Text and photos by Evan Hatch Vit Goal Tofu Restaurant is elusive. The restaurant is situated around two corners, up a hidden drive, at the end of a nondescript strip mall, hidden behind a Big Lots that is difficult to access. Though centrally located minutes from I-40, near the crossroads of NC 54 and Hwy 55 in Durham,… Read More →
El Restaurante Ixtapa
Text and images by Sol Weiner On a recent lunch break, fellow NC FOLKer Evan Hatch insisted that we go to El Restaurante Ixtapa in downtown Hillsborough. I’ve been hearing friends talk for months about Ixtapa’s no-frills combination of surf-and-turf options typical of Guerrero-style Mexican food. As Latino migration to North Carolina continues to grow,… Read More →
A Gift from the Cake Lady
Text and images by Evan Hatch I just left Tommy and Adell Coley’s house in Baptist Grove, near Fuquay Varina, North Carolina. I interviewed Mrs. Coley for a folklife field study that NC Folk is conducting for the Harnett County Arts Council. Adell is the first of almost 30 area artists and tradition bearers to… Read More →
Art of the Lowrider
Artwork by Ruben Olmos and Corona. Text and images by Evan Hatch. Great lowrider vehicles draw attention. They capture the spectator’s eye with chromed detailing, art work, super-active hydraulics, audio systems, and tricked-out interiors. The Lowyalty Car Club, based out of Burlington, North Carolina, is home to some of the most creative and driven… Read More →
The Great Pumpkin Diaries
Text by Frances Dowell. Images by Randi Byrd. 240 lbs of gypsum, 80 lbs of lime, 50 lbs of kelp meal, 50 lbs of very well-aged chicken manure, and 30 lbs of bone meal went into the patch today. —Randi Byrd’s Facebook page, March 19, 2016 Every year Randi Byrd prepares the soil, chooses… Read More →
Finding Festival Food in Vanceboro
Photos and Images by Leanne E. Smith The Vanceboro Strawberry Festival & Rescue Day celebrates its namesake fruit, but it is also a fundraiser and outreach event for the Vanceboro Rescue Squad. The town has a population of around 1,000 people, and it is centrally located between several other Eastern NC towns, being about 26… Read More →
Saltbox Seafood Joint
Text and photos by Monique LaBorde I’ve visited Saltbox Seafood Joint three times in the past year, but I only recently made it there in time to eat. Saltbox opens at 11am and cooks seafood until they run out, which is usually around 5 p.m. On a busy day, Saltbox can run out of their… Read More →
The Pit
The Pit BBQ in Durham, across from the famed Motorco, is part of the new Durham–a Durham of renovation and reinvention. The Pit is the perfect example of a business taking the traditions of a city steeped in Southern history, and presenting them with a modern aesthetic to a new generation. The Pit is gleaming… Read More →
Allen and Son Bar-B-Que
Text and Photos by Lauren Fulcher and Monique Laborde In the big cities of NC, it’s easy to forget that you’re in the south. Especially in college towns like Chapel Hill, it’s hard to find authentic southern cooking. If you drive out though just a few miles from Franklin Street, there’s a little place called… Read More →
First Local Berries of the Season
By Ray Linville Finding locally grown strawberries is a sure sign that spring has arrived. As I was driving in the Monkey Junction area of Wilmington on the last weekend in March, I noticed a berry stand that had been closed for months was open. North Carolina, the third largest producer of strawberries in the… Read More →