Catch Left Bank in the premier episode of tasteMAKERS on PBS!

We had a great time with Cat Neville talking about whole-animal butchery, sustainable agriculture and, of course, delicious meats, as she explores the maker movement and takes viewers on a journey “to meet the makers who define American cuisine.”

The episode begins on the Haw River…

“In a once-abandoned textile mill here in Saxapahaw, NC, about an hour outside of Raleigh, there is now a thriving hub of artisans and makers. And in this episode of tastemakers, you are going to meet Ross Flynn of Left Bank Butchery.”

And then it dives right in! Enjoy interviews with Ross Flynn of Left Bank, Heather Lagarde of the Haw River Ballroom, Eliza MacLean of Cane Creek Farm and Charles Sydnor (aka “Doc”) of Braeburn Farm during this in-depth look at our local food chain, and the people, places and animals behind it all.

Whether elegantly glazed, pinned with pineapple, or shellacked with Cheerwine, ‘tis the season for fancy hams

by Emily Wallace

Emily Wallace is a freelance writer and illustrator with a master’s in pimento cheese. She is the art director and deputy editor of Southern Cultures, and her illustrated book Road Sides: An Illustrated Companion to Dining and Driving in the American South was published in 2019. Find more of her work at eewallace.com.

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Ham doesn’t take holidays. Rather, ham works overtime. Garnished with pineapple rings, pricked with cloves, or bathed in Pepsi, a humble ham becomes Christmas dinner’s brightest star. The tradition is feasibly linked to the ancient practice of bringing in the boar’s head during the Yuletide, a festivity captured in a centuries-old carol: “The boar’s head in hands I bring with garlands gay and birds singing!” But tracking down a modern ham is obviously simpler than hunting a wild boar and placing an apple in its mouth (though that ritual continues in England). Nowhere is this more true than in North Carolina, where an oft-repeated stat tells us that pigs outnumber people.

Pigs have always been an indispensable part of Southern life, as they were plentiful, easy to raise, and a source for multiple meals. Butchered and cured in salt, they provided an important source of protein that would keep for weeks and months — even years. Creative cooks came up with ways to make the salty pork more palatable, which commonly included soaking or boiling. Writing in 1867, Annabella Hill, the prominent rural author of Mrs. Hill’s New Cook Book, declared boiled pork “our favorite every-day dish.”

Refrigeration later enhanced pork’s appeal, making it so that hogs could be killed year-round — not just in cooler months — and prepared beyond shelf-stable cures, which extended the life of everyday ham. And so it was that by the early 20th century, a variety of plump, wet-cured hams — so-called city hams, to distinguish them from their dry-cured country cousins — could be readily plucked from the likes of a Piggly Wiggly. Inventive home cooks continued to come up with ways to make city hams more appetizing or unique. Basting the meat in syrupy sodas like Cheerwine or Pepsi proved one popular cure. Reaction to that sweet-and-salty alchemy can be summed up in another line from the “Boar’s Head Carol”: “Giving praises to the Lord!” (Pronounced lard, of course.) And the praise rings out from city and country believers alike.

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It’s easy to assume that Ross Flynn built his ham business on country ideals. Founded in 2014, Left Bank Butchery is situated in the heart of rural Saxapahaw, a former mill town on the Haw River. To procure pork, Flynn and his co-owners Aron and Lisa Woolman partner with Cane Creek Farm, also of Saxapahaw, where Flynn worked as a farmer for five years and first learned the art of butchering. But Flynn also adheres to city standards. The city hams — he calls them “house hams” — featured on Left Bank’s menu are brine-cured to produce succulent meat, perfect for supper or a sandwich. “I take a lot of pride in being in school lunch boxes,” he says. “I take pride in being part of people’s everyday.” 

At the Chapel Hill location of his Left Bank Butchery, owner Ross Flynn serves a smoked ham that’s sweet and salty.PHOTOGRAPH BY ANAGRAM PHOTO

Flynn secures all of his pork locally, and the resulting hams are far from your average grocery store variety. His rich and complex herbs de Provence and molasses-smoked hams are his day-to-day best sellers. But they particularly hog sales between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Around the state, ham’s heyday has always been the holiday season, when a gussied-up everyday ham is as anticipated as a wrapped present. One second-generation curemaster in Smithfield emphasizes this point to his workers: “I say, ‘Listen. The customer’s whole house could burn down; they could lose all their presents, their Christmas tree. But if their refrigerator made it through the fire with that ham in it, that Christmas will be fine.’ ”

Such zest for ham may sound a little crazy. But holidays are known to heighten emotions — to heighten nearly everything. The trees are strewn with tinsel. The lowly sock is hung on the mantel. And the average ham settles in at the head of the table. Eventually, though, the tinsel is taken down and the stocking is packed away. Meanwhile, the picked-over ham remains, calling out to be re-upped for another day, and another, and another. An old carol puts it best: “Repeat the sounding joy!”

The Food Halls Are Coming! But What Makes Them Different From Food Courts?

by: Layla Khoury-Hanold

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On a Wednesday at 11:00 a.m., I faced down my toughest decision of the day: what to eat for lunch. I pored over menus as I wandered, debating between butter chicken from Curry in a Hurry or pork chimichurri empanadas from Makus Empanadas, before settling on lotus root salad and summer rolls from MKG Kitchen. While I waited for my food at a communal table, a young couple sitting nearby made me wonder if I should’ve ordered a CowBar burger, while two gentlemen incited a case of order envy, slurping bowls of The Broth’s ramen from their perches in overstuffed chairs.

I can’t think of many restaurants where diners can choose from dozens of different cuisines spanning every meal and satisfying nearly every craving. Or one where it’d be acceptable to change tables mid-meal, or one that served high-quality, local food in minutes, all without having to reserve a table.

At the newly opened Morgan Street Food Hall in Raleigh’s Warehouse District, this dining utopia is a reality. And by early 2019, the Triangle will be home to four food halls, each with its own look, vibe, and vendor mix.

But what makes food halls different than food courts? Whereas a food court is an amenity, a place to grab a bite while shopping, food halls are a destination. All four Triangle food halls put a premium on local businesses, giving many chefs a chance to open their first brick-and-mortar or bring niche offerings to a wider audience.

Food halls also curate ambiance, incorporating greenery, local artwork, lighting, custom acoustics, and comfortable seating. Oh, and did we mention? There’s also booze.

This means that we are going to eat (and drink) very well in the coming months, but the food hall boom also has the potential to satisfy our hunger for connection—connection to our food, to our small business community, and to one another.

“I think we’re seeing a cultural shift in the way people think about social interactions,” says developer Jason Queen. “People are embracing the need for social interactions, and I think there’s a hell of an opportunity for food halls to do that and do it well.”

Queen is the founder of Transfer Co. Food Hall, slated to open early 2019 in the historic Carolina Coach Garage and Shop (and former home of the Transfer Co. bus line) in Raleigh’s Old East neighborhood. Besides sitting across the table from someone you might not otherwise share a meal with, Queen says that at Transfer Co., social interaction is built into the food offering. Because each vendor’s production space is open, diners have the chance to say, watch oysters being shucked at Locals Oyster Bar or a bar of chocolate being made at Videri Chocolate Factory. This also sates curious foodies’ yen to know more about their food, and millennials’ desire for food to provide an experience.

Social connection can also extend to vendors. Queen envisions Benchwarmers Bagels, a collaboration between Jubala Coffee and Boulted Bread, offering a bagel topped with smoked fish from Locals Seafood’s fish market, or perhaps having Burial Beer Co. collaborate with Videri Chocolate on a food hall-exclusive chocolate stout. These unique one-offs help make food halls destination-worthy and keeps diners coming back.

Durham Food Hall founder Adair Mueller agrees that fostering collaboration and creativity is key for chefs, too.

“A food hall is like a playground to a chef. In a full-service restaurant or even a food truck they’re so limited. There are a lot of constraints, so you can’t be quite as creative and constantly changing and maintain a new menu,” Mueller says. “I love that aspect, in that they can truly create. And if an item isn’t working and it flops, you can change it. You haven’t invested that same cost.”

Mueller also sees Durham Food Hall, slated to open early winter 2018, as an incubator for food entrepreneurs. Housed in the former Liberty Warehouse, the Durham Food Hall boasts fifteen-thousand square feet, so it could easily accommodate more than ten vendors. And with two-hundred-fifty applications, there was plenty of interest. But Mueller was intentional about finding the right mix; in addition to a high-quality offering, she chose vendors with interesting stories, unique products, and ones with shared values for sustainability and local sourcing.

There’s Lula & Sadie’s, a multi-generational family endeavor focused on seasonal Southern staples with a modern twist (think: eggnog-pecan French toast); couples-owned businesses such as Afters, specializing in cake and dessert flights; and women-owned businesses such as Ex-Voto Cocina Nixtamal, which uses heirloom corn to make masa and tortillas for its tacos and tamales.

Niche businesses were also a focus for Blue Dogwood Public Market in Chapel Hill, the Triangle’s first food hall which opened in mid-June. Food halls are a way for small businesses to get started with less investment, and they can test new concepts with less risk. At Blue Dogwood, you’ll find gluten-free baked goods at Pizzelle Bakery, peanut-free chocolates at Chocolatay Confections, vegan tacos and wraps at Vegan Flava, and plant-based tamales and arepas at Soul Cocina.

Blue Dogwood lives up to the “Public Market” part of its moniker, too. In addition to picking up a sandwich from whole-animal butcher Left Bank Butchery, you can also buy fresh sausages, steaks, and charcuterie to take home, along with cheeses from Chapel Hill Creamery and bread from Pittsboro’s Chicken Bridge Bakery. Blue Dogwood will soon add a produce vendor, making it one of the few places to buy fresh produce in downtown Chapel Hill.

But before you head home with your bounty, if you feel like lingering—and you can, because there are no table vultures hovering with a reservation—head over to Blue Dogwood’s bar and order an afternoon brew. It’s the easiest decision you’ll have to make all day.

From New York Times Best-Selling Author Michael Pollan and Academy Award-Winning Filmmaker Alex Gibney

Left Bank Butchery on Netflix! And with Michael Pollan, too!

Michael Pollan is the author of Omnivore’s Dilemma, The Botany of Desire, In Defense of Food, How to Change Your Mind, and many other excellent books. We were truly honored to be included in this series along with Cane Creek Farm. For those of you who have Netflix, we’re on the very first episode titled “Fire.”

From best­-selling author Michael Pollan and Oscar­-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney and an all­-star cast of directors and cinematographers comes the Netflix Original Documentary Series COOKED.

Explored through the lenses of the four natural elements—Fire, Water, Air and Earth—COOKED is an enlightening and compelling look at the evolution of what food means to us through the history of food preparation and its universal ability to connect us. Highlighting our primal human need to cook, the series urges a return to the kitchen to reclaim our lost traditions and to forge a deeper, more meaningful connection to the ingredients and cooking techniques that we use to nourish ourselves.