For our first night in central North Carolina on a 2-night stay, we discovered that the hotel restaurant, which is considered the best for miles around, would not be open on Wednesdays. When I inquired as to other excellent options nearby, the entire team here came up with only one possible answer, Hawthorne & Wood in Chapel Hill, just 12 minutes away.
Well, all I can say is "thank you team" at Fearrington House because it was truly one of the best meals we've had in a long time, not to mention the superb service, excellent cocktails & wine and just a grand time.
The Covid dining rules here seemed to be stricter here(save for our DC outing 11 days ago when we had a temperature check on arrival!), perhaps it was because we were in the heart of a liberal city and we were actually asked questions about our health on arrival. We were also told that they would put the water pitchers on the table after they poured the water and then we could pour our own as they were no longer allowed to touch a bottle of wine or water pitcher after we had touched it. This had not occurred anywhere during our travels or even at home before we left.
Our server Fitz was a pleasure and even told the story of how the restaurant was named(the chef's grandparents lived on these street names!). We also discovered that the drink I ordered was actually created by him in a different restaurant where he met the chef and then came to open this fabulous place with him. The Open Kimono consisted of Japanese whiskey, fermented lemon-ginger syrup(which Fitz explained came from a family recipe in Ethiopia), burnt thyme and bitters; it was divine and not sweet at all, with an herbaceousness that tantalized the taste buds, as did everything we ate. Will opted for our summer standard, a Campari & tonic.
We had decided on fish and chicken for main courses, so there was no question we would have a white wine. The wine list was also fantastic and one of the managers, Tim, suggested(from my choices) that we go with the superb Priest Ranch Grenache Blanc 2017 from Napa, another brilliant choice. We eventually ran out of wine, so Willl decided to finish off his main course with a glass of the Fontanavecchia Falanghina 2018, one of the excellent 18 wines available by the glass, not to mention the 15 craft beers, and of course the two huge wine lists(standard and reserve)!!
The tables are very well separated and there were comfortable banquettes with really nice leather chairs and dark wood tables. The art varied on every wall and within each wall and the lighting was what you might call fairly dark but gave a nice ambiance. The menu is divided in to bar snacks, first courses and main courses, but it was clear that some of the bar snacks could easily be appetizers.
Samuel started with a gorgeous chilled heirloom tomato soup with Arbequina Olive oil, black pepper and caramelized onion croutons. Madeleine opted for the gorgeous Vera Luce Farms summer vegetable salad with green goddess dressing, Sungold tomato, heirloom tomato, pickled ramps, dill and Kohlrabi crispies. Will and I actually split this as a middle course and it was simply one of the best salads I have had in ages; I now know exactly have to use my pickled ramps that are sitting in the refrigerator... not to mention the pickled shallots. I'm not a big fan of dill, but the fact that it was such a minimal use of fresh dill it really didn't impose on the entire dish at all.
For his starter Will chose the North Carolina Shrimp Cocktail(and we know where the best shrimp come from stateside) with charred smoked leek aioli, fines herbes and fried saltine crumble, "new bay. The local shrimp were a treat and the crumble crunch was simply awesome.
My Seared slow-cooked Pork Shoulder came with June Prince Peaches, kicky Serrano peppers and a divine tamarind vinaigrette. The amazing garnish of king purple radish was a treat although I had no clue what they were, as it was a new radish to me.
Main courses were just as impressive and Samuel said his Runner bean and roasted garlic Agnolotti with a tomato conserva and (again) kicky golden dagger peppers, Pole beans with Parmigiano-Reggiano was really awesome. Kudos to a chef who is not afraid to use great spice and heat! Madeleine's seared Beef Tenderloin came with the most magnificent looking potato rösti that looked like they had been deep fried mutliple times for crispness and a Yuzu Kosho Jus. It was accompanied by what was called the new creamed spinach, which was a ball of spinach seared and then served amidst a sea of Parmigiano foam/cream. Will chose the crispy-skinned Springer Mountain Farms chicken with teriyaki sauce, chilled Ramen noodles, pea tendrils and scallions, which I tasted and can attest to its brilliance and flavor. My thick crusted sauteed Morehead City Flounder came in a coconut-lemongrass broth on a bed of Jasmine rice with sugar snap peas and rose heart radish. Everybody was in heaven and we all sent praises to Chef Brandon Sharp who had a stint at the French Laundry in Napa and new several chefs that we know in DC.
We were all about to think about sharing one dessert when the team of Fitz, Tim and Amber all brought out 3 complimentary desserts:
Peach Galette was warm and a maple glaze was poured tableside; the peaches and crust and glaze were all sheer pastry genius, flaky, yet sweet and fruity(just like us).
Blueberry Pavlova came with a lemon cream and blueberry coulis, and simply because I am not a meringue fan it was not on the top of the list.
The winner was easily the Chocolate Pot de Creme with slivered Almonds and macerated cherries!! I am a huge fan of fruit desserts and we all raved about the quality of them, as well as the kindness of the staff and indeed their service, which in these times can be a difficult task as well.
It was our second to last night on this amazing road trip, but truly one of the top meals for sure, and I would recommend that anybody with in a couple hundred miles of Chapel Hill make a detour to hit this fabulous restaurant.
