again. In January, the final phase of construction began on the 203 Project, which will house a three-story library, cultural center and an adjoining parking deck at 203 S. Greensboro St. Construction began in June 2022 on the .08-acre site with workers of all trades working on the project. “Before, there were steel poles and scaffolding everywhere,” says Public Works Director Kevin Belanger. “Now you can see the spaces take definition and envision how the public will be using this beautiful facility in the future.” Now a brick facade, windows and metal panels define the exterior appearance. This multifaceted 49,550-square-foot space is not just a library; it’s a dynamic building that will cater to the diverse needs of southern Orange County. It will serve as a new home for a teen center, the Orange County Skills Development Center, Carrboro Recreation, Parks & Cultural Resources Department and WCOM Radio

Visitors will be able to overlook downtown Carrboro on the third-floor terrace and immerse themselves in smallgroup spaces, classroom and multipurpose program spaces in this energy-efficient, LEED Gold equivalency building. Plentiful bike parking spots and Chapel Hill Transit routes ensure that everyone can benefit and be a part of this upcoming, thriving community space this summer. CHM

TomarkeT TomarkeT

Celebrate 45 years of the Carrboro Farmers Market with four seasonal recipes from vendors

Photography by James Stefiuk

Spring Veggie STir-Fry

Recipe by Leslie Heintzman of Sari Sari Sweets

This recipe is made for your personal preference. Mix and match your favorite veggies or just use one. Add the protein of your choice if desired. The total amount of veggies (not including the onion, garlic and ginger) should equal 1 pound if you add 1 pound of protein, or 2 pounds of veggies if you decide to keep it vegetarian.

Cut green veggies and protein into bite-size chunks. (Sugar snaps can be kept whole.) In a small bowl, mix sauce ingredients (soy sauce through hoisin) together, set aside.

If you don’t have a wok, a cast-iron pot is the best substitute. Heat wok or pot over high heat. When it starts to smoke, add peanut or grapeseed oil. If you’re using meat, sear meat and toss until almost fully cooked. (Something like shrimp will only take 3 minutes.) Remove meat from pan and set aside.

Add more oil if needed. Toss in the onion. Move around quickly to prevent burning and stir for 3 minutes. Add garlic, ginger and green onion. Stir constantly for 30 seconds. Add green veggies. Broccoli and asparagus will begin to turn a bright green when they start to cook. At this point, add back your protein and stir. Add sauce and keep stirring until it coats everything and starts to thicken. Remove from heat and serve over your choice of steamed rice or riced cauliflower. Enjoy! 

Asparagus

Broccoli

Sugar snap peas

Protein of your choice, optional

3 Tbsp. soy sauce

Chili crisp, to taste

1 tsp. sesame oil

2 Tbsp. oyster sauce

2 Tbsp. hoisin

2-3 Tbsp. oil (peanut or grapeseed)

Large onion, diced

3-5 garlic cloves, minced

1 Tbsp. ginger, minced

3 stalks green onion, chopped

Steamed rice (or riced cauliflower)

key DaTeS

ThiS SeaSon

Wednesday, April 3

Wednesday Market begins

Saturday, April 6

Main season hours (7 a.m.noon) begin + T-shirt Day + 45th Birthday Party

Saturday, April 20

Kids Seedling Day

Saturday, May 4

Strawberry Jamboree

Saturday, June 8

June in Bloom

Saturday, July 13

Tomato Day

Aug. 4-10

National Farmers Market Week

Saturday, Aug. 31

Carrboro Cookout

Saturday, Nov. 2

Root Fest + winter hours (9 a.m.-noon) begin

Wednesday, Nov. 20

Wednesday Market ends

Tuesday, Nov. 26

Thanksgiving Market (3-5 p.m.)

Duck egg FriTTaTa wiTh LocaL VeggieS

By Jillian Mickens and Ross Mickens of Open Door Farm

1 dozen duck eggs

1 tsp. black pepper

1 Tbsp. seasoned salt

2 Tbsp. butter or olive oil

2-3 cups of mixed veggies (choose your favorites or what is in season)

1 lb. of local breakfast sausage, if desired

1/3 cup cheese (cheddar, goat or Parmesan are great)

Cooking spray

pIn a large skillet over medium heat, add butter and mixed veggies. Saute to desired tenderness. If adding sausage, cook in a separate pan until done and set aside. Add sauteed veggies, cooked meat and cheese to whisked eggs.

reheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, crack the eggs. Whisk eggs with the black pepper and seasoned salt. Set aside.

Spray a large, deep skillet pan (we use our big cast-iron pan) liberally with cooking spray and heat to medium. Add egg mixture to the skillet. Cook on the stovetop until the bottom has become firm, about 5 minutes. Place pan into the oven and cook until firm, about 15 minutes. 

STrawberry ice cream

By Kristi Thompson of T5-Farms

5 cups sweet strawberries*

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1 can evaporated milk

1 ½ tsp. vanilla

2 cup sugar

½ gallon (or more) milk

in a large bowl, blend or mix ingredients. *If you don’t like berry chunks, blend it all together. If you do like some chunks, then reserve about 2 cups and add after blending. (Sometimes I add more than 5 cups of berries.) Add milk to fill line in the ice-cream freezer container. Freeze ice cream according to maker instructions. (Note: this recipe is for a 1 gallon ice-cream freezer.) 

FrieD green TomaToeS

By Joan Holeman of Flat River Nursery and Farm

Line a baking sheet with waxed paper. In a shallow bowl, beat eggs and water. Place flour and cornmeal in two separate shallow bowls. Season cornmeal with salt and pepper.

Dip each tomato slice into flour, then dip into egg mixture. Press tomato into cornmeal mixture, shaking off excess. Transfer slice to prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining tomato slices, arranging tomatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet.

In a large skillet over medium heat, add ¼-inch olive oil. When the oil begins to shimmer, fry tomatoes in batches until golden and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate. CHM

2 eggs

2 Tbsp. water

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup yellow cornmeal Salt, to taste. (I like pink salt.)

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

3-4 green tomatoes (beefsteak type), sliced

1 cup olive oil for frying, or more as needed

Gather your pet-loving pals for a dinner and trivia night to benefit animals in need!

April 13th, 5-8 pm

Ardenwood Farm

1946 White Cross Rd, Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Dinner Drinks Team Trivia Silent auction Puppies

tickets and sponsorships at: Paws4ever.org/wags-and-whiskers

embracing the eco-conscious

A guide to sustainable practices for a greener future

By Lena Miano Illustrations by Lindsay Scott

SUSTAINABILITY TIPS

Going green starts at home. We asked Orange County’s Recycling Education and Outreach Coordinator Caroline Hausler for some achievable and accessible ways to incorporate greener choices into your everyday life.

· Dive into the world of recycling with the Orange County NC Recycles app, where you can learn about the process, plus view and set up reminders for curbside recycling collection.

· Repair items such as ripped clothing or broken phone screens to extend their lifespan.

· Repurpose old shirts into cleaning rags or use glass jars as food containers.

· When shopping for groceries, choose produce free of bags or plastic containers, buy in bulk and opt for items in paper and glass packaging.

· Don’t forget to bring your own reusable bags to the store and avoid using plastic or paper bags.

· Purchase secondhand/used products and donate workable items to Orange County’s Salvage Sheds, located at most Waste and Recycling Centers.

· Bring your household food waste to one of the county’s free drop-off sites which can be found on Orange County’s website.

· Choose reusable water bottles, coffee mugs, food containers, silverware, napkins, paper towels, straws and more, and opt out of single-use items.

· Swap synthetic fertilizers and herbicides for high-quality compost. Add compost to farms, yards, gardens and plants to improve soil texture, increase nutrient content, retain moisture and grow healthier flora.

E(ART)H DAY

Looking for a way to celebrate Earth Day this year? Explore the outdoors, peruse local artwork and support PORCH Chapel Hill-Carrboro, a nonprofit dedicated to fighting hunger in our communities on April 20 (April 21 as a rain date) during Festa Della Terra. Hillsborough realtor Natalie Marrone, her husband and 10-year-old son began the annual artful food drive in 2021 at their home. Each year, the event has helped provide food for between 300 and 500 families for an entire month. Past participants have included eco-friendly designer David Hinkle, Carlos González García from NC Mosaics, local musicians and businesses, and this year’s featured art – placed among trees to create a walkable gallery – so far includes works from Susan Brubaker Knapp Don’t forget to bring any nonperishables with you to give to PORCH! 

CHARGE YOUR CAR

Orange County is replete with spots for you to charge your electric vehicles! Whether you are spending a day at one of the area’s scenic parks, exploring UNC’s campus and downtown Franklin Street or just passing through, there’s an EV station close by.

3

21

22

23

24

25

26

27 UNC

28

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GET INVOLVED

1 Be on the lookout for the fig buttercup! This low-growing green plant featuring heartshaped leaves and eight to twelve thin yellow petals is detrimental to native species and is usually found around the Eno River. If you think you may have happened upon this invasive plant, contact Hillsborough’s Administrative Support Specialist Lindsay Rhew, and a team of local volunteers will identify and remove the species.

2 Orange County hosts its third annual Creek Week from March 16-23. Residents are encouraged to gather a group of folks to host their own litter cleanup for a chance to be recognized on the county’s social media sites for being the largest group, finding the strangest items or picking up the most litter. If you haven’t explored the green stormwater infrastructure examples sprinkled throughout our communities, see how many bioswales, green roofs and rain gardens you can find. While you are out and about, join the iNaturalist BioThon using the iNaturalist app to identify local flora and fauna and learn all you can about the organisms in our watershed.

Local participants include:

· WildSide Farm

· Cedar Grove

Blueberry Farm

· Ever Laughter Farm

· Fickle Creek Farm

· Rocky Run Farm

· PlowGirl Farm

· Faithfull Farms

· Minka Farm

· Sankofa Farms

· Open Door Farm

· Boxcarr Farms

· One Soil Farm

· The Farm at Common Ground Ecovillage

3 Gather friends and family into the car and drive across the area to explore 30 farms – you’ll learn about their practices and produce during the annual Piedmont Farm Tour on April 20 and 21. Since 1995, Weaver Street Market and the Carolina Farm Stewardship Association have co-sponsored the two-day event for community members to visit a variety of farms offering everything on display from baby animals to farmstead cheeses to flowers. This year’s tour includes 13 spots in Orange County, each of which provides self-guided or farmerled tours. 

high-performance design + build

GREEN IS THE NEW BLACK

Kristin Bartone of Bartone Interiors, a professional member of The American Society of Interior Designers and a LEED-accredited professional by the U.S. Green Building Council, shares some of her best tips for picking out some sustainable items for your home.

AREA RUGS

SEEK OUT NATURAL FIBERS

Rugs that are made from natural fibers like jute, cotton, hemp, bamboo silk or wool are often organically produced and require minimal fabrication, thus reducing manufacturing waste.

RECYCLED CONTENT

Examples are rugs made out of leather or denim scraps or last season’s favorite fashions. These rugs have a great story behind them and will be a unique addition to your living space.

THIRD-PARTY VERIFICATION

Global Organic Textile Standards is the worldwide leading textile processing standard for organic fibers, including ecological and social criteria, backed up by independent certification of the entire textile supply chain.

UPHOLSTERED FURNITURE MANUFACTURING PROCESS

Choose furniture that is produced in a sustainable and socially responsible manner. This may include companies that prioritize fair labor practices, use renewable energy sources and minimize waste and pollution.

FRAME CONSTRUCTION, CONTENT AND CUSHIONS

Look for kiln-dried hardwood frames that are held together by mortise and tenon or dovetail joints instead of glue. Seek out plant-based, petroleum-free latex and foam cores used in seat and back cushions.

TEXTILE WRAPPING

After selecting an eco-friendly constructed furniture piece, ensure you select an equally sustainable and nontoxic fabric for the final covering. 

PHOTOGRAPHY BY LISSA GOTWALLS

DEARLY DEPARTED

Even in death, folks in the community are keeping the environment at the forefront of their minds.

Shortly after hearing of revered antiapartheid leader Desmond Tutu’s decision to be aquamated, Hunter Beattie purchased his own aquamation machine and opened up Endswell Urn Gallery and Reliquarium, an eco-friendly funeral home in Hillsborough. Struck by current burial practices including nonbiodegradable caskets, carcinogenic chemicals and reserving public land, Hunter brought aquamation – which uses water, heat and alkalinity to break down the body – to the Triangle for the first time in 2022.

Endswell also has partnered with local artists who have created more than 300 unique urns of varying shapes, colors and materials for loved ones to purchase.

With similar considerations in mind, Bluestem Conservation Cemetery paved the way for green burials in central North Carolina. In 2015, founders Jeff Masten and Heidi Hannapel began working with community members to formulate their vision. The duo formed nonprofit Bluestem Community NC, acquired farmland spanning across 87 acres in Cedar Grove and opened to the public in 2022 as a place of reverence in nature. At Bluestem, individuals are buried using wooden caskets and cloth shrouds instead of metal and steel. The conservation cemetery strives to protect sensitive areas of the land, restricting grave depths and sites to emphasize the conservation of underlying ecosystems.

HGTV IRL

If you’ve ever flipped through the pages of a magazine and want to see cutting-edge interior design up close, you’re living in the right place. According to Home Innovation Research Labs, North Carolina continues to be ranked first in the country in the number of NGBS green-certified single-family homes. The Home Builders Associations of Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties and Raleigh/Wake County host the 18th annual High Performance Home Tour on April 27-28 from noon-5 p.m.

many entries as desired, no registration is required. “Our 2024 tour features some really interesting homes,” says Julie Carrow, director of special events with the HBA of Durham, Orange & Chatham Counties.

The tour showcases a diverse collection of certified highperformance new homes, with links for each entry for visitors to reach out with questions.

Tour attendees may begin at any home on tour and visit as

Triangle Real Estate,

At press time, there were four entries in Orange County with such features as wheelchair accessibility into the home, a zero-threshold primary shower and EV charging. CHM

PHOTO BY JOHN MICHAEL SIMPSON

This Hillsborough house was on the High Performance Home Tour last year.

That ’ 70s house

A family finds its retro groove in a rambling home in Lake Forest

By Anna-Rhesa Versola Photography by John Michael Simpson

Homeowners and nature lovers Kate Elia and Nick Williams revel in the company of family and friends, good music and great wine. Respectively, the former soccer star turned business whiz and the entrepreneur turned writermusician had their creative lifestyle in mind when they

ABOVE The family loves to hang on the enclosed porch, which extends their colorful living space.

Kate and Nick used a small army of contractors and subcontractors for different phases of their renovation projects.

bought a corner lot in 2020 near Eastwood Lake. The couple renovated the contemporary ranch, which was originally built in 1974 by J.P. Goforth’s Security Building Company, and turned up the good vibes.

“We were living in Durham, and we had just renovated a house, then we had another baby,” Nick says. “And that baby was living in our closet. When this came on the market, we really liked it. It was not in great shape, but we thought we could do a lot with it.”

Kate says they wanted a layout that separated the primary suite from secondary bedrooms. “We’ve learned after having looked at so many houses together that you really have to know what you want, and one of the things that we really wanted was to be away from our children in our house,” Kate says with a grin. “We don’t want our bedroom right next to their bedrooms.”

Their active daughters, Uma Williams, 6, and Frances “Frankie” Williams, 4, have their separate bedrooms on the wing opposite of the main suite. Nick, who is one of the original founding partners of The Pinhook in Durham, is now a writer, musician and stay-at-home dad. He plays analog synthesizers as part of an electronic duo called Action Group; he and longtime Carrboro musician Alex Maiolo will tour Europe this spring. Kate, who was captain of her soccer team at Vanderbilt University, completed her MBA at UNC in October. She is on the verge of another yetto-be-announced entrepreneurial venture, having just wrapped up five years as director of operations and finance at Durham-based Piedmont Wine Imports.

The couple met in the fall of 2011 while working at Wine Authorities in Durham and shared many

“Creating this home was an exciting project for Nick and [me], and it really let me use my creativity, but we also enjoyed the relationships we built with local businesses,” Kate says. “You end up working closely with people for an extended period of time on a very personal project, and the people we worked with are a part of the joy of this home. You hear [of] so many nightmare renovation projects. There are definitely surprises, but, if you have the right people, they are on your team, and we’re so fortunate that we got to work with and learn from all of these amazing people.”

The architect was Ellen Weinstein of withArchitecture, the builder/contractor was David Nisbet of Nisbet & Co. and interior design and decor were done with Carrie Moore and Grayson Limer of Carrie Moore Interior Design. Landscaping was designed by Sean Anderson at New Leaf Landscaping while Bronwyn Charlton of Charlton Architecture designed the courtyard.

Uma and Frankie jump on Frankie’s bed, which overlooks the patio.

interests, including some estate-grown wines that they store in a 44-bottle fridge in a hall closet. “We’re not wine collectors; that’s a different breed,” Kate says. “We keep enough on hand to entertain and to store special bottles. In general, we support smaller growers and buy wines that are ready to drink right away.”

Ch-ch-ch Changes

By July 2021, the renovation process reached a point where the family could move into the residence as additional improvements continued. The storage shed at the front entrance of the house had been removed to expose the courtyard where turtles once found shelter. The fresh landscape designs included boulders, which were transported from Chatham County. The massive rocks are now covered in moss amid the liriope, ferns and a Japanese maple. A paperbush plant laden with silvery umbels graces the gritty walkway, passing a sculpted, mature camellia by the flagstone steps leading to the

porch.

original

brown

was updated with a deep forest green that contrasts the sunflower yellow front door and the orange window trim.

Inside, the biggest transformation was the redesign and expansion of the kitchen in the heart of their home. Two black metal poles

front

The

dull

exterior paint

ABOVE The sitting room features facing Audo Copenhagen sofas purchased from local retailer, Palette & Parlor. The Hygge & West wallpaper deepens the mood.

LEFT Nick has a new musical collaboration called Action Group. His most well-known band was Free Electric State. He also played in a band called Prisms.

BELOW LEFT The vaulted dining room doubles as an arts and crafts table overlooking the deck and backyard.

support a new, vaulted 10-foot ceiling. Nick says their older daughter likes to climb the poles and “hold up” the ceiling.

“There’s a metal [beam] from there to there,” Nick says, motioning to places above the kitchen. “To tie the two I-beams together with another I-beam was going to [cost] an astronomical amount of money, and to not have these support poles was going to require a lot of engineering. I don’t notice the poles anymore.”

Kate says the original kitchen’s orange laminate countertop faced the dining room and was oriented toward the rear of the house. Today, a spacious white island

Yeah, we’re groovy.

– Kate Elia and Nick Williams

RIGHT A cabinet with shelves is attached to a new wall opposite the kitchen.

BELOW The wooded front yard minimizes landscaping maintenance and provides a kid-friendly ropes course.

overlooks the family room. The painted wood cabinets command attention with a happy shade of “yellow cake.”

Nick says Kate spent a long time on aesthetic choices. “But at the end of the process, I’m always happy that she does, because there’s something that I think most people wouldn’t think of, that I wouldn’t think of. And they’re really special, and they’re different, like the yellow cabinet and the green tile floor, the contrasting tiles on the backsplash, and the wallpaper in the kids’ part of the house. There are a lot of gray houses now, and we don’t want gray; we want to be vibrant.”

The family room is lined with books, music and art. Frankie is happy in Kate’s lap, and Uma climbs on her father’s shoulders.

Kate pointed to three skylights they added to further heighten the space. The couple installed additional skylights in other parts of their home like the bathroom and closet in the primary suite. Light pours into the home from nearly all sides through new doublepane windows.

Ramble on Rose

Sliding back a pocket door at one end of the family room reveals a hallway covered from floor to ceiling with rose blooms as big as salad plates. Kate worked with Durham-based interior designer

The outdoor aesthetics were done by Sean Anderson at New Leaf Landscaping. Bronwyn Charlton designed the courtyard.

and bold floral motifs.

“I wanted it to feel really like when you come into this space [that] it’s a different part of the house and that it belongs to the kids,” Kate says, looking at the large blooms of roses. “It kind of takes you away. … And then, the rooms are this kind of calm monochrome.”

The walls of Frankie’s room are awash in a muted mint green, brightened by cheerful yellow

Carrie Moore to outfit the home with nods to ’70s design aesthetics brimming with psychedelic patterns

ABOVE The barley-colored Schumacher wallpaper pattern offers visual and tactile texture to the primary bedroom.

LEFT Nick and Kate are unafraid of bright colors. Their renovated kitchen features a large island to prepare and enjoy meals with visiting family and friends.

Office and Showroom:

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curtains, while Uma’s room is bathed in shades of pink. “I love it,” Kate says, leaning against the doorway. “I love these rooms so much.”

The hallway of roses leads to the laundry room, a storage closet, and a nook that once had a built-in desk but now holds a large set of metal lockers, a wooden kitchen playset and a dollhouse. Filtered light is supplemented by two milky glass drum shade ceiling lights. The girls share a full bathroom that sits between their rooms. Kate pulls back the shower curtain, unveiling the original blue cast-iron tub surrounded by blue tiles.

In the formal living room, the walls are papered with a dark graphic design spotted with an abstract botanical motif. The orange and reds in the bohemian Southwestern area rug in front of the fireplace create a sense of drama in the room.

Inside the primary bedroom suite, the mood becomes more tranquil. The platform bed sits low and faces a wall of windows looking out into the large tree-filled yard. The wall behind the bed is covered in a fibrous paper with another botanical abstract pattern of a flowering plant with blossoms resembling the paperbush shrub by the courtyard. The ’70s decor continues with a textile hanging on one wall, a rust-colored, barrel-shaped swivel chair and mushroom-shaped lamps on either side of the bed.

Kate says if she had to do it over again, she would have brought in an interior designer much earlier, but the

BY THE NUMBERS

2,138 square feet

4 bedrooms

2 bathrooms

1974 year built 2020 year bought 2020 updates began 2021 updates completed 2021 moved in .55 acre lot

seemingly endless decision-making and attention to detail were all worth the effort.

“We love that we made it ours, from bold colors – we love our exterior color and window trim combo – and fun wallpaper to beautiful carpentry that we knew [the contractor] could pull off in the kitchen to fun light fixtures in every room,” Kate says. “We thought about making a space that has some high design elements but with the ultimate purpose of comfort and connection to the outside. When the outside was finished this past fall, we got to experience the house anew. We love watching the kids enjoy the new backyard while we cook or visit with friends on the back deck.”

Back to Nature

When not reading, cooking or creating music, Kate and Nick enjoy spending time with their daughters outdoors. They run in the shade of hardwood trees or visit nearby Eastwood Lake, which attracts different kinds of water birds like herons, egrets and kingfishers. The family has easy access to a paved trail at Lower Booker Creek Trail or the nearby dirt ones at Cedar Falls Park

“I really love this neighborhood,” Nick says. “It feels really cool. It’s very different from the kinds of neighborhoods I lived in when I was younger. … This was a really thoughtfully designed house. It has a really good feel. We find it cozy yet stylish.” CHM

Elizabeth Lindquist, Realtor ALWAYS WORKING FOR YOU

An Eye for Excellence, Design, Marketing & Negotiating I’m a native Chapel Hill business owner and a Durham resident. Put my experience and expertise to work for you!

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919-656-3325

ELindquist.CBAdvantage.com

Coldwell Banker Advantage

1130 Weaver Dairy Rd., Chapel Hill

ABOVE Uma and Frankie love playing outside and enjoy taking walks with their parents to nearby Eastwood Lake.

LEFT The backyard deck offers another extension of the family’s living spaces.

Centennial

A brief retrospective of The Carolina Inn

restless night and poor accommodations inspired 1889 Carolina alumnus John Sprunt Hill to spend more than $250,000 in 1923 to build a decent place to sleep in Chapel Hill. According to public historian Kenneth Joel Zogry’s 1999 book, “The University’s Living Room,”

The main lobby, which was added in 1939, was updated again in summer 2023 with a clean blue palette. Custommade area rugs integrate different designs, including familiar university landmarks like the Old Well and Bell Tower. One rug depicts woven coordinates of Chapel Hill’s longitude and latitude.

Celebration

Anna-Rhesa

By

Versola | Photography courtesy of The Carolina Inn

John went for a moonlit walk and found himself at a crossroads just outside the campus’ west entrance, where he imagined creating an inn for alumni, students and professors to gather.

Back in the mid-1700s, a small log building at the same hilltop crossroads became known as New Hope Chapel. UNC mathematics and geology professor Elisha Mitchell built his home on the site in 1820. By 1889, 100 years after UNC was originally chartered, the home was turned into a popular boarding house operated by Julia Graves,

RIGHT An aerial view of The Carolina Inn property, looking southeast, from the 1920s. The small white manager’s house can be seen adjacent to the passage between the main building and the cafeteria. Below that is a 1924 photo of the lobby, with the front desk to the right and the hotel’s main staircase in the right foreground.

BELOW The Faculty Club Room, now known as the Club Room, was part of the inn’s first major expansion that began in 1939. Forty guest rooms were added to the original 52 by the time renovations were completed a year later, plus 18 suites and a separate three-story building with 12 apartments that included full kitchens.

ABOVE Each of the inn’s 185 guest rooms is decorated and configured in unique ways. Many guests request specific rooms, suites or apartments, including ones with a reputation for harmless paranormal occurrences. The inn underwent a refresh last summer that added scenic wallpaper and updated furnishings to all the guest rooms.

BELOW A view of The Carolina Inn from the corner of South Columbia Street and West Cameron Avenue. Guests would drive up to the original porte-cochère and be greeted by porters who would show ladies into the South Parlor (or “fainting lounge”) and gentlemen into the North Parlor (or “cigar room”) where they would wait for their rooms. The two-story portico facing Cameron Avenue led directly into the original lobby, which is now occupied by the Crossroads Chapel Hill restaurant.

widow of UNC professor Ralph Graves. John purchased the property in 1920 and proposed his plan to build the inn in 1922. By 1923, the boarding house was moved to the back of the lot and converted into the inn’s first cafeteria.

The private hotel officially opened Dec. 30, 1924, with a celebration held in the Old Well Room – the largest ballroom between Washington, D.C., and Miami at the time. The inn’s original footprint included 52 guest rooms, each equipped with the modern luxury of either a tub or a shower.

The Hill family donated the entire property to the university in 1935 on the condition that profits would benefit UNC’s libraries, especially the North Carolina Collection at Wilson Library. The inn operates today as a nonprofit entity owned by the university and is managed by Hyatt Hotels.

Celebrities and notable leaders alike have visited the inn throughout the decades, including former Presidents Barack Obama, Franklin Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy, former first ladies Eleanor Roosevelt and Jacqueline Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., David Brinkley, James Taylor, Branford Marsalis, Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Chamberlain, Jack Palance and Andy Griffith.

Beginning in April 2010, the community was invited to an outdoor concert series – Fridays on the Front Porch – held on the grassy lawn beneath the noble oaks

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- MARIE M.

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2023

in front of the inn’s original two-story lobby entrance. The inn continues to be an integral gathering space for the university and surrounding communities.

“You can walk through here at any point in time and see kids studying for exams, professors having meetings, people doing interviews, people catching up with old friends, family reunions,” says Tiffany Jackson, sales manager at The Carolina Inn. “It’s just such a nice place on the edge of something so grand as the university.”

And then there are the weddings. “It’s my absolute favorite thing,” Tiffany says, adding that The Carolina Inn hosted 63 wedding celebrations in 2023. “But during that door opening to the Old Well [Room], when the couple gets introduced, I tear up every time just knowing that we have made a mark on them, and this place is now special to them.” CHM

5 EVENTS NOT TO MISS*

Kids Etiquette Class

March 9, June 1

Learn dining etiquette with a certified professional during a four-course meal.

Graduates receive a certificate at the ceremony.

Centennial Tea

March 17, April 14, May 19, June 9

Indulge in a unique twist on the inn’s legendary afternoon tea, featuring a 1920s-inspired menu. Enjoy sweet and savory items in historic parlors, learn about the evolution of afternoon tea over the past 100 years, and take home a surprise memento.

1920s Centennial Dinner

April 6, Aug. 17

Experience a nostalgic journey in the Old Well Room with a 1920s-inspired dinner, live band, dancing and entertainment. Savor inn specialties from 1924, sip craft cocktails and relive the Roaring ’20s.

Historic Tours

Graduation weekend (second weekend in May)

Uncover The Carolina Inn’s history with a local historian. Enjoy Champagne, canapés and sweets as you stroll through the hallways, and discover how the inn became a home away from home for so many.

Kids Centennial Birthday Celebration

June 15

Kids ages 5 to 10 can create, build and name their commemorative teddy bear. Enjoy storytelling, birthday treats and fill a goodie bag before heading home.

*Reservations required for all events, with limited seating available.

RIGHT Carolina Inn Sales Manager Tiffany Jackson says 63 couples celebrated their wedding on-site last year. One of the most popular rooms to book for receptions is the 2,016-square-foot Old Well Room, which features an art deco style and custom-made ram’s head sconces.

BELOW A 1939-40 renovation of the hotel created an expanded footprint and added a courtyard facing South Columbia Street.

PHOTO BY JOE PAYNE PHOTOGRAPHY

STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES

Discover a local artist’s magnolia masterpiece at the Inn

The wheels of Christy King’s stroller squeak as she pushes her toddler, Benicio Guillén, across the black-andwhite floors of The Carolina Inn. Rounding a corner, the stroller comes to a halt, and the pair stop to admire a large illustration of magnolia blossoms.

“Do you recognize that painting?” Christy asks a smiling Ben. “Mama painted that!”

Months earlier, Christy could hardly believe her ears when Local Language, the company that commissioned her piece, “Arboretum in June,” revealed that the painting was destined for the historic hotel. She remembers the iconic Chapel Hill landmark fondly from her time studying art and education at UNC “It’s in the heart of campus,” she says, “You walk by it all the time.”

The honor is an accomplishment years in the making. Christy dreamed of being an artist since childhood, but she wasn’t sure how to turn her work into a full-time gig. After graduating from UNC in 2011, she decided to work in education, teaching art for Montessori schools. She and her husband, Rodrigo Guillén, spent two years living in Washington, D.C., before moving to Nashville, Tennessee, where Christy earned her master’s in education at Vanderbilt University. To manage her busy grad school schedule, Christy took a step back from her education career and started teaching part time. After graduating, she says she felt called to pursue her art, and decided to stick with part time teaching to dedicate more time to her passion.

By Sinclair Holian

In 2018, an artist collective called Well + Wonder began representing Christy. “That was kind of the beginning of my art really becoming my career,” she says. Christy and Rodrigo moved back to Chapel Hill, where the college sweethearts first met, in 2020. She dove into her work and also began teaching art classes to adults at The ArtsCenter and the Eno Arts Mill. While Christy paints a range of subjects, she’s grown to favor painting from life – and especially botanicals. Those botanicals, specifically her magnificent magnolia blooms, charmed The Carolina Inn, too.

Christy took inspiration from the magnolias blooming at UNC while creating “Arboretum in June.” “I went with my little toddler and stroller all around campus and took tons of photos,” she recalls. The 38-by-48-inch oil painting was the largest Christy had ever created. It took all summer to complete, with Christy spending hours in her studio, perfecting the crisp green leaves and the creamy white blossoms. Her parents, Jean King and Bruce King, and a neighbor took turns babysitting Ben so she could spend more time working at her easel, tucked away in her spare room-turned-studio.

After months of hard work, seeing the painting in its new home near the Hill Ballroom still fills Christy with pride. “It’s such a great honor,” she says, remembering the moment she first laid eyes on her piece as it so seamlessly complemented the inn’s elegance. “As an emerging artist, having your art somewhere with so much name recognition is really special for me. Hopefully it’ll be up for the next 100 years!”

You can view more of Christy’s work, or enroll in one of her upcoming classes, at her website, christymking.com CHM

PHOTO BY RODRIGO GUILLÉN

CQC Home

Looking to turn unused attic area into a comfortable and spacious entertainment room? With its unique architectural support beams, natural hardwood flooring and retro arcade gaming systems, this attic remodel should serve as your next renovation inspiration.

“Transforming underused attic space into a vibrant living area, this CQC Home remodel in Chapel HIll not only enhanced the aesthetic appeal of the home but significantly increased its functionality,” CQC Home’s Kayla Davenport says. “The family now enjoys a beautifully designed, versatile space that meets their evolving needs, adding immense value to their everyday life and to their home.”

Grant Group Architecture

With outdated fixtures and a closed floor plan, this quaint 1950s home in the historic Gimghoul neighborhood needed a refresh fitting for a spacious retirement residence. With the help of Grant Group Architecture and work by Hopper Construction, the home was transformed from a dark and cramped house to a bright, open one suited for luxurious living and hosting. “The design included a new broad dormer above the front door to bring generous light into the inviting foyer and the second-floor balcony. Adding French doors from the formal living room onto the rocking chair front porch provided airy charm,” says Katie Wakeford of Grant Group Architecture. “A beautifully crafted curved wood ceiling now leads to the dining room with its own handsome fireplace. The light-filled kitchen was outfitted for the resident gourmet cook and wine enthusiast. A new screen porch and elevated deck overlook a secluded backyard.” Years later, the owners report they just are as pleased with the renovations.

Before &after

Local pros share their favorite makeovers

By Avery Householder

PHOTO BY GRANT GROUP ARCHITECTURE

PHOTOS BY KAYLA DAVENPORT

PHOTO BY ARSALAN ABBASI

Bold Construction

With high ceilings, an open floor plan and beautiful natural landscaping, this Greenwood home renovation is an example of maintaining the character of a home despite a complete rebuild. The owners remodeled the house several times over the last few years but eventually realized they needed more comprehensive changes this time. “As they worked through the process [of remodeling], it became apparent to them that the entire house should be rebuilt to account for their current needs,” says Chris Ehrenfeld, owner of Bold Construction

The owners worked closely with architect Abbie Lee Roehm to achieve their goals for the new home, the most important being bringing more natural light into all of the high-use rooms like the kitchen, living room and primary bedroom. With an open floor plan featuring tall ceilings and vast windows, they were able to achieve this goal. Despite the complete teardown of the original home, Chris says the owners’ goal was to preserve the original home’s connection with nature, which they chose to emphasize through landscaping.

BuildSense

From a dark and outdated lower level to a light-filled, warm oasis, this kitchen and bathroom renovation converted the space into a welcoming retreat for family and friends. “The custom rift-sawn wood cabinets, natural limestone tile floor and warm wood windows help create a beautiful and welcoming environment,” says Kendall Glaze, builder and business lead at BuildSense. “The new balanced and high-performing mechanical system, hybrid tankless water heater and highefficiency lighting and plumbing fixtures are the behind-the-scenes workhorses that quietly keep their guests warm and comfortable – and save energy in the process.” The renovation’s bright features and wood tones bring a luxurious, spa-like feeling to the space. 

PHOTOS BY CAT WILBORNE

True Design

This Booker Creek renovation opened up this outdated kitchen while adding fun pops of color. “Our homeowners came to us with a new home purchase that needed an update that suited their family’s needs, specifically the kitchen, which was small and closed off to the rest of the living spaces,” says Liz Scisco of True Design. “We wanted to pay tribute to the simple style of the home while updating it with bright and fresh colors that added more dimension to the space.” With its glossy teal backsplash and island and also the mustard-yellow accents, this renovation made the room perfect for family meals or parties with friends.

Cat French Design

Dark wood dominated the space that Market and Moss inherited in Southern Village. Before the eatery could open in the fall of 2020, it needed an update that reflected the sophisticated yet playful nature of the budding restaurant, a place meant to be a relaxing meeting point to connect and unwind. “This space had stellar bones,” says Cat French, owner of Cat French Design. “Our goal was to create a place that was warm and conversational – truly a place you wanted to spend time talking and lingering over a great meal. The warmth and light in the wall color allows the deep jewel-toned blues and greens at the bar to add both comfort and interest to the palette –inviting you in for a meal, a celebration or just a place to simply enjoy.” CHM

Bloom Where You're Planted

A glimpse into four unique gardens on the Chapel Hill Garden Club’s biennial tour

By James Dupree | Photography by John Michael Simpson

T“ucked Away Treasures” is the theme for this year’s Chapel Hill Garden Club’s biennial garden tour. The 14th annual Chapel Hill Garden Tour, held April 27 and 28, will showcase five private gardens and the North Carolina Botanical Garden. “We anticipate more than 1,500 visitors,” says Catherine Schwab, cochair of the 2024 garden tour. “We have supported the Botanical Garden with more than $250,000 over the years. [This year], proceeds [from ticket sales] dedicated to the Botanical Garden will be focused on the Children’s Wonder Garden.” From a neighborhood just around the corner from East Chapel Hill High School to a quiet street south of UNC’s campus, here’s a sneak peek preview of four of the private gardens visitors can look forward to seeing this spring.

From the Ground Up

Rich Yost and Stephanie Yost had a vision for their property from day one. Their three-story modern home was the second house built in the Chandler’s Green neighborhood in 1988. The 0.75acre property was originally a flat plot sloped toward the road, but over the last 35 years, Rich has used his background in engineering to transform the land into a well-manicured garden filled with memories.

“I had the builders save all the excess rocks and dirt,” Rich says. Over time, he has shaped the land into a tiered garden separated by stone walls he built by hand. “This is my escape. I can just see how it all fits together,” he says. Rich also constructed the 15-20 foot long wooden arched bridge that leads from the street to the front garden filled with perennial shrubs and smaller trees. On the north side of the garden, Eastern/European snowball viburnums display their puffy white blooms, while pink ‘Knock Out’ roses and coneflower line the beds near the street.

At the bottom of the steps, before reaching the front door, a red Sicilian fig tree wakes from winter dormancy, a reminder to Stephanie of her family’s Sicilian heritage. “My mother is Sicilian and lives in New Jersey, and her neighbor was Sicilian, too,” Stephanie says. “He picked [the fig tree] up out of the soil, roots and all, and said, ‘Take this with you and plant it.’ So I did. I get figs the size of my hands. It’s amazing.” In the tier below is a Honeycrisp apple

Stephanie Yost and Rich Yost in their Chandler's Green backyard patio, ready for a family gathering.

tree and Mutsu apple tree, a gift from one of Stephanie’s colleagues at St. Thomas More Catholic School.

The garden has become a home for the birds, with birdhouses and feeders populating the garden. Whenever Stephanie and Rich visit family in southern New Jersey, they bring home another birdhouse or feeder made by an Amish community outside Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

On the south end of the garden, leading toward the back porch and hot tub, are a set of thick granite steps. Rich created the steps using leftover stone from the original St. Thomas More Parish on Gimghoul Road. Stephanie adds, “My son was baptized in the church. My two girls made their first communion and confirmation there. I’m also a registered nurse [at] St. Thomas More. So this is kind of my sentimental place.”

Around the southwestern side of the home, through a narrow passageway lined with a Confederate jasmine vine that is flush with white blooms from midspring to early summer, is a wine patio inspired by the couple’s trip to the Cline Family Cellars in Sonoma, California. “They had a tasting area that was dug out of the side of a hill,” Rich says. “So I got truckloads of topsoil and created my own hill and mimicked that.” Shade from the dense vegetation of evergreen trees and shrubs keeps the area cool, while the container garden provides privacy and a beautiful backdrop for their regular spring get-togethers with their son, two daughters, their spouses and five grandchildren. “It’s great,” Stephanie says. “We sit out here a lot and have parties, and no one can hear us.”

Tranquility Amid the Traffic

In between the hustle and bustle of Fordham Boulevard and UNC Hospitals, Maggie Conger and Richard Conger have turned their halfacre property nestled in the wooded Whitehead Circle neighborhood into a peaceful shaded garden.

While this is the couple’s first time on the garden tour, Maggie’s no novice. “My parents were avid gardeners, so I grew up around it,” she says. “Believe it or not, I love weeding. I tend to get lost in it, and I don’t think much about anything else. Richard helps with any cleanup work, too.”

Since moving to their Chapel Hill property in 2015 from Miami, Maggie, a retired hospice nurse, and Richard, a retired trust officer, have redone much of the landscaping. Their biggest redesign was modifying the original single driveway that came up the side of the property so it’s now a circular gravel driveway with a resodded front yard. Along the eastern side of the home where the sun is the most prevalent is Maggie’s small herb garden where oregano, sage, chives, curly parsley and common

Maggie Conger's backyard sanctuary on Whitehead Circle features robust rhododendron, a variety of ferns, camellias and other shade-loving plants.

thyme flourish. At the back of the bed is a rhododendron with purplepink blooms along with several cast-iron plants. Across a narrow gravel walkway is a pink salvia blooming behind a circular stone art piece created by stonemason Bob Simchock of Simchock Stone

The back side of the property stays mostly shaded and is populated with ferns, camellias, purple bearded irises and junipers. When she can, Maggie buys her plants locally from retailers like Southern States, Fifth Season Gardening and Get Rooted Nursery. On the western side of the home, behind the stone patio and seating area where the couple throws parties once a month for friends and family, a Japanese maple’s red leaves stand out among the heavy green of its plant neighbors and the house’s beige brick.

As any gardener in Orange County may know, one of the biggest challenges to keeping their plants alive and beautiful is the high population of deer and rabbits. “The plants they don’t bother one year, they bother the next,” Maggie says. Not wanting to put up fencing, she has learned to coexist with the wildlife and enjoy whatever vegetation they decide not to eat.

Learning and Growing

Cheryl Carnahan and Stephen Carnahan moved from Columbia, Maryland, to a home in Chapel Hill near McDougle Elementary School in November 2005. Then in 2017, the couple moved again to a wooded neighborhood south of UNC’s campus where they built a “stay-in-place” home. After a 32-year career in education, Cheryl retired from her role as principal of Northside Elementary School in 2015 and now volunteers two days a week at the Ronald McDonald House of Chapel Hill and the SECU Family House at UNC Hospitals. Stephen, having taught high school students with disabilities and coached cross-country and wrestling for 30 years in Maryland, now devotes his time to pickleball and tending to his garden.

The front garden hosts many native and nonnative perennials. Upkeep of the property is easier as each expansive planting bed is covered in pine straw mulch and lined with stone walls Stephen built along with Joe Baughman of StoneScaping. “I love more than anything that I don’t have grass,” Stephen says. “I don’t even own a lawn mower.” Pollinator magnets like Joe-Pye weed, common milkweed and blue lobelia work as a nice green ground cover for the front beds with beautiful blooms in the spring and summer. Small trees, such as the dwarf variety of ginkgo tree, dwarf

Stephen Carnahan and Cheryl Carnahan in their no-mow garden that features unusual trees such as dwarf gingko and a dwarf bald cypress, as well as eye-catching flowers like dianthus.

Mark

In Tune With Nature

Abald cypress and an American fringe tree were planted to add beauty without obscuring too much of the house.

Throughout the couple’s garden a low intermittent buzzing can be heard from multiple solar-powered sonic emitters. “I have an incredible problem with voles,” Stephen explains. “There’s an army of them here, and they eat all the roots of the plants.” The sonic emitters detect movement, using sound to drive the voles away from the property. “I’ve also put up an owl house in the back because [Eastern] screech-owls will eat one thousand voles a season,” he says. “I haven’t had a taker yet.”

The front and back gardens are decorated with a variety of artistic pieces, some of which Stephen built himself, including a bottle tree, a fairy garden to entertain his four grandchildren and a torii gate and a bamboo handrail inspired by one of his trips to Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham. One of Cheryl’s favorite pieces is the metal bee and honeycomb sculpture that sits outside the window to her reading room. Stephen bought the piece as a Christmas present for her from a Hillsborough artist during one of the NCBG’s annual Sculpture in the Garden events.

For Cheryl and Stephen, the garden will continue to be a playground to add new art pieces and plant species and enhance their ecosystem for the birds. “It’s funny, I know so little about gardening,” Stephen says, “but I do it because I enjoy it.” CHM

Another must-see on the tour, Katie Loovis’ oasis is a reminder of the benefits of forest gardening

By Sydney Ross

s a UNC grad, Katie Loovis has always felt a deep love for Chapel Hill. After 15 years in Washington, D.C., she was compelled to reunite with the community pulling on her heartstrings. “It’s just a beautiful and wonderful climate to be in,” Katie says.

She began her forest garden shortly after moving to Chapel Hill in 2016. Growing up in Baltimore, Katie had admired her father’s work in their garden and always helped when possible. So she was more than ready to apply her skills in her new home, maintaining 4 acres near University Lake

Katie finds inspiration from the environment and takes pleasure in observing nature and implementing methods to improve her garden. “There’s so much joy [in] spending time outside and connecting with the plant kingdom,” Katie says. Particularly, she’s fond of swinging from the tree swings that line the creek. “It can really make you feel like a kid again as you sit and listen to the sounds of the water going by and the birds chirping,” Katie says. “It can be very peaceful and relaxing.”

In addition to the swings, the garden also features several outdoor living room spaces where people can soak in all the sights and sounds. There are hundreds of flowering hellebores and shrubs, and the fragrance of magnolias and calycanthus fills the air. The sounds of birds chirping, owls hooting and other wildlife are commonplace.

Beyond the tour, Katie looks forward to introducing people to a different form of gardening and hopes they leave feeling inspired by nature. Her property is also the primary location for future programming of the Chapel Hill Retreat Center, which she established in 2022. Katie, a doctorate of education candidate who has a graduatelevel certificate in teaching from NC State and also a certification in therapeutic horticulture from NC State and the NCBG, has created a personal development curriculum that is based on principles of permaculture and “shinrin-yoku.”

Shinrin-yoku, also known as Japanese forest bathing, is a mindfulness practice of making contact with and taking in the atmosphere of the forest.

She says she’ll facilitate individual and small-group retreat experiences on the property starting this year. “I am so passionate about forest gardening; it’s like a decompression zone,” Katie says. “I hope people will feel a sense of peace and harmony with nature.”

The Carnahans designed their garden to be bird- and childfriendly with whimsical touches and nesting spots throughout, like this bottle tree.

STAFF legendary

Roots

of Abundance

Two ‘farm friends’ combine the best of both of their worlds by cultivating a unique blend of Jewish traditions and sustainable farming

By Leah Berry | Photography by John Michael Simpson

Few things forge a connection between two people quite like rising with the sun to tend to beds of vegetables.

In 2013, Meredith Cohen and Molly Zimmerman serendipitously met at Adamah Farm, a Jewish farm in rural northwest Connecticut where they lived and worked in community. At the time, Molly was in between finishing her master’s degree in soil science from Colorado State University and already had a base knowledge in farming. Meanwhile Meredith found her passion for the practice for the first time while tending to the soil. The intersection of farming and Jewish community, however, was new and transformative for both of them.

“I really kind of fell in love with them both together.” Meredith says. 

Molly Zimmerman and Meredith Cohen in the greenhouse at One Soil Farm.

“Those two things became very inextricably linked.” They developed a deep connection as “farm friends” during this time, as they like to call it.

After 2 ½ years at Adamah, Meredith, a Hillsborough native, was ready to return home, moving back to the area in 2016. Molly, a transplant from Los Angeles, went to work on farms in Southern California after graduating from her master’s program.

Then in 2017, Molly received a call from her farm friend with the rough idea for One Soil Farm

“I’m all in,” Molly recalls saying, though it wasn’t until 2020 that she was able to officially move to the East Coast and join her on the 10-acre farm in Cedar Grove.

Planting Roots

For Meredith, the farm just made sense. When she moved back to the area and immersed herself in the Jewish community, she felt their farm would benefit from the themes they had explored at Adamah, from practicing Jewish agricultural traditions to commemorating harvest holidays like Sukkot and Pesach and being grounded to the land. “I really wanted to make this connection explicit for people and give people experiences on land,” Meredith says.

“The Jewish people are a people of diaspora – we have scattered and lived everywhere around the world,” she says. “Because we are a people that has moved around a lot, there’s something really powerful in creating home, community and safety where we are, rooting where we are. For us, that’s in North Carolina. For Southern Jews especially, building a sense of connection to the actual physical land where we live and that provides our food is so powerful.”

rooted in cycles of the year,” Meredith says. “A lot of our holidays are just agricultural holidays. … We have harvest holidays with Sukkot and Pesach and first fruit holidays with Shavuot. A lot of it is making that connection again and letting people actually experience those things as we experience them now.”

Meredith says that one of the things she connects to most in Judaism is a sense of gratitude and awe, which lends itself to naturally correlate with farming. “A lot of our blessings are specifically designed to help us appreciate a specific smell or taste,” Meredith says. “We have blessings that aren’t just for a vegetable but a different blessing for a vegetable that comes out of the ground versus a fruit that comes off of a tree versus a fruit that comes off a vine.

“To me, it makes so much sense when you’re experiencing it in real time,” she says. “These are distinct, miraculous experiences so getting to connect people physically to that sense of awe and gratitude is cool.”

And like other farms, One Soil Farm is rooted in its mission of cultivating the land. “The main part of our mission is to feed people locally grown, sustainably grown produce that’s really delicious,” Meredith says. “But a lot of our organic relationships are through our Jewish community and Jewish institutions, and I think it adds an extra layer of meaning and relationship for people to get their food from someone they know and are in community with.”

In providing the area with fresh tomatoes and eggplant, Meredith and Molly also aim to connect the Jewish people to their agricultural heritage. “While a lot of the stories that we know about our holidays are based on biblical or historical facts, a lot of them are also very

One Soil Farm largely uses sustainable and organic farming practices that help improve the land. To keep the soil “healthy and happy,” as Molly says, they include cover crop, which prevents erosion, adds nutrients back to the soil and keeps the soil covered; it also reduces the need for bag fertilizer. Further, Molly and Meredith rotate their crops, which helps with pest control and allows the soil time to regenerate.

When the farm does use fertilizer, composted chicken manure is their go-to. “The goal is to move further and further away from that by creating our own nutrients,” Molly says. “Just constantly adding organic matter … that’s an important part of sustainability.” She also talks about the different “zones” at the farm, such as perennials and pollinator plants to encourage more diverse ecosystems. “This is only our third

The farm's brand-new blueberry patch – coined “Larry’s Berries” after Molly’s uncle who donated them – won’t be a cash crop, but rather an experiential part of the farm.

Through One Soil's (J)CSA program, customers are connected directly to their local farmer. Each week, they receive a box of five to seven seasonal vegetables – the best and freshest of what's available on the farm.

season on the land,” Molly says. “We established our field the first two seasons, and now we get to establish the ecosystem. … We can put more energy into having plants both for beauty and wildlife.”

The main facet of the farm and the primary avenue for support is their “(Jewish) Community Supported Agriculture” program, a vegetable subscription service. Each week, subscribers pick up a box of five to seven seasonal vegetables from Beth El Synagogue, Kehillah Synagogue, the Levin JCC or downtown Hillsborough.

Meredith pens a free weekly newsletter that includes farm updates, vegetables on the horizon and personal stories. Throughout the season she writes a separate one just for (J)CSA members, letting them know what veggies they can look forward to that week. “The newsletter is really important to me,” she says. “I put a lot of time and heart and energy into writing a newsletter because I think it’s a big

part of our mission – to not just get people good food but to connect them to the process of growing it here in this particular place and with us as particular people.”

Molly and Meredith also host events on the farm from Sukkot gatherings with local congregations to school field trips. The most recent visit saw 25 third through fifth graders from Kehillah Synagogue planting blueberries and helping mulch for Tu BiShvat. Other gatherings include “schlep and schmoozes” to connect and work with other farmers and workshops on how to garden in your own backyard.

“Right now is actually a really exciting but a really critical moment,” Meredith says. “We are at a point where we need to scale up to provide ourselves with a living wage in the present and a living wage for staff that we would bring on.”

Their goal this year is to expand the (J)CSA program and grow their customer base. “Just getting the word out and getting people to sign up,” Meredith says. “We’ve had these beautiful organic connections that our farm has grown out of. … We’d love to expand our farm community to include members and customers who aren’t Jewish but want to support our farm, too.” CHM

Dreams, Lives Transforming Building

Habitat for Humanity of Orange County President and CEO Jennifer Player reflects on her organization’s 40th anniversary

s I look back on Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s remarkable journey over the past four decades, I am filled with a sense of pride and gratitude. I’ve been a member of this staff for 10 years, serving as president and CEO for the past five. Working for Habitat isn’t just a job for me; it’s a calling. I deeply believe in the transformative power of homeownership and feel privileged to wake up every morning knowing I can help local families achieve this dream.

I was able to realize my own dream of owning a home in Chapel Hill when I accepted this position. I was living in Charlotte when I was offered the role and jumped at the opportunity to plant roots and raise my own family in a home in the Chapel Hill community, a place I cherished since my days as a UNC undergrad. Beyond Orange County, I am also passionate about Habitat for Humanity’s global initiatives to improve housing conditions. I’ve been fortunate to witness this work firsthand in Nepal, Honduras and Guatemala.

ABOVE LEFT Addie Wilson with her new mobility ramp courtesy of Habitat's Home Preservation Program. ABOVE Joining Rosalynn Carter and former President Jimmy Carter (center) to attend the dedication of a Habitat office building in Americus, Georgia, was Chapel Hillian Blanche Clark (second from right). ABOVE RIGHT Addie during the initial phases of construction on her Habitat home almost 35 years ago.

As we celebrate our 40th anniversary as an affiliate, we’re uncovering stories of the volunteers, donors and community members from within Orange County and beyond who have shaped our organization. I’m particularly drawn to the stories of homeowners who truly embody the heart and soul of what we do – like Addie Wilson.

Addie faced the challenge of needing knee surgery in the summer of 2020. Negotiating the stairs up to her home in the historic Northside neighborhood was already difficult but would become nearly impossible during her post-surgery rehabilitation. She sought assistance in the form of a mobility ramp and turned to Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s Home Preservation Program. She knew she could contact Habitat for an affordable home repair as it wasn’t her first interaction with our organization; she had partnered with us to purchase her home 32 years prior. 

Habitat completed construction on Addie’s home in 1989, a time when the organization operated solely with volunteers and no paid staff. Addie invested an impressive 700 hours of “sweat equity” to raise the walls of her home. She grew up in Northside and was proud to raise three children in this home and in the community close to her roots. After retiring from her 34-year career as a certified nursing assistant at UNC Hospitals, Addie achieved another milestone: She became the first Habitat homeowner in Orange County to pay off her home in 2003.

Addie’s story represents one of nearly 600 families positively impacted by Habitat’s new home construction and repairs in Orange County since its inception in 1984. This year, Habitat celebrates 40 years of providing

wealth-building opportunities for first-time homebuyers in our community. Today, our work is more crucial than ever.

Affordable housing options are scarce. In Orange County, a person earning minimum wage would need to work 166 hours each week to afford the average two-bedroom apartment. Many of our community’s most vital workers cannot afford to live in the towns where they work, much less purchase a home. This also takes a toll on their families and the broader community.

INSTALL. REPAIR. MAINTENANCE AGREEMENTS.

Bud Makes Sure Your AC is YouKeeping Cool

HERE’S HOW YOU CAN HELP!

• VOLUNTEER

Anyone 16 and older is welcome to join Habitat in working on-site Wednesdays, Fridays or Saturdays.

• DONATE

For

Looking ahead to the next 40 years, we’re embarking on our most audacious community to date: Weavers Grove, which will be home to 225 families when completed in 2028. Habitat homebuyers will be able to affordably purchase 102 of these homes, with the remaining built by our market-rate partners, White Oak Properties and Garman Homes. I extend my deepest gratitude to everyone who has been part of the Habitat for Humanity family – volunteers, donors, staff and the families we serve – and I invite those who haven’t yet joined us to be part of our mission. Together, we will continue to build homes, transform lives and strive to create a world where everyone has a decent place to live. Here’s to 40 years of impact and to the countless stories yet to be written. CHM

Construction costs are on the rise, and gifts of any amount helps the organization continue to build and repair homes.

• STAY INFORMED

Sign up for Habitat’s emails to learn about other exciting ways to get involved.

KEY DATES

March 9

Women Build Mega Building Bash (coincides with Women in Construction week)

April 20

Farm-to-Table Dinner Party at Teer Farm

April 26

Triangle-Wide CEO Build at Weavers Grove

Hodge & Taekman

BY EMMA UNGER

PHOTO BY TOM WALDENBERG, TOMWALDENBERGPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Daisy Hodge and Josh Taekman grew up together in Chapel Hill, swimming on the same summer swim team at The Exchange Pool Swim Club and attending friends’ birthday parties. The pair grew closer in their teenage years (both attended Chapel Hill High School) while coaching a swim league together and officially started dating in summer 2015 when Daisy was a senior at Carolina Friends School and Josh was a freshman at Carnegie Mellon University. Their relationship grew through walks down Franklin Street, trips to the Carrboro Farmers Market and rooting for different basketball teams

– Josh is a Duke fan while Daisy is a Tar Heel.

on the beach at sunset. The couple took in the moment together that night, then celebrated with friends and family at their house the following evening.

The couple had talked about marriage for a while before Daisy won the “race” to pop the question in January 2023. She surprised Josh with a trip to Wilmington, North Carolina, where she proposed

The lovebirds will tie the knot on Oct. 4, 2024, at The Barn of Chapel Hill at Wild Flora Farm and head to Haw River Ballroom for the reception. CHM

Ammons & Martin

BY JOELLE ADELEKE PHOTOGRAPHY BY ASHLEY BAGAMARY, ASHLEYBAGAMARYPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Bradley Martin and Kimberly Ammons first met on Facebook in 2021, when he sent her a message saying she had beautiful eyes. Their following phone conversations came effortlessly, and they’ve been inseparable ever since.

Brad had big plans for his proposal, including a walk around Lake Mackintosh and a surprise engagement dinner with friends and family. But three days before the date, Brad got COVID-19, so he had to improvise. He convinced Kim to go on a boat ride on the reservoir behind their home in Efland, where he proposed on Aug. 12, 2022. It was an easy “yes” for Kim.

Kim took several trips to craft stores to create her dream theme: timeless boho. Using aisle runners from her family’s store, Fargo-Hanna Oriental Rugs, Kim and her wedding planner, Brandi Haithcock,

decorated for the indoor ceremony and reception at The Barn at Lloyd’s Dairy on May 20, 2023. During Brad’s vows to Kim, he brought her son, Weston, forward and promised to love him each day as his own. Kim and Weston were moved to tears. Guests feasted on food from Homestead Steakhouse, enjoyed cake made by Karen Mangum, danced to DJ Gene Deese and took home memorable photos from 4 Leaf Photo Booth. The couple’s blended family, including Weston and Brad’s two daughters, Kayleigh and Brayleigh, live in Efland. CHM

Deerson & Fuchs

BY ANNA WESLEY DUBACH PHOTOGRAPHY BY JESSICA FOWLER, THREEREGIONNC.COM

When David Deerson met Chapel Hill native Miriam “Mimi” Fuchs in high school at Cary Academy, he had an immediate crush. However, their relationship did not bypass the “friend zone” until winter 2018, when the couple reconnected at Belltree Cocktail Club while both home to visit family. Haverford College graduate Mimi was living in Hilo, Hawaii, while David, a UNC alum, was working in Sacramento, California.

In March 2020, the two decided to get serious about their relationship, and when the pandemic hit, David’s office went remote and he moved to Hawaii to be with Mimi. The couple now lives in Philadelphia, after relocating to the city in 2021.

On Nov. 12, 2022, David and Mimi got engaged on Brigantine Beach in New Jersey. The couple hosted a large pre-wedding party at a venue close to their hearts, Belltree Cocktail Club, with pizza from Italian Pizzeria III, chimichangas from Cosmic Cantina and a karaoke machine.

The wedding ceremony on July 2, 2023, was moved from the Forest Theater to the Varsity Theater at the last minute due to weather. The new location featured the couple’s names on the marquee, “movie posters” advertising their wedding around the theater, popcorn for the guests and a string trio.

A dancing-heavy reception at the North Carolina Botanical Garden followed. “Dancing the hora was such a blast, and then getting lifted in the chair with David was extremely fun,” Mimi says. Dinner catered by Tandem was served on eclectic vintage plates – Mimi’s favorite touch – rented from Shelly Heath at Southern Vintage Table. CHM

Caveness & Steinbacher

BY NATALIE MCCORMICK PHOTOGRAPHY BY NIKKI WHITT BELCH, FANCYTHISPHOTOGRAPHY.COM

Having never crossed paths during their undergraduate days at UNC, Donna Steinbacher and Christian Caveness met on their first day at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy and soon became good friends. They often got breakfast together after finishing their exams and enjoyed hiking trips in Asheville with friends. Donna and Christian went on their first date on Dec. 1, 2020, at Namu in Durham, and as their connection began to grow, the couple made it official.

After graduation, Donna moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, while Christian planted roots in Portland, Maine. They spent time visiting each other and exploring what each city had to offer. The couple got engaged on a trip to Acadia National Park in Maine in May 2022 while sipping coffee on the porch of the Primrose Inn.

On July 22, 2023, they tied the knot at St. Thomas More Catholic Church and hosted their reception at The Carolina Inn, with parents Rick Steinbacher, Val Steinbacher, Mike Caveness and Beth Caveness in attendance and friends from all phases of life in the

wedding party. The day was a joyous occasion – the flowers were designed by Tre Bella, and the couple and their guests danced the night away to the sounds of Randy Bennett from Bunn DJ Company. “The whole day was wonderful, and we were able to be very present and soak it all in,” Donna says.

The couple lives in Cary, where they are both pharmacists. CHM

Barlowe & Reeves

BY IZABELLA COUNTS PHOTOGRAPHY BY BRETT SEAY, BRETTSEAY.COM

As a sixth grader at Durham Academy, Hillsborough native Kylie Reeves loved her English teacher, Lisa Joyner. (In fact, Lisa was, “one of her favorites of all time.”) Little did Kylie know that her teacher would be the florist at her wedding years later.

Kylie met New Hampshire native Trevor Barlowe at Haverford College in Pennsylvania. But when she studied abroad the year he graduated, the two parted ways. Fate brought the graduates back to New York City a year and a half later, and they reconnected with renewed passion. A year later, when Trevor began medical school at Dartmouth, the couple braved long distance for four years before moving to Boston together. On Dec. 23, 2021, Trevor suggested they go for a walk. He proposed in the freezing cold at the Boston park where they had spent many long quarantine days together.

The couple tied the knot at Carolina Grove on June 17, 2023, surrounded by friends and family. Through personalized touches at their wedding, they paid homage to the places they’ve been and the community they want to grow roots in. Their friend and Hillsborough artist Kelly Oakes painted a watercolor of their venue that Kylie used

to design the invitations, they purchased their rings from Rings True, relied on Snap Pea as their caterer and each table was differentiated with a meaningful street name. Lisa, now the owner of Fireside Farm, hadn’t seen her student in 18 years, but she designed a bouquet of dahlias, cosmos and orchids just as vibrant and dazzling as the couple. Kylie said the process felt “just like fate.”

Trevor is a gastroenterology fellow at UNC, and Kylie works for sports nonprofit Athletes for Hope. CHM

Feels Like Family

Chris G. Adigun, MD is a board certified dermatologist and a recognized leader in dermatology. She is known for her expertise in laser and aesthetic dermatology as well as her warm, compassionate and down-to-earth personality. Dr. Adigun’s team is comprised of top notch, dermatology-trained professionals, offering the latest technology and treatments.

There is a reason DLC has been voted Best of Chapel Hill and Best of Chatham every year since we opened the doors. It’s simple, DLC treats everyone like family!

Voted Best Of Chatham 2019-2023

Voted Best Of Chapel Hill 2017-2023

Chris G. Adigun, MD, FAAD

Karlee Wagoner, ANP-BC

10441 US 15-501 N Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Diana Walker, PA-C

Amy Rodriguez, PA-C

Jennifer Jahoo, LME

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