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TRIANGLE TODAY | THE NEWS & OBSERVER

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2018

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REVAMPED VILLAGE DINER

keeps spirit intact but gives food a fresh, tasty update Nobody can say exactly when the original Village Diner opened in Hillsborough, but the best guess is 1975. That’s according to Joel Bohlin, and he should know. He bought the restaurant last year, and he has become something of an expert on its history.

ites account for much of the menu. Grits, a staple on the former restaurant’s breakfast buffet, are transformed into fried stone-ground grit cakes on the new dinner menu. “Cakes” doesn’t do justice, though, to these delicately crisp, light-as-asoufflé orbs served with pepper jelly and an inspired red-eye mayo.

He can tell you, for instance, that The Village Diner is the oldest restaurant in Hillsborough. And that, in its heyday, it was a prime gathering place for the community, where mill workers and politicians commingled over fried chicken, meat loaf, collard greens and banana pudding.

The pepper jelly is homemade, as is pretty much everything here — including everything but the buttered rye toast (that’s from The Bread Shop in Pittsboro) on a shareable starter plate of pimento cheese, pickles (okra, cucumber and red onion) and salted pecans.

Bohlin, a Hillsborough resident who has worked as general manager at Hillsborough BBQ Co., has seen local tastes evolve over the years. When he learned that The Village Diner was up for sale, Bohlin — a Culinary Institute of America grad whose resume includes an externship at the renowned Aquavit in New York — saw his chance to update the old local favorite in response to those changing tastes.

Even the humble diner classic tomato soup gets elevated here, transformed into a scratch-made brew rich with ripe tomato flavor, garnished with fried oyster crackers and a drizzle of garlic oil.

Drew Jackson for Triangle Today

Bohlin hired Justin Cole, who grew up in Hillsborough (where he regularly ate with his grandmother at The Village Diner) and cut his culinary teeth as chef at Nana’s under renowned chef Scott Howell. He brought along David Petipas to man the grill and

Fried chicken leg and thigh, Cane Ceek Farm collards, chow chow, country biscuit at the Village Diner. Chuck Liddy make desserts. He cooked for Fetch, the food truck that Bohlin owned before shutting it down to focus on the restaurant. For all their culinary pedigree, Bohlin and his team agreed that the food should remain true to the diner spirit. Indeed, fresh takes on old Village Diner favor-

THE VILLAGE DINER

600 W. King St, Hillsborough 919-245-8915 facebook.com/villagedinernc Cuisine: Southern diner Rating: 4 stars Prices: $$ Atmosphere: modest but cheery

As the days cool down, the fun heats up at Kids Town! TRIANGLE TODAY’S

Find fun family-friendly events, crafts, recipes, offers and contests at kidstownnc.com.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2018

TRIANGLE TODAY | THE NEWS & OBSERVER

Still don’t have an Instant Pot? Local chef is a convert. MAKE YOUR HOME TRICK-OR-TREAT SAFE Madison Fisler Lewis/ nchfa.com for Triangle Today

People are getting their homes ready for the ghosts, witches, goblins and ghouls who are sure to make an appearance on Halloween night. But aside from hanging cobwebs, stockpiling candy and setting out the jack-o-lanterns, keeping kids safe when they come to your door this Halloween should be at the top of your preparation list. Check out three ways to keep trick-or-treaters safe at your home this Halloween. Light it up Fall is a great time to enjoy cooler weather, but it also means that the sun goes down sooner and it gets dark earlier. During Halloween, this means that the little ghosts and ghouls are outside running about in the dark, which could make it more likely that they will trip and fall on hazards that they can’t see. To help make sure kids can make it to and from your stash of candy safely, keep your home is well lit on Halloween night. Turn on porch lights and any other outdoor lights you may have. Even better, add some solar lights leading up your drive and to your door so the kids have a clear path. Any lights you can add will help kids enjoy trick-ortreating without fear. Keep your yard clear of debris Darkness isn’t the only cause of trips and falls on Halloween. All that décor you may have out on your lawn can be a tripping hazard, too. Before the sun goes down, make sure to clear your yard of anything that could cause kids to trip and fall so they don’t get hurt on the way to or from your door. Remove lawn care equipment and even piles of leaves and lawn debris that might cause injury. You should also consider removing your decorations from areas where kids will be walking, so they have a clear path to your door. Keep pets away from the door Halloween is fun for kids and adults alike, but for our furry friends it can be terrifying, especially if Fido or Fluffy isn’t fond of strangers, much less ones in costumes. To ensure the safety of the kids and your fur babies, put your pets in a safe place before the strangers come knocking. Not only will this help ensure that the kids have a safe and fun Halloween, but it will also keep your pets’ stress levels to a minimum.

Jill Warren Lucas for Triangle Today

Chapel Hill food writer and teacher Sheri Castle tends to shy away from trendy, bulky kitchen toys. She often spends her time developing recipes that can be recreated by home cooks. And when the deadline approaches for a cookbook or other publication, she relies on her quality pots and pans and technical skills, not wanting to waste her time with magical implements that promise to eliminate the drudgery of cooking. But then came the Instant Pot. The popular appliance and other multicookers can cook food under low or high pressure, in slow cooker or sauté mode, and can — dare I say, magically? — take dried beans from bag to dinner table in under an hour. Depending on the make and model, it also can produce tangy yogurt or foolproof crème fraîche while you’re at work or asleep. “I was a latecomer because I didn’t think I needed one. But there are some things it can do that just blow me away,” says Castle, whose mastery of multicooker-cooking is on display in “Instantly Southern,” a new collection of 85 recipes published this month by Clarkson Potter. “I’ll never cook poached or hardboiled eggs on the stovetop again.” Castle counters naysayers who dismiss multicookers as trendy gadgets by defending their innovation and ability to support so many different cooking techniques. They also are considerably safer than old stovetop pressure cookers, whose misuse became the stuff of many family legends. “We all grew up hearing stories about grandmother’s pressure cooker blowing up, but I am telling you, these will not leave a Rorschach-test of exploded beans on your ceiling,” Castle said. Multicookers, she said, “represent a new generation of countertop appliance. “It’s not a gadget,” she said. “It’s a great addition to a well-stocked kitchen, and a godsend to people with practically no kitchen at all.” Whether one cooks in a spacious kitchen, a dormitory or the cab of a long-haul truck, Castle believes that multicookers of various sizes and settings empower anyone with a single electrical outlet, a few pantry items and some fresh ingredients to prepare healthful, satisfying food. “It doesn’t replace cooking but I believe they can

Chapel Hill author and instructor Sheri Castle. Baxter Miller be very useful to people,” says Castle, who credits “Cooking In An Instant” by New York Times food writer Melissa Clark for helping to “legitimize” multicookers as a valid kitchen resource.

SHERI CASTLE’S UPCOMING APPEARANCES • Noon to 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 11: Book signing and recipe tasting, Quail Ridge Books, 4209-100 Lassiter Mill Road, Raleigh (free) • 6 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 13: Holiday Dinner in an Instant, Southern Season Cooking School ($60 fee) • 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28: Family-style dinner at Piedmont restaurant in Durham will feature dishes from “Instantly Southern” and other Sheri Castle cookbooks paired with beer from Fullsteam Brewery. Go to piedmontrestaurant.com/events for details

Get a few of Sheri Castle’s Instant Pot recipes at triangletoday.com.

TRIANGLE TODAY | THE NEWS & OBSERVER

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2018

Durham Bake Shop moves to American Tobacco Campus with pie pop-up Drew Jackson for Triangle Today

dark chocolate and sweet potato.

Pies from East Durham Bake Shop, formerly known as East Durham Pie Company. Ali Rude

Pie is perhaps the most important part of Thanksgiving, the warm spice of pumpkin, the rich sweetness of pecan. The new pop-up space at the American Tobacco Campus will become pie central next month as East Durham Bake Shop moves in. Married owners Ali Rudel and Ben Filippo are no strangers to pop-ups, having run their pie and pastry business, then known as East Durham Pie Company, for years with weekly stops at breweries or farmers markets. This spring they finally opened their pastry shop

in a brightly renovated building on Driver Street in East Durham. The ATC pop-up is all about Thanksgiving, running Nov. 5 to 21, serving pies from the bakery’s seasonal menu and pastries. Similar to their own shop, Rudel and Filippo also will serve coffee, tea and juice. The shop will sell pie by the slice for those immediate cravings or whole to take home. The Thanksgiving pie menu, according to the bakery’s website, features bourbon caramel apple, honey bourbon pecan, malted pumpkin, cranberry pear crumble,

“Pie carries deep family and cultural traditions, and therefore so many wonderful memories for a lot of people,” Rudel said in a release. “We often hear people tell stories about their parents, relatives and those who have since passed away when we talk to them about pie. It’s a food that changes depending on what we have in abundance and brings people a specific happiness.” The East Durham Bake Shop pop-up will be open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be special pick-up times for pre-ordered pies Nov. 20 and 21. (A limited number of pre-orders are being accepted now.) Find the shop at 359 Blackwell St. in the Diamond View III building between the main campus, Durham Bulls Athletic Park and the Durham Performing Arts Center.