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September 4 - 17, 2020
Greater Wilmington Business Journal
wilmingtonbiz.com
RESTAURANT ROUNDUP
BUSINESS OF LIFE
This is a sampling of stories from the Business Journal’s weekly Restaurant Roundup email. Subscribe at wilmingtonbiz.com.
Indochine Express set for Monkey Junction Solange “Niki” Thompson, owner of Indochine, plans to open a satellite location of her popular Market Street restaurant this fall. Indochine Express will be located in the former Chop’s Deli spot off South College Road, just opposite of Wal-Mart in Monkey Junction. Thompson said she has been looking for a satellite location for some time, and always had Monkey Junction in mind. She said she believes takeout and delivery will play a pivotal role in the future of the restaurant industry, making now a great time to move forward with an additional location with that as its primary focus. Thompson credits her dedicated employees with allowing her to move forward with these plans. “It’s truly a very organized, welloiled machine and I’m very grateful to my wonderful staff.” Renovations are now underway at the new location, and pending permits and inspections, Thompson hopes to be open in about eight weeks. Indochine Express will serve all of the restaurant’s most popular Thai and Vietnamese dishes, including a variety of curries, Pad Ki Mao and Pad Thai. - Jessica Maurer
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Castle Street restaurant Rx reopens for dining in It’s been more than five months since James Doss and his wife, Sarah Rushing Doss, made the decision to close Rx Restaurant on March 15 because of COVID-19. Rather than remain open and do to-go orders only, they wanted to protect those they employed. “Our staff is our first concern,” Rushing Doss said. “We chose to close down completely instead of doing takeout ... [and] cut our expenses as much as possible.” Rx, 421 Castle St., received a Paycheck Protection Program loan, so the Dosses used their time off to figure out how to operate the restaurant with new safety protocols in place and ensure economic viability. They reopened Aug. 27 and had
also instituted a family-style takeout program, using a new pig cooker to prepare a whole hog and offer Eastern North Carolina-style barbecue and sides. The post also noted that Rx will have limited to-go items from its regular restaurant menu. So far, it will offer chicken wings, pimento cheese and ham. Rushing Doss will post it on their website as soon as it’s updated. They have also started building an outdoor dining area to double the amount of people they can serve.
New chef at Boca Bay brings back Sunday Funday Every Sunday for more than a decade, Boca Bay had been a brunch hotspot in Wilmington, serving upward of 300 people in a mere five hours. The restaurant and its famed brunch buffet—packed with waffles, sausage, blintzes, even a madeto-order omelet station—went on hiatus once COVID-19 hit the U.S. in March. Even when Boca Bay reopened under Gov. Roy Cooper’s executive order in phase two, the owners had to re-evaluate what Sundays would look like. “We removed the buffet since customers use common serving utensils and dispensers, as they move through the [line],” said Kevin Jennings, who, with his wife, Stacey, owns Boca Bay under the Urban Food Group umbrella. “However, the outreach for us to keep our brunch going was so strong, we knew we needed to come up with a different plan.” So they hired Chef Dean Bauer to oversee the 2025 Eastwood Road eatery. First on his agenda: Bring back Sunday Funday with an a la carte menu, featuring 15 new items, including asparagus strudel, chicken and waffles and smoked corn and lobster chowder, among others ($6-$28). The menu also includes $2 mimosas. A culinary arts graduate from Schenectady County Community College, Bauer has worked in hospitality since age 19, including at Wilmington’s Beau Rivage and Carolina Beach’s Marriott. He took the helm at Boca Bay in June. Bauer also is sharpening Boca’s sea-faring palate, with the goal of making it “the most vibrant and exciting seafood restaurant in Wilmington.” - Shea Carver
