Below is part of a press release I recieved last week.
Richard Holcomb and Sarig Agasi, the farmer and chef partners of
Raleigh’s 4-star restaurant Zely & Ritz have joined forces with Southern food enthusiast Jamie DeMent to bring to life her vision of a farm-to-table restaurant. Eno Restaurant & Market (Rogers Alley, 101 City Hall Plaza, Durham, NC; www.enorestaurantandmarket.com) will open in partnership with Holcomb’s Coon Rock Farm in the 1920’s era Fire Station Building in Durham’s revitalized downtown. Eno’s mission to honor
North Carolina will be unmistakable in this North Carolina Historic Registry and LEED certified redevelopment. Combining sustainable ambition, farmer expertise and farm-to-kitchen know-how this unique team may create one of the region’s most faithful farm-to-table restaurants yet.
“After working the soil and discovering the sheer bounty produced at Coon Rock Farm, I began dreaming about a restaurant based primarily on this farm; a place where you can enjoy the kind of food we ate as kids, and honor the way it comes to the table — from neighboring farms,” explained DeMent. A native North Carolinian, DeMent was raised around her family’s farm supply store and developed an interest in organically farmed foods and environmental issues after seeing nearby farms slowly disappear throughout her childhood. Holcomb, who began Coon Rock Farm in 2005 after 20 successful years as a software entrepreneur, is pleased to have a new outlet for his heirloom vegetables and pasture raised meats including chickens (and eggs), pork, lamb, goat and more.
Named for the
Eno
River, which flows through the farm and into the city of
Durham, Eno Restaurant & Market will offer a daily menu dictated by Coon Rock Farm’s harvest and the season. The casual ingredient-driven menu will reflect DeMent’s North Carolina heritage and organic farming in
North Carolina today. DeMent family recipes featuring farm-fresh items will be mainstays year round, while house-cured bacon, preserved vegetables and fruits, and honey from the farm’s hives will shine in winter. And as DeMent explained, quoting her granddaddy, “the whole animal will be used…everything but the oink,” so diners can expect house made whole hog terrines, pates and sausages. “This is what it’s all about… to plant the crops by hand, then see friendly faces enjoying it months later. It’s that direct connection to the food and the people we share it with that makes this so fulfilling; we hope it will be the same for our customers at Eno,” explained Holcomb. Complementary ingredients from select North Carolina farm partners will also be featured, including cow’s milk cheeses from Chapel Hill Creamery, grass fed beef from Harris Robinette Farm, and fish from
North Carolina’s coast.
Chef Sarig Agasi, whose farm-driven restaurant Zely & Ritz was named one of the “Top 20 Organic Restaurants in America” by Organic Style, will work closely with Eno’s Chef de Cuisine, lending his keen understanding of how to operate a restaurant kitchen supplied primarily by a single farm, Coon Rock Farm.
Eno will bring the farm even closer to the table through their restaurant staff work-share program whereby cooks and servers alike will handpick and nurture vegetables in the garden and livestock in the pasture. As a result, Holcomb and DeMent imagine a more informed conversation between their staff and diners, and ultimately a rare opportunity for Eno patrons to have a very intimate relationship with the farm and the food on their plate.
Similarly, a retail market adjacent to the restaurant will bring the farm to the customer, making local, seasonal goods from Coon Rock Farm and their farm partners available for sale on a daily basis. A separate entrance will enable customers to purchase goods from their farm and other farm partners, to pick up their Coon Rock Farm CSA order, or special custom orders.
Eno Restaurant & Market will serve lunch and dinner daily, and brunch on the weekends.