Ask a Chef: Andrea Reusing, Where Should We Eat Around Chapel Hill, NC?

We asked 2011 JBF Award winner Andrea Reusing of Chapel Hill, North Carolina’s Lantern and author of Cooking in the Moment: A Year of Seasonal Recipes for her top restaurant picks.

Quintessential Carolina cooking
Scratch
Durham, NC

“Phoebe Lawless’s pieshop is also an evolving homage to seasonal Southern flavors. North Carolina apples and peanuts are stacked for sale alongside a bakery counter that dispenses fried baloney sandwiches, spicy collard slaw, and sugar pie.”

Special occasion
Poole’s Diner

Raleigh, NC


“Ashley Christensen designed Poole’s Diner with a cook’s night off in mind: cozy room, exciting cocktails, kind staff, and wonderful food that you wish you’d thought of.”

Quick snack
Toast

Durham, NC


“Billy and Kelli Cotter cook soulful soups and serve an ever-changing menu of perfect toasts, like spicy tuna and chicken liver with pickled fennel.”

Family dinner  
Panciuto

Hillsborough, NC

“The talented, self-taught Aaron Vandemark cooks almost every single dish himself each night at his Hillsborough jewel box.”

Brunch  
Neal’s Deli

Carrboro, NC

“Neal’s Deli is a mom- and-pop sandwich shop with farmers’ market sides from Matt and Sheila Neal. If I ever had brunch, my platonic ideal would be eating one of their takeout pastrami biscuits on a long ride in the country.”