Review: ACME Food and Beverage Co.

[Schneier]

ACME Food and Beverage Co.

110E Main St, Carrboro, North Carolina

919-929-2263

http://www.acme-carborro.com

I had one dinner in the Chapel Hill area. I did my research, and the ACME Food and Beverage Company sounded the most interesting. It was selected as one of America's 50 best neighborhood restaurants, in 2002 by Bon Appetit magazine. The menu ranges from foie gras to hamburgers, oysters Rockefeller and beef bourguignonne to "Grilled Atlantic salmon with rustic tomato-rosemary sauce, oven roasted new potatoes, and grilled radicchio."

I could eat here.

It wasn't crowded. (To be fair, it was Monday night at 8:30 when I got there.) The restaurant was pretty, and the waitstaff competent and friendly. I basically asked what were the most interesting things on the menu, and ordered the things that intersected my list and my waiter's list.

First course was a chicken confit and fresh gnocchi salad, served hot, with shiitake mushrooms, bacon, Brussels sprouts, grape tomatoes, and parmesan cheese. Really tasty, and interesting.

For a second course, I ordered "Cajun-style grilled Georgia quail over maque choix grits with spicy crawfish cream." What I got was a pair of butterflied and perfectly roasted quail over a mound of creamy and spicy and delicious grits, surrounded by the promised spicy crawfish cream sauce and sprinkled with shallots. It was excellent.

Dessert: "Appalachian apple and dried bing cherry cobbler with vanilla ice cream." This was good very good. Hot cobbler, cold vanilla ice cream--what's not to like?

This is a good restaurant. I would gladly have it in my neighborhood.

Bruce

[Varmint]

Thanks for the review, Bruce. Acme is a restaurant that I certainly wish were in my neighborhood, but it's not that far away.

But why the heck didn't you call me, as I'm less than 30 minutes away?!?!

[dscott]

Did they have the Beet-burger on the menu? Damn, that was tasty when we lived in CH/Carrboro back in the 90s.

[Schneier]

I didn't see a beet burger on the menu. But I have to admit that I didn't linger over the sandwiches section.

B

[sml311]

I have enjoyed my two meals there as well. The only dish I wouldn't recommend is the shrimp salsa. It was a basic red salsa with popcorn shrimp in it--it didn't even taste that fresh. Everything else I've ever tried there has been amazing though. I especially remember their coq au vin as very well-made. Wish it were over here in Raleigh!

SML

[bandregg]

I've eaten at ACME off and on again since they originally opened. I enjoy eating there but the off again comes from long streches of the menu not being changed. It is nice to see that they've settled down to producing good food again after being through a few chefs at the start. Seeing Varmint's complaint that he wasn't called when he lives so close made me think that it may be time to come up with a regular time (third Monday in the month or something) and start hitting all of our "I like to eat there, but never seem to make it," spots. We could certainly toss in some road trips to places like Hendrick's BBQ as well.

[scottie]

Seeing Varmint's complaint that he wasn't called when he lives so close made me think that it may be time to come up with a regular time (third Monday in the month or something) and start hitting all of our "I like to eat there, but never seem to make it," spots. We could certainly toss in some road trips to places like Hendrick's BBQ as well.

Ooooh! Ooooh! A Triangle-area eGullet Dining Club! Oh, please, can we?

Oh, oh, oh, my head is swimming with the possibilities....

[Varmint]

Make it happen, y'all!

[sml311]

So I hadn't been there in about a year (living in NJ for awhile and all) and returned this Friday.

This restaurant has really come into it's own. If you haven't gone, now would be a good time. It isn't the high order cooking you'd find at Magnolia Grill, Nana's, Four Square, Elaine's, etc. but it is THE neighborhood restaurant it bills itself to be. The kind you'd usually find in larger cities that serves up enough classics and enough twists to keep a solid local clientel. The food itself is even better prepared than my first two visits and the dishes have continued to improve on complexity and harmony of flavor and ingredient.

We ordered from the small plate menu--bigger than apps but not quite an entree. We split the special which, to the best of my recall, was a sauteed barlett pear and chevre salad--I'm a little fuzzy on the exact dressing but whatever it was, it was excellent. The pears especially wear incredible...they managed to retain a pleasant degree of firmness after cooking. They had shaved radishes as a garnish which were just perfect.

For my entree (which was still a "small" plate--but really not that small) I had jerked duck breast. I was really curious to see what they'd do with this because most of the time I've found that non-Jamacian restaurants tend to severely underspice their jerked items. Not true here, the breast and the accompanying plantains were not only again well cooked but the heat was perfect. There was also a pineapple salsa which brough a different companion flavor in. Probably the only questionable addition was the halved grape tomatoes--didn't really do anything for the dish.

My companion had the fried oyster salad small plate. I cringed at little when he ordered that. You see, I don't believe in fried oysters. It usually breaks up the wonderful "flavor party" the oyster has going by itself. Not true here. The briney flavor of the oyster was maintained and the breading was crunchy and not at all greasy. Guess I was (happily) wrong in this instance.

For dessert we had the strawberry and rhubarb cobbler. Fan-effin-tastic. The flavor of both fruits was balanced, it was sweet without overpowering the natural tartness of the rhubarb. Just wonderful.

Go, Go, Go. It's great. It's getting more full. There's never been a better time.

Oh yes, not sure about exact cost as I was on a date and it would've been rude to ask, but the small plates generally run between 6.50-9. Desserts in the 5-6 range. Probably the night with drinks and tips was less than 60. Not bad at all.

SML

Edited March 21, 2004 by sml311 (log)

[Zeb A]

This past weekend, we went to Chapel Hill with our 20 month old and one month old to try something different. Our first idea was Elaine's, but upon arrival, it didn't look like a great kid destination (plus, no high chairs, which is a clear indication that they don't really want kids anyway). So, we lurched around and found Acme. What a great place. Of course we had to eat early and fast, but we had a number of the small plates and some wine and were quite impressed. The empanadas and wontons were particularly good, and a lasagne special hit the spot. A little off the beaten path, but definitely worth a visit.