by: Shea Carver

San Juan Cafe
3314-16 Wrightsville Avenue
Mon. – Sat.: 11am–2pm; 5pm–10pm
Closed Sundays
(3 1/2 stars out of 4)

With its roots planted across the globe, from Spanish to African, Asian to Native-American influences, Latin-American cuisine has its fair share of tantalizing ingredients: coriander, cumin, chiles, garlic, plantains, even the exotic culantro (a more pungent cilantro). Though Wilmington may not exactly border Puerto Rico or Cuba, we have been known to welcome some of their flavors in and out of our coastal corridors.

Newest to our culinary map is San Juan Café on Wrightsville Avenue (in the building where the Moroccan café Nagilia once lived). Owned and operated by Danny Keegan, a Puerto-Rican native whose Johnson-and-Wales degree served him well at local eateries Osteria Cicchetti, Brasserie du Soleil and NOFO, San Juan boasts a menu of Caribbean flair suited to both vegetarians and carnivores, all of which meld traditional with experimental. In fact, something as simple as arepas get a fancy facelift on Keegan’s watch, served with duck confit, Columbian masa cheesecake, caramelized onions and cashews.

One word: Y-U-M!

Last Friday afternoon, upon hearing many praises per word-of-mouth from my lovely culinary friends, I decided to check out the eatery for myself. It’s not that I don’t trust their opinions, it’s just that new restaurants beckon my attention first-hand—especially since dating a chef maintains we keep our dining-out expense account padded rather nicely.

It wasn’t busy in San Juan, sans a friend, also a local beer-and-wine representative, John Burke, who was dining at the bar. He stopped by our table to say hello and warn us of the deliciousness that are the bacalaitos, a deep-fried mixture of bread, white fish, cilantro and onions. San Juan serves them to every table as a starter—kind of like a Mexican restaurant’s pre-emptive basket of chips and salsa. Mr. Burke was right. Oh, were they good! Paper-thin crisps tasted zesty and sweet, with just the right amount of cilantro and onion, only enhanced by a mild fish background. While Matthew and I probably could have passed over more appetizers in favor of more bacalaitos, we decided instead to order more food than we could handle.

Starting off with a Latin-American classic, chile rellenos, and one of San Juan’s interesting salad offerings, the ensalada de aguacate, we sipped our drinks and took in the atmosphere upon our short wait. The teracotta walls are adorned with cast-iron wall-hangings, making the place cozy against the dark-wood tables and bar. Yet, occasional tropical remnants pepper the decor, a la the bright green border spanning the walls and resembling the back of a dragon, or the parrot-inspired art. The bursts of color make it clear that diners are preparing to indulge in Caribbean-inspired fare.

Once our starters arrived, we began to critique. The black-bean paste served underneath the chile rellenos was palate-awakening: earthy yet embracing just the right amount of heat to make the chiles dance nicely in their crusty cornmeal and queso-fresca filling. The peppers were a little dry from the abundance of cornmeal coated on them, but the flavor was unstoppable.

The ensalada de aguacate, basically translated as “avocado salad,” offered a perfect lightness to the rellenos. Crisp romaine provided a base for the creamy garbanzo bean puree and homemade chicken salad served atop it. Stacked with avocado and tomato, the salad could be a large meal on its own, so order with the intent to share if also indulging in something else.

I was ready to stop at this point, but the aroma of fresh garlic and cumin wafted past my nose as our lovely server placed the daily special in front of me: Lamb Piononos. Ground-anything is something I can usually never get enough of, but ground lamb in particular captivates my attention on any menu. I’d never had the Puerto-Rican specialty piononos, wherein plantains and eggs are used, layering a savory filling. In this case it was like a picadillo of ground lamb, tomato, cumin, garlic, and green peppers and onions.

Baked to perfection, with a crisp top and soft, sweet and savory center, I couldn’t help but relish every bite. White rice and red beans, stewed with olives and onions in an rich broth, gave it a lovely dose of made-from-Grandma’s-kitchen.

Matthew had a classic that most all Latin-American menus boast today: sandwich Cubano. The panini was pressed with roasted pork, ham, pickles and swiss cheese on slices of Cuban bread and served alongside a culantro mayonnaise. The sandwich oozed its layers, bite after bite. Though it may seem sacrilege to even go here, I can’t help but mention San Juan’s fries. “French” as they may seem, what has become an American food group on its own accord is mastered in this Latin-American eatery. The potatoes were perfectly crisp, golden and hand-cut, sprinkled with their own special seasoning.

“Can you imagine how much greater they’d be if they were cooked in duck fat?” Matthew rhetorically asked.

It wouldn’t surprise me if Keegan went that route. After all, his culinary skills are honed well, and his distinctive palate really has an outlet to let loose now that he’s running his own restaurant.

Matthew and I already have planned our next dinner date to San Juan. Items like the pollo ajili mojili (half marinated chicken in mojito served with baked sweet potato, French green beans and chimichurri) and the chuleta (a grilled pork chop, bacon and plantain mofongo—i.e. mashed together—served with tomato and pepper escabeche) beckon our attention. They’re unlike any other item on a Wilmington menu, and that, to us, makes this restaurant all the more exciting.

by: Shea Carver

Luly’s Cuban Café
3 1/2 stars (out of 5)
1113-F Military Cutoff Road
(910) 509-2600
Mon. – Wed.: 11am–9pm
Thurs. – Sat.: 11am–10 pm

If there is one destination I continuously long to visit, it is Cuba. My hopes heightened among talks of opening its borders to American travelers, as went the White-House fodder that surrounded a newly elected Obama. Since, the talk has muffled, and my patience has worn thin—which is why when word that another Cuban café had opened in town, my interest piqued. Sure, I may not be able to hobnob with the Castro crew personally, but at least I could indulge in café Cubano and pastelito de guayaba, and pretend I was at a corner café on the island, basking in the sounds of Buena Vista Social Club and dancing a jig with the locals.

Luly’s Cuban Café sits new among The Forum’s many eateries, perhaps not on an island, but at least adding a Latin-America punch to its already international offerings: Italian at Osteria Cicchetti, American pub grub at Grand Union and Asian at Bento Box. In fact, Luly’s was born of Bento-Box owner Lee Grossman, thanks to his wife Lourdes’ Cuban heritage.

“All of Luly’s recipes come from my wife’s family,” Grossman informed me last week, after I finished lunch. “Except for the plantain soup,” he clarfied. “That’s my own creation.”

As fate would have it, the plantain soup left a profound impression on my palate. With slight hints of cumin, garlic and lime married against the starchy plantains, I was stunned to taste its savory richness over the usually sweet nectar they so fervently maintain. Adding to the fact that the soup is vegan-friendly made it all the better, as everyone can enjoy its bountifulness and depth.

“There is no stock or dairy used in it!” Grossman informed. And I challenge any chef’s palate to be able to taste a difference. Grossman’s need to appease vegetarian and vegan appetites alike continues to manifest, as he will be welcoming a vegetarian Cuban sandwich to his menu in coming weeks.

Not one to pass up the chance at eating a carnivorous serving of picadillo, my lunch date and I jumped into the limited menu without restrictions. Featuring only a dozen or so items, we ordered the plantain soup first, before sinking our teeth into the vaca frita, “a dish most of our customers rave about,” the waittress said.

The beauty of Cuban food is it comes from the heart of family—as does most regional cuisine born of its people. Luly’s vaca frita tasted as tender as Grandma’s pot roast would in the South; however, its mojo seasoning, caramelized onions and lime-juice flavors transformed the dish beyond a heavy, gravy-doused Sunday meal. The beef became the forefront of flavor, light even, and minus the cumbersome, lumbering feeling that often comes soon after eating it.

The chicken Versailles also contained Luly’s mojo seasoning, and a liberal sprinkling of cilantro and diced onions—two items that can give anything a zesty dose of gusto. Still, the chicken’s flavor seemed a bit understated and dry, unless eaten with a heaping spoon of Luly’s hearty black beans, which shone magnificently. Again, the cumin and garlic satisfied the intensity of the earthy flavors.

Perhaps it’s my bias toward ground-beef anything, but the picadillo at Luly’s remained my favorite of the day. I adore the Latin-American dish, of which each country seemingly churns out its own version.
“I don’t think I’ve had picadillo,” my lunch companion admitted.

“Well, think of the ground-beef filling of an empanada, and there you have it!” I described.
Luly’s dish came prepared with olives, capers, onions, peppers, raisins, garlic, cumin, oregano and, most likely, a tomato-based stock. It’s not a chili but more like a hash. While all of their entrées come with fluffy white rice and the aforementioned black beans and plantains, they also toss out slices of Cuban bread—small white rounds, which practically melt after one bite thanks to the buttery flavor lathered throughout each slice. Dipping them in the picadillo and the plantain soup became a habit throughout our meal—one I’d like to continue partaking in at least once a week.

We didn’t finish it all because we knew from the beginning of our leisurely lunch we would, without a single doubt, indulge in the pastries and coffee we had eyed and smelled upon entering the light, open-air diner. In fact, if there is any reason—or two—to dine at Luly’s, this is it: café Cubano, and a guava and cheese pastelito.

“We make the pastries fresh, every morning,” Grossman told us. “In fact, we have one gentlemen who comes by every day, a few minutes before we open, to get them right from the oven.”

The thought of the flaky, thin layers of crust filled with guava jam and cream cheese, being served hot to order, actually had me looking forward to waking up the next day—which is a feat. I am no “morning person,” but Luly’s pastries could transform me easily. Paired with some of the best coffee Wilmington could taste—a rich buzz of nutty flavors, sweetened and with cream, which Grossman orders from Miami—Luly’s should consider doing more breakfast business.

“We want to become more for our community,” Grossman excitedly claimed. “We want to have dominoes tournaments and salsa lessons on the patio. And we’d love to have a paella day come spring!”

With high hopes of sharing his in-law’s tasteful lineage with Wilmingtonians, the plans to make Luly’s more than a restaurant doesn’t wane. Grossman wants to bring with it the feeling of Cuban diners across Miami, where the food is adored, the coffee shared, and the interaction with friends, colleagues and acquaintances becomes extended family for everyone.

As for me, well, I am always open to sharing a coffee, a pastry and some good conversation. Just look for me in line ... before Luly’s doors open.

by: Zach Keown

Carolina Ale House
317-C College Road
(910) 791-9393
3 stars (out of 5)

Something heavy, something hot, something fried; sometimes these are the things we crave, and fortunately Wilmington isn’t starved for restaurants that cater to the desire for what is, essentially, pub food. However, the challenge lies in finding a pub-style restaurant that isn’t a member of the average tchotchke-infested chains or, on the far opposite end of the spectrum, a purveyor of the dollar menu, where Franken-meat burgers and other genetically engineered Soylent Green-style fare goes easy on the wallet but has the health benefits of a carton of cigarettes.

The newly opened Carolina Ale House tries to fill that gap. I got the feeling as I walked in a couple of days following the opening that the Ale House is a place that wants desperately not to be compared to Chili’s and Applebee’s. Of course, they’ve fulfilled their quota when it comes to random flair nailed to the walls at odd angles, but, for the most part, the local and regional sports regalia don’t seem to have come from a warehouse in China.

In the capacity of a sports bar, the Carolina Ale House is great. It’s loud, there are multiple bars selling a rainbow of neon martinis, and, if my count was correct, there are around 16 or 17 thousand hi-def televisions hanging from the ceiling like fluorescent bats, broadcasting every kind of sport known to man—and at maximum decibels. The extreme exposure would make any sports fan go nuts (especially after laying eyes on their huge projection screen).

Because it’s a sports bar, the Ale House may not the best place to take the wife and kids for a lovely family meal and a bit of, “How was your week, honey?” conversation. Families would need a bionic set of vocal cords to compete with the volume of the television, music and howling sports fans (then again, many families may be used to precisely that style of communication).

On my first visit, a couple of days into opening week (which, I know, isn’t always the best time to review new eateries), I came with a party of six. Knowing parties aren’t always reasonably within the realm of immediate seating, we expected a wait, which we were given: 45 minutes. So we relegated ourselves to the Ale House’s outside bar, which is a brilliant fixture, really, perfect for drowning the irritation of a long wait or for enjoying a little fresh air between courses.

Two hours and some change later, we were seated. When we asked why the wait had been so long, we were told “six” is a weird number because they only have a handful of tables that can seat that many. Despite the fact that tables could be pushed together, we accepted the explanation without argument, if only from the gnawing hunger eating away at our stomachs. Again, we knew they were busy. In fact, upon my return on two separate occasions, getting seated was fairly quick and painless. The waitstaff, while coping with the inner-workings of a brand new restaurant, handled the massive crowds quite professionally. Sure, sometimes a drink went without being re-filled for a little too long, but when parties of 12 are showing up for a round of steaks, the little things can understandably get lost in the mix.

In my mind, the quintessential American pub food is the cheeseburger. To that end, I tried both the Cuban Panini Burger and the Carolina Ale House Pub Burger upon my handful of visits. The Cuban Panini didn’t effectively emulate a Cuban sandwich. Rather than delivering roasted pork, it came with a piece of ham, provolone cheese, mustard and pickles. None of the ingredients particularly stood out on their own; although, the ham did seem a little tough.

Upon a different visit, the waiter recommended the Pub Burger as a house specialty and, pleasingly, it was of higher quality. Topped with crisp bacon and fried onion strings, along with American cheese and “Papa Lou’s secret sauce” (the secret is that it tastes like barbecue sauce), everything melded nicely. There was a punch in the sauce that awoke the smokiness of the bacon and had even more depth against the friable crisp of the onion strings.

Again, upon my third return, I ventured away from the burger but not from the beef. Among many entrées, the Carolina Ale House offers a Baseball Sirloin, a cut that takes on the basic shape and mass of a baseball. Served with a demi-glace sauce, alongside garlic mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables, the steak itself struck me as cleverly prepared but somewhat dishonest in the same breadth. It’s clever in that the demi-glace added an extra degree of delicacy and taste to an inexpensive, lean (i.e. sometimes tough) cut of meat. It seemed dishonest in that the price was still well above the $14 mark.

Other members of my party, on all occasions, ordered a variety of entrées that were hit and miss. The Southern fried chicken salad and grilled blackened chicken sandwich both were well received, but the fish and chips and vegetable pizza left something to be desired. The batter of the fish—or anything fried at the Ale House, for that matter—benefits from a light, sweet recipe, but the fish itself tasted bland, booting a sponge-like texture. While I didn’t try the vegetable pizza, personally, I was told that the produce remained fresh—not overly done and soggy as veggies tend to get on pizza. Still, the cheese and dough had a degree of processed flavor so prevalent across America’s food industry.

Interestingly, the one consistent element upon every visit was the desire for a basket of fried pickles. What has become a Southern appetizer on many local menus, fried pickles are far superior to fries, cheese sticks, potato skins and any other pub-app offered about town. At the Ale House, the batter cradling the pickles crunches perfectly in its golden flair, offering a tangy, softer middle. Alone, they always prove worth a visit.

Carolina Ale House takes a shot at good, local pub food, adding to our foodscape another sports bar where specials always hit the wallet nicely (their bleu cheese, Buffalo cheese sticks sounded something worth trying, although only available one day a week), and the atmosphere keeps fans happily cheering. While the Ale House isn’t entirely missing the mark, it isn’t directly on the bullseye yet. But for football fans, they’re a hard act to follow.

by: Bethany Turner and Emily Rea

If there is one thing the Port City does not lack, it’s a plethora of fabulous restaurants and specialty foods stores. At practically every turn, and in every nook and cranny of town, there is a fantastic, local foodie’s paradise waiting to be discovered or indulged. There is much of which to be proud and, conversely, there can be much to keep up with as well.

Change is to be expected with anything involving variety and excellence, either by way of competition or simply to shake things up a bit. We’ve caught up with a few local eateries around town to see what’s developing.

Carolina Ale House
317-C College Rd.
University Commons Shopping Center
910-791-9393
This restaurant and sports bar may be brand new to the Wilmington area as of November 11th, 2009, Carolina Ale House has certainly made a name for itself in Raleigh, Wake Forest and Durham. The Port-City venue boasts great specials, with lunch starting from $4.99 and dinner from $6.99. Plus, kids eat for 99 cents every Tuesday night. Adult patrons can find $2.50 pints of every draft on Wednesday night, and each night of the week has varying $3 beer and liquor specials.

Carolina Ale House has two large hi-definition projector screens and over 50 42-inch or larger televisions—which is a touchdown on game day. In fact, on college Saturdays and NFL Sundays guests can fill out “Guess the Correct Score” forms to win gift certificates to the restaurant. Monday-night football is always a blast, from Cowboys fans to those rooting loyally for the Panthers, when the loot for guessing the correct score is $1,000! Not to mention winning a raffle for two NFL jerseys from that night’s teams wouldn’t be such a bad consolation prize.

A great addition to the Wilmington location is the covered patio. For those wishing to experience the taste of Carolina Ale House outside, an outdoor bar is open all year long.

“We’re definitely excited to be in the Wilmington community,” Mindy Amerson, marketing coordinator for Carolina Ale House, said. “We’re the place to be for food, sports and fun. It’s a very lively environment, from the decor, to the service, to the staff. We’re based around having a good time.”

Deluxe
114 Market St.
Historic Downtown
910-251-0333
Sunday brunch: 10:30am-2pm
Dinner: Sun.-Thurs., 5:30-10pm, and
Fri.-Sat., 5:30-11pm
Lunch: Mon.-Fri., 11am-2pm
The elegant dining destination Deluxe has been a sophisticated staple in downtown Wilmington for years. The atmosphere alone is worth a cozy meal within its doors, not to mention original, high-quality food that beckons patrons’ taste buds of all kinds. When everything they prepare is sure to be wonderful, then it’s off with the “if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it” mentality, and in with changing it up to keep things fresh and new.

“We’ve switched it up,” manager/chef Trinity Hunt said. “Our late-night menu contains higher-priced items for $5 and lower, which are appetizers, tapas style. We have small plates for lunch, too, where the highest-price item is $10.95.” These items include delicious seafood risotto, turkey and havarti cheese panini, crab cakes, pulled pork, sweet potato salad, and more. Sides include mac ‘n’ cheese, housemade chips and seasonal fruit.

“We have fresh catch daily,” Hunt continued. “It’s just whatever I feel like running, whatever I feel like making. Chef’s choice.” With a solid reputation and proven excellence that Deluxe is known for, that choice is sure to be truly trustworthy.

Wilmington Wine Shoppe
29 S. Front St.
Corner of Dock St. & Front St.
910-251-6335
Mon.-Thurs.: 12-9pm
Fri.-Sat.: 12-11pm
Sun.: 12-6pm
Wilmington Wine Shoppe has seen a few changes in recent months. The new owners rushed to open the store under their names for Riverfest weekend, and the Shoppe has seen a lot of great business since then. With a wine tasting every Thursday night from 6-8pm, how could they not see plenty of patrons? Not to mention: They deliver!

A holiday promotion has probably contributed to a lot of that success. For each bottle of wine purchased at Wilmington Wine Shoppe from now until December 23rd, customers will be entered to win a couples’ two-night weekend stay in their suite of choice at the Front Street Inn. This is a value over $500, and the winner will be announced on Christmas Eve.

More changes have been made to the store than just a fresh pair of owners. “There’s [a signficant amount] of more art. It’s really unique and really varied, from UNCW students and local artists,” new co-owner Chris Salinetti shared. “My partner, Seth, put word out to recruit artists, and he spoke with the chair of the Fine Arts Department at UNCW. Then we met with the artists and chose the artwork we wanted in the Shoppe.”

Since the initial recruitment, artists have been added to the list from interest that has flourished through word of mouth. “It’s really taken off,” Salinetti said. “We’re also working with local restaurants to have menus here so people can sit in, have a glass of wine, and talk about where to eat. We’re working on having no corkage fee with nearby restaurants.”

Another aspect of Wilmington Wine Shoppe that will be sure to tickle the fancy of any philanthropist is that the new owners would like to continue the tradition of charity work from the previous owners. “We’re always looking for groups that need donations or wine for their events,” Salinetti explained.

Look out for poetry readings and local networking events from the Shoppe in the future. Until then, stop by for a tantalizing glass of Cabernet. “Every day we’ve seen new people,” he concluded.

by: Zach McKeown

A couple of weeks ago I had the distinct pleasure to meet Greek chef Alexis Fouros to talk about the ongoing cooking classes he teaches every Wednesday at the Poplar Grove Farmers Market. During the interview we covered a lot of ground outside of his cooking classes, including the practicality of organic foods and shopping locally for the casual consumer. It should come as no surprise that there is a substantial difference in flavor and overall quality between organically grown produce and Walmart bargain bin, chemically infused fare, but I found it difficult to reconcile the significant price difference between organic, free-roaming chicken and mutated, growth hormone-flavored chicken-ish. When I pointed this out to the chef, he laughed.

“Let me tell you something, Zach,” he began. Without hesitation Chef Fouros immediately dismissed my price concerns and stated with the utmost confidence that he could put together any meal using locally grown, organic produce at the same cost—if not cheaper!—than any chain supermarkets. I was shocked. Moments later the chef furthered his claim by stating that not only could he shop cheaper in general, but he could feed four people dinner for three days for $30 total. At the time I certainly didn’t doubt that a nationally known chef could ferret out some impressive deals from local butchers and produce growers—but I did not think that an average, everyday shopper could find the same deals.

Thirty dollars for three days worth of dinners for four people comes out to around $2.50 per person. My skepticism was fairly clear. But Chef Alexis was adamant, and so we made plans to go on a handful of shopping expeditions wherein he would prove to me that he could meet his $30 goal with fresh, locally grown products and without the use of what I deemed “chef prices.”

Chef Fouros and his wife, Betsy, generously created a menu utilizing recipes straight out of the chef’s book, Feast for the Gods, all of which required only commonly available and easily prepared ingredients. During our shopping trips, we visited three local resources that the chef personally uses: the Poplar Grove Farmers Market, Fresh Market at Mayfaire and, interestingly enough, Costco. The matter of whether or not the chef met his lofty $30 goal, however, is seated firmly between yes and no.

Technically speaking, Chef Fouros proved handily that he could, mathematically, meet his self-imposed challenge without using special deals only available to himself. Practically speaking, however, it doesn’t seem possible to spend an even $30 for all of the ingredients required to prepare the menu that the chef created for the purpose of our exercise.

In the eyes of Chef Fouros, there are two vital parts to finding deals and eating well for less. The first is in knowing how to shop. Knowledge and flexibility are absolutely essential to not only find deals but to know where to look for them. For instance, on a local level, produce is almost entirely available based on the season. Strawberries will be cheaper during the summer season when they grow much more easily than during the winter. It may be possible to find strawberries during the winter season, but they will cost much, much more due to the difficulty of rearing them during the off season. This applies to almost all types of produce. (Information regarding seasonal fruits and vegetables are readily available online, www.ncagr.gov/markets/chart.htm).

The second vital element to the equation is in knowing how to store products once they’re at home. Again, a variety of guides are available as a result of a quick Google search for “food storage guides.”

However, the topic of storage brings us to what I perceive as the single caveat in Chef Fouros’ $30 menu. When measured by the pound, the chef easily met his goal of $2.50 per person per night. But sometimes it simply isn’t possible to buy, particularly from Costco, in extremely specific amounts.

Generally speaking, produce, seafood and (to a lesser extent) some meats can be purchased extremely cheaply from the Poplar Grove Farmers’ Market or any other Farmers’ Market and, depending on demand and season, Fresh Market. The advantages to using these two resources are immediately obvious in both quality and pricing standards. Fruits and vegetables in particular are significantly cheaper at the farmers’ markets than even the uber-cheap Walmart brands, but as a trade there is a sacrifice in availability when it comes to locally grown goods due to the aforementioned seasonal element.

The greatest savings, particularly when it comes to meats, stem directly from the concept of buying in bulk. To this end I visited Costco with Chef Fouros. Mathematically speaking, dividing the price of bulk meats, cheeses and other ingredients down to the ounce reveals extreme potential savings. Of course, that’s the express purpose of buying anything in bulk. The problem that inevitably arises with bulk shopping is in the immediate price of goods. Had the chef and I done all of our shopping at Costco alone, we easily could have met the $30 goal, if not significantly cheaper, but the price of the trip alone would have been daunting.

There are ways to alleviate the strain when it comes to bulk shopping. Chef Fouros suggested that sharing the price with friends, then dividing up the goods was an excellent way to get past the initially high cost. There is also the matter of needing a membership to shop at Costco, but at the risk of sounding like I’m on the payroll, I can guarantee that the small price of membership pays for itself within a couple of visits.

For the most part, Chef Fouros maintains that the best source for many ingredients is the farmers’ markets. The quality of locally grown food is unparalleled (and rest assured that to sell food as “organic” or “natural” requires extensive paperwork and hoop jumping; the vendors at the farmers’ markets are by no means casual growers), and the prices are completely reasonable. At the farmers’ markets, it is all but guaranteed that the consumer will pay no more or less than what the product is worth. Personally speaking, I find the dignified environment refreshing in comparison to the price gouging and ridiculous deals found at mainstream supermarkets.

I certainly can’t claim to have a trained palate, but even as a layman and amateur cook (at best), I will maintain that the sheer intensity and purity of flavor that comes out of locally grown vegetables is amazing and completely worth the time it takes to obtain them. I was surprised to find that the idea that organic or local foods are drastically more expensive is, simply put, a myth perpetuated by the tendency of super markets to sell their “organic” merchandise for absurdly high prices.

That said, there is a fundamental trade when it comes to convenience versus quality. Finding the best ingredients at the best prices does take more time and effort than a 15-minute shopping trip through Walmart. Of course, there is nothing wrong with wanting to get home, pop in a microwaveable dinner and simply relax. But when the weekend rolls around, and there’s time to really enjoy food again, then there is no reason to go any further than the kitchen for an exquisite and, perhaps more importantly, cheap meal.

For more information on the Poplar Grove Farmers Market, visit www.poplargrove.com. To learn more about Chef Alexis Fouros, including details on his cooking classes and book, Feast for the Gods, visit www.feastforthegods.com. Finally, for the menu and recipes used for this article, visit the encore blog at www.encorepub.com/encorecafe.