When it comes to pizza, Gabe Barker relies on the best groceries he can find – from produce sold across the street at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market (which inspired the name ‘mercato’) to Prosciutto di San Daniele imported from Italy – and then lets the ingredients have their say. Come for the pizza, but be sure to eat your way through a menu that manifests the heart and soul of both authentic Italian and Southern cuisine, regions that are fiercely loyal to local renditions of impeccable ingredients. The cornerstone dish is revealed in the name on the door: Pizzeria Mercato. – Moreton Neal Pizzeria Mercato chef Gabe Barker returned to Chapel Hill from San Francisco to open his farmers market-inspired restaurant in 2016. When Tommy’s son, Johnny, closed the restaurant in 1997 to open a bakery/deli, I had my last bite of the iconic lamb shank. This earthy Greek dish was my introduction to Greek cooking, and I never ordered anything else there. Tommy slow-cooked the shanks overnight in the cooling pizza ovens, then added a sauce made with tomatoes, oregano, cumin, garlic and red wine. My three kids could stuff themselves with their favorite pizza while I leisurely enjoyed the succulent roasted lamb shank. Tommy Mariakakis specialized in big chewy New York-style pizzas you could take out or eat in. Mariakakis Restaurant, originally known as Kwik-ee Take Out Food, opened in Eastgate Shopping Center in 1963 when Eastgate was in the middle of nowhere. Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen is Chapel Hill to me. Oh, the planning! I had to decide which day, whether I wanted it for breakfast or lunch, and, most importantly, what kind I was going to order. It was so intense that I had to put myself on a “Sunrise” diet – my doctor agreed that I could have a biscuit from Sunrise once a week. I craved Sunrise throughout that pregnancy something awful. When my first son was 2 years old and I was pregnant with my second one, I drove by Sunrise to drop him off at preschool every day. Imagine thinking of a gigantic sausage biscuit as the lower-calorie option. Those big ol’ soft and buttery cathead biscuits speak to my soul, I don’t know how else to describe what happens when I eat them and the level of contented happiness I’m able to reach. I love a fried chicken biscuit, but, if I’m feeling virtuous, I “just” get a sausage biscuit. It was the first thing I ate – in the cab of my U-Haul, even – when I moved to town 14 years ago. – Nancie McDermott On a busy day, Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen will serve 3,000 biscuits.īiscuits at Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen – this to me is Chapel Hill.
The rest of the menu changes with seasons and years, like the fabulous monthly art on the wall, reminding us that Crook’s and Chapel Hill are still cooking, still stirring things up, still moving forward. Shrimp and grits is the Old Well, timeless tasty comfort food. We always share our orders, so I get the best of everything. My husband always orders shrimp and grits while I choose from among chef Bill Smith’s signature creations – cold fried chicken with deviled eggs and watermelon, green Tabasco chicken, cheese pork, corned ham or the latest creation from Crook’s 21st-century kitchen. Legendary founding chef Bill Neal put his glorious version of the low country classic on Crook’s menu back in the 1980s, and this beautiful, hearty and satisfying plate of plump, pink bacon-studded shrimp on a creamy cheese-kissed pillow of stone-ground grits flies out of the kitchen year after year. Shrimp and grits tell the story of Crook’s Corner in one generous deep-dish plate. These are the dishes – past and present – that have allowed us to retain the title of ‘America’s foodiest small town.’ Just ask these locals:
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